If you’ve done any research about living a frugal lifestyle, you’ll see that one of the tips is to find frugal friends. But what if you don’t have them?
In my large extended family, only a few family members are known for their frugal ways. My grandmother was extremely frugal, having lived through the Great Depression, but she’s been gone 10 years now. My aunt is also frugal, but I only see her a handful of times a year.
Within the rest of my family, most are not frugal.
The friends that I have are also not frugal. They like to spend money and take elaborate vacations, which is fine, but they likely won’t offer me any suggestions for how to save money or be willing to split a bulk order with me. In fact, most of them already think I’m too extreme with my frugal ways (like air drying our laundry instead of running it through the dryer). See, it’s not too extreme, but those around me think it’s “different.”
Enter Facebook.
Facebook has gotten a bad rap, namely that it can cause people to be depressed and can make you want to spend money. After all, when you see all your friends and family showing their latest shopping score, modeling their new outfit, or sharing pictures from their latest exotic vacation, you’ll likely feel a little depressed and want to spend some money, too. It’s the proverbial keeping up with the Jones’.
But it doesn’t have to be that way.
Finding A Facebook Group To Join
If you’re interested in a more frugal lifestyle, there are many groups on Facebook that would be glad to support you. Simply search Facebook for terms related to frugality such as frugal, penny pinching, affording, and you’ll likely find a group for you.
If you can’t find a group using those terms, try finding a group related to your interests. Chances are there will be at least one group that is budget conscious that you can join.
Once you find one group to join, you’ll notice that your sidebar will show similar groups that you might want to join. You can join several others that way, and soon, you’ll have a number of groups that you’re a member of that can encourage you.
How A Facebook Group Can Help You Live A Frugal Life
Our budget is fairly bare bones, but I decided that I wanted to save even more. I belong to a Facebook group specifically for homeschooling moms who are living on a tight budget. I simply asked what was the best strategies to save on toiletries because I’m tired of paying full price for shampoo, toothpaste, toilet paper, etc.
I expected most people to simply state that I should start couponing, but surprisingly, only one person said that. Instead, I got 81 creative responses, and they were so helpful!
Their responses included suggestions like making my own laundry soap (complete with links to recipes online) to using soap nuts (which I’d never heard of before) to buying in bulk from wholesale clubs. Some people gave me a response that was several paragraphs long. It took me 10 seconds to type the question, but as a result, I now have plenty of strategies to lower our toiletries budget.
Facebook isn’t all bad. Besides catching up with friends and relatives, Facebook can connect you with people around the world who are trying to live the same type of lifestyle you are. If that is a frugal lifestyle, you can learn many tips and tricks from others.
How do you find frugal people to support you?
Share Your Thoughts: