Success in the Frugal Journey

Courage does not always roar. Sometimes it is a quiet voice at the end of the day, saying.."I will try again tomorrow."
~Mary Anne Radmacher

I’ve been looking forward to this day and dreading this day.

I look forward to today because I realize that I have finally feel that I know how to ride my figurative bike without training wheels. When I first started Frugal for Life, back in 2004, there were only a handful of frugal living sites and about the same amount of personal finance sites. There wasn’t much online in layperson information for someone wanting to live on less and make the most of their dollar - I made a site that I wanted to read to fill the void I couldn’t find.

Putting together the site was a learning experience from learning HTML coding and how to make some money from advertising to learning about what frugal living means to me and what I find of value through that process.

Over the last 6 plus years I have learned quite a lot from the other personal finance and frugal living sites that have sprouted up along the internet highway. I have been challenged by readers to question what I find of value, ethical dilemmas and been wonderfully supported along this frugal journey. It’s the readers I am most grateful for really, your opinion counted and I read each comment!

The reason I have dreaded this day is because I’m not the type of person to give long goodbyes. I usually just keep it short and figure I will see you around again later.

However, it is my time to say move on to other concerns. You might say I have a short attention span or that frugal living will never not be a concern for me; and you would be correct. Like I said above, I’ve come to a place where I no longer need the training wheels of the site to assist me on my journey and now it is time to move on down the road and venture into other areas of my life that need more attention.

There are five ideas that I will always keep in the back of my mind that I feel are at the heart of frugal living.

1. Buy Quality - Get the most for your dollar and the most out of your dollar. Make it last and use it multiple ways.
2. Do Research - Read labels, test results, consumer opinion and when I can, keep it simple.
3. Time = Money - What amount of time at work am I putting in to buy or keep this item. Is the money saved worth the time invested.
4. Defer Gratification - Use the 24 hour decision window, pop open my creative eye for alternatives to purchases
5. Live Less - Live under my salary, not at my salary.

Now I know what to do in most situations, it has become second nature, I am living the life that I write about and it isn’t anything much to write home about. At the very least nothing that 6 people aren’t already writing about in their own unique ways.

Speaking of what other people write, I’ll still pop up every now and again in the comments to speak my mind on something. So we will probably see each other around the personal finance and frugal blogosphere. I even gave one final interview over at creditcardassist.com in their Best of the Best Blogger series.

Goodbye and see ya around!

flickr/cc- Klearchos Kapoutsis 

Goodbyes are not forever.
Goodbyes are not the end.
They simply mean I'll miss you
Until we meet again!
~Author Unknown