Are you making plans to become more frugal this year?

[RobertaD]

I caught the Dr Phil show this morning which was talking about out of control spending.
There are a lot of good articles on getting a handle on spending.

http://www.drphil.com/articles/category/3/11/

Roberta

[pinkroses]

I have always been frugal; but I have to be more so now; we are currently building our retirement home in the country on a small farm
We will have a really high house payment
We have had this one payed off for about 10 years;
so, back into we go Ha
But,
I will be glad to get back in the country as I was born and raised in the country;
Pinkroses

[kathymac]

Roberta, thanks for the link! I definitely want to check that one out.

Kathy

[RobertaD]

Your welcome Kathy.

I laughed a lot during the show the lady that said she was a bargain shopper only spent $160 on her outfit for the show. And she has filed for bankrupcty twice imagine that. I live in a different universe that is for sure.

Roberta

[bluebird]

Patti, can you use outdated coupons at the commissary?

I plan to be better with planned meals, keep track of what is in the freezer. I have noticed with this upright freezer I am not losing food to the bottom monster.

One thing I will do is cook and freeze brown rice. It is a nice staple to have ready to go.

Couponing here is hit and miss. I have two mom and pop stores and WalMart. I watch and do the best I can. I have found that we are buying more groceries since we have Stuie to check them out for us. We also 'need' to eat out to keep Stu trained. Eating out can be drinks or drinks and a fry. We don't have to eat big meals out.

I am also planing on selling on ebay and etsy. Items I have one hand or in case of the crafty item made with materal I have on hand. If it works then I will see about what to specialize in.

[Vrsherren]

lislyn66 Trusting God is the only way to live! I can't understand how some try to live without him. They're lonely, and hopeless.
I nevered wanted to be rich with money (dh says that's good ). We've been pretty low at times, but always had a roof over our heads and food on the table. Even going through the deaths of my parents 2 years apart, I couldn't imagine going through it without God. We'll get through this wedding and the rest of the estate settlement and still come out just fine, with our family intact.

RobertaD, I spent $120 dollars (Christmas $ - still have $80.) and had a weeks worth of clothes! "Only" spending $160. for ONE outfit sounds less that intelligent to me! Bet Dr. Phil let her know too. Had a friend years ago that spent like that. Her poor dh worked extra hours just to be able to afford what she wanted...... best of everything. They are divorced now and she had remarried someone with more money. He remarried to a really sweet thrifty lady and is very happy. Don't think Becky will ever be happy or satisfied. She is a true example of money can't buy you happiness! Makes me very grateful I was blessed with parents that taught me better values.

[crochet2]

I want to be more frugal this year too.

I have stopped going to the market every week. I am trying for once every three weeks. I do need to either start making all my bread or buying freezing it. I am not a fan of that, but if it will help. I put all purchases on my cc which earns points.

I am also going to Sam's club every so often, but with cash. What I get is things like extra quality meats, ham steaks, frozen breaded fish fllets that I like, spices that I use a lot of in bulk (black pepper is one),

I cook from scratch mostly, the already prepared foods have too much salt for me.

I want to do more vegetable gardening this year too. I had 4 squash plants, some cucumber plants that did not produce, and some tomato plants that did well. I am thinking about how to have more room for the plants this year. I froze some of the squash with peppers that were given to me and sweet onions that were cheap, so I have plenty this winter.

As far as clothing goes, I think I don't need anything for this summer at all, and my winter clothes are great.

Since I changed jobs last year and went to half of what I had been making, I have had to look at every purchase and really decide if I need it or not. My only major purchase was replacing my kitchen windows. And they were really bad. I am putting money every week into a savings account, and money every week into an envelope for lawncare this coming year.

My major expenses are insurance (home and auto), taxes, and my mortgage. I don't know if I will be getting a refund on my taxes this year, but if so, it will go directly to paying extra mortgage payments. Making sure you have a roof over your head is the most important thing. So if I can scrounge up an extra payment or two, I will be really happy.

Well ladies, better go for now.

Take care all!! Norma

[Vrsherren]

Norma, sounds like a good plan.

I will sometimes make too much of something and put it in a freezer bag for anothe time. I also save the "juice" from canned chicken and veggies. I freeze it till I'm making soup. Cuts dowe on the bouillion cubes that have too much salt. Telma brand bouillion is found in the Jewish section of your grocery store and has little salt. You do have to crush them so they don't lump, but worth it.

Vivian

[RobertaD]

Janet try double bagging the bread before you freeze it that helps and letting it thaw out before using helps.

Roberta

[kathymac]

Norma, I agree about the importance of having a roof over your head. I used to pay an extra mortgage payment every year. I took the amount of one month's mortgage payment, divided it by 12 and paid that amount extra every month. Unfortunately, I have not been able to do that for about a year now because of other expenes that popped up. Once I get back to work, I plan on starting that up again, as well as dividing the rest of my paycheck into debt reduction and savings.

Kathy