The Reluctant Cheapskate

The word budget isn't a bad word.  It's telling your money what to do, instead of your money telling you what to do.

If I had heard those words two years ago they probably wouldn't have meant the same thing to me then that they do now. The title of this post is really the inspiration behind my entire blog.  I'm a Cheap Mama because I have to be, not because I want to be.  I think most of us fall into that category although I know there are the few who enjoy washing and reusing ziploc baggies for the thrill of saving money.  However, my reasons for being a Cheap Mama have nothing to do with Cheap thrills and everything to do with striving to live within our means while doing it as chic as possible.  I don't like living within a budget - who does?  But when I heard the quote above I realized that the word "budget" really isn't as scary as I had made it out to be.  We all have a budget, right?  Some may have a bigger budget than others but unless you are independently wealthy there is a finite amount of money to cover expenses each month and those of us who are in charge of making sure that there's not more month than money are given a big job of figuring out how and where to spend that hard earned money.

That's why I began this blog and why I read other blogs like mine.  I love finding other ideas on how to live a fabulous, frugal life.  I really try to make my blog posts worth the time and effort by giving ideas on how I have found a way to be a Cheap Mama in the year that I have spent learning to whittle down our expenses.  To give you an idea of why I had to become a Cheap Mama, when I was working I was making almost the same amount that my husband makes now.  So, when I quit we basically took a 45% household pay cut!  We kept the same house, had the same monthly bills and still had to feed and clothe the children.  Needless to say I knew things had to change and I put myself in charge of figuring out just how much we could squeeze out of our new monthly budget.

This blog is what I have learned from my own experiences and from other sources such as books and blogs and I hope that it's at least somewhat helpful to those of you who take time out of your day to visit me!  I look forward to sharing some of those sources in future posts because they have been a tremendous help to me.  In the meantime, if you find yourself reading this post please realize that you are not alone in striving to manage your finances!  We all have to do and hopefully we can all share ideas and ways in which to live a chic, cheap life!