Introduction

Welcome to Frugal Up, where you can follow one couple’s journey from a consumeristic lifestyle to frugality, and eventual financial independence. In writing this it’s our hope that our readers will gain inspiration to build their own financially independent lifestyle. That said let me introduce our definitions of financial independence and frugality. 

Financial Independence to us is being able to meet all our financial responsibilities each month and have a growing savings without concern for employment. To clarify that we believe that some debt is necessary in the modern world, but that it should be controlled and used in ways that benefit the user long term. For instance, using a credit card to buy a new tv is not really a good idea unless you can pay it off right away and collect travel miles on the purchase. Conversely, using a mortgage to purchase a home is a good use if you can make the payment even when you aren’t working for a short time. This lesson is one we’ve learned the hard way in that we purchased a home in 2010 and then our situation changed (we had to move out of state) just as the housing market plummeted in 2011. Though we’ve been able to maintain the payment and pay rent in our new home, it placed a strain on our budget. We have learned the lesson and planned a course to correct the matter.

Frugality, we define as finding ways to do the things that are important to us in a financially efficient way while maintaining a high degree of quality. The thought process being that quality is important to sustainability and there are always ways to reduce the financial cost. For instance, after a work move one year ago, we didn’t have living room furniture. Instead of shopping new we went to several local Goodwill stores until we found good pieces to match our style. Specifically, during one trip we found 2 La-Z-Boy recliners that are in great shape priced at twenty dollars apiece. The next trip for forty dollars we got both an antique buffet and an entertainment center to finish the room. In total our living room only cost one-hundred ten dollars to outfit with matched pieces of high quality where similar pieces new would have cost us in the range of 1,600 dollars.

In coming to these definitions, we evaluated the things we think are most important to our lifestyle in addition to our basic needs. Some of those being the ability to have and care for our menagerie of pets, at least one date night each month, and travel. This required us to have open, honest communication about our individual desires. While part of this wasn’t easy because we didn’t always agree on the goals which drove us, it ended up bringing us closer. We discussed the things we each want, where we want to end up as a couple, and why we want those things. For us the why is as important as the where and the how? 

`With these priorities in mind we begin our grand adventure, with a cry of Frugal Up.