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What I Learned from Frugal January

While I don't believe in new year resolutions, I do believe in goals, aspirations and dreams. As a society, we're made to feel that with each new year, we must make resolutions, which more often than not, fade by March or set us up for failure. The feeling of failure is never good for the spirit, so a couple of years ago, I decided to stop giving in to that societal pressure. I have found that self-reflection is an excellent place to begin a new year and set realistic goals.

This year, I started by challenging myself to what I named Frugal January. It's exactly what it sounds like. I challenged myself to only spend on necessities. I gave up runs to the coffee shop and trips to TJ Maxx. I gave up frivolous, careless and impulse-based spending, no matter how big or small it was. I asked myself one question with every single purchase decision, "do I really need this?" If I could live without it, I declined it. Did this cause me physical pain at times? Yes! There were moments when I truly had to express out loud, "Crystal it's Frugal January! You don't need it!"

We live in a social media heightened world of instant gratification, FOMO and a need it now mentality. Can we stop normalizing this? My TikTok feed was enough to make me want to relapse with all of its daily trips to Target, fancy Starbs orders, Stanley cups, Lululemon belt bags and Ugg boots, while singing "I can buy myself flowers!" If that's your jam, then more power to you and zero judgement from me, but you could find me over here cringing as I lived out my Frugal January! I did ask myself if I needed any of those things to be happy? No.

Here are a few things that I learned from my Frugal January challenge and it begins with a confession.

I, Crystal Zehnle, loved to spend money on random sh*t that I truly did not need. 

  • Retail is not therapy. Wow! That was strange to say out loud. Ouch. 
  • Just because the Midwest Money Saving Mommas tell me I need something, doesn't mean that I actually do. However when I do need something, they are a great resource for a deal.
  • When asking myself if I could live without items, 90% of the time, my answer was yes.
  • I can, in fact, drive my car to and from work, without pulling into a drive-thru. All of this time, I thought it was an autopilot feature built into my minivan. 
  • I was able to put a few hundred extra dollars into savings. This was eye-opening. 
  • I have learned to enjoy coffee made at home. 
  • I stopped visiting Amazon daily and adding things to my cart. Why do I do this?
  • In addition to Amazon, I unsubscribed from various retail solicitations, push notifications and apps.
  • I suddenly refuse to overspend on things that are simply that. Just things. 
  • I still gave myself my routine cash allowance, but tried to be as frugal as possible with it, yet still live my best life. This allowed me to have a couple budgeted lunch/dinner dates with girlfriends.
  • I didn't even need the full allowance from my second pay period of the month. That went straight into savings!
  • Many things on my personal wishlist no longer feel impossible.
  • We are very blessed to be able to live comfortably, despite the rising prices of everyday essentials.
  • Some of my long-term financial goals are more attainable than I thought.

Do I plan to live 2023 frugally? No. Honestly, living frugally for an entire month was not enjoyable for me. The ultimate reward is that I learned so much about myself, as well as my habits! Because I work incredibly hard, I do believe that I am entitled to a good splurge here and there. Judge me if you want! I very much believe that we have to work to live, not live to work. I believe that you have to enjoy life and if that means a good splurge, an occasional coffee shop treat or that item you've been saving up for, then you deserve to go for it....within reason. 

Frugal January has taught me how to be more mindful of my spending. I learned a lot about myself and plan to carry the valuable lessons with me going forward. I have learned how to stretch my allowance, swipe less, still treat my family, enjoy friend dates and shift more into savings. I've learned that it is possible to find a balance between being frugal and excessive. In doing so, you can still live your best life. A financial reset was a great way to begin a new year, even if that means I'm already dreading the idea of Frugal January 2024.

Frugal February anyone? If you want to learn more about yourself and your spending habits, then I challenge you to give it a try! You will be surprised at what you take away from the discipline, sacrifice, self-motivation and mindfulness. And I'd love to hear about it! 



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