If you’re new to this whole being-responsible-with-your-money-thing, you may occasionally hit bumps in the road where you feel like all of your motivation is gone.
Heck, even seasoned frugal people sometimes feel like throwing in the towel (I often want to buy everything in the grocery store or order a pizza instead of cooking dinner!).
So, here’s a short and sweet list of ways to re-inspire yourself and keep heading down the right track.
1. Think about the future
If you only think about right now, you’re probably going to mismanage your money. Plan for the future, make financial goals and plans, and review them frequently.
If you remember that you’re trying to save up for a vacation next year, you might not order that pizza, or if you remember that you’re trying to pare down so you can quit your job and stay home, you might forgo that dress/pair of shoes/tool/movie ticket.
2. Hang out with frugal savers
I’ve said it before, but the power of positive peer pressure is amazing. If you can find someone who has a good attitude about saving money, hang out with them! It’ll help you not to feel all gloomy about saving and will help you not to feel alone.
If you’re surrounded by nothing but spenders in real life, read some frugal blogs! I’m a dyed-in-the-wool frugal girl, and I still find myself being inspired and encouraged by other money saving blogs.
3. Don’t deprive yourself of everything
Unless you’re in truly desperate straits, don’t take away every single bit of fun spending in your life. See if you can budget in a little bit of fun money, even if all you can manage is a $2 ice cream cone every week.
4. Don’t do everysinglefrugalactivitypossible
Again, unless it’s absolutely, positively necessary, don’t feel like you’ve got to employ every last frugal technique you read about.
If you absolutely hate painting, don’t guilt yourself into redoing Goodwill furniture.
If you don’t have time to make yogurt, don’t fret.
5. Remind yourself of overspending consequences
I’m all for being positive, but sometimes what we need is a good reality check.
If you find yourself wanting to run out and spend willy-nilly, think over the consequences of that (credit card debt, interest, delays in reaching savings goals, inability to pay bills).
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What would you add to this list?
Begoña
Friday 10th of June 2016
I'd say i do better if we have short term and Long term goals. For example, saving some money so i can buy a new dress forthe wedding we hace this summer while paying the mortage early. Ir keeps us motivated
jen b
Sunday 22nd of January 2012
I was amazed early in my frugal-baby-steps how many frugal ways are so environmentally friendly, but also time and sanity savers. We started recycling to use less garbage bags, and once we found out about all of the recyclable items we could put in the recycle bin instead, we cut waaaaay down on the trash we sent to the landfill, plus we only buy garbage bags a couple of times a year! Cloth diapers saved me so much time that I used to spend couponing for diaper deals, and stress of worrying about having enough diapers till the next deal. Making my own cleaning supplies saves me time again with looking for coupons/deals, plus I find the homemade cleaners very effective and way less irritating to my skin and nose, so cleaning isn't such a chore. And again, cloth diapers and making my own cleaners have environmental bonuses too, so a win-win-win!
Links I Like: September 7, 2011 | Life of Lugsy
Wednesday 7th of September 2011
[...] Five Tips for Beating Frugal Burnout at The Frugal Girl If you’re trying – as so many people are these days – to live a more frugal lifestyle, these reminders from one of my favorite frugal bloggers can help. We’re only human! [...]
Kristen @ Joyfullythriving
Saturday 27th of August 2011
I've been pondering this article over since I read it. Great tips, Kristen! While it's SO important to be encouraged by other frugal friends and bloggers, I'd also say that to avoid burnout, you can't compare your deals to everyone else's. It gives us a goal but we should be proud of our deals and use others as an encouragement but not a discouragement that we couldn't do any better. It's great to be frugal but sometimes we all hit those burnout moments. Thanks for encouraging me in this journey!
Jen
Monday 22nd of August 2011
Great tips! I, myself, am a frugal baby. Part of my get-your-act-together plan is to spend more time with frugal peeps. I don't know many in the real world so I have become a frugal blog stalker. Did I just say that out loud?
You have a fantastic blog and I could spend hours pouring over it. But, I won't. Because if I don't get my booty back to work I could end up unemployed and the whole "no paycheck thing" might just interfere with my plan. Such a catch 22.