Archive for May, 2010
Lovin’ YouTube These Days - Hey, It’s Free Afterall
Welcome back!
One thing that I love about YouTube is that it is a great source for frugal fun. I have to admit, I have actually become some what of a YouTube addict and could spend hours on the site watching videos (just ask my husband!). Also, I’ve uploaded quite a few funny family videos to YouTube including some especially cute ones of my new kittens playing. It’s so neat to share the events in our lives via the YouTube community, and to see what others have to say in each video’s comments section. To me, hanging out on YouTube is much more fun than watching television these days.
Also, I’ve noticed that a lot of businesses are starting to post funny and creative informational videos about themselves and their products. I think that’s a smart move as YouTube is an excellent and cost effective way to connect to a younger demographic. In fact, I know a lot of young people who use the internet and YouTube a lot more than they go to movies or watch television. For a good example of a YouTube video done by an business, check out this VistaPrint Video, as it’s quite creative and really gets the point across!
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If you like this then please subscribe to the Why I Am Frugal
I had a friend recently ask me why I go through the effort to make frugal choices. It just doesn’t seem worth it to her, as she believes that all the money saved can’t really add up to very much (boy is she wrong). Now, this same friend has a pile of credit card debt which, unfortunately, seems as though it will only continue to grow with her current habits, but she just doesn’t see the light. I am okay with us seeing money in different ways and don’t try to force my opinions on her, but I thought that I would make a post to explain just why I am frugal.
1. Saving money and budgeting means that I have enough in my account to pay all of our fixed expenses comfortably every month.
2. Having an emergency fund makes unexpected events (ie broken washing machines) less stressful than they would be otherwise. I know I have the money put aside to deal with such a situation.
3. Saving money on things that aren’t very important to me (brand name foods versus store brand) allows me to have the money available for the items and activities that are truly important to me (travelling to another city for our family reunion).
It’s really as simple as these three points. That’s why I’m frugal!
Back On The Frugal Bandwagon
Like many things frugal living is all about building habits and sticking with them. Once you have formed the habit of making frugal choices it becomes very natural to save money and really just a routine part of life. Unfortunately, I think we all fall off the frugal bandwagon from time to time, and it can be hard to snap right back into the habit of making money-wise choices. Especially if we let is slide for a few weeks, or even for a few months. Then we have replaced our frugal habits with non frugal habits, and those can be difficult to break!
I hate to admit it, but I haven’t been at my frugalist lately, and while I haven’t been spending wildly, or anything of that nature, I haven’t been saving the amount of money that I would like to.
Anyhow, I am now back on the frugal bandwagon and plan to start back again with a bang — 15 “no spend days”. What I mean by that is I won’t be spending money on anything but essential items until at least the end of the month. No Starbucks, no take out and no clothes (I have enough at home). It doesn’t seem like a very long time, but fifteen frugal days can leave a back account looking significantly healthier!
