Master Your Frugal Lifestyle

06.06.2017 |

Episode #9 of the course Master your money by Jenn Schilling

 

Welcome to Lesson 9! A financially responsible lifestyle does not have to be a cheap lifestyle. Frugal is not the same as cheap, and you can maintain the lifestyle you want while still saving money.

In Lesson 6, I shared several money saving tips, and I’m going to share a couple more with you today as we talk about how to treat yourself while still saving money. One thing that certainly helps when trying to live more frugally is to surround yourself with like-minded people. Share what you’ve been learning through this course, and get a group of friends together where you can all work on taking control of your money.

Sticking to a budget doesn’t mean that you can’t have fun or go out with friends. All you have to do is make sure that those expenses have a place in your budget. To do this, consider adding a flex-spending component to your budget. For example, you could allocate $20 a week to spend on whatever you want. This portion of your budget is still included when you total up your monthly expenses, but it’s not fixed to a certain category such as food or shopping.

There are also ways to do fun, luxury activities at home. For example, if you love going to the spa, you can host a spa night at home with friends. Light candles, make fruit water, and put on soothing music to set the atmosphere. Then buy beauty products from the store or make your own at home—there are tons of “recipes” online for face masks, hair masks, lotions, etc. that you can make yourself. You’ll save a ton of money compared to going to a fancy spa, and if you make your own products, you will learn something too! If you love meeting friends for tea or coffee, you can make lattes at home or get a selection of teas on your next grocery store trip. Find a coffee shop playlist online and invite your friends over. An important part of these activities is spending time with friends, which you can easily do on a budget!

Managing your money well doesn’t mean you have to sit at home alone doing nothing. It means setting yourself up for success by seriously sticking to your budgets and allocating money to the activities you enjoy while also saving for your future and making smart choices when spending your hard-earned cash.

Tomorrow is our last lesson. We’ll wrap things up and talk about how to maintain your new money mastery. See you then!

 

Recommended book

Your Money or Your Life: 9 Steps to Transforming Your Relationship with Money and Achieving Financial Independence by Vicki Robin, Joe Dominguez, Monique Tilford

 

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