NaBloPoMo '10 - What a difference a year makes - #14

Wondering what NaBloPoMo is? Read this to learn all about it and why (and how) I'm participating!

What a difference a year makes - #14

2009: I thought I was frugal. Then came "The year of living frugally." I remember breaking into tears standing in the grocery store because bagels were $4.00 for six. At that point, $4.00 represented a bigger part of our grocery budget than I wanted to spend on bagels.

Realizing that there had to be a cheaper place to buy bagels (and other things) we searched for alternative bagel sources and discovered a Wonder outlet store where bagels were more affordable.

2010: It was not the way I would have chosen to learn the lesson, but even as frugal as I was, I could have been moreso, Necessity taught us where to get what we needed for less. We found ways to stretch those dollars even more.

It's a new year and the tide is turning for us. We have learned from our difficulties, though, and continue shopping as frugally as possible. We discovered that we can get the same things for less - so why not spend less?

At least so good frugal habits were born from adversity. It would have been even worse had we not learned a thing or two.