Re-Frame Sacrifice to Reward

Re-frame Sacrifice To Reward

Misery loves company. If you are looking for someone to listen to your woes, you won’t have to look far. Especially if you’re willing to listen to there tales of woe. Come in with a happy story of success, it doesn’t take long to empty that room. As much as some people like to say they want to see you happy, they fear being left behind in their misery. If you’re looking for someone to lament a hardship, it won’t be difficult to find company.

When you decide to change your tune, to re-frame sacrifice to reward, you may find yourself standing alone for a while. Be comfortable with that idea. It may feel like a long time, but the people who are living a positive life will come along side and walk with you.

One great example of this is couponing clubs. In the 1980’s there was an economic down turn. People would get together and swap coupons. They put coupon boxes at the door of grocery stores, laundry mats and libraries, so any coupon they didn’t need could be picked up by someone who needed it. They would come together to cut and sort coupons, fill out rebate forms, swap forms to earn rewards, and scour ads for deals. Mostly of all, they came together to make a tedious chore fun. They had intricate notebooks and cute coupon files. They would bring their register receipts and celebrate the big and little wins.

The people making fun of them were the ones who were busy being miserable. Those people at the coupon club were able to let it roll right off their receipts, as they laughed all the way to the bank. They were the perfect example of having lemons and making lemonade. And they had a coupon for the sugar!

Those groups filled a greater need than just saving money. They provided a place for people to lament a problem AND find a solution. Don’t have bread for the kids lunch? Did you know the bread store has a day old loaf for .50. Need peanut butter, you can get the store brand for $2.99, and I have a coupon! Small stuff, sure. But with every coupon and rebate check that came in, people were getting more than money. They were being shored up to weather the financial storm. Knowing they weren’t alone and there was some place to channel their pressure to create momentum, instead of exploding, was reward of it’s own.

In home groups became forums. Those became chat rooms. Now they are social media pages that are still out there.

If you’re feeling overwhelmed by the cost of living, there are two groups of people to choose from; the woes is me-ers crying in the dark. Or the onward to battle! With a fist full of resources, celebrating .50 off toilet paper. They will all get through the hard times, one will come out with better memories.

Is it work, of course it is. Can it be fun, of course it can. You may not get the moon and the sun, but there will be some stars along the way. First step, look up. You can’t find your star looking down.

In the next few weeks I’m going to talk about some of my favorite tips for saving money, specifically saving grocery money. For now, the focus is going to be on ways that don’t include gardening and food preservation. Those are sure fire ways to save, but aren’t always practical, or desired. There is no magic formula. Take what works for you and run with it. Leave what doesn’t. Just like those days at the coupon club. I didn’t need the dog food coupon, but I gladly cut it out for someone else. Come back and let’s celebrate your wins together.

This week we scored a flat of early strawberries for $8.50! They are not perfectly sweet, but they are good. Now we have 14 cups of sliced strawberries in the freezer, and we ate 2 cups. Those 2 cups were used on two desserts and one breakfast, for two people. We sacrificed $8.50 and having good strawberries instead of great ones for long term reward. When strawberries are $30 a flat, we will still be enjoying our sacrifice.

Tell me your grocery store wins!

Together we came through it then, together we can do it again.