Frugal Fridays: Don't Eat Your Money

I was at a financial informational meeting recently, and one of the participants said the above comment - "Don't Eat Your Money." And I'm not talking about ACTUALLY eating money, of course, although I did eat a quarter once because I was mad at my mom and I didn't want to go somewhere and I thought if I ate the money, I wouldn't have to go. No such luck. Anyway, I'm talking about using your money to go out to eat or buying prepared/convenience/pre-packaged, etc. food.

Now, the flip side to this, and the thing that people don't often address is that you will need time to devote to making food from scratch. This is why doing once a month cooking is REALLY helpful for me. I don't usually have an hour-plus "free" time in the afternoon to prepare dinner. It is also really helpful, in many ways, to have a menu. It will help you plan on how you will use the non-packaged food, and how much of it you will need, but it will help so that you don't have to deal with that "What's for dinner?" question at 4 pm. You will know a week or a month, depending on how long in advance you menu plan, in advance what will be for dinner. And breakfast. And lunch.

And if you have wheat, get a grinder or find someone who does and grind it, and Use it! Take the beans that you have and grind them and turn it into bean flour, and Use it! Many of the things that are staples in long-term food storage are inexpensive. But it doesn't do your family any good if it just sits in storage. Find recipes/ways for you to use the food that you store. And make sure that you store what you will use.

Frugal Friday: Resource Management - Buy Used

Today's tip is:

1. Buy used whenever possible.

I buy almost all of mine and the children's clothes used, primarily at local thrift stores. We bought our vehicle used. I try to get my furniture used. I swap things with friends. I borrow things that I will only need for a short time.

If I can't buy something used, I try and ask myself if I can make it. I try to make buying new not be my first choice.

Frugal Fridays

I'm pretty frugal. Most of the time, I look at it as a fun challenge, but there also is the fact that we sort of NEED to be frugal too.

So I'll be posting a frugal tip every Friday. Until I don't, LOL, since I tend to get started on stuff like this, and then drop off after awhile. Not every frugal tip will work for every family, and that's o.k.

So the first frugal tip is: Stay At Home. We only have one car (this will probably be my next frugal tip) and so most days, I am here without a car. It is easier to not spend money if you have to walk to the store.