Meet the challenges head-on
photo by uhuru1701
On my frugal forums, we have a section for frugal-living challenges. This allows readers to set frugal goals and be held accountable by peers. This is one of the greatest motivators, because not only do you have a place to share your own peaks and valleys, you can get inspired by others. You’re welcome to join in at any time. If you don’t have time for Internet access, you can start your own frugal-living challenges at home. Seek a buddy, and consider it a friendly bet. You simply record your results on a regular basis in order to track progress and share your frugal ideas, struggles and triumphs.
Here are a few suggestions.
CHANGE-JAR CHALLENGE: People have the tendency to say they can’t save any money. Start with loose change. For this challenge, readers are encouraged to hunt down loose change and pop it into a container. It’s fun to read about people cleaning out their cars and couches in search of loose change. For some, it’s quite a production with different containers for the various coins and a running tally. Some start out with a coffee can or mason jar. Some people roll their change monthly, and others wait until the end of the year to deposit their savings into the bank. It seems easy, but some people have spouses or kids who “borrow” the change, so they hide it or make it difficult to get into. Some people pay for merchandise with exact change, so they rarely have loose coins. It’s inspiring to see how everyone gets their families involved, and the end-of-the-year results are amazing. Equally as inspiring is when the money from a change jar saves the day by paying an unexpected expense or goes toward a vacation. If you have an interesting change-jar story, share it with me.
UTILITY CHALLENGE: This was created to keep utility bills to a minimum. Each day, readers share ways they’re cutting back. Some have it down to a science through meter readings and even know how much various appliances cost to run. One reader, Julie from Kentucky, says: “I started doing daily readings on all my utilities to track my usage and fixed a spreadsheet to calculate what my current bill would be with that day’s reading. I started seeing patterns and adjusted my usage accordingly. Now I’ve set a ‘daily goal’ for each utility, and I am watching it like a hawk to stay under.”
This type of motivator gets people thinking. They’re adding programmable thermostats, using power strips, etc. It’s empowering to see their savings each month. The stories are funny, too.
GROCERY CHALLENGE: This helps people save on their food bill. Topics and tracking include using coupons, meal planning, creating a food budget, stocking up on sales and eating out less often. It’s interesting to see how people manage to feed their families based on their monthly targeted budget. People share ideas for low-cost snacks and dinners and ways to make over leftovers.
There are numerous challenges you can start. Think about an area you’d like to work on, and challenge yourself to reach your frugal goals.
* Other challenges on my forums include:
Grocery challenge, debt reduction challenge, Christmas challenge, weight loss challenge, no spend challenge, emergency fund challenge, vegetarian challenge, quit smoking challenge and more.
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My husband and I have done the check register trick for most of the 53 years we’ve been married. At the end of the year it becomes our Christmas money.
I was just reading the collumn you wrote on “Meet the Challenges head-on” on the part about CHANGE-JAR CHALLENGE I wanted to let you know this really does work. My husband and I started to save all the change we would get back, several years ago. We save the change to go on a vacation, we go about every 2 years and we save, in change, alone, about $350.00. So it really does work to save just your change.
Many years ago money was very tight and with kids in college it got even tighter. Knowing that they wanted their college class rings in the worst way I started saving quarters having no idea how many I could accumulate in a year’s time. To make a long story short when it was time for their classmates to buy rings I was able to surprise them by coming to school,taking them to the bookstore and buying their rings also. They, until that time, thought it was just something they weren’t going to be able to have knowing there was no “extra” money in the budget for such things. Everytime I see them wearing that ring which they very proudly do, I remember how easily they got them. To this day I don’t spend my quarters. I still save
them for something special only now it’s something for my grandchildren or an overnight stay somewhere, or a very special dinner with the family.
Actually, I need to credit my mother with this whole idea because when I got my first sewing machine there were some accessories that I really wanted to go with it, but again there was no money for extras. She suggested that I save my dimes and within about six months I had my longed for accessories. Sometimes waiting makes the buying just that much sweeter and I never really missed the change in my billfold.
Now I save pennies and nickles for an occasional dinner out with a friend a couple times a year or something extravagant at the grocery store.
Thanks for your great column
Sara, I just read your article in our morning paper,and was very interested. During the war in Viet Nam, I was living in Honolulu and the member of a large church there. After Sunday service, we always had a lunch on our patio to visit tourists. At one luncheon, as we passed a mike around, one lady asked if somebody in our church would drive her and her friend out to Punchbowl National Cemetary. Her son had been killed in Burma during WW2, and at wars end was re-intered at Punchbowl. So for some FIVE years, this lady had put all her change in a large bottle, so she could fly out to Hawaii and see her son’s final resting place. Her daughter, also in the service had previsiouly visited it, while passing thru the Islands. So after lunch, we all got in my car, and drove up to Punchbowl. We stopped at the office and a very nice guide took us right out to the grave site. The friend and I stood back, while Mom knelt down and placed a colorful lei on the head stone, and watched , with tears in our eyes as Mom spent a few quite moments with her son, then I drove them back to their Waikiki Beach hotel. But that day was one I’ll not forget. That is one ladies use of the coins she had saved for so long a a bottle. Thanks for the memories.
Henry L. Phelps
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