I totally think all my efforts toward saving money are worth it. Every penny that I can put into my kids college funds now will be worth more in the future.

And even though we are kind of new to many of these ideas...we have always been more frugal than most of our friends.

For example, I explicitly told DH when we got engaged to not spend more than $1000 on my engagement ring. I know people who spent over $5K on theirs and are still to this day not in their own homes. Because of the money we saved on my engagement ring and all the money we saved on our wedding (we spent a total of $15K on the whole wedding PLUS our weeklong honeymoon in Cancun) we were able to purchase our first home in a upper middle class neighborhood only 1 year after we got married. Most of our friends weren't able to get into their own homes until 5+ years into their marriage and we all make about the same income.

Another good thing that came from us being more frugal was being able to pay for the adoption fees for our son. Instead of being able to pay for the fees (a total of $20K) over an average 2 year waiting period, our son was placed with us within 7 months of us starting the process. THankfully we had most of the money already saved up and were able to pay for everything the day he was placed with us.

And now that we have two kids, we are definitely seeing the benefits of being even more frugal. We have only 1 credit card that we pay off each month. Most of our friends have 5+ cards that they have large balances on. We don't have the added stress of all that. I have had friends come crying to me about this because of the stress of it all. If they have an emergency, they have no funds and on top of it their credit cards are maxed out so they have no credit to help tide them over.

We also are fortunate enough to have bought low and sold high with our first home. So we took half of that money and invested in a rental home in Austin and took the other half and bought a small but comfy home here in San Diego.

Most of our friends think we are "rich" too. So they were all pretty shocked when I mentioned to them that I started seriously couponing about 6 months ago and I really started shopping at thrift stores around the same time.

They see that we have two nice homes, two nice but really expensive cars, two kids, take one week long family vacation a year, etc. and wonder how we do it.

Before we used to live like them....kind of by the seat of our pants. But in the last 6 months we have REALLY buckled down with our spending. After bills and grocerys are taken care of, DH and I each get $75 a month for free spending. And that includes any meals out that we do as a family, any gifts exchanged between DH and I through the year, and any non-necessity items that we want to get. We even split the bill on the rare opportunity for us to have a date night. He pays for dinner and I pay for the movie tickets.

It's not always fun to be frugal and it takes a lot of work, but there are definitely a lot of benefits to it.

You're right; sometimes it does seem like a job and like most jobs, burn-out can happen. That's when you need to take a breather. Maybe treat yourself to something so you feel like your efforts are being rewarded? Remember, it's not about hoarding money. Even Dave Ramsey says to make sure to give yourself a cushion because if it's you're too strict, you'll wind up hating it all.

I guess the most frustrating part for me is the typical thing that seems to happen - just when things are going well, Murphy comes calling. All the sudden, the car breaks down, medical bills come in, unexpected events. This is where all the saving and being frugal pays off.

Keep at it, but remember to be kind to yourself and your family.

i would say it has paid off for the fact that we have had to take a hard look at how we were spending our money and it was not wise.. by staying home we spend less and are able now to start digging out of the hole we created with our reckless spending habits... sure sometimes its frustrating but in the end there is the larger picture and we just have to keep reminding ourselves of that.

What i've done so far, i really think it has been worthwhile! ie, Yesterday i went to the grocery store and saved a bunch of money with coupons, and im going to start potty training my 20mo. old. He's totally ready, i think, and that will also save us $$$ on diapers.

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100%!

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i definitely think that my efforts pay off. coming from welfare to work, i can honestly say that all throughout my stay on welfare, my home was always just as nicely furnished, if not nicer, than someone who worked 40 hours. if i didn't tell people, they would have never knew where i came from.

my efforts have also been worth it because i cut the work for OTHERS who are where i have been--i know how hard it is to support a family on one income, or a welfare income, or as a single parent. now i teach "money savings" classes to the local new mothers program for the welfare division in my city. i do it totally on a volunteer basis, and am very pleased to say that the classes often go well beyond the two hour allotted time frame. i am hoping to eventually be able to teach in other venues as well. while i don't know eevrything there is to know about frugality, what knowledge i do have has helped many people in my life.

not only that, but now that i am back to being unemployed, the tips will definitely come in handy. one of my mottos is, "my time is worth money, so every coupon i clip, every sale i take my time to go to, every hour i spend looking for sales, is turning my time into money that i can use for my family."

so it is definitely worth it! the only time it's NOT worth it is when i get into the habit of buying just because i have a coupon lol.

my wedding ring didn't cost a thing--it was a ring passed down to my husband from his aunt before she died. when we have our official wedding ceremony (it will be our first wedding since we weren't afforded one when we got married), i'll replace this ring with a bigger one, but i have to admit, while the ring will be new, i do not want it to cost more than 500.00. if i had my grandmothers sterling band, i would use that as my wedding ring and save the 500.00! but we are having trouble locating it. if it's meant to be used, it will come around for the wedding!

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mom, wife, doctor, lawyer, veternarian, friend, sibling, CEO, banker, advisor, chauffer, maid, interior decorator, artist, author, social worker, entertainer, video gamer, gymnast, gardener, scientist, genius, psychologist, psychic, sidekick, and superhero...all rolled into one!

Yes we can! Yes we did! I'm ALWAYS one of the many Mommas for Obama! Congratulations Mr. President!

my small business is up--and running! and now, it has a chance!

i AGREE with this! to me, being frugal can be getting a cheaper mani or pedi than the most expensive on the salon list, or changing the salon you go to if there is a cheaper one (of course make sure the quality is still good). being frugal does NOT always mean taking the cheapest, or making it harder for yourself.

for instance, i read about many moms who reuse/cut dryer sheets. to me, that's just not worth it. instead i'll just buy the fabric softner that's on sale versus the one that's not, or use the sheets that i have coupons for. there's no way i'd find it worth it to reuse or cut dryer sheets. actually, that can be a waste of time for me and the savings is not worth the effort, which is NOT frugal!

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mom, wife, doctor, lawyer, veternarian, friend, sibling, CEO, banker, advisor, chauffer, maid, interior decorator, artist, author, social worker, entertainer, video gamer, gymnast, gardener, scientist, genius, psychologist, psychic, sidekick, and superhero...all rolled into one!

Yes we can! Yes we did! I'm ALWAYS one of the many Mommas for Obama! Congratulations Mr. President!

my small business is up--and running! and now, it has a chance!