Frugal Families Blog

     For many of us our daughter’s sweet 16 is the biggest party of her life besides her wedding.  I want my daughter’s upcoming Sweet 16 party to be special however I know we are not be able to spend the kind of money that some of her friends have spent.  She had one friend who rented a private hall, a caterer, and her family even had an ice sculpture made for the occassion.  Another friend rented out a very nice restaurant downtown and while they cut corners by opting for just serving sodas and appetizers which was creative and not as labor intensive as my plan.  My husband and I want to keep this party under $300.00 and make it special for her as well.  We have opted to have a good ole’ fashioned shin dig (traditional bq style)!  We are thinking of running a stereo system ourselves and I will set up a movie with a projector(I am currently checking on a price to rent the projector but I may have a source to borrow one) that wil project on a sheet in the yard.  We are opting to have hamburgers and hot dogs and to set up our yard with torches and christmas lights and to arrange yard furniture  on carpets through out the back yard.  We will also probably have to borrow lawn furniture too.  Why do so many of us feel like we have to throw a party that we cannot even afford? For one minute I actually thought about having it catered one because it was easier and two thinking it would make my daughter happier knowing that my money would be better off going into savings for her colllege fund. 

     I am hoping to find some flowers that are in season for inexpensive in April and arrange them in some vases so the house will look festive.   I also want to get some floating candles for the pool…… I will get a special cake for her (probably with music notes on it since she is plans to be a music major) and we are going to repair her car for her present and get it on the road.  It is a car we have been saving for about a year and a half for her we already know it nees a new battery.  Another friend of mine told me that insurance typically goes up $1000 a year once you put a teenager on……isn’t that a great birthday gift as it is?   My daughter is so excited about her party she knows we will make it special! 

It’s the beginning of the year and a terrific time to set goals.   I love the fresh start that a new year brings.  I love to set a few personal goals covering the areas of physical, spiritual, mental, and family.   One evening at the beginning of each year I gather our family for a goal setting meeting.  Often those have included listing a variety of choices with everyone submitting ideas for us to choose from.  Then we vote.

This year I want to encourage our family to choose a frugality goal as well as our usual focus.  I’m thinking they can feel more involved by making it a family goal to keep all of the lights off, or combining trips or carpooling, or possibly being involved more with food costs and menu ideas.  It would eliminate me harping on them about at least one of these items…. and that would be wonderful for all of us!  lol

Imagine the fun of having my 5 year old remind ME to turn off the lights when I’m done in a room!  Think of the excitement of my 12 year old opening the power bill and finding it lower than the last one!   Yes, I think this frugal FAMILY new years resolution could be a good thing.

Okay, I got an oil delivery the other day.  Yep, it hurt!  What hurt the most was seeing the $272.72 bill and realizing that I only got 81 gallons for that bill!!  I won’t force you to do the math.  Each gallon was a painful $3.37!!  The pain went deeper as I thought back only a few years to when that $272 delivered 150 gallons to our home ($1.81/gal-yep, still have a receipt that shows oil really being that cheap). 

The only reason this huge increase in heating our home and hot water hasn’t impacted our bottom line as much is because we’ve worked hard to make our home more energy efficient and we’ve changed changes some habits.  Here are the main ways I’ve saved on our heating expenses:

http://www.frugal-families.com/Articles/cutting-heating-costs.htm

I admit, I’ve also learned how to shower, quickly!  I realize that I don’t have to rinse pots and pans in hot water.  I wash in hot water, but cold water rinses just as well.  If I needed a cup of hot water for a recipe, I used to run the water until it was hot, then got my 1 cup of hot water.  I’ve come to realize that besides wasting the water, I could get one cup of cold water and microwave it, thus saving water and the need to get all that hot water up from the furnace to my sink. 

I make sure to take advantage of sunny days by opening up the curtains for some solar heating.  At the same time, I’ve added an extra layer of protection against the cold by having full curtains on all the windows (sheers in the living room and dining room).  The mini blinds help somewhat, but closing curtains over the blinds helps to sandwich the cold air and keep it out of the bedrooms.  Even the sheers in the living room and dining room sandwich the cold but allow more light into those busy areas.

Oh and just remember, when you’re thinking that your domain is too cold at 68 degrees farenheit, that in the old days, fires were allowed to die out at night to conserve fuel.  If you think 68 is cold at 6am, then think about what 38 would feel like!  Don’t ya feel warmer already?  LOL!

It’s only fair to tell you, I do this every year.  Among the many, many resolutions I make, there’s always one that involves “I will not go shopping unless it’s absolutely necessary.” 

I have never kept this resolution. 

I think I could do less shopping, though.  There’s always room for improvement.  But sometimes, it just seems more frugal and practical to shop.  Yardsales come to mind.  I live in the north, so yardsales are seasonal.  If I tried the “shopping less” resolution during the short season, I might miss some incredible bargains.  So I tell myself…

Excepting grocery shopping, I haven’t gone shopping this year.  Yes, I realize the year is only 5 days old.  But it’s something. 

I do think that I could save TIME by not shopping so much.  So I’m going to cut back…on grocery shopping.  I’ve been hitting the grocery stores way too often (one of the pitfalls of working walking distance from a very nice grocery store.)  Once a week should suffice. 

There it is.  My goal.  Stay tuned for how well I actually do. 

I wanted to take a moment to share our exciting year-end news here at Frugal-Families!  One of our forum members, Jennifer, was featured in an article entitled “Living Well on Less” in the January issue of Redbook magazine!!!  Christine Larson is the freelance writer who wrote the article and she did a GREAT job!  Jennifer credited finding Frugal-families.com as one of the ways she learned to save alot of money from seasoned frugalites (hmmm, not sure that is a real word, but we use it quite a bit in the forums ).  Jennifer is now one of those seasoned savers and shares her money-saving tips with everyone.  Just one more reason to consider joining us in the forums!

Well, the other thing I’m thinking about is year-end tax stuff.  I’ve got a garage full of “stuff” that I’ve cleared out from the house over the past months and I want to make sure to get it to the thrift stores before year’s end so I can take the deduction on our taxes.  If you can itemize, it might be better taking the deduction (and supporting some great causes like Salvation Army or Goodwill) versus trying to sell the stuff yourself.  It really does depend on your tax situation.  I just know for us, that it works out better to donate everything.

 Year-end also means that I usually start pulling together all of our statements and get a rough idea of where our money has gone.  I keep a pretty tight budget so I really DO know where the money is but it’s a chance to fine-tune next year’s budget and decide if there is some place to cut and save.  If you’re sitting here and saying, “Budget?  I don’t have a budget”, then this is a good time to sit down and make one.  We have a pretty detailed budget you can print up at this link;

http://www.frugal-families.com/printables/MonthlyExpTracking.pdf

Another good report to print up is the daily tracking sheet.  This will help if you don’t know where your money goes every day (there are 2 pages to print up);

http://www.frugal-families.com/printables/printables.htm

Once you’ve decided to start saving pennies, try picking up one new frugal skill every month.  It’s overwhelming if you try to do too much too fast and you’ll give up getting frugal.  I didn’t always know how to do all the frugal things I know how to do now.  I’ve learned it over time.  So, take the time, come up with a budget and then one new frugal skill a month and you’ll be well on your way to a great new year!

Wow!  Can you believe Christmas is almost upon us!  My children are counting the days. LOL  I love the holiday season as it lends itself well to family activities.  There are so many fun things to do!

Drive around and look at the lights!  (this is not as frugal this year as in the past because of gas prices)  If you are in a more populated location you could walk around your neighborhood one evening and enjoy the decorations.

Bake Sugar Cookies with the kids!  This can make for a long activity so I like to break it up.  I mix up the dough ahead of time & the kids help choose the cookie cutters and help cut.  I bake them and then we decorate the next night.

Make a paper chain as a countdown to Christmas.  Let the kids take off a chain link each day OR you can build a chain by putting a link on each day.

Watch Christmas movies or read Christmas books together.  We have a stash of Christmas books for both young and grown readers.  I have a collection of The Night Before Christmas books illustrated by different  people.  Though the story is the same each time, the different pictures make this fun.

Take a treat to a neighbor.  Nothing creates peace on earth and good will toward men like a yummy plate of goodies.    Let your children be involved so they can reap the rewards of doing kind deeds for others.

Do service for others.  We have a Christmas Bear.  Just an inexpensive stuffed bear dressed in a Christmas outfit who gets passed from family member to family member as quiet good deeds are done.  One child starts with the bear and secretly does a kind thing for someone else and then leaves the bear on that persons bed.  Then that person does a kind deed for someone else and leaves the bear on their bed, and so on.  This activity helps the time pass more quickly and helps us focus outside of ourselves.  It is so exciting to sneakily make someones bed without getting caught!

Have a family meeting and let everyone suggest their favorite Christmas activities and traditions.  Make time to SPEND time together!

Merry Christmas!

A recent case of tendonitis in my right thumb and wrist has put a crimp in my ability to earn a paycheck this fall.  Besides being the owner and publisher of Frugal-Families, I am also a dental hygienist.  I have managed a few hours and we set that money aside for Christmas shopping. 

Having this VERY set budget has really made me think of what we’re giving for gifts this year.  I’ve always preferred homemade and thoughtful presents over just giving presents for the sake of giving presents (if that makes sense) but I seem even more motivated this year.  In addition, I have been reading some books on The Great Depression.  “Use it up, wear it out, make it last or do without” was the creed lived by many a household during that difficult time.  I loved reading about women who would unravel sweaters that were past their prime and reused the yarn to knit mittens or winter socks that they gave as presents.  One woman recalled her present one year.  It was a doll’s dress cut from some old piece of clothing and her mom gave her a needle and thread to go with the cut pieces.  Over the next weeks, her mother taught her how to hand-sew the pieces together so her doll would have a new dress.  Having to piece the dress herself helped stretch out “the fun” of the gift.  Anyways, the presents were practical, very thoughtful and made from what they had.  It wasn’t about how much was spent (they didn’t have cash to spend) or how many things were given.  Those stories really got me thinking.

I knew that my youngest son wanted a big boy quilt, like his brothers.  I had made twin-sized quilts several years ago for them, but my youngest was still getting plenty of use out of smaller quilts I had.  I decided to “make do” and started going through my fabric stash.  I chose a pattern that is a “quilt-as-you-go” strip design that lets me utilize 6″ wide strips of fabric and batting which meant I could use “scrap” batting from other quilts I’ve done over the years.  Within 2 hours I had pulled together my materials and over the next few days I sewed together his quilt.  There was a certain joy and thrill that I found in making do with what I had in my fabric stash and creating this beautiful gift for my son! 

Another family member is really tight for money this year as well.  I asked if I could make practical gifts for everyone and she said that would be great!  I know this family member is in school, working almost full-time and raising 3 kids.  I’ve decided to make freezer cookies for her.  I’ll make rolls of cookie dough, wrap them in plastic wrap and then store them in a ziploc bag (I’ll have to give her a box out freezer on Christmas, won’t she be curious!).  I know she’ll love taking the dough out of the freezer and making homemade cookies with her kids after a long day of work!  A practical gift that will also give her the gift of time with her children!

Granted, not everyone appreciates thoughtful and homemade presents (yep, everyone has someone like that on their list) but at least you can stretch your budget this way. 

It’s deer hunting season!  Opening day is today.  So my thoughts turn to…shopping.  Unlike my husband, though, I am out to save the “bucks” - and dough, too (doe?)  Someone please stop me before I pun again.

It’s been a lot of years since I went hunting.  I’ve gone out in the woods a few times in recent years, but not to hunt.  For me, deer hunting season is more along the lines of BARGAIN hunting season, just in a different locale.  When I leave today, I’ll be taking my son’s girlfriend with me.  She does not have any desire to hunt.  Deer, that it.  But oh, my kind of hunting, that she’s willing to try.

What does my kind of hunting involve?  Well, first, checking out the area in advance for craft/art fairs.  My love of purchasing local goods is not limited to food. 

Of course, there are thrift stores.  Different thrift stores from what we have here.  Last year, I bought a pair of brand-y new sunglasses at the thrift store for $2.  I love them and wear them all the time.  In fact, I thought I lost them a few months back, and was sitting around, mourning my cheap sunglasses.  I also found a little corningware visions dish with handle for $1.49.  Which I also use ALL THE TIME.  Perfect size for heating small portions.  I could sidetrack and talk about the huge collection of Corningware Visions that my husband got me one year.  That is NOT  a romantic gift.  And I was younger, impractical, and definitely romantic.  Now, I’d love to have them back.  Yes, I donated them all, then a few years later decided to stop using plastic in the microwave.  Hey, maybe this little dish was one of my originals.  Maybe not.

Don’t you just love my little side trips?  If I ever make it through an entire entry without going off topic, no one will be more surprised than me!

And next bargain, CHEESE!  Yes, we are the dairy state.  And we have some really great, locally produced cheeses.  Yes, we have some in this part of the state.  But hey, variety is the spice of life (and there is a cheese place up there that makes a baby Swiss that is to die for!)

Malls, well, I try to avoid.  I’ll stop at a mall in another city if someone I am with wants to.  And occasionally, will find a great bargain at a department store or other store that we don’t have around here.  Good grief.  Christmas shopping.  A whole other post.  But I need to start thinking about it.  Next time!

One mall I don’t try to avoid, though is the outlet mall.  I really have found some good bargains there.  But, as with everything, you need to know your prices, because some stuff is NOT a bargain.

Well, I have psyched myself to shop - let the bargain hunting begin!

After reading Sue’s posts about her Farmer’s Market experience and after reading some wonderful articles in our paper locally I decided to start patronizing our farmers market on a weekly basis.  We have a very small farmers market but it in no ways takes from the ambience or atmosphere which is right along a river.  I bring my puppy River and we wander the stalls sometimes one of my children or my husband come along with me.  I have been for about the last six weeks consistently and here is what I have noticed.  I am starting to see some of the same people so its more than just a frugal experience its a social experience.  Also I now know the man who sells my eggs to me and I realized I did not know what a fresh egg tasted like and they are unbelievable it is worth the extra 40 or 50 cents per carton.  I tend to cherish each egg more now, it used to be if an egg broke in the fridge it was no big deal but now these are my precious fresh eggs and he uses very nice cartons and when you return your eggs if you return the carton you get 25 cents back.  The farmers market is good for the environment to I don’t ever have them bag anything up unless it is going to be messy I just use my reusable cloth grocery bag and tuck it in.  I also see people walking with rolling coolers which is great if you are buying a lot of stuff.  My son who is ten loves to come with me sometimes while I am shopping, him and the puppy run along the river and he laughs as the puppy tries to get to the pigeons.  The last time I went I discovered I love roasted chestnuts I had never had them before I really didn’t know it is something about the mood that makes me more willing to try something new.  I am writing this because I know sometimes food can cost more at a farmers market but most of the produces I buy and the items I buy are always cheaper than the grocery store with the exception of the eggs.  This is a way I can give back to my local economy but I get so much more back, I did not realize how much I would enjoy knowing who is growing my food but I really enjoy it and you might too! 

What a great time of year to enjoy pumpkins!  We grew a bunch this year, one of them weighing in at about 50 pounds… the others pretty normal jack-o-lantern sized ones.  I noticed that you could pick them up pretty inexpensively at stores too… especially after Halloween.

So many things you can do with a pumpkin!  We carved jack-o-lanterns from some.  If I’d been on the ball, I could have cut those up on November 1st and baked them to use for eating. (That almost sounds cannibalistic! )   BUT we left ours out for decoration for the next week instead.

We have several pumpkins left on the front step that are serving as decoration until I’m ready to bake them to use as well.  Today I baked one of those decorations and it produced 10 cups of pumpkin puree.  We made Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins from 2 cups of that and froze 2 containers to use later for pie. (between them they’ll make at LEAST 6 pies and a couple of batches of muffins again lol)

The shell of the pumpkin that was left after scooping out the pulp, has been discarded in the garden ready to be tilled under to compost there.  The seeds were saved for roasting in the oven to snack on later.  I’ll include the recipe for those here.

What a wonderfully useful thing these pumpkins became this year!

Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

2 cups pumpkin seeds, rinsed

2 T. butter

2 tsp. worcestershire sauce

2 tsp. salt

Put seeds in a 2 quart saucepan and cover with water & add salt.  Bring to a boil, turn heat down & simmer for 10 minutes.  Drain.  Mix  butter, Worcestershire, and seeds in pan, coating seeds well.   Spread on a greased cookie sheet and bake in 350 degree oven until seeds begin to brown.  Stir occasionally.  This may take 30-40 minutes… just keep checking.

Enjoy!