Hmm add value to me...I am a mother, no one will pay me to be a better mother, though it is a goal of mine.
No amount of reading, classes, fancy degrees or any of that will turn my meager salary (umm zero) any larger....on the other hand by wearing a sweater in winter (hello, why would I pass up the oportunity for wearing the pretty sweater!) will help make sure I can travel a bit. Cooking from scratch fills two needs, healthier in general, and cheaper, so I can cook totally from scratch most nights, and afford to eat out a few others. Any frugal practice I hae, I find simple, and no hardship, I am rich enough not to take up any that are hard to me
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I often think how frugality managed to get a bad name..partly due to some oddballs (who hasn't heard of the woman spending hours collecting tons of junk, and refusing to toss an old shirt no matter how many holes it had?), but also partly due to some simple misconceptions. Just because you pass up a treat doesn't mean you are suffering, and in many ways it is good for you health wise. Priorities, even if I had the cash to waste, I would still make many of the choices I do now.
Every one has to look at the choices they make, I have a food bill of 500 a month, could I go lower with better frugality? sure, but I don't want to, it is a price I am comfortable with. Frugality doesn't mean deprivation (come on do you really think people in third world contries get candybars every month much less every year? you are spoiled, and so am I admit it, enjoy it, and accept when it isn't practical) Now back when I had a CC bill I did go lower, quite a bit lower, and now, I don't have to, so I don't. Oh I could join the ranks of wealth builders and reduce the food so I could invest...but well to me, having the food I want is worth it.