Frugal Habits

The other day I was thinking about how we make it one income (and recently how we are making it on one income that has been reduced). Often people around me will ask how we make it or say that I'm incredibly priviledged (translated: spoiled) to be at home. I am VERY BLESSED to be able to be home with my kids and I know not everyone truly has the option. But it's not because my husband makes lots of money, we inherited thousands, have a clandestine business on the side, or live off credit cards like some folks may think.



For those of you who haven't been reading my blog for very long, these are just some of the ways that immediately come to my mind that we save money so that I am able to be at home.



*We believe in tithing and that God blesses it. He is our provider and He has always taken care of our needs, causing my husband to get better and better jobs (or raises) with each child that has come into the family.



*We believe in living debt free. We recognize that saving to pay cash for a home isn't realistic for all folks in all circumstances and thus we will probably have a mortgage on our first home someday. But, insofar as we can, we avoid debt, and when we have outstanding bills (such as a few thousand that our insurance didn't pay on Jer's birth) we pay it off as quickly as possible.



*We rent an old, 2-bedroom home. We could probably afford to rent a fancier place with lots of rooms but it would leave us no wiggle room in the budget and no extra to save or handle emergencies. We are so happy in our cozy little home!



*We always drive older vehicles and maintain them ourselves. Even if other folks our age are driving flashier vehicles around we have always been pleased with our 10-18 year old vehicles. Our current van the Lord provided when Justus was born is our newest vehicle, being only 6 years old and was a great deal! Honda Accords and Toyota Camry's are our small cars of choice!



*We don't go out to eat very often. When Ali was little we had a habit of stopping at Pizza Hut after church a few times a month. Amazing how quickly that can add up! We both really enjoy eating out and do it now and then for a date night or special occasion but it's rare. Now, during our time of temporary scarcity, we don't eat out at all.



*We coupon. We got over $700 in free (that's 100% free) products last year thanks to couponing. We got countless other good deals with coupons, where the item was mere pocket change or a super-reduced price because of coupons. Half the time I don't even buy the paper and it's not like I spend hours clipping coupons each week. But when a good coupon is featured online (such as this week's Huggies coupon that's $5 off a package and another one is $3 off a package) I take advantage of it! I also use lots of the in-ad coupons from Safeway's flyer to get deals like: butter for 99 cents a pound, cereal for $1 a box, $10 off a $50 purchase, etc.



*We shop the loss leaders (front page specials that stores offer at rock bottom prices to get you in the store) and stockpile. I only buy what is on sale. It is very rare if I pay full price for anything. How can I do this? By stockpiling the things we use. This way we don't have to pay $3 for a roll of foil when we run out because I hit a sale and got 3 rolls when they were $1. I plan my menus for the week around what is on sale at the two stores. We always pay 50% or less of the regular price for any meats we buy. By shopping the really low deals at both stores in town, we probably pay about 50% of what most of our neighbors around us pay out for groceries each year.



*We cook from scratch and make simple foods. Bake our own bread most of the time, eat lots of brown rice, black beans, pasta and potatoes. We only eat meat about every other night. We find that we get plenty of proteins through yogurt, cheese, peanut and almond butter, and combining rice and beans, pasta and cheese, grains and milk to make complete proteins. We don't buy convenience foods unless they are free or close to it!



*We shop the yard sales and thrift stores. We often find outfits that have the tags on them or are name-brand items for a quarter!



*We accept and pass on hand-me-downs.



*We take simple steps to save. Substitute ingredients, rinse out ziplocs and re-use again and again, always check the reduced rack at the grocery store, don't make unnecessary trips to town, watch movies online or borrow from the library or friends instead of renting, I handmake most of the gifts we give or buy things on super sales, we have a gift stash so we're always prepared for birthdays and holidays, etc.

*We don't buy on credit cards. There have been times we have had to use our one credit card because of a torn debit card or having the debit card declined (since we have some mega security measures in place due to an identity theft scam) but we only use it if we can pay it off immediately.

*We cut our own hair, do our own oil changes, wash our cars at home, fix things ourselves, and make things ourselves when we can to avoid buying them.

*We do in-home date nights and avoid paying for a sitter as much as possible. Trading with friends occasionally and having my folks watch them once in a great while is better for our budget right now. Once or twice a year it's worth it to go out with friends though!

*We've used cloth diapers for each of our kids at least for part of their infancy. We only used them for a month with Ali since we had a cistern and had to ration water and had an old washing machine that didn't clean them well and no dryer to dry them in. When Jer was around 8 months old I learned to make the nifty pocket diapers and used them for about a year on him and we were in a rental with free laundry facilities and unlimited hot water. We started using them on Justus about a month ago and it's going well. All of our kids received about 5 months supply of diapers at their baby showers so we really haven't spent that much on diapers over the years.

*We don't have TV. We do watch movies and let our kids watch kids' movies but not having TV is SO HELPFUL for avoiding "the gimmies" and avoiding the American excess promoted all around us. I have noticed that kids who watch a ton of TV seem to be discontent with what they have and are always wanting something new they see on the commercials. For this reason I also don't subscribe to the free women's mags available out there. They can easily cause you to wish you had a nicer home, nicer clothes, or could afford fabulous vacations.

*We don't buy laundry sheets, air freshener sprays, or other things that really aren't essentials. We make our own laundry detergent (super easy: 1 bar of Ivory grated with 1 C. of washing soda and 1 C. borax--Use 2 T. per load) and thus we pay about 1/7th of the cost most people pay for laundry detergent.

*We try to eat healthy. I used to think that all the healthy foods were really expensive and you either paid more for groceries or ate junk, but now I realize that by buying the produce that's on sale each week, avoiding candy, pop, and chips (which are expensive and bad for the waistline) and by buying in bulk and watching for deals, you can truly eat healthy and be frugal at the same time! More on this in a future post!

*Instead of paying for trash pick-up at $17 a month for once-a-week pick-up King Jo takes our garbage to work with him and throws it in the woodshop dumpster there and pays my dad $5 a month towards the dumpster fee.

*This summer we hope to have a productive garden! I've done one garden before, using space at my folk's house, but it was TONS of work and exhausting as I was pregnant with Jer. It takes a LOT of work to grow veggies in our state and gardens need constant watering. Those of you in wet states like MN get to just plant it and watch it grow!