Frugal February got off to a rough start. After I got my hair trimmed on the first, a necessity as it hadn’t been done for awhile and I was tired of huffing my bangs out of my eyes, I wanted French fries in a bad way. I found myself thinking I’ll be frugal tomorrow. I actually drove toward the closest fast food restaurant but, miraculously, my car just kept on going. Budget disaster diverted! I came home and warmed up leftover mushroom pizza for my lunch. I still want fries.

If you’re like me, every time you go on a diet, you spend a couple of days cleaning inappropriate food out of your fridge and cupboards before you start. For me, this means eating the snacks I have stashed. I can’t just throw the stuff away because I’m sort of frugal even when it isn’t February. Likewise, before frugal February starts, I catch myself buying things I might need before the end of January. I did well with that this year and only made one last minute purchase.

Do you know the old saying you have to spend money to make money? Sometimes you have to spend money in order to save money, too. Such is the case with my recent purchase of a senior lifetime America the Beautiful National Parks Pass. I was eligible to purchase it two years ago but with Covid raging, I knew I wouldn’t be using it so I was in no hurry to buy it. Now it’s a different story and I have high hopes of putting it to use soon. Being just a few steps beyond normal, I don’t think it’ll take me long to be on the saving side of that pass purchase.