Where are we going with Frugal Moms²? We’ve been back up for three months, and lately I feel like I’m bombarding people with recipes and garden stuff. That’s tons of fun, and I want to continue to have some of that. But it’s really not the primary focus here. Am I shooting for the moon, or for my feet? Some days it’s hard to tell.
I started Frugal Moms in 1998 to connect with other people who loved to save money and use those savings to build a better lives for themselves and their families. I got so tired of people’s eyes glazing over when I excitedly told them about the great deal I got at Goodwill, a yard sale, the grocery store, or how I was saving up for something important to me. They’d usually dismiss me with “Oh, I could never do that!” And then complain about expensive their life was.
They didn’t understand why I would want to spend so little on food or entertainment so I could pay cash for a vacation or something else that I really wanted. Why not just put it all on credit cards? Why bother with all that stuff?
There was this disconnect between their daily choices and their dreams, and they couldn’t see it. And I couldn’t seem to show them. They really just didn’t get it, but I knew there were people online that did. And I found them. We shared a lot and had great fun encouraging each other when the rest of the world thought we were nuts. In fact, I spent a little too much time online and had to leave for a while to save my marriage. (It failed any way).
That need to connect with other frugal people brought me back recently. Because unfortunately, most people still don’t get it! It perplexes me. We’ve had this long, deep recession; and I live in an area (an entire state, really) that’s in seriously financially distress. But money is a funny thing. It’s more than paper. It’s a symbol, and sometimes that symbol is tied up in who we think we are or who we want to be. It’s hard to separate the two sometimes. It’s hard to remember, in the words of Fight Club author Chuck Palahniuk:
“You are not your job, you’re not how much money you have in the bank. You are not the car you drive. You’re not the contents of your wallet…”
I understand where these people are. I’ve been one of them. Some of this stuff doesn’t come naturally, especially if no one ever taught them. A lot of the frugal things I know today had to be learned the hard way. I was raised in a house full of love, but never taught much about managing money. I didn’t know anything about balancing checkbooks, budgets, etc. Finances were something you just didn’t discuss. So I was clueless as I went out into the real world and made a lot of mistakes.
And guess what? After years of frugality, I still make them. Sometimes I forget to connect the dots and shoot myself in the foot. Sometimes life does that for me. Sometimes I forget to aim for the moon!
But if I can prevent others from making financial mistakes or help them recover from them, then I feel like I’m doing something worthwhile. If I can help them cut the things that aren’t as important in their lives so they can afford the things that are, then I REALLY feel like my time and energy are well spent here. And that’s the mission of Frugal Moms². A mission to the moon!
To CONNECT with other frugal moms, dads, families, people. Let’s share what we know. Our joys, our sorrows, our failures, our successes. What works, what doesn’t.
To INSPIRE people with ideas, articles, tools, that can help them live better for less while reaching their goals and dreams.
To EMPOWER people to make better choices for themselves and their families.
I love Dave Ramsey‘s saying:
“If you will live like no one else, later you can live like no one else.”
That’s what we’re all about here. We’re different. We know that. That’s ok. Let’s help each other move towards our hopes and dreams while building a better, more meaningful life using what we have. Together. Let’s all shoot for the moon.
Yours to the moon and back,
Kim 🙂
PS. Please comment below or email me through our Contact Us page and let me know what you’d like to see on Frugal Moms² and how we can help each other live better for less!
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