One of the things about living a frugal life . . .

is that you need to know when to go easy on yourself, and not be quite so frugal.

This past weekend is one such example for my family's life. It was an incredibly busy weekend. Saturday AM my 3 kids and I had to be up at our church, preparing in one way or another, for our church's annual Christmas cantata. We didn't return back home until mid-afternoon, leaving little energy or time for me to do more than lie down for a couple of hours, then get back up to make a dinner for the family. The time at the church really exhausted me, and a nap seemed to take priority over doing laundry.

Early Sunday AM, my 3 kids had to be back at our church for rehearsals, sound-board work, and performing at both regular worship services. We raced home as soon as we could, so my daughters could study for their final exams, I could squeeze in some cooking time, and get everybody back out the door at 2 in the afternoon, to ready for the two evening performances of the cantata. It was a tight, tight squeeze, especially for my daughters.

The cantata itself, took up the entire afternoon and evening, leaving no time for me to do any laundry. The laundry sat in a huge pile on the floor. Yet my family was needing clean things for the coming week. Saturday is my usual laundry day. And when I can't fit it in on Saturday, then I push it to Sunday. This weekend, there was no time to do laundry the frugal way (hanging it all to dry).  So, I decided for this week that clean laundry was more important than saving a few quarters on the dryer.

Life's demands come in spurts. One weekend there just doesn't seem to be enough hours in the day. The next, I'm leisurely hanging and folding laundry. For me, with frugality, I need to know when it's "okay" to take a short-cut, and when I should use my extra time to do something that will save us money. Balance is key, in all things in life.

I nearly did it again!

So, I had my Thursday babysitting this week, at our church. 2 boys, well behaved, and we had a lot of fun together. Anyway, when one of the moms came to drop off her son, I noticed that her hair was a different shade. Since I knew what brand she had bought before (and it's the brand that I buy, and near to the color that I'm looking for), I asked which color she used. That's when she told me she had it done at a salon this time. Okay. Looks nice. I'll continue on my search for the perfect color for me.

When she came back to get her son, she and the other mom were talking about their iphones and the different apps available. Okay, so a lot of people have iphones. I haven't really wanted one, yet. So I'm okay with not having one.

Second mom came in to drop off her young son, holding a Starbucks red Christmas cup of something delicious, I'm sure. This mom has 7 kids. And they live on 1 salary. First mom has 4 kids, and they live on 1 salary. My green monster was welling up inside of me. How on earth do these people afford salon visits, iphones, Starbucks drinks?

And then I remembered our various conversations, here. About how comparing our situation to that of others will only lead to misery. And about how we never know how other people are managing their finances. And about how we all have different financial priorities.

And then I thought about how my family is financially secure, should the rug be pulled out from under us. And how our retirement years are nearly financed, and we still have many earning years, this decade and next. Basically, we're doing well.

And to think that I nearly let the monster of comparison get me again. I'm learning! Thanks to all of you, I am learning.