Frugal Living Fails and Frugal Living Mistakes – Learn from me!!

Frugal Fails & Frugal Finds
Frugal Fails & Frugal Finds

Money fails and finds…We’ve all had them.  There are the times when we wanted to save an extra buck or two but ended up spending an outrageous amount. Saving money isn’t always fun. At times, it is down-right difficult.  Not to mention, spending money is more fun, right! I’m with you! However, sticking to a budget, when you are clearly not rich, will help you live a stress-free, happier life.

On the contrary, it is amazing to find money. For example, think of the day you put $10 in your pocket and then put those pants away for the winter. Spring cleaning rolls around and you are $10 richer! Finding extra money is the best feeling.

Yet, coming into money shouldn’t be so arbitrary.  Finding concrete ways to save money will help you in the long-run. (Check out my Budgets 2017 – New Year, New Budget Post for help on this.)

Sharing Our Stories

Today I’m going to share some examples of times I failed at saving money.  Although these were money mistakes, these failures led me to growth.  Hence, a money mistake is never truly a mistake if you learn from it.

This post contains affiliate links. This means if you click a link and make a purchase, I will receive a small commission at no cost to you, so thank you. This site uses cookies for better user experience. For more information read our disclosure policy here.

On a brighter note, we will finish off the post with some awesome ways I have found extra money!  This is always an A+ in my budget report card! I’ll fill you in on my money secrets so that you can learn from them too. Hey, we are all in this budget thing together.

Even billionaires file for bankruptcy before building wealth back up. Let’s face it, no one is perfect when it comes to money. So since we’ve all had frugal living fails and finds, I’m going to share some of my fellow personal finance friend’s posts with you today! These awesome blogger ladies have some great stories to share on how they have made money marvels and mistakes! Please click the links below to check them out!

Other Frugal Living Posts:

My Frugal Living Fails

Frugal Fails
Frugal Fails – Learn how I wasted money (picture courtesy of pixabay)

Related Frugal Posts:

# 1 Frugal Fail: Dinner with friends

This was several years back, but I had a friend that only wanted to go out to fancy restaurants.  At the time, I was paying for my Master’s tuition out of my pocket along with undergrad student loan debt and every cent I had counted. Unfortunately, I never asked where we were going beforehand. Therefore, we always ended up somewhere pricey. I would sink into my chair and try to order something that wasn’t too high-priced but wasn’t the cheapest thing on the menu. If I didn’t have to worry about money, I probably would have enjoyed myself more.

Fortunately, I am a bit wiser now and if someone asks me to do something I can’t afford, I will be honest. As the great financial guru, Suzie Orman of The Money Class: How to Stand in Your Truth and Create the Future You Deserve says, “Stand in your truth!” Looking back, I’m sure my friend would have understood my circumstances.  Lesson learned, don’t spend money you don’t have, and know what you are getting yourself into ahead of time.

#2 Frugal Fail: Negotiating my salary

Starting out as a new teacher, I just accepted the fact that I would make the starting salary.  Nonetheless, I did have experience subbing and teaching preschool during college.  I didn’t pay much attention to the fact that I could have used my experience to my advantage.  It was a shocker to find out another co-worker negotiated his salary and made about $6,000 more than me. The disappointing fact is that I didn’t even think about asking for more.  Looking back, I should have been more assertive.  Lesson learned – If I do go back to work, I know my value and will ask for it. The worst thing that can happen is they will say no!

#3 Frugal Fail: Wedding dress

I am such a frugal girl. I was so determined to purchase a budget wedding dress. After all, this was a dress I would wear for only one day.  I found a reasonably priced dress at David’s Bridal. This should have been the end of my search.  However, I got caught up in looking at wedding magazines and found a dress I fell in love with.  I made the mistake of trying it on and I said yes to the expensive dress. Consequently, I paid about $1000 more for this dress.

Yes, I wore the dress one day and it is hanging in my closet as we speak.  My advice:  Don’t spend a lot on your wedding dress. Instead, rent or buy a used dress (maybe mine) or borrow one.  It is not worth the money for one day.  I am planning on selling mine since I have two boys.  I do love it but it is taking up too much space in my small closet.

3 Awesome Ways to Save Money – Frugal Living Finds

Money finds
Money finds – Picture courtesy of pixabay

 

 

#1 Frugal Win: Rakuten (formerly Ebates)

Who doesn’t love Rakuten?  It is such an easy way to save money while shopping online.  Just click a link and you will receive a percentage back of what you paid for an item.  Check out my Rakuten review here. It is such a pleasant surprise when I receive my quarterly check in the mail.

How to Make Money with Rakuten

#2 Frugal Win: Roth IRA

I started saving for my retirement in my second year of teaching. I bought three years for my retirement and started putting money into a 403(B). This all sounds great, right? Yet, I didn’t know I was able to save even more with a Roth IRA. Luckily, my money-savvy husband set this up for me and we both contributed to our Roth. This will be a great bonus when we retire. I highly recommend starting a Roth IRA and planning ahead. (To read more about a Roth IRA click here.)

#3 Frugal Win: Negotiating my car insurance

My first new car. My first major car accident. I purchased this cute sparkly red, brand-spankin’ new Sunfire my first year of teaching. (This was a need, as my old Ford Festiva died in the middle of traffic).

Unfortunately, I was rear-ended by another car in the middle of a rainstorm. My sparkly, cute Sunfire was totaled. Regardless, my insurance company only wanted to give me a certain amount, but everything that I read, valued my car at about $1000 higher. I showed proof of this to the insurance company and they gave me an extra $1000 more, which really came in handy in buying a new car. Well, I wised up and bought a used car the second time around.

Frugal Living Fail and Frugal Living Wins Conclusion:

As you can see, I’ve made some financial mistakes and learned the hard way.  I continue to learn in my financial journey. I’m hoping my “fails and finds” help you learn how to save and avoid making the same mistakes I did. Don’t forget to check out my blogger friend’s post above. Uniquely, they all have some amazing stories to share!

Please comment with your experiences. I would love to hear how you save money with a frugal win or how you wasted money with your frugal fail.

Take care – Sarah

 

Related Money-Saving Posts:

 

Frugal Living Fails and Frugal Living Mistakes – Learn from me!!

Sharing is caring!

10 Comments on Frugal Living Fails and Frugal Living Wins

  1. I love that you negotiated with your insurance company! Negotiating and asking for discounts and extras are my favorite ways to save money! You never know what you can get our save unless you ask!

    • Thank you Melissa! I wish you well in your negotiating! Most sales people are working for a company, so it is worth a try! Thanks for the visit! -Sarah 🙂

  2. We’ve been living in Vietnam for more than a year. Almost everything here is a negotiation. We’re still not experts, but we’re much more comfortable with it. It is such an important skill in life that we should all practice.

    • Thank you for your comment! How exciting to live in Vietnam! Enjoy your time. I hope you make some great negotiations! – Sarah

  3. Hi Sarah, great post. I’m trying to work on the salary negotiation piece myself. I have found that there really isn’t much difference in experience for people making +/- 5k of where im at. So just like you say, it doesn’t hurt to ask.

    • Thank you for you comment A. It is good to have one negotiator in the relationship! Thanks for the visit! Take care – Sarah

Comments are closed.