Photo by: Tax Credits
(This is the first post of the Frugal Hippie series. Read part 2, part 3, and part 4 here.)
When we made the decision to get out of debt a few years ago, I thought I’d just be cutting a few things out of my budget, that we’d work a little harder to make more money and then we’d be out of debt. Ha!
Instead, it led me down path that I never would have imagined. As soon as I discovered that going more green would help us save money, I kind of fell down the rabbit hole, going from green to crunchy to frugal hippie.
We stopped buying disposable items, bought food in bulk and started cooking it all from scratch. I learned alternative healing methods and began using prevention instead of trying to cure existing illnesses. I even had two babies at home. (I do, however, still shave my armpits).
And it all started by making out budget a little more crunchy.
If you been thinking about making your budget (and lifestyle) more crunchy, allow me to give you a little push closer to the rabbit hole with my top 10 reasons for making your budget more crunchy.
1. Less Stress
Hands down, the biggest source of stress in my life has been money. And I’m not alone. Wellness is impossible if you’re always stressed out.
2. More Giving
My husband and I get kind of giddy about giving. By creating a budget we could stick to, we were able to make giving a priority – and even increase it over time as we paid off debts.
3. Freedom
Now that we’re debt-free, we still live a pretty frugal lifestyle. Why? Because it gives us freedom. Knowing that we don’t need much money to live on gives us a lot more options in regards to travel, work and where we live.
4. Live Simply
If living more simply is something you’d like to do, but you’re not quite sure how, start with your budget. By knowing exactly where your money is going, you’ll be able to see what you need to cut out to simplify your life.
5. Debt Sucks
Debt is bondage. Period. It wasn’t until we made our debt escape plan that I was able to quit my job and stay home with my kids. Just being able to do that helped me to stick to my budget when I wanted to stray.
6. More Peace
It’s hard to feel peaceful when you feel out of control with your finances. Before I heard of Dave Ramsey, I didn’t think that the words financial and peace went together. But they can. It just takes some planning, discipline and action.
7. Better Marriage
Ian and I used to fight about money a lot. And if it wasn’t about money specifically, the root cause was money. Our marriage has improved dramatically since we’ve changed our financial ways.
8. More Time
If you’re taking control of your budget to get out of debt, you might have less time for a while as you work hard to get out. But once you do, you’ll have a lot more freedom. Which for us, means less time spent working (and worrying) and more time spent doing things we enjoy as a family.
9. Less Footprint
I didn’t realize how negatively our family was impacting the environment until we took control of our budget. Part of lowering our expenses meant ditching disposables, making my own … everything and doing what we could to lower utilities. Since creating a budget our family produces much less garbage than it used to. We also drive less, eat less meat and buy more local, in-season food.
10. Better Health
When I realized how much we were spending on doctors and prescriptions, I began looking into alternative remedies and prevention. Since then, we’ve become much more healthy, eat better and I even earn extra money by sharing what I’ve learned with others.
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