By nature, I’m a very frugal person. It can be said that I’m so tight with money that I squeak when I walk. It is true, I run my budget super tight.
Right now, our finances are looser than ever before. Even though we can afford to loosen up a little bit on our purchases, there are still plenty of things we choose not to spend money on.
I saw a post by Heather over at My Overflowing Cup about 17 things she doesn’t pay for. Pretty much everything on her list is things we do not spend money on very often.
It got me thinking about the things we don’t buy and how those choices have lead to great things in my marriage.
1. Haircuts and Salon Services
I’m pretty much a DIY kind of girl. If I can find a way to do it myself, I almost never pay anyone else to do it. Out of necessity, I learned how to cut all my guys’ hair as well as my own hair.
I’ve been dying my own hair and waxing my lip for a number of years. Adding in haircuts has provided a huge amount of savings.
What has been awesome about cutting Austin’s hair, is that I am his hairstylist. Together, we can decide if a look is right for him. He tells me what he is having a problem with when styling his hair, and together we work on a solution.
Not only is it great to have a say in how he does his hair, we also get to connect while I’m giving him a cut. It has become something I really enjoy doing with him.
Of course, back when I had no idea what I was doing, it was really nerve-wracking to cut his hair. I was never sure how it was going to turn out.
I realize that home haircuts are not for everyone. For me, it was worth it to figure out how to do this for my family. To learn how to give Austin a haircut, I paid a friend who was a stylist to show me how to do his cut with clippers.
Over time, I watched many YouTube videos and played around with the kid’s haircuts so I could learn how to do it better. I say I played around with the kid’s haircuts, not Austin’s, because I could always just shave their heads if I messed up. Not so much with Austin.
Here is a tutorial that I put together on how I trim my own hair.
https://www.youtube.com/embed/HRCnaRuPS5k
I do give myself haircuts that are much more than a trim, but this video is how I trim up the ends and keep my hair looking healthy.
2. Cable
I’ve never had cable a day in my life. My parents felt like paying for television was not important at all.
Austin will tell you that television was a huge drain on his time before we got married. He willingly gave up owning a television for the first year of our marriage in order to break his reliance on watching shows.
We figured out a lot of different ways to watch the shows we like. Right now, we pay for Amazon Prime, but it gives us more than access to instant videos. Between the free version of Hulu and the paid version of Amazon, we have plenty of things to watch together.
Not having cable in the house has made it easier for Austin to stay connected to us. We watch our shows on demand. I can’t tell you the last time we had to be on the couch at a certain time in order to see something we like.
Having this freedom has done so many amazing things for our marriage.
3. Paper Napkins
Rarely do I ever purchase paper towels, but I never buy paper napkins. This is an expense that I have never felt was worth it.
My entire marriage, I have used cloth napkins. We were given a few cloth napkins at our wedding and over the years we have collected more.
Believe it or not, using cloth napkins is a way I’ve spoiled my husband. He fusses if he has to use a paper napkin now. I agree with him. Paper napkins get torn up easily, especially if you are trying to wipe up a little kid.
He really appreciates that we use cloth napkins for himself and for the sake of our guests. To him, it makes our home feel even more inviting than it already is.
4. Pajamas
I own a few lounge clothes that I wear around the house at night. When it is time to get in bed, however, I take everything off. I actually wrote about this before. I’ve been sleeping without clothes since I was a teenager.
Not investing in pajamas has huge benefits for my marriage. Besides going to bed without clothes on, I have an excuse to wear my husband’s boxers at night before bed.
There are plenty of other things I do not buy or hardly ever buy. These are just a few of the things that have started out as a means to be frugal, and ended up benefiting my marriage.
What are some things you don’t spend money on? Do you think your marriage has benefited from you making those choices?
