The proverbial wagon

Oh come on, we all have one- a wagon of some sort that we keep falling off of. Mine is record keeping of all of my purchases.

I have a desire to manage our money so well that I can account for every dime, and have eliminated as much waste as humanly possibly. But then I'll forget to write a couple of things down, and then get frustrated with myself and stop, then on the first of the following month, I will go through it and torture myself all over again when I fail. However, I was forgetting something, I don't have to wait until the beginning of the following month to stop letting myself drag behind the cart and get back on the cart. Where had that rule come from anyway? No one normal I am sure, and certainly no one with small kids.

So, I got back up out of the dirt and started writing it all down to evaluate again, a d it was freeing not to wait ntil the beginning of the following month Hallelujah!

Temptation

My husband and I resisted temptation like crazy mad people this weekend. We borrowed a friends Wii to try, and of course we enjoyed it. So, later that same day, hubby offers to let me run free for a few hours while he has the kids (yay for me), so I go first to wally-world then to a myraid of other spots. Well, I look at the Wii's then the Wii Fits and I'm just uneasy about dropping that much dough on a game. Then I go to kmart - out of Wii, then yesterday we go out of town for church and went to their local wal-mart - no wii. By this time, we were not only okay with the fact that there were no Wii's to be bought, we were a little giddy - and then when considered the fact that we had just saved about $400 smackers, we shared a kiss of joy.

There are still a lot of activities you can do for cheap or free - do them instead.

Frugal Friday

When life gives you lemons, make lemonade . . . . Who hasn't heard that one?

My household is going down by 7.5% due to payroll cuts at hubby's job (hey - at least he still has one). So, I need to cut my variable expenses by about 10% to compensate. That doesn't sound like a lot, but when you already are trying to be frugal to keep costs low, an additional 10% can be a real challenge. So that's it - a frugal challenge

10 ways I can cut 10% off my variable expenses:

1. turn down the thermostat about 3 degrees
2. eat more beans & rice
3. negotiate a trade for services (the lady that cuts our hair like my homemade poundcake so instead of money I give her a cake in exchange for haircuts - makes our hair cheap to maintain), I wonder if the man down the road with hens would trade cake or bread for eggs?
4. increase my use of the crockpot instead of the oven or range
5. do I really need half and half for my coffee or can I get by with milk?
6. discover more ways to cook chicken and ground beef since I have a ton of both
7. cut out all prepackaged food (I generally keep a few things around in case of emergency so we didn't have to order out - but I guess this emergency means I won't buy any more)
8. stay away from the stores - why even bother going if you don't have the moolah to spend
9. more pb&j for lunch and less grilled cheese
10. try to go meatless 2 days a week instead of 1

I welcome other ideas. I already make homemade bread, pancakes, waffles, sauces, etc. I also use my clothesline and make homemade laundry soap and my own household cleaners.

What's a mommy to do?

The Power of Will Power

Okay, I admit it, I have been a little slack in my money saving creativity lately. I've even gone so far as to allow a couple of my feet to drag off the back of the proverbial wagon. But, here and now, I vow to not only get back on the money-saving wagon, but to push my way to the front and grab the map and give out directions. I hope this means that I will come up with some new and creative money saving tips, tricks and ideas.

One of my favorite quotes

"Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without."

Clutter Costs

Clutter costs money, time, energy, and happiness Money: misplaced bills cost late fees, misplaced library books cost fines, etc. Time: digging through clutter takes a lot of it. Energy: digging through clutter takes a lot of it (again). Happiness: who likes digging through junk and losing stuff?

Advice: get rid of the junk; keep the important stuff organized; after you use it put it away; after you pay it, file it; if it gets dirty, go ahead an clean it and put it away; and last but not least: STOP LETTING THE CLUTTER IN TO BEGN WITH!!(of course, this is the most difficult to do, especially if you live with others:)