Everyone makes mistakes in their frugal journey. I have made quite a few, even just this month. I posted about my zoo mistake earlier this week. What should you do when you make a mistake?
- Remember, no one is perfect. No matter how thrifty you are, there are times when a mistake costs you some money. It happens to everyone. Sometimes mistakes are unavoidable, and sometimes we just don’t realize something is a mistake before we do it.
- If possible, build a little extra money into your budget for mistakes. Have a bigger grocery trip than you thought? Spend a little more on vacation than you were planning? It would be great to have a small stash of money to borrow from, until you can make up for the problem.
- Learn from your mistake. This can be hard sometimes. Look back at what happened and analyze what you could have done different. I can’t promise you will never trip up again, but it will help you become more aware of what causes problems for you.
- Sometimes we can undo our mistakes. Was the mistake that your overspent at the store? Well, that usually can be fixed by returning a few less important items. I could have fixed my zoo dilemma by stopping at the store for bread and chips (I wish I would have now). We have to be proactive, if we want to fix our mistakes.
- Make the most of the mistake. My poor mama made a mistake on Black Friday at CVS, and she spent a lot more out of pocket than she should have. How did we fix it? I went back through her transactions, and we talked about what she should have done. Then we took her tons of ECBs and bought food for the church pantry, something she needed to do anyway.
- Don’t Give Up!!!
Do thrifty mistakes trip you up? Or are you good at adapting and moving on?
Do you have a Thrifty idea? Did you save a ton of money this week? Do you have a Thrifty deal you want to share?
If so, please leave a comment or link up below!
Please leave a link back to Coupon Teacher so that we can all share ideas.
This is linked to Life as Mom and Madame Deals.
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{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }
I can totally relate to when things go wrong! Yesterday was one of those days for me! My Kroger told me they are now only accepting 3 coupons per transaction, I forgot my Scrubbing Bubbles coupons at Target and they actually had things in stock and then I went to Quiznos planning to get the “free” kids meals only to realize that I didn’t have one of my kids, so her meal wasn’t free I’m glad I’m not the only one who has those days!
I usually steam about my mistake for a bit. But there’s always another/better deal down the road so I try to be happy with the ones that work out right and go on to the next!
We try not to think of them as mistakes, because is there really a right way to be thrifty? It’s more of a balancing act for us. Spend too much here, cut back a little there. In the end, it’s all a learning experience so your tips are spot on!
I had a $15 costly mistake this week. Too embarrased to share but it was just one of those things.
YAY! I am able to comment! WOOT! How fun!
Yes, mistakes do happen. And you usually don’t know until they’re done. It can be discouraging, but after a night’s sleep, you can just move on.
I like your list of strategies, especially number 1.
Annie Kate
PS Tightwad Tuesday has moved to my blog. This would be a great post to link there.
Thanks for linking up!
Annie Kate
I’m very new at this and my first trip out to CVS, I went with a $20 budget, got all my items, she rang it up and it was almost $50 ! I turned red all over and told her to just cancel the entire order, which made her mad. I told her I’d step back and figure out what I had done wrong. I asked another couponer in the store what went wrong and she told me that the ECB’s print out after you pay…. I did NOT know this… and that’s where my down fall went. So I regrouped, bought within my $20 budget and felt redeemed. Went to the cashier and told her what had happened and told her I was so sorry and it wouldn’t happen again.
Then this week, I go to Walgreens, buy all the things on my first round and went to my car, since I blew my budget “again”, but only by $1 and some change. I regrouped and went back for my second round and bought the same things, using the RR’s that I’d just earned and forgot that if you use the RR’s and buy the same exact things, you don’t get RR’s again…. so I left with nothing ! I was horrified and felt like a failure, once again. Then I started thinking… I spent $40 the first go round and the second only cost me $4.09….why am I crying? I got almost $50 worth of stuff for only $4.09 ! It was like getting it for FREE ! Suck it up I told myself… you won’t make that mistake again ! I’m am hooked on all of this tho. My girls says I’ve gone mad ! I said no, I’ve gone smart !
Oh Norma! It will be ok. It just takes a while to get the hang of things. Keep trying, and keep that positive attitude! You will be just fine!
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