You've got it Margaret, by George you've got it!

Being a contented Cheapskate is easy, as Margaret has realised, but it does require a little attitude action on your part.  Your success in becoming debt free and cashed up depends on just one thing: your attitude.  You can choose to be content living the Cheapskates way, or you can choose to be miserable.

Living the Cheapskates way can be easy and fun, or it can be hard, miserable and you can feel deprived. It's up to you.

As you live the Cheapskates way, you'll  come to see It really is as simple as the choices we make. As Cheapskates Wayne and I consciously choose to skip the fancy restaurants (unless it's a really, really, really special occasion and then I'm looking for a voucher or Entertainment Book to borrow).  We choose to drive older cars (mine is 10 years old this year) rather than go into debt to buy brand new every couple of years.  When the kids were small we consciously chose to limit their activities to one after-school activity each (although this was more for family than money reasons, money was a factor).

We have figured out what is important to us, so we choose to not get caught up in the hoopla of "so and so has been to XXX so we should go..."  or "the XXXs have just bought a new house....."

We don't miss restaurants and takeaway, movies, designer label clothes, overseas trips, new cars and McMansions because they're not important to us.

We would miss being able to put our kids through school. We would miss our hobbies (and they're not cheap). We would miss my being home for my family. We would miss our camping holidays and I can tell you now that I would most definitely miss running away every now and then with D & Y. We would miss having all the bills paid on time and our Emergency Fund buffer in the bank.

As you get your Spending Plan up and running and choose to pay the bills rather than buy that new handbag (hard choice I know, I'd be torn too) you'll realise that actually you like having the bills under control. You'll realise that those unexpected expenses aren't really unexpected because you've been building your Peace of Mind account and those emergencies - well you just take them in your stride because you've built an Emergency Fund. But best of all you're not worrying about how you're going to pay for everything and you'll realise that you're not stressed, not one tiny, little bit.

You have control of your finances.

You have control of your finances because of the choices you have made.  I hope you view them as positives and come to love living the Cheapskates way as much as we do and Margaret has.