Even my best financial intentions often become important life lessons. Here are four examples of frugal living mistakes I made and what I learned from making them.
Not Budgeting for Every Single Dollar
When I started budgeting, I would ignore things that cost a few dollars here or there. It didn’t seem like a big deal at the time. But by the end of the month, I was utterly confused by what was going on with my accounts. Where did the money go? Why weren’t things balancing out?
I fixed this by budgeting down to the cent. Never again would a receipt get by me. I used a budgeting platform, built it into my daily routine, and the confusion never came back.
Setting Murky Financial Goals
It’s good to have financial goals. It’s even better to have extremely specific ones. “Make more money” sounds good on paper. But what I didn’t realize was that this was many smaller goals, and the idea of “just go do that” overwhelmed and paralyzed me into inaction.
Instead, I started getting overly granular with a goal, asking myself the most important question: how? How am I going to make more money? What amount should I aim for? What do I need to accomplish to ensure this happens? I broke down my goals into smaller, actionable steps and tracked my progress regularly. This approach transformed my financial aspirations from murky wishes into concrete plans, and I found it easier to hold myself accountable when I knew what I was actually aiming for.
Forgetting To Evaluate My Habits
I used to have a “set it and forget it” approach to my frugal living habits. But that prevented me from scrutinizing them to see how well they were serving me. It led to me spending weeks or even months on habits that I didn’t like, didn’t work for me, or both.
I started conducting monthly evaluations of my spending habits. This involved reviewing my budget, analyzing my purchases, and reflecting on whether my spending in certain categories still made sense. I became more mindful of my attempts at frugality, too, and learned that not everything was worth the effort.
Buying the Cheapest Thing
It made sense: if you want to save money, you buy the least expensive thing. This was a huge mistake that more often than not backfired. I found myself purchasing low-quality items that broke easily or required replacement sooner than expected.
I fixed this by prioritizing quality over price. I started researching products and reading customer reviews. Yes, I spent more up front. But I’m saving so much in both money and headaches by keeping things for a few years rather than a few months. It also surprisingly had me questioning whether or not I needed to spend the money at all, as doing the research often revealed to me that certain things just weren’t worth it, no matter how you slice it.
