I promise I didn’t do all the alliteration on purpose. 
Peer pressure usually gets a bad rap(and it is true that hanging around spendy people can tempt you to spend), but I’ve noticed that the right sort can have a very positive impact on the way that I view my finances. Back when I first got married I was making my way through The Tightwad Gazette for the first time and I noticed that even though I wasn’t necessarily applying specific actions from my reading(I’m sorry, but I am not going to make a hammock from six pack rings!), I was more inclined to make frugal choices because reading the book put me into a frugal mindset.
I’ve read a number of frugal books since then, and while I’ve never applied every tip from each book, they all have managed to reinspire me in my frugal journey. I find that the same thing happens to me when I read personal finance/frugality blogs…just reading about someone else who is saving instead of spending makes me motivated to do the same. In addition, it also makes me feel like saving is possible…someone else is doing it, so I probably can too!
Sometimes, especially if you’re new to the whole frugality thing, saving money can lead to feelings of deprivation and here again, I find that frugal reading is helpful. If you read about other people who live without cable or who don’t eat out(and who seem to be doing fine in spite of that!), it can help you feel less alone and not as weird.
So, if you find yourself feeling discouraged and lacking motivation, immerse yourself in some good frugal reading. Subscribe to or bookmark some frugal blogs, check out a personal finance book from the library, read some new articles about saving money…reading even something small each day can help keep you on track.
Here are a few resources for you to utilize if you don’t already have some regular frugal reading incorporated into your life. 
And remember what I said earlier…not everything these authors have to say will be helpful to you, but you’ll probably pick up a few good ideas and some inspiration too.
- The NonConsumer Advocate-Katy is part of the compact(she buys nothing new, with a few important exceptions), and she blogs about living a scaled-back, green, and frugal life.
- The Simple Dollar-Trent has one of the largest personal finance blogs out there, so you can benefit not only from reading his posts but from reading the comments of all the frugal people that frequent his blog.
- The Tightwad Gazette-This volume, which is a compendium of Amy Dacyzyn’s Tightwad Gazette newletters, is a fun and inspiring read. You can buy it used on half.com or get it from your library for free.
- MoneySavingMom-Crystal’s blog has more coupon/deal/freebie/sample stuff than I normally enjoy, but there are some meatier posts sprinkled in, and those are more helpful to me. She and her husband are saving up to pay for a house in cash, which is an inspiring goal in and of itself!
- Miserly Moms-it’s been a long time since I read this one, but I remember it being a good kick-in-the-frugal-pants.
I’m betting that a lot of you have some good frugal reading suggestions, so share them in the comments please!
{ 16 comments… read them below or add one }
Great post! Do you remember that I stumbled on your site from No Impact Man’s? If anyone had asked me 6 months ago I would have identified myself more as an environmentalist than a frugalista (I didn’t even know that moniker existed 6 months ago!), but I came here and definitely found a kindred spirit.
Your blog has inspired me in so many wonderful ways – I never would have imagined I could feed my family for less than $80 a week and now I do it routinely thanks to adopting your practice of careful menu planning and shopping. I could go on…but suffice to say that I am grateful for your example in the world.
Yes, I entirely agree about the “frugal mindset.” I started my blog with the intention of documenting how to live a year without buying anything new (The Compact) and soon found Katy’s blog and then yours (and also Stacey’s!) I didn’t know the term frugalista, and I didn’t know all these blogs existed, but I’ve found such great advice and inspiration from them. It actually makes me feel sorry for people who are thinking of spending less and cutting back as a deprivation.
Thanks Kristen for all your great posts, recipes, and inspiration.
The frugal mindset is key. You can want to save all the money in the world, but if you are tempted by the mall or don’t see the value in cooking great meals for the family, you won’t.
Sometimes the best things we can do for one another include setting examples and providing encouragement. Hope is one of the things that keeps us going from day to day, and examples and encouragement can offer hope to people that may be feeling hopeless about their debt, their income, or their financial prospects.
Also, it’s gratifying to get notes from people who thank you for your website and say that they were seriously thinking of giving up on their frugal lifestyle until they read your words of encouragement. When they tell you that what you share confirms that they are on the right track and they’ll stay the course, that’s very rewarding.
Clair
I’ve always felt like a frugal weirdo (and I was frugal and poor before it was cool!
) so finding a community of like-minded people online has been very comforting to me. There are no “yummy mummies” to deal with, just really great ideas and wonderful people who give me hope that it can be done.
You are so right, it is so easy to fall off the frugal wagon. I have all the volumes of the Tightwad Gazette and some of the suggestions are extreme frugality.
“…it can help you feel less alone and not as weird.”
Oh my- these words were like a breath of fresh air blowing over my weary frugal head!
I live with a SPENDER. As he is happily plowing through every penny he makes, I sometimes feel REALLY LONELY and very weird just talking to him!
I am exactly like Julia- I was frugal WAY before it was cool. And for years, my frugality was a tight lipped, secret I held close to the chest!
Thank you for the soothing comfort of virtual friends to share frugality with!
I always have to sort through my thoughts after reading The Tightwad Gazette. It’s easy to start feeling guilty for not shredding old potato chip bags into ribbon for decorating packages! (Yes, that’s an actual tip.) I think each of us has to come to our own point of balance between frugality and extreme-ness. But you’re right–the more frugal input we get, the more we are inspired in that direction!
Great post – nothing like positive reinforcement, especially for those of us whose significant other is not so frugally-inclined!
I am not new to the whole frugal way of life- it’s something I’ve always felt comfortable with and have lived this way since I had my first child in 1997. I enjoy reading other blogs (most of the one’s you mentioned are in my regular rotation) and learning/hearing about other people’s frugal lives. Having said that, I can’t abide Amy Dacyzn (or however you spell it) and her Tightwad Gazette. I first read her book many years ago- at least 10 years ago if I remember correctly. My impression then, and now, is that she is not frugal, she is cheap. There’s a difference. I remember thinking at the time that the way she treated her children was the worst aspect of her lessons in frugality. The one bit that horrified me the most was in one section she writes how no one is “allowed” to not like any type of food and if a child complains they don’t like something, they are given extra helpings which they are forced to then eat. It was barbaric in my opinion. To this day it bugs me when people hold her up to some high standard as the goddess of frugality.
Sarah…I don’t remember her giving her kids extra helpings. I know she has a more strict food policy than I do(here, we serve one thing and you can eat it or not, but you don’t get other options, whereas she made her children eat everything she made).
I do plan to reread the TG soon here, so I’ll keep an eye out for that.
I NEVER force my son to eat something he doesn’t want to. When I was a kid, I had to eat a plate of creamed tuna on toast before I was allowed to go see our neighbor’s horses. This was about 1972, and I can still taste that stuff and remember gagging on it. That’s also how eating disorders can start, being forced to eat when you’re not hungry and getting away from listening to your own body. So if my son balks at eating something, or gives up after a tiny bite, we drop it and he eats something else. As he gets older (almost
he does eat more and more things, but it’s happening naturally, instead of by force. It’s child abuse to force a kid to eat an extra serving of something they don’t like! I read the TG about 6 years ago so I don’t remember that part exactly either. Kristen, make sure you post about it if you find it.
That’s weird, it put a smiley face instead of an “8″, extra credit for style, I guess!
Hey and maybe I’m a vegetarian now because my parents forced me to eat so much meat when I was little. Blame the parents, I love it. My son can post about me in 35 years!…
Ohhh, I think if you type an 8 and then a parenthesis, it does a smiley!
I don’t ever force my kids to eat anything they don’t want to eat…I just don’t offer other options(I can see myself ending up as a short order cook for six people that way!). Mostly this just occurs at dinnertime, as at lunch and breakfast we have sort of a multiple choice thing going on(you can choose cereal or oatmeal or a bagel at breakfast, for example).
Most of the time mine choose to eat their dinner, and there’s not a lot of drama over it all, especially as they get older(everyone but the three-year old is pretty much on board now).
My children would tend to eat nothing but starchy carbs if we allowed them to eat whatever they want…they’d want to eat crackers instead of their fajitas, for example.
Anyways…this is what works for us. My children are happy and healthy, and I only have to cook one meal for all six of us. lol
I totally agree. Reading about frugality helps keep me on my path of low consumption. When you’re surrounded by consumerism it’s easy to stray. Thanks to all the frugality bloggers (like Kristen!) motivation is aplenty.
I am relatively new to this frugality thing. I grew up in a frugal household but once I started in the workforce earning pretty good money put that behind me. Over the past 6 months or so I’ve changed my ways completely – my husband is struggling with the frugal concept but I am hoping if I stick with it he will see it is a better way to live.
It is blogs like these that keep me on track.