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Dieting and frugality are a lot alike. After all, when we diet, we eat less and when we live frugally, we live with less. With both, we abstain, we hold back, we do without, we make do. So they are alike, two peas, yes, in that pod called life. Right? Wrong?
I do think that dieting and frugality are much similar. But I'm working on considering both as 'delivering more' rather than 'consuming less.' When we diet, we eat less because we want more, not less, or put another way, we other things more than we want the satiation of food. We want more good health, more self-esteem, a longer life. When we live frugally, we want more of life within our means, we want more freedom from stuff, we want more savings, more security, more peace of mind.
For the past few days, I've been poking the pixels within a genre of blogs called the 'frugal blogs'. With the skyrocketing cost of food, more and more of their posts take on the subject of how to save money on food and groceries. First, a big thank you to always practical, ever thorough, completely thoughtful Kris from Cheap Healthy Good for so graciously introducing me to many of her fellow frugal bloggers.
At Smart Spending, guest blogger Trent Hamm draws a hard line between needs and wants, deciding that he needs only seven things to live, everything else is a choice.
"I believe that many of the personal-finance problems people face are due to confusion between wants and needs. Not long ago, I used to think there was a blurry area between wants and needs. I'd use that blurry area to justify some of my purchases -- cell phone usage, expensive pens and so on. Those things were "needed" in some way, so I would define them as needs and not think about them critically." ~ Smart Spending
Penelope Pince of Our Four Pence Worth stands strong, she can resist the temptation to splurge, even over long periods of time.
This isn't to say that she doesn't have wants, just that she controls them. "... there is no reason why an adult can’t learn to control his spending and live within his means if he truly wants to. Don’t get me wrong. I am human and I know how hard it can be to resist spending on things you want. For example, here is just a snippet of some of the things I have been coveting for a long time - some for years." ~ Our Four Pence Worth
The Digerati Life connects the dots between diet and frugality too, with lose weight while spending less on food and exercise. She has nine specific tips, all sensible, do-able. It's not necessary to break the bank to lose weight!
Do this, don't do that. So go many of the blogs dealing with consuming less. Jaime from Cheap Healthy Good shares the three rules she follows, the three she breaks.
Divine Caroline, Brie Cadman lists the 20 healthiest foods, all for under $1. Before clicking over, make your own list, how many are in your fridge and pantry now?
Get Rich Slowly has 15 tips for saving money at the supermarket. He's a fan of ditching the grocery cart and of not examining anything not on the list. He also advises us to walk or bike -- but not to save gas. Think, why would we do this?
MomAdvice shares some great tips for saving money on milk. If your family has a freezer, the answer to Got Milk? is yes, ma'am.
Frugal for Life ~ Compares Store Brands & Name Brands
Frugal Hacks ~ 10 Ways to Save on Fruits & Vegetables
YOUR TWO CENTS
Is there a blog that you rely on for frugal inspiration during these difficult times? or a post that caught your attention and made you think? Leave a link in your comment.
BlogHer food editor Alanna Kellogg has launched a new series called How to Save Money on Groceries including the oh-so-basic but rarely mentioned, "Eat Less".
