Frugal living = Calm and Happiness

[bee9984]

I can't believe how the atmosphere has changed so dramatically in our home. Since dh quit his job and we have been pinching our pennies there is such a calm.

There is no more rushing, everything has slowed down. The girls are more relaxed too. Like today for example, dd 16 said "someone has to drive me to the Ultramar to catch the bus", I said "Sorry, we need to save our gas, we have 1/4 of a tank until Tuesday at the earliest time." and that was it, no, Why can't you? or I'm going to miss my bus, nothing even close to any of that. I told my dd that she didn't have time to make the bus and she said "That's ok mom, I'll go behind the echo, it is a short cut and I don't mind walking."

I use to bake a lot then for some reason stopped, it was getting too easy to just grab a bag of cookies etc on sale lately. Now since I started baking again I hear a lot of "Mom, these cookies are great!" Mom, can you make some cinnamon buns too?" "I love these brownies." etc.... I mean my head is starting to swell with all of these compliments lol.

Anyone else finding that living the frugal life has helped their home reach a calm?

[M55FF]

calm?

I think the word is "peace" as in inner peace. No debt, no desire to keep up with anyone...
happy with what I've done and gotten as a result of my efforts. was a long hard road with so many sacrifices....
had to learn to think for myself and not follow the masses.
It paid off and there is a definate peace and satisfaction in my life.
I'm so thankful mostly for learning how to do my own thing and not follow the masses off the high wire into the sea of credit and debit.

I guess peace and calm are the same thing in a way. Everyday I give thanks for the many blessings that have come to me for my hard work and efforts. Money does not buy happiness...

[cissylu]

I dpn`t know about everyone else in this house . But i have a calm peace since I started staying home more.
I quit spending so much. and I started cooking from scratch more and that has given me a good feeling.
I`m very happy for you.

[mombottoo]

Glad that everyone is doing their part to help. Your daughter showed great maturity with her responses...you must being doing something right !

I'm on the journey to find peace and calm...although calm isn't something that will come easy and it doesn't have anything to do with money.

[Marie78]

I think frugal living is a calmer way to live. I hadn't been cooking from scratch or stockpiling for months, since working full time. So now I need to figure out how to balance the scratch cooking, sale stockpiling, and working 40hours a week.

My weekends are spent cooking, cleaning, and running to a few different stores to take advantage of sale prices.
I didn't use to stockpile very much when prices were "normal" Since last month when store brand tp went from $3.99 to $6.99 for 12 rolls I started paying attention to sales, matching my coupons, and getting up early on Sunday to beat the crowds to the sales! Then because prices have gone up so much, I cringe at the check outline when I hear our total of $80 for foods & other items we used to be able to buy for $60 total or less. That encouraged me to get online and look up scratch recipes this month.

Thanks to the rising food prices I have learned how to stockpile better and cook more homemade meals and foods: chili, soups, alfredo sauce, meatballs, applesauce, breads, pizza crust for homemade pizza, granola, etc...

Once the stockpile is built up more, and I get on a scratch cooking schedule I will feel calmer again. However, I enjoy cooking and shopping for sales and I would much rather spend my time doing this then overspending at the grocery store, restaurants, or buying useless things I don't need (instead of working on a stockpile, which I do need).

[michelemcw]

I like this topic. I do feel more calm and at peace.

We went from two very stressful jobs, with DBF making a really good salary, to having his company close and his being laid off with no warning two months ago.

He just started a new job for 1/2 as much money, but we are so thankful for it. And there is a lot of potential for growth, and we are feeling very positive about that.

I have applied for other jobs to increase my salary, and benefits, and thankfully, I am starting a new job next week. And most importantly, leaving a very stressful job happily behind.

But meanwhile, we moved from a large house that we were on a lease option to buy, and opted out of, to get out of a bad real estate deal, into a small two bedroom apartment, and cut our expenses way back by doing so.

We now have a plan to pay down debt, and to live more frugally, and now that we are doing this plan, a lot of the anxiety is gone, and I do feel more peaceful.

It is fun to cook from scratch, and find ways to do things cheaper.

Tonight is DBF's dad's birthday, and instead of taking his parents out to an expensive restaurant meal that we can't afford, I was able to get corned beef on sale for 99¢ a lb, cabbage for 39¢ each, and carrots for 49¢ lb. and an Angel Food Cake Mix for $2.75. I splurged for fresh strawberries from the local strawberry stand, but all in all, we are going to have a very nice St.Patrick's Day/Birthday dinner for very little money.

I even had fun finding things "green" to set my table with that made it festive, that I already have. Quite a switch from shopping for everything at the last minute and over spending!

So, right this minute, dinner is cooking (and it smells wonderful!) and it is only 1:25 and I feel very calm and happy.

[C@rol]

Definitely, Peace, Calm and Happiness.

No phone ringing. No constantly running to the mall.
We think before we make a purchase and research
the cheapest place to buy. But most of all we consider
if we can make do with what we have.

Being frugal sure does bring peace and happiness
into your life. You should be very proud of your
daughter.

[bee9984]

It does help to have a stockpile that is for sure, I was still being frugal that way but not even close to being stocked up like I would have liked.

Everything here just seems less rushed. I look around and I am so fortunate to have everything we need. I was never really one for a lot of wants, a couple but it just doesn't seem to be important. We have been spending more time as a family and talking opposed to rushing to get to where ever or to pick up whatever.

There is no more UGh, I don't feel like baking today, I'll just hop in the car (which wastes gas unnecessarily) and grab a bag of cookies on sale. Now I know that I have no choice but the difference is that I can hum a tune and have a dance to my step while making up cookies etc. from scratch and the aroma! nothing like walking in a home that smells of home baked goods!

I am also excited about how many no spend days we are having lol. Dh picked up some eggs and margarine 3 days ago and the time before that was at least almost a week, at least for any groceries.

[M55FF]

I think what we are experiencing is "balance" in life.
At least it is for me. No longer am I having to do it all and it record setting time. Things can be paced out according to my scedule. Part of that is because of good planning and the other part is because I chose the right husband.

balance= harmony= peace= calmness.

[peanut]

Nice thread topic. I too find it calmer now we are leading a more frugal life. I enjoy cooking and baking. And I love having the family hang around me and help...and eating it around the table too. I really must get those cinnamon buns made!

We live in a neighborhood within easy walking distance to everything. However, most of the stores have convenience store pricing. You'd think that would make it unfrugal, but it doesn't. Running the car to a suburban store costs much more than we save in groceries often. We do one run to a suburban store a week...that's it. The rest of the week we just kind of kick off our shoes and relax at home.

Funny, I recently asked DH and DD#2 what they thought the function or purpose of our home was. They said it was to relax and enjoy our hobbies. Interesting no one thought to add, and to entertain. I found that very revealing. They view home as a haven, a shelter from the world. A nice compliment.

Jean

[Athena31]

A simpler life does seem to be calmer doesn't it I agree!

[missmanny]

I felt a great sense of calm come over me as soon as I started to feel control back in my life, once I realised that if I can slowly chip away at the debt and I am in control of how much money I spend here and there, I had an imediate sense of calm and reassurance.

I would never go back to living any other way, now that I have decluttered (made a tidy sum off selling my "stuff") my home feels like a refuge from the world and I am very relaxed just to be myself without all of the glitz that I used to need.


I love this thread, I've only just realised how much healthier my life is now.

[dancar3]

We've been at this now for only 2 months and we are so much more at peace and happier......especially my dh. As others had mentioned, we would just run to the store w/o thinking too much about wasted gas, buy others big birthday presents, go out to eat and to the movies all the time and with 3 children it does add up. We stay home more, we find movies at home to watch or we wait to get free movie rentals sent to us in the mail, I bake tons more, and also stockpile. Last week my car finally decided it had enough and stopped working. We had been putting money into it lately and it just wasn't really helping and this time, it would've cost more than it was worth. In the "olden" days, we would've gotten a car loan and bought a $4000 or 5000 car (at least we wouldn't have bought new!) and thought that was fine. Last year we were given a car for free(owner was going to give it to junkyard and we thought about giving it to our son who just got his license). So now I'm driving that car around (runs great even though it has super high mileage and a few minor dents) and I don't care what it looks like and what others think.......it was free and it gets to me to work! It is so much more calmer around here now that me and dh are on the same page (I was on the wrong page before) and we realize what are priorities are and getting more into debt and purchasing things we really couldn't afford are no longer a part of our lives!

[bee9984]

Wow! Some of the words which I have picked up from everyone's posts here to describe their feeling of being/becoming Frugal are these: Calm, Happiness, Peace, Satifatction, Good Feeling, Balance, A simpler life, Reassurance, control, Healthier and Harmony.

It is amazing how by changing a way of life can offer so much gratification and fulfillment.

An example of the above feelings for me is this: I am thankful that I have a pay coming this Thursday because I can take $40 from it to use towards any sales which are loss leaders at my grocery stores and start stocking up again. Just three weeks ago I would not have even batted an eye lash about taking that amount of money or even more then that to pick up whatever we needed now I have a set limit. If I missed the sales before I would just think oh well, I will catch next weeks and so on. Now with living Frugal I know that I need the good deals when possible, there is no room for error if I want to do the best that I can and save money for other things such as medicine, dental appointments, emergencies etc....I also know that I had better get exactly what we need and will have to menu plan around the sales/deals because I won't be running to the store every other day. This saves on gas which also saves money and least we forget the environment.

[joyofsix]

Well, I wouldn't say we're calm and peaceful but if we weren't frugal it would be even more insane. Having a stockpile so I don't run to the store, planning one trip vs many with kids and the biggest one-being frugal so I no longer have to work definitely help cut the stress. Not eliminate it but definitely reduce it.