Pinching Pennies vs. Little Luxuries - The Epic Throwdown!

So obviously a lot of what we're focused on these days has to do with money - where it's gone, where it is going now, where it will be headed next, and all those other petty, boring details. And obviously, we're very invested (haha, money pun!) in using our money wisely. However, this leads (as it always does) to the age old question:

How do we save as much money as possible while making sure that we don't end up depriving ourselves to the point of ending up in the insane asylum? At what point does it shift from being wise financial planning to sacrificing the quality of life we have in the here and now?

We've done this dance before (though usually out of necessity. If you have no money in the bank, you don't have the option to treat yourself to anything!) and as I've already admitted, I'm still working on finding the balance between the two extremes. But I think it's really important to acknowledge that what you really need to do is find the balance that works for you.


Pinching Pennies - Sustainability
I read on someone else's blog a while back (and I can't remember whose it was! Eeek! Someone email me if you find the article so I can give credit where it is due!) that being frugal isn't a sprint, it's a marathon. And I think that's brilliant. It's like dieting - sure, you can do some crazy diet where you nothing but water and one kind of fruit for two weeks (I just made that up, but it sounds like something that people would do, right?) and yeah, you'd lose a few pounds initially, but where does that get you? You'll end up craving something else so insanely that before you know it'll, you'll go bonkers and eat everything in your kitchen, and end up gaining it all back PLUS some extra (just to teach you a lesson!) Saving pennies by cutting down on everything we do or buy might help in the short term, but eventually, it's bound to backfire.

Bottom line: You have to view this kind of lifestyle change realistically, which means that you need to set goals that are reasonable for you. A lot of people who blog about being frugal have made some very drastic changes to their lives, and I applaud them, but those aren't things that would work for J and I. If you can't commit to it long-term, then quit kidding yourself.


Little Luxuries - What Makes Life Worth Living
What I haven't read much about on anybody's blog is how to be frugal while still remembering to treat yourself well and indulge (though sparingly) on the little things that are important to you. I don't mind making my lunch each day, but I tend to spend more money than J on things like hair products and makeup (which certainly doesn't mean I spend much, it just means that J spends almost nothing on those things!) Being able to go out to lunch with his coworkers is important to J, though, and he doesn't care to spend money on foundation and mascara ;) So in those respects, we have opposite luxuries that we certainly could cut out of our budget entirely (there are times that we have done so, and it would be easy enough to do again, if it became absolutely necessary) but if you cut out all of your little luxuries, then what is the point of your life each day?

Any time we end up identifying something that we really don't want to cut out of our lives (which we usually do on accident and after the fact!) the question is then simply an issue of how to cut down the cost as much as possible. Except for a few things that I refuse to scrimp on (because a lot of times, you do get what you pay for! That's just one more balancing act to try to figure out) I buy super cheap makeup and hair products, and J goes to pretty cheap places for lunch (he might also be phasing out some of his lunches each week, but that is a different post!)

This also ties into my above point about sustainability, because if you cut out EVERYTHING in your day to day life that wasn't 100% necessary, trust me, at some point you'd have a mental break and go on a spending rampage :) Then you're miserable (because that's what led to the mental break in the first place), you just spent the money you were supposed to be saving, and now you probably feel really guilty, also.

Bottom Line: Everybody has those little treats that makes themselves feel special and happy (J enjoys Baskin-Robbins ice cream, I enjoy a bottle of shampoo or a new thing to make the toilet water blue!) and if you can find a way to keep it reasonable, isn't it better just to budget yourself a little bit of "fun money" to play with, rather than waiting until you feel so bitter and angry at your budget that you throw it out the window?



The Balancing Act
So we're still working on finding the happy medium between those two extremes :) We're doing a lot of experimenting right now on a number of fronts (food and personal care, in particular!) which I've been photographing, so I have some fun future posts planned out ;) Keep your eyes peeled for those (because they're bound to be entertaining!) and if you have any suggestions for ways to cut costs without cutting out everything, I'd love to hear them!


* Update 3/20/10 *
Apparently, I started a trend in the discussion of this topic! Here are some other great posts on the same topic.
 The Balance Between Splurger and Miser 
The Balanced Money Formula