One of the biggest stumbling blocks that I keep coming across in my pursuit of greater frugality is a lack of time.  The internet is full of money-saving tips.  Grow your own garden, make your own laundry detergent, cook every meal from scratch using the chickens in your back yard, etc etc.  If you have all the time in the world, there are many ways to cut your expenses.

The problem

Real life is the problem, of course.  My typical day goes something like this: Wake up at 6:00, get my son ready for school, drop him off, get myself ready for work, head in, get back home around 6:30-7:00 PM.  Eat dinner & clean up, done around ~7:30 PM.  Head up to my home office to put in a couple hours, and in bed by 11:30-12:00.  Notice the lack of time to do stuff like make dinner from the chickens, grow my own rice, and build my own car out of popsicle sticks and Elmer’s glue.

What’s the solution?

I’m not a fan of making excuses.  I’m not saying that I have an excuse for being lazy about certain things.  Should I eat more home-cooked meals?  Yes.  Should I brew my own bio-diesel fuel in my bathtub?  Maybe.  The point is, being busy isn’t an excuse.  It’s an obstacle to overcome.  It’s not that I can’t be more frugal - it’s just that I haven’t figured out how to do it realistically just yet.  And that’s part of the reason this site exists - to get some feedback from my readers.  If you have any great time-sensitive frugal tips, I’d love to hear them.

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