Personal finance, healthy living, and money saving tips for everyday life, with a few thoughts thrown in too!

Life is full of change.

Change Can Be On A Grand Scale

This happened to me when I planned on being a hugely successful career-woman, but ended up turning to mush when my oldest child was born.  Once I held my son for the first time, work didn’t matter anymore.  I just wanted to spend time with him, and not with a computer.  It took some time, but we eventually saved enough money so that we could live off of just one income and I could stay home with the kids.  When I was a student, I would have never predicted that I would eventually become a stay-at-home mom, but that is exactly what I was for many years.  (I now just work part time from home.)  I now just look back at my ‘evolution’ and just laugh.    I am grateful I am a parent for many reasons, but one thing that is interesting is that I got to see a side of me that I didn’t even know existed.

Change Can Also Be On A Small Scale

An example of this is my current mindset with saving and spending.

Life has been crazy this year for a variety of reasons.  Things I used to worry about like saving the absolute most I could at the grocery store have slid way to the bottom of my list of concerns.  Instead, I just want my family to eat.  We have eaten out way too much this year, but it was almost a matter of necessity.  Things have settled down, but my need to scrimp and save as much as I can at the store has decreased dramatically.  Instead, I am more focused on buying the foods I want my family to eat, even if the items are not on sale.  Yes, putting full-price things in the grocery cart still makes me cringe somewhat, but my attitude toward money has relaxed a little.

Overall, I am still a very frugal person at heart, and I can almost guarantee that I will rarely spend full price on clothes or most other items, unless I am completely desperate.  (Like I probably will be when I need to find a dress for my son’s graduation.)   Even though I am spending a little more at the grocery store, buying full priced food at the grocery is still probably cheaper and healthier than if our family of five ate out.  (That is the justification I use when shopping now.)

The Overall Lesson

Sometimes, you just gotta go with the flow.    If you can no longer keep up with what you were doing previously, don’t beat yourself up about it.  Life is busy and isn’t always easy, and sometimes, you just have to do what you can to get by.  Don’t make things harder by being frustrated or disappointed in yourself.  Do the best you can and move on!

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