Every now and then I want to get inspired, and that means I want to read frugal blogs that I haven't found yet. However, most of the time what I find are blogs that are constantly updating with deals and freebies.
Don't get me wrong; I enjoy a quick peak at MoneySavingMom once or twice a day, mostly because I like to know about free Redbox offers (I don't know why they can't just send them to me since I am signed up for emails and texts) and because I do like Crystal's inspirational posts and some of the reader testimonials. But mostly, I find these sites encourage shopping.
I say this because I used to hit MSM multiple times daily, getting all excited by the offers. This was during my pseudo frugal phase a couple of years ago; I knew that we needed to pull back on the spending, but I didn't really want to give up the things I knew I should, like eating meals out.
Over time I realized that MSM (and blogs like it) were providing me with shopportunities, and I was gladly taking them. Similarly, Papa realized that looking at FatWallet and other deals sites aimed more at men were encouraging him to want more than what he already has.
In addition to the shopportunities, the freebies require signing up, which means giving your marketing information out which results in more people trying to sell you things. You can do your best to opt out of marketing but it isn't perfect, and your information is in a database that could be breached. So now I ask myself if a couple of free tea bags is worth giving up my information for.
This isn't to say that I don't shop online or do significant research looking for the best prices on items I have already decided to buy. It just means that I don't jump at the chance to buy an infinity scarf for $5 shipped (or whatever the deal is).
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