Frugal Friday

Well, friends, my mind is just BLANK this morning. It has been a crazy, long, emotional week for me. So to reflect this mood I give you today's offering of frugality.

Be content. It is amazing how frugal you can be if you will just follow what is commanded in Scripture. Be content in the small things, be content in the large things. Give thanks for all you have been given, realizing that you deserve none of it.

"Therefore I tell you,do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. ~ Matthew 6:25-33

Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. ~ Philippians 4:11

Now there is great gain in godliness with contentment, for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content. But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs. But as for you, O man of God, flee these things. Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness. ~ I Timothy 6:6-11

Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, "I will never leave you nor forsake you." ~ Hebrews 13:5

Frugal Friday

Three Quick Tips

1. Always check clearance areas of your grocery store. In my local Kroger there is a bakery clearance area all the way in the back by the milk. I will often grab a bag of wheat rolls for that nights' dinner for less than a dollar. The Atoka Kroger also has a general clearance section at the front, by the pharmacy. My last good buy there was a box of Organic English Breakfast Tea (one of my favorites) for less than $2.

2. Find out what day your local grocery store marks down their meat and produce items. If I shop Kroger on Friday night, I have a wide variety of extremely cheap produce to choose from. I've noticed that the marked-down produce is anything expiring before the following Monday, so we even have a couple of days to eat it. Last week I picked up two of those large plastic containers of Organic Spring Mix salad for less than $3.

3. And for those who are weary of grocery tips, here's a cleaning tip. The cheapest and best cleaner for my tub and shower is Suave Shampoo and a scrubbie sponge from my kitchen. This works well since my tub needs cleaning just about the same time that my sponge needs to be replaced.

Frugal Friday

Three Shopping Rules to Make Saving on Groceries Simpler

I've had two friends tell me that they want to become frugal at the grocery store by starting with a price notebook. This is a little notebook with a list of specific food items and their fluctuating prices, recorded for the purpose of comparison. True, if the idea is to stock up when items are priced at rock-bottom, you must know the definition of rock-bottom. And if you haven't noticed already, I tend to be a little CDO (it's like OCD but in alphabetical order). So it stands to reason that a price notebook would appeal to me. All of those neat, orderly columns of food items I routinely purchase, with precise prices listed beside them...color coded by department...

Okay, I am back from my daydream now. So let's get real. We only have so much time in a day, forcing us to prioritize. Unfortunately, keeping Audrey from standing on the kitchen table is pretty far ahead of that nifty price notebook. What I need is an easy rule of thumb to keep me on the right path without having to memorize sales prices for the whole store.

Many things that you will purchase will be under two dollars. These items will add up if you put enough of them in your cart, but the expense will be compounded by higher-priced items. For those who want to do the most damage with the least amount of work, I offer you three easy steps.

The Two Buck Rule

Let's make a list of things I try NEVER to pay over two dollars for. All of the following are name-brand items unless noted:

Produce, per pound (including those yummy bagged salads)
Meat, per pound (and we eat very little "cheap" meat like ground beef or chicken legs)
Bread, per loaf
Cereal
Granola bars
Packages of cookies
Boxes of crackers
Packages of lunch meat
Bags of chips (large)
Frozen vegetables (large)
Ice cream (We DO like Kroger's Private Selection brand!)

Note that most items not on the above list are either inexpensive or rarely go on sale/have coupons (canned items, dried beans and pasta, staples, condiments, milk, cheese, eggs, etc.).

Now, for any items that you regularly purchase for more than two dollars, try to have an idea of what you are willing to pay. Hopefully you will not have too many items on this list! I creatively call this...

The "Over Two Bucks" Rule

Here are examples from the Hinton family:

Canned Coke products (Kevin likes to take one for lunch with his FRUGAL leftovers!): Four 12 packs for $12 or less.

Diapers (of course): $7 or less for a Jumbo pack. In this case, Kroger brand works GREAT for us, but I will occasionally get Pampers or Huggies for $6 with coupons and ecoupons combined with a sale.

Laundry detergent: $6 or less for about 50 loads. We aren't too picky about brands here but we do not use the VERY cheap stuff. I cannot stand nasty-smelling dish cloths!

Milk: You just have to buy it no matter the cost, BUT be sure to check the gallons against the half gallons! Last week the half gallons were $1.50 and the gallons were $3.38. We get Kroger instead of Turner.

Cheese: Again, you just have to buy it. Kroger brand is fine with my family.

Finally, I pay almost nothing - or NOTHING - for many toiletries, cleaners, and miscellaneous household items, simply by combining sales with coupons or taking advantage of Walgreens Easy Saver Rebates, which are now entirely ONLINE! (Just hop online once a month and get every bit of what you payed up front for free items loaded straight onto your Walgreens gift cards. No mailing things in, even.) These items seem to ALWAYS be on sale and ALWAYS have good coupons. They do not go bad and you should stock up when they are on sale. I don't know what to call this rule so let's just say...

The "I Got This Really Cheap or for Free!" Rule

Toothpaste - I have about eight free tubes of various, expensive, name-brand tootpaste in my linen closet.

Deodorant - This is generally purchased for about $.50 or less; again, I have a bunch stored away.

Makeup - I recently acquired two free foundations (L'Oreal and Jane Be Pure) and two CG mascaras originally totaling $14 for $3.84.

Windex, Lysol Toilet Bowl Cleaner, Fantastic - All were less than a dollar at Walgreens with a coupon plus rebate.

Trash bags, light bulbs, etc. - The ones I "purchased" most recently were actually free.

I hope this will help and encourage some of you who are intimidated by trying to know a wide range of prices for every item you regularly purchase. Happy shopping!

Frugal Friday

Welcome to the first edition of Frugal Friday. Each week I will share a tip that I have found to be useful in my own life.

Here is one of my all-time favorites to kick us off!

I love my Swiffer Wet Jet but hate paying the price for refills. The Swiffer folk get you twice, as you have to continually purchase bottles of cleaning spray AND disposable pads. My solution? For the pads you can use old washcloths, or even purchase a pack of new ones because you'll be saving in the long run. Attach them with two rubber bands, then toss them in the washing machine (sans fabric softener to increase absorbency) when you are done. I actually prefer the washcloths to the pads.

As for the bottle of spray, this was a bit tricky to figure out. The top cannot be unscrewed without tearing up the bottle. So I tried poking a hole in the bottom of the container. The plastic is a bit thick, so it took a bit of effort...but it was well worth it! I started the hole with a box cutter and then shoved my knife sharpener in to make it round, just a bit bigger around than a pencil. Now I can just pour the cleaner of my choice into the small hole. Originally I tried to figure out a way to stop up the hole, but because I only refilled the bottle halfway I had no problem with water coming back out.



Another plus is that I can refill my bottle with my choice of cleaner, so for those who like to be "green" this can be a great option. Just beware of using water and baking soda or anything that might clog up the works.

One last thing. If you mop your kitchen and fifteen minutes your floor looks like this...sorry, I can't help ya. I've been there and about all you can do is pray for some self-control and thank God you are on the fast track to santification.