Balancing Money
Let’s face it, when you are a kid, pay day is only on birthdays and holidays. And if your a January baby like me, this means you gotta stretch those dollars out through the whole year and more importantly only buy what you truly want. Just ask Dad about the many times I walked around a store with things I wanted to purchase listening to the voice in my head who kept asking “Do you really need this?” Only to find me walking out of a store with nothing. For the record, Marie does this too.
Flash forward to now. I can say I have a good handle on my finances. I know when all my bills are due, I never had a late payment as of yet and I still only buy things if I really need or want them. But, you can be sure that I am researching and comparing prices before I do.
I guess you could call me FRUGAL
In my house, this was always a negative, but I realize now that its because frugal seems to be synonymous with CHEAP
But let me tell you . . . It’s not!
From what I learned, a frugal person is someone who is able to take care of their needs and wants while still being able to save money. This means they pay their bills, get what they want for the least expensive price buying quality items and are still are able to live their lives and do what they want to do. Frugal people are usually more healthy because they cook from scratch more often then not 
A cheap person is someone who only cares about getting something for the
lowest price possible without any affinity to quality or how it will affect their lives. Cheap people only have Money on the mind.
Ok, now that this is cleared up, I would like to tell you that I have taken a pretty big interest in saving money. I have learned a lot of things and I am hoping to learn even more.
I don’t have a lot of money by any means, but I have been comfy in the fact that I have our monthly finances ready to go and have a good routine down. But, that is about to change, so I would like to introduce . . . .
Balancing Money Series
The price of going and commuting to NYC is insane! But I am convinced that there is a way to get through it, be able to live my life AND save enough to make a good dent in my student loan at the end of the year.
What better way to document than to make it a series on my blog! I will share tips, my monthly contributions to my “balancing money account” and my struggles and challenges with it all. I will post more details soon. I hope you will join me 
Have you ever been in a situation where you had to save money? What is your best tip for managing it all?
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10 Responses to Balancing Money
Oooh YAY!
I’m terrible when it comes to money, I pretty much have a “if I have it spend it” mentality. I pay all of my bills on time, I just never saved any money.
When my husband and I were debating on buying his dad’s house we started acting like we had that mortgage and managed to save a nice chunk of money each month.
I think my biggest tip would be to cook at home, something I need to get back into.
I’m looking forward for this series!
Glad your excited to read!
I am going to heavily rely on cooking at home. This totally works out in my favor though . . . going to a culinary school and all
Im excited to come up with recipes from what I learn.
Oh Oh Oh!
I am such a horrible home taught cook. If you have time (and aren’t completely burnt out from cooking) could you do some sort of basic cooking posts?
HELL YEAH!
I’d love to
I’m always spending money! The biggest thing I do to tell me is use cash for everyday things. I take out the cash I need for groceries,gas, and entertainment at the beginning of each week.
When I’m out, I’m done!
Oh absolutley!
I am a cash girl through and through. Doesn’t it just hurt more to give it up? Im sure you have some other great tips as you are in school too! Feel free to contribute, Id love to hear from you
I’m with you. I actually make a hobby of being frugal and I have a lot of fun doing it.
I think the most important thing about being frugal is making your dollar work for you. Don’t buy lots of cheap things you don’t need because they’re cheap, buy a few quality things you do need. Ask yourself “Why” before each and every purchase. I’m excited to read this series!
And I love being a June baby, because Christmas and my birthday are spaced perfectly
Yay! another frugalista
me = jealous of your birth date.
By the time mine comes around, everyone is partied out and BROKE! oh well
Hey, I just found your blog this morning. I hit financial rock bottom earlier this year when I was living rent free with friends and still managed to overdraft my account (not so bad compared to other people, but bad enough to get my attention.)
I’ve been really good at making a budget and sticking to it with the help of mint.com. The biggest thing for me, was all the helpful advice from JD Roth’s blog, getrichslowly.org. Trust me, being frugal is not a bad thing, and it’s nice to see lots of other people who feel this way.
Welcome to my blog
I must check out that site you suggested! I like the simple dollar, squawk fox, and a few other ones. I’m glad you think it’s ok to be frugal, some people view it so negatively.