When I first started Family Friendly Frugality, I knew I wanted to approach frugal living from a very relaxed and welcoming mindset. I wanted to create a blog about frugal living that didn’t leave people feeling overwhelmed or less than when they walked away.
The main complaint I hear about saving money nowadays is that it is too darn overwhelming to know where to begin. If you have $20,000 in credit card debt, is clipping a few coupons realistically going to make much of an impact to your bottom line? If you are drowning in student loans and house payments, is living within your means even possible?
The answer to all of the above is yes. While the small things you do might not add up to financial freedom, they do make a big difference. Some of them will chip away at your debt or create more wiggle room in a tight budget. Some of them will simply give you more confidence and a self esteem boost, proving to yourself that you can save money!
So I am starting a Make a Change Monday series where I will simply give you one task to work on for the week. You might already be doing it…so you get to skip that week! If not though, try it out and see if it makes a difference! I’ll keep them small manageable changes that don’t require a lot of effort or learning the drugstore game 
This week’s Make A Change Task:
If you save money somewhere…actually SAVE it.
We are all guilty of saying, “I went to the grocery store and saved $30!”
The truth is, if you didn’t put that money into savings…did you actually save $30? Not if you spent it elsewhere.
This week…actually SAVE money.
If you save $10 at the grocery store, come home and transfer those funds to your savings account. If you knock $10 off your cable bill by calling and getting a lower rate, move that $10 to your savings account. Put the money you save into your savings and watch it grow!
This is one I’ll be working on as well. Think how much money you could actually SAVE every year if you threw your savings into an interest bearing checking account!
Great idea! I’m going to start thinking this way; during those times when I actually do spend less than hubby has allotted (we are frugal, but we also have a large family). Thanks for this tip!
No problem! I actually need to be doing this more myself! It was a good reminder for me.
I would love to be able to do that but anything I save goes into paying my bills. Maybe when I get my blog to where I am making a few dollars then I can save some money. I guess I can dream a bit anyway.
I absolutely know where you are coming from! It can be tough when what you budget is what you can afford and what you can get your bills down to. Leaves very little wiggle room. Soon though!
Stick with the blog, mine has done great things for me! 😉
Great idea! Everyone always says they save money, but do they actually SAVE money.
Thanks Heather! Tweeted & Stumbled!
It’s definitely something to think about, isn’t it!?
I’ve been feeling guilty about this for awhile. Its easy to say…oh yea I save this much. and then not actually have that much on hand. Thank you for sharing this 🙂