Being frugal is not just for money. A lesson I have learned over the last year is that being frugal applies to all areas of life except for family and friends. The time you spend with them is priceless and cannot be overspent!

However, there is an area that has really come to my attention. My email. I was not being very frugal in the area of my email. The realization of how many emails I received in a day was staggering. I would open my email and have 60-80 unread emails. I would delete 20-30 emails right away. I would read through a few emails ‘just because’ and be disgusted I wasted my time reading them.

I would get emails for sales, for freebies, for places I like to shop at, four coupons, for products I like to use, and for things that perhaps I might be able to get something free from. Honestly, what a time waster! To be truly frugal, how I spend my time needs to be evaluated too.

A lot of those emails I got did not feed my mind, feed my soul, encourage me, or had the potential to do so. I had signed up for prepping sites that were just advertisements once I clicked their links. I had signed for a lot of the emails thinking they would be different or provide different deals and freebies, but they didn’t. Plus, they also tempted me to spend money that I did not have or want to spend. I do not need any more temptation!

I decided to keep receiving emails that:
1. feed my mind in some way. I want to learn and be more knowledgeable. 
2. feed my soul or encourage me.
3. were places I very regularly shop at like the grocery store, Vitacost, and Amazon.
4. were legit deal, coupon, or freebie sites. I only kept four so far, but one of those may be heading to the chopping block soon for confusing tactics. Most of these sites are the same, but I have found some differences.

Using these guidelines, I have unsubscribed to 15 different emails so far. I have more weeding to do, but some of those places I have unsubscribed to would send me 3-4 emails a day! Geez! My email is a little more pleasant to open up and read now.

Remember, frugality applies to all areas of life. If you are wasting time deleting or mindlessly reading emails, you are not being frugal with your time. Your time is a valuable resource!

Thanks for reading!
Erica

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