Welcome to the ABCs of Savings! Each day we’ll be discussing another money saving topic, each beginning with a different letter of the alphabet. Be sure to subscribe via RSS or email so you don’t miss any steps along the way. You can read the full alphabet of posts here (updated as they are posted).
Y: Yes
If you’ve been trying to trim your budget, you may find yourself saying NO to things that don’t fit the budget. Saying no is the grown-up thing to do when you are on a money-saving mission. But today I wanted to talk a little bit about saying YES.
One of the best things about working to trim our family’s grocery and personal care budget has been freeing up money to do other things. Because we’re being frugal in some areas, we can splurge in others. We can save on the things we have to buy and have money left over for the things we want to buy.
Here’s my favorite example of this. It never fails… My brother always calls me when I’m driving through the car wash. The timing is hilarious. Last time, he made a comment that exemplifies my YES theory. He said, “What? You? Frugal Girl? You’re paying to go through the expensive car wash?” My answer was simple. We save money on some things and choose to say yes to spending money on other things… like the drive-through car wash. I suppose I could get out and spray off our truck myself. I could even grab a bucket and wash it at home in the summertime. (Though I’m pretty sure I’m not tall enough to reach the top of it!) But the ease of driving through the car wash is something we say YES to.
You might say YES to things like vacations. I know some people who take the money they save at the grocery store each week and sock it away in a vacation fund. Once they save up enough, they take their trip and pay cash for it. What a fun way to make your money-saving efforts pay off!
Saying yes can require some planning and some sacrifice in other areas. But I think that it’s important to say yes to yourself sometimes (if you are able). Hopefully it will make saying no to yourself a little easier.