Living Frugally

Lets talk frugal living.  My family has not always been a frugal family, in fact my husband and I went through a phase of not really monitoring what we were spending.  Over the past few years we have slowly been redirecting our view of money.  It started as a way to get out of debt, and now has become our way of life.  So today I am going to share what we have been doing to save money and be better stewards of what God has blessed us with.

First of all I already shared how we live on a tight budget.  How do we make that work?  We use what is referred to as the Envelope System.  We use cash for most things in our monthly spending.  Bills are paid online as much as possible and we still use the debit card for gas (mostly for convince sake).  Groceries, clothing, gifts, and eating out are all cash based.  That way if we run out of cash then we don't spend it.  Period. End of story!  This has helped us greatly in getting our budget under control.

I also try to buy used when ever possible.  I shop garage sales, second hand stores, and ask around before buying new.  I have found some great deals just by asking friends on Facebook.  I have gotten coats for my kids, a dresser for my bedroom, and even curriculum!  You just never know who might be holding onto something they really don't want and that you could use.  So never underestimate the power of asking!  I am also very fortunate that I have 3 boys, and I can hand clothes down.  I also have a very generous mother in law that loves to buy clothes for them.  So its not too often that I have to worry about clothing my children.

I don't drive needlessly around places.  I try to run errands on one day of the week, and plan play dates or field trips along with running errands.  With the price of gas I just can't afford to be wasteful.

We don't buy paper products like napkins or paper towels.  Those are too expensive especially when we have towels that work just as well.  I buy generic about 98% of the time, there are a few things that I just really like the name brand, so we "splurge" and get that.

My husband and I also talk over purchases before spending.  If I want to get a pair of shoes for the boys, we talk about it first, that cuts down on the impulse buying.  There have been countless times I have called my hubby from the store to ask about something, and he has talked me out of it.  Thankfully too, because it would have put us over budget!

We have cut out our cable and shopped around for a cheaper internet.  We have a monthly subscription to Netflix and that keeps the kids happy.  Our cell phones are piggy backed onto my parents, so we spend less on those.  I am the only one who has a smart phone, my poor hubby is still carrying his trusty old flip phone.

My final bit of advice if you are trying to live a frugal life... If you can't afford it, don't have cash to pay for it, then don't buy it!!  That montra has saved us countless times!

How I Feed My Family of 5 on a Tight Budget

Today I am going to share a little about how we save money on our grocery bill every month.

Our budget it super tight, we spend around $350 a month for the five of us.  That includes toiletries and such.  First thing that I did over a year ago was to stop buying paper products.  I no long spend half my budget on paper towels or napkins!  We use kitchen towels to clean up spills and we use cloth napkins at the dinner table.

 I also make my own laundry detergent, I use this recipe here.  It says it will last a family of four a year, I made my first batch in June and I am going to need to make another one in December.  So even though it didn't last quite as long as I had hoped it really is still a cost savings for us to spend about $30 to last us 6 months.

Another way I spend less at the grocery store is making a monthly menu.  We get paid every two weeks, so that is when I do my grocery shopping.  I only buy enough to last the two weeks, so menu planning is a MUST for me.  Our menu also does not consist of fancy food.  We eat meatloaf, sloppy joes, tacos, spaghetti, hot dogs, chicken nuggets, and right now LOTS of homemade soup!  Yes I know not the healthiest menu, but our budget is tight and I try to fix foods my kids will eat so we don't waste!

When making my soups I fill the crock pot full and make it stretch!  Meaning I might add a little extra water to it.  One crockpot full of soup will give us at least 3-4 meals.  So we eat it once then I freeze the rest into 2-3 containers.  So at no extra cost I have extra meals ready to go in my freezer!  I plan those into the menu for that month or the next as well.

My favorite "secret" weapon right now... ALDI!  That place is awesome for saving money.  I was a total skeptic for a long time, because I couldn't do everything in one place.  Until recently I would have had to drive an extra 20 minutes to another town to go to Aldi.  Last year though one opened up right next door to our Wal-Mart!  Do you think I went right away, nope!  It wasn't until this summer after begin convinced by friends to at least try it.  And you know what, its awesome!  I can get a full cart with about 2 weeks worth of food for $80!  Where at Wal-Mart I was spending at least $100 or more just on food!  If you have yet to try Aldi, I urge you to at least try a few things.  There has only been a handful of items that we have not cared for, but everything else there has been great.

I don't coupon, I don't look at add because quite frankly... Aint nobody got time for that!!!

What does your family do to save money?  I am always looking for new ways to improve my grocery savings, and I would love to hear from you.

Homeschool Convention 101

Ha!!  Yeah I have been to ONE homeschool convention!  Last year was the first one I attended and it was super overwhelming.  For one thing we had not started to homeschool yet, and secondly we were leaving our baby, who was 8 months at the time, and didn't like to be left!  We are very fortunate and have a local homeschooling convention about 20 minutes from our house.  Its pretty small, I guess compared to some of the larger ones, but it was still pretty overwhelming for us.

So our strategy last year was to get in and get out, so to speak.  We went for a very short period of time (like 3 or 4 hours), we were able to attend a couple of seminars, do a little shopping and that was it. Last year we also knew, for the most part, before going what our curriculum would be.  So that helped us to not have to wander too much, we found that booth, looked it over and bought it.

Here is what I learned from attending my first homeschool convention, last year.  Make sure you give yourself plenty of time, just to browse.  We were on such a time constraint last year I feel like we really didn't get to look at much.  I suggest at least 2-3 hours just to shop!  We also did not set a budget for ourselves before going, we knew what the curriculum would cost, but didn't figure in any extra stuff.  That is where we blew our homeschooling budget last year.  I also did not write down any questions for our curriculum venders, I think that would have been helpful.  When they asked if we had any questions, I couldn't think of any, until it came in the mail a few weeks later and then I had tons!  So as you are browsing online, jot down some questions that you might have.  Before attending last year I really had no idea what to expect.  I think talking to someone you know who has been before can give you a good idea of what's going to happen that day.

So here are my tips from the newbie to a newbie:
1) Do your research before attending!  Narrow down your choices to about 2-3 curriculums that you want to look at.  Not that you can't look at others, but if you get overwhelmed easily, then I strongly suggest it!

2)  Bring a notebook for taking notes, but also to jot down questions you may have for the venders.  I find it helpful to write the questions down before I attend.  (Last year I did not and felt a little frazzled because I couldn't think of any, until I got home, of course!)

3)  Take your time!!  Really browse and look through stuff, this might be the only time that you will get a chance to page through the books.  Make sure you have at least 2-3 hours just to shop!

4)  Before buying anything, do a walk through of all the booths!  This is so important, because it will save you from buying something and then finding something similar that you like better!  If you look at every booth then you can narrow down what you would like to buy.

5)  Set your budget before going!  This will be helpful, especially if you are tight on money, that way you aren't tempted to pick up any "extra" stuff that looks appealing, because it WILL be appealing!!

Hopefully these tips will help you to not be overwhelmed and really enjoy your convention!

Do you have any other tips that I may not have listed?  I would love to hear them!!

I am linking up at the Homeschool Village today, so hop on over and see what else you might find!