Against the Odds: Lessons From Living on One Teacher Salary

James and I have been married now for almost 4 years, and we've been through some pretty low points financially. Through those tough times, I got used to spending as little as possible with the exception of having 2 babies. Yes, having children will not save you any money. :) As of last September, we found ourselves in a financially stable situation: James got his first paycheck as a real teacher! I'd anticipated this day for years, the day that I could finally sit down, make a budget, and stick to it because I'd finally know how much money we'd have.

I drafted a budget based on our spending averages over the past year. I was surprised to see that we wouldn't be saving as much as I'd hoped since we moved to a more expensive small town. I felt guilty at first. Why did we have to go into debt in 2012? Could we have done more to save in the past? Why does this blogger family only spend X a month on Y when I'm spending so much more?

I'm trying not to worry about any of those things anymore. I've pored over money-saving blogs, books, and the like and I think I'm at a comfortable level of sacrifice. Yes, we could always save more. Anybody could, but there is no family on earth who does everything possible to save money. It just isn't possible.

I was recently browsing through The Complete Tightwad Gazette, a book that I feel defines my way of life more than anything except for the scriptures. I don't remember what I was looking for, but I felt a sense of peace that I'm doing all that I can for my family. We live comfortably within our means. True, our savings isn't building up quickly, but we have a modest emergency fund while still eating well, wearing pretty good clothes, and having fun.

I want to talk more about our lifestyle on this blog. I know that not a lot of people read it, but I love sharing/exchanging ideas about things. Sites like Pinterest have been a great blessing just for the number of ideas that I can get from them, even though I don't come close to using all of them. It's inspiration (pinspiration?) that keeps me going some days.

I'm thinking I'll do one post a week on the topic of frugality. I hope to hear your ideas in the comments! :)