Hello to All,

no, desperation is not in reference to the Stephan King novel... it's our situation. We knew things were going to be tight after buying our first home... we just didn't know HOW tight. Yeah, I just balanced the checkbook... it's at an all time low; right around $100! Now, granted, I just paid all our bills except the phone bill, but still! Pre-house we liked to have $1,000 of "breathing space" in our checking account to cover emergencies and to just BE THERE. This is terrifying....

We have been frugal, relatively, for several years, that's how we saved up for this house. We don't have cable to cancel or anything frivolous like that. I guess we just let things slide a little in small ways and didn't catch it till now. A candy bar here, a soda there, maybe a little drive-thru and BAM! You do that for a few months and it is not pretty. :( So now I have to try and remember how we used to amuse ourselves when we weren't renting movies a lot and picking up dinner on the way home. I guess I'm just here looking for some encouragement and a way to feel "normal." Most of our friends live beyond their means or else have way more "means" than we do... it's hard sometimes not being able to join in on all the dinners out, movies, hot-tubbing etc that our friends do. Also all the "just because I want to" spending. It is really tough sometimes!

Anyway, that's where I am right now. I am not depressed, just mildly frustrated. :)

~Darkmoon

Welcome to the Village!

I'm sure after some browsing here you'll find some tips that will help you refill your checkbook pretty quick. These ladies are miracle workers! If you are a reader I have some books I am done with I could pass on to keep ypu occupied :D

Welcome to the Village. Wish I had your first name, dark moon sounds so sad and with they way things are going money wise all the positive sunny things you can do will make things look lots better.:)

This is just a bump in the road and can get better & you & yours can even have fun doing it. Those neighbors & friends are in for a rude awakining one of these days. I'd rather pay all my bills , live comfortably on what we have instead of owe owe owe. Sleep better at night too.;)
Looking forward to helping you learn some tips that will make living within your means a rewarding comforting very good thing.

Again welcome & make yourself at home.:apple:

Welcome! You've come to a great place to get frugal tips~ I joined last year, and can't believe how much I've learned here! I have completely changed my spending ways thanks, in large part, to the wonderful things I have learned here. I hope you will enjoy it here and get some great advice, too!

Hi Darkmoon...:wave: Welcome to the village. I'm Lucie...:)

I completely understand your fustrations....it's certainly not easy to live against the norm....today, everyone spends on anything and everything! It seems like nothing *fun* CAN be free....but I want to encourage you by saying that you've come to the right place to find support, frugalwise. Everyone has so much to share and with each other's tips, recipes and ideas, we can somehow find many, many great ways to enjoy life without emptying our pockets....

I hope you enjoy yourself her with us! I looking forward in getting to know you. :)

:wave2: Hi Darkmoon! Welcome to the village and "the club"! Really it will be better soon, once you get your habits back under control and when you're working toward a goal it's easier as well. We all encourage each other around here and that helps too. The small things really do add up, but so do the changes. ;) Hang in there, keep your eye on the ball about living below your means and watch as your friends have to turn over a new leaf at some point as well. Happens to everyone sooner or later, especially if they're living rich on a poor pocketbook. I do my best to make a game out of my frugality, that helps in a big way.

welcome, and you'll feel better soon. It is very counter culture, and so nice to have friends to share similar challenges with. You'll be glad you joined, and you'll have a cheering squad to help.:D

:welcome: to the friendliest Village on the entire WWweb!:D I think we can all relate to just how you are feeling. However, I want to encourage you...here you will find all kinds of great ideas, support and friendship to help you through this and get yourself back on the right track. These ladies are great and are so helpful and encouraging. It's like having your own little cheerleading squad!!!:yippee:

:welcome:

You've certainly come to the right place for helpful frugal tips!

If you browse around a bit, you'll find tons of ideas to give you that breathing space again!!

Wow. Thank you ALL for the warm welcome. :) You are all so sweet.

Fortunately I am not new to frugality, I have just let my habits slide. I am looking foreward to learning new frugal ideas and ways to save money. I know we can do it, I am really just looking for some sane (frugal) people to hang out with. Our friends are all pretty bad about money and most of our family is worse... it gets depressing sometimes watching my husbands face fall as each of his friends gets the latest, greatest computer game or accessory while we opt to pay our bills and try to pay a little extra on the mortgage. We know people that spend so frivolously it is SCARY. One of our friends actually spends over $30/week.... on comic books alone! Many of our friends have cable with premium chanels, flatscreen tvs, new computers every year or so, and little stuff whenever they want it. We have to be careful to stay inside our budget now with the house and all. There are so many things I didn't realize we'd end up paying for....

Oh and Darkmoon isn't a sad name. :) The darkmoon is the day before the moon starts building up to being a fullmoon again. It's a day of great potential and promise. I love the darkmoon. (I love the full moon too, of course)

Thank you all for the encouragement and support. It feels really good to be here. :)

~Darkmoon

Darkmoon,
OK, I have another way to look at things...if your friends all have the big flatscreen tv's, premium cable channels, etc. just enjoy their's when you are over there and be secretly rejoice inside that you get to be there and enjoy it for the moment, but don't end up having to pay for it for years!;) :toothy: I'm always happy to enjoy things at our friends home and not be burdened with the bill for paying for all of those things. On the other hand, we have a huge video collection here and all of our friends borrow those from us. They have also learned that when they are in a pinch, we are the first ones there to try andhelp them.
:D

Welcome to the Village!!

DH and I were in the same spot as you!! We bought our first house 2 years ago. We did good before that, but things have been tight ever since. Some months are better than others, but the way I look at it is, the mortgage is paid, the bills are paid and there's food on the table!! And my children are clothed in decent clothes! These are the most important things to me and sometimes I think about how nice it would be to have that or do this, etc. But, then I have to stop and look at what we have.
We have a beautiful family, a roof over our heads that's ours (sort of, lol), a tv to watch or radio to listen to, food in our bellies, etc. I think you get the idea!

I'm very frugal myself! I try to save wherever and whenever possible. I've learned alot here and the people are wonderful!!

Originally posted by Darkmoon
Wow. Thank you ALL for the warm welcome. :) You are all so sweet.

Fortunately I am not new to frugality, I have just let my habits slide. I am looking foreward to learning new frugal ideas and ways to save money. I know we can do it, I am really just looking for some sane (frugal) people to hang out with. Our friends are all pretty bad about money and most of our family is worse... it gets depressing sometimes watching my husbands face fall as each of his friends gets the latest, greatest computer game or accessory while we opt to pay our bills and try to pay a little extra on the mortgage. We know people that spend so frivolously it is SCARY. One of our friends actually spends over $30/week.... on comic books alone! Many of our friends have cable with premium chanels, flatscreen tvs, new computers every year or so, and little stuff whenever they want it. We have to be careful to stay inside our budget now with the house and all. There are so many things I didn't realize we'd end up paying for....

Oh and Darkmoon isn't a sad name. :) The darkmoon is the day before the moon starts building up to being a fullmoon again. It's a day of great potential and promise. I love the darkmoon. (I love the full moon too, of course)

Thank you all for the encouragement and support. It feels really good to be here. :)

~Darkmoon

I stand corrected, Darkmoon isn't a sad name.:hugz: Your right and I'm all for great potential & promise.:thumb:

PS. All of us are pretty frugal in our own ways, sanity you can figure out at your leisure.:laugh:

Nice to have you here.:)

 

 

Again, wow. thanks to all of you. :)

I am going to like it here!

~Darkmoon

This is a wonderful place and a great group to be a part of.

Welcome and just make yourself right at home.

Hi there!

I agree with, I think it was Debbie who said that this is the friendliest message board and website you will visit. It is the first one I've ever felt settled on and not at all intimidated about posting and even putting my point of view across.

I found this site when looking for a few tips but have got much more than that out of it, I initially thought that maybe a U.S based site would not be very relevant to me in England but it has been a priceless resource and support network already even though I haven't been here for that long.

Hope you enjoy it as much as we all do!