June 5, 2008

• Start Living the Frugal Life - 5 ways to more frugality

  It's Frugal Friday, go on over.  We all need new ideas and encouragement as we pursue our debt free dream!

  http://www.biblicalwomanhoodonline.com/blog.htm

   

  1.  Befriend the Library.  All those books I’ve been wanting to read, the library has them.  I can read them for free (well technically my tax dollars paid for them but I digress).  I remember a conversation I had with someone about the books I had been reading.  “How do you read all these books?  Where do you get all these books?  Isn’t it expensive?”  Well ummm, the library.  I strongly recommend reading books to help with frugal and debt free living.  I have had to change my mind and my ways.  I need influence.  Books are a great way to influence my thinking.  Of course the internet is a great resource, too.  The library and the internet help me my husband with do-it-yourself projects and maintenance.  Projects and simple maintenance can be done, with free labor!  The satisfaction I feel, will more than reimburse me for my labor my husband’s labor.  The library also saves me on homeschool curriculum.  Most all of the literature books and recommended reading can be found at the library.   

   

  Recommended Reading

  

   

   

  Recommended Websites

   

  http://www.crown.org/

  http://www.daveramsey.com/

  http://likemerchantships.blogspot.com/index.html

  http://www.moneysavingmom.com/

   

   

  2.  Bargain Shopping.  Combine store ads with coupons for huge savings.  Switch to store brands for everything else.  Shop with a list.  Use it up – I don’t open anything until I have used up the old (I will not tell you how many half used beauty products I have found under the sink and in the medicine cabinet in the past).  I find recipes to use up the items I already have.  If I normally buy something at regular price, I challenge myself to find it on sale.  Before I buy anything, I search the newspaper or the internet for a coupon.  Especially when shopping on the internet, I at all times do a coupon or promotional code search.  When I’m constantly on the lookout for a bargain, there is no end to the money I can save.  It becomes a game that is fun to play!  Do I really need it?  If we can survive without it – we do without.  If I have to store it, dust it or even insure it, I don’t need the hassle! 

   

  3. Eat Out Less Often.  I’ve learned to carry snacks for when we are out.  This is the best way to avoiding eating out.  A box of granola bars goes a long way in getting us back home without stopping to eat out, lol.  I also freezer cook.  You can read about it here http://weblog.xanga.com/TrentTribe/653857135/frugal-friday.html and here http://weblog.xanga.com/TrentTribe/657132657/freezer-cooking-the-sequel.html.  When we do eat out, we eat out for less.  We share a meal.  We drink for free.  (Water is better for you anyway.  We don’t think of ourselves as cheap.  We think of ourselves as healthy.  The same goes for meal sharing.  Smaller portions is healthier.)  We look for coupons in the newspaper, junk mailers, entertainment books, and restaurant websites.  We choose places where kids eat for free.  We eat out for lunch or breakfast rather than dinner.  We order by phone and bring the food home.  Doing this skips the drink order, there are no rules about meal sharing and we avoid the tip.  (We never avoid tipping when we dine in, we always tip generously.  I was a waitress once.  It was common at my restaurant that the “church crowd” was the worst tippers.  My husband and I have made it our mission to dispel that reputation.)

   

  4. Budget.  Then, find creative ways to stay in the budget.  Here is a cool budgeting tool, http://www.crown.org/Tools/Calculators/Budgeting_Budgetometer.aspx

   

  Cut back.  Scale back your phone plan.  Cancel subscriptions and membership plans.  Cancel the cable or find a way to get it for less.  Don’t go to the movies.  Have movie night at home.  We can enjoy better food at home for far less money than the theater.  We can pause and rewind.  This is a big deal to me because I’m always taking little girls to the bathroom.  No one cares if the baby cries.  The baby can play and crawl/walk around as much as he wants.  Brian changes the oil in our vehicles.  We have our hair cut less often.  I do my own pedicures.   

   

  5. In many situations it saves money to live on one income.  Mom, are you wanting to stay home?  Seriously, this is a great way to be at home.  Go to http://www.crown.org/Tools/Calculators/Work_OneIncome.aspx.  Do the calculations.  Then, come back here. 

   

  So, how much do you really make?  I bet you can easily find ways to save that amount.  Especially, if you are home.  You will have more time to devote to shopping the sale ads, clipping coupons and cooking (to avoid eating out). 

   

  Implement as many frugal habits into your lifestyle that you can and start enjoying a debt-free life.  You know that famous quote, “Live like no one else now, so, that you can live like no one else later.” 

   

   

  • 10:21 pm
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