As I glance around the conference room, gathered together are some of the most influential, money saving experts on the web. I’m spending a few days with my fellow Savings.com Deal Pros, learning, brainstorm, and sharing with each other in an effort to be more effective in helping people save money through social media.
If you’ve spent any time perusing my blog, you know that I have a very distinct financial freedom path. One that has been paved through winding roads necessitating some pretty extreme frugal living choices.
These choices, beginning as a child but very prevalent beginning in my teen years, have molded who I am, how I think, and how I share advice on saving money. What I do know is that my savings techniques work for me, but that doesn’t mean that one path has been carved for everyone.
We are all wound up with different personalities, different backgrounds and different values.  What is important to one family may have no value to another one.
In getting ready for this trip, most of the Deal Pro’s got their hair done, went shopping for a black tie event, visited the manicurist, and just basically splurged to make this experience extra special. For me, dressing in designer fashion for less (meaning yard sale and thrift store finds) defines a bit of who I am, so shopping for the trip wasn’t a priority, but I have no problem with friends enjoying retail fashion.
In fact, one of my friends mentioned to another, “Don’t tell Jen how much I paid for this outfit, she’ll die.” We cracked up as she told me that, but I made sure to let her know that if someone doesn’t buy it, then I can’t re-buy it. 😉
We all choose those things we value. We choose where to invest our money. Many of the deal pros don’t necessarily live a frugal lifestyle,  but they love to save money on those things they value, and that’s an important step.
For me, there’s room for everyone. There is no one “right money saving choice.” We can learn from everyone, but I hold true to my core values about financial freedom, and those are non negotiable, like charging items on the credit card when you can’t afford them. I can list my “do’s and don’t s, but everyone has to be convicted of those choices to really produce an impact on their finances.
Many of the Deal Pros were sharing their savings stories. My lifestyle and blog is my savings story. It’s an integral part of how I make decisions, so when they asked us to do one post about our savings story, I knew that my readers join me here on that savings story every day.
This post is about celebrating that we are all in process. We are writing our own stories, as we make choices day by day. My hope is that your savings story leads to financial freedom, and my desire is to help you get there by celebrating your successes along the way. If I can be of any encouragement on that path, it’s a privilege.
If anyone wants to submit one of their “savings stories or getting out of debt stories” as a possible guest post on my blog, feel free to submit it for consideration.
Have you started “writing” your own savings story?
Begin with the first sentence, then a paragraph – it’s all about taking those baby steps towards financial freedom.
I know this is short notice, but we are having a ive streaming session this afternoon. Tune in to the Save Up live streaming session today starting at 3:15 pm ET with my fellow Becoming Co-host, Jenny, from Southern Savers as she shares a brief couponing class, followed by the Savings Story session at 4:15 pm ET. We’ll follow up with a twitter party this even, and you RSVP to win an iPad 2 here,
31days beauty budget wide 5 Tips to Helping Children Learn the Value of Savings
If you’re new to this 31 day series, feel free to catch up on the previous posts.

Intro to the Series:
Money is Amoral
Money – The Loss of a Dream
Budgeting for Food (with a free Food Tracking printable worksheet – Tasty Tuesday)
The Lies and Secret Life of Money (Part One)
Money Talk is Sexy (Part Two)
Balancing the Budget with Pottery Barn Taste
My 80% off Frugal Lifestyle = $100, 000 in Savings
#1 Piece of Advice for Cutting the Food Budget (without Coupons)
5 Tips for Teaching your Children the Value of Money