Finance-the frugal mindset

This inconspicuous log reminds me of my dad, and his career as a renowned cabinetmaker. Perhaps my frugal mindset came from his work ethic too!
 

Financial Goals and savings mindsets

Tid bit about my career

 In some ways I am lucky to have such giving and caring parents who allowed me to start and finish my first degree my first degree and supported me financially during my first degree in Associate of Arts degree in Criminology.  More on CSI later! My dad worked a skilled trade as a furniture builder, and he understood how difficult money was to come by and wanted to give me that strong start in life; which could be where my frugality mindset stems from.

By being at home I saved money on the following things:

-Dorms and food meal plans(which can be expensive especially if you want premium package)

-Lunches, snacks and after school meals. My mom always without fail made me lunches and snacks while I attended college.(This can easily count up to a lot, especially if you are spending 8.00 on a lunch at the local food establishment.)

-Car expenses- I took transit to get to university which throughout my entire school career ranged from 30 minutes to 1hr 15mins. This runs into the thousands over the course of 1 year, if you count insurance in.

 I am thankful for the opportunities given and the acute attention that was given to being frugal to always having savings whenever possible.

Each reader has their own unique and special background of where they came from.

Lets start here:

I feel that as a starting point for being frugal is to create your own purpose for being frugal, because this will give you the understanding of where you are starting and where you would eventually would like to end up.  It is quite important because without a specific purpose its easy to get caught up in every day life and simply overlook saving and instead focusing more on the “wants”. Here are some questions which I think are important to think about and its not an exhaustive list.

a)      Why are you being frugal?

-Is your goal it save money for that car, down payment, retirement? Alternatively, would you like to save up for a children’s education or rainy day, or vacation? Also, one should keep in mind that goals change as one gets older.

b)  What is my reason for being frugal?

-   I think due to my upbringing frugality is part of my identity. I like to save money and divide my money up on several ways. Sometimes it’s not possible, but I do what I can as time goes by, a dollar at a time.

I am frugal to save:

#1…. for a rainy day  

     #2 …. for retirement

#3 ….for home improvements (floor and lighting fixtures)

#4 ….for contributing to the purchase of a vehicle with my husband.

#5….Vacations (I haven’t had enough of these and this is probably my biggest resolution for years to come)

In conclusion, once you are able to establish the reason for being frugal it will give you the basis, motivation and understanding of why saving money is so important. Thus, I feel ones reason will empower you to continue to save and accomplish the saving goals you have in mind.

Conclusion

    In my opinion, I would start with saving for a rainy day, and also paying off credit card debt. I believe that for most people those 2 things is where stress comes from and many don’t realize why money is such a difficult topic to talk about.