Frugal Fridays

Frugalness with Time:

Sometimes I get so caught up in looking for frugal solutions that I forget about the reality of life and my many committments. So, my tip for today is: Weigh the costs of being frugal in a certain area and decide for you what truly makes frugal sense in the areas of TIME as well as money.

For example: I tried making my own baby wipes a few years ago and found that not only was it more work for me, but I had to use 2-3 times as many wipes since they were thinner and fell apart more easily so I had to double them up when wiping. Trying to saw through the roll of paper towels made a paper-fuzzies mess everywhere and so I ended up pulling all the towels off the roll individually and then cutting them into thirds so they'd fit in my wipe box! I discovered that it's easier for me to just buy the cheapest Wal-Mart brand wipes in bulk. In reality, I'm saving much time and effort and the cost is about the same since the Wal-Mart wipes are more durable and I only need 1/3 as many per diaper change. Especially since my babies won't always use up enough wipes in a week before the homemade wipes "spoil." Some people have success with making them, but I'm not one of them!

It may be more expensive to go to the salon every few months, but I know from experience it is worth it if you want a short or layered cut that actually looks nice! It took a year for me to grow out my "mistakes" in this area! Frozen pizzas may not taste nearly as good as homemade, but if they are on a very good sale we will buy them once in a while and spend less than we would have for homemade pizzas and will have saved a lot of time too! Cloth diapers can be wonderful but only if you feel that the time spent doing extra changes, more soaking and laundry, hanging, and folding, etc. is worth the money saved. For those of us who have to purchase water for a cistern or share a community laundry room, it makes more sense to go with the Wal-Mart brand of diapers for $5 a week.

Because I live in a remote state, I have very little shopping options around. I shop the sales at the two grocery stores in town, shop the Family Dollar and thrift store and make-do until I can get to the nearest Wal-Mart (2 times per month). It was hard to pass up a Walgreen's deal last week that could have saved me $10 on cereals we love, but my husband decided that it wasn't worth the $8 in gas money to drive to Wal-Greens and the 3-4 hours worth of dragging two little kids on a long car ride and shopping trip just to save a couple bucks. So I stayed here and had an enjoyable day and bought some cereal here with a coupon. (You gals in the city are so blessed with all your stores!)

If you love to sew, then by all means, do it! But realize that buying a 30 cent shirt from the thrift store or finding clothes in the free boxes at yard sales or clearance racks in stores can be infinitely cheaper than sewing because of the time you need to take to shop for fabric, wash it, iron it, cut it, sew it, deal with sewing machine malfunctions, etc. and if you're not a great seamstress your product may turn out to be awful anyway and something you just turn into rags! Sewing is a great hobby of mine but I'm mindful that it's not "time-effective" unless I'm making something that is very simple and can't be purchased for less.

My main point is, since our time is eaten up constantly by so many things these days (husband's needs, small children's endless demands, church activities, relationships, home-keeping, errands, etc.) we should not only be concerned with where every penny is going, but also how much time we are spending on things, even things that could potentially save us money. If I can save both TIME and MONEY by doing it myself it's best! But if I want to save time, sometimes I need to splurge a little and if I want to save money sometimes I have to sacrifice a lot of time.

Some quick examples of things that save both time and money:

*automatic bill pay saves a stamp and saves you from having to remember to mail the bill, fill out the check, etc. every month (You need to be very responsible and careful if you use automatic bill pay!)

*Spending more time planning your shopping list and rearranging it according to the stores you are going to and the layout of the store so you can shop faster and save money (it's a proven fact that the longer you browse the more you spend).

*Bulk cooking-Whether you make a months worth at a time or just cook 5 lbs. of hamburger and freeze it in 1 lb. portions, bulk cooking can save you time in the kitchen and money too since a lot of bulk foods are cheaper. You're also saving energy if you re-heat using a microwave.