Trimming The Fat

Ever hear the statement "Everything good to you is not always good for you"?
Or what about "All things are lawful for me; but not all things are advantageous"?

With the economy in it's current condition many households are finding themselves cutting back, and if they haven't done it yet, they will. My husband and I have been in the process of cutting back for about a year now, but I'll have to admit I don't think we've done a good job of it. Why? Well for the very fact that the proof is in the pudding.

We started out OK but fell back into the comfort of some bad habits. I came to the conclusion that I just have to TRIM THE FAT. That is the reality of things. No matter how much I think I deserve that pair of shoes, that dinner at a swanky restaurant or that delightful, almost sinful pick me up at Starbucks...uh, well , hmm, scratch that last one. A girl's gotta hold on to her sanity somehow. OK, I digress. But you get the point. I gotta get on a budget, better yet, make good use of the program I already own (YNAB).

I got out my steak knives & I about to start trimmin'! Doesn't mean I'm going to get rid of everything, & stop having fun. It just means that everything is getting a true evaluation of what is really necessary. I.e., how many cable channels do I really need? Do I have to use these many cell phone minutes when I currently have a land line? Can I make better choices when it comes to driving around town considering the cost of gas? Eating out should be a nice treat, not a necessity because of my lack of planning. And don't forget about the coupons. Basically, I'm asking myself and my husband "is it really that serious?"

I firmly believe that more money is not always the answer to financial woes. So many times it is just more discipline. With the proper planning for the use of our money we can still achieve our goals along with receiving some of our wants. Needless to say, I will definitely be making use of the information from the experts I find on the Internet for better ways to be fabulously frugal, via some of the networks I'm apart of. As I begin this journey (again) I will be sure to post my fabulously frugal finds for you to try out as well. So that's whats on my mind today. What about you? Do you need to trim the fat too?....