My parents give pretty practical advice.  Funny how long it took me to realize that in some areas *ahem*, but still… there is one phrase my mom used to utter that has been our saving grace financially.

“Save ‘Till it Hurts“

I may have balked at the way my parents requested I treat my siblings, and I certainly never picked up on my mom’s spick-n-span house cleaning methods, but I was born to save.  When I found a “needed” item at the store and one of my parents would ask the inevitable “Do you have your money?” I’d agonize and shed some adolescent tears over the very thought of letting go of my green.  I learned early on that it was better to have money in the bank than stuff in hand.

But hurt?  Save ’till it hurts?  Hmmm, this is what that “hurt” looks like for me and my family.

• We save rather than spend money on cable or satellite tv, and have to use our spare time reading or learning or playing together.
• We save rather than spend money eating out, and are forced to consume delicious (if I do say so myself    ), healthy home-cooked meals.
• We save rather than buy new furnishings or decorations for our home, missing out on a good cry when our children write on our furniture with markers.
• We save rather than trade in for a new vehicle when our perfectly healthy ones hit 100,000 miles, depriving ourselves of mailing monthly car payments.
• We save rather than purchase tons of new toys and electronics for our kids, denying ourselves the thrill of turning unused toys into nickle and dime cash at a future garage sale.  (We prefer to be the ones purchasing the toys for nickles and dimes!)

Save ’till it hurts? Bring on the pain!

In what ways do you save that “hurt?”

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