Frugal

Ode to the Victory Garden

I want to take the time and sing the praises of the Victory Garden.  To this day I call my garden that. The Victory Garden, that is what my Grandmama called it and after I learned what a Victory Garden was in the 1940's,  I appreciate the concept and what to see it come back.

So as you sit at home and read this and wonder how you can save your family money, I would suggest planting a vegetable garden, a fruit orchard, and an herb garden.  Thus being victorious in growing food for your family and saving the family money.

Use what you have!

Do you want to stretch your families funds?  Then, use what you have.  For example, if you are cooking and the recipe calls for italian seasoning and you don't have any but you do have some oregano, don't go and buy italian seasoning, use the oregano.

Another example would be if your child needs a halloween costume, don't go out and buy one, make one together. 

Buy Used

The next time you need or want something for either your house, or someone you love, buy it used.  I have a list I keep in my purse of the items I am looking for, either a book my son is missing in one of his collections, or a new rug for the foyer.  A wonderful dining room set or some other mid-century modern treasure I would love to have for the house.

Cook From Scratch

 You need to learn how to cook. Not only cook, but cook from scratch!  It is a HUGE money saver.  Go to the library and look at the different cookbooks for your level of ability and start there. Or ask around at Church and see if anyone would teach you.

Build the Pantry

 One important money saver is the pantry.  If you do not have a physical pantry make room some where to start building one.  You must stock up on the everyday items you use when they are on sale.  It will save you money and time.  

Menu Planning

Menu Planning is essential in saving your family money each month. The best plan for my family is a monthly calendar but you may want to start with weekly using your flyers. See what is on sale and make your menu around that and only buy what you need. This will save you money. This is how I do it for our house, now; remember that I have a Freezer full of meats, and a huge pantry so I can just shop at home. Really that is what you are trying to achieve yourself for your home. This month I spent $171.00 for the entire month for my family of 5 for all groceries.

The Price Book

The Price Book is one of the most powerful tools you can create for your family budget. A Price Book is simply a notebook you create with the prices listed for an item you always buy. The reason you want a Price Book is simple, to only buy items at the lowest price possible. Here is an example of a Price Book, when I first started I used a spiral notebook, I have graduated into an excel spreadsheet. Item:

Tuna Regular Price Wal-Mart $.50 Target $.62

King Soopers $.45

The Beauty of a Loss Leader!

Wednesday is my favorite day for the mail. I love looking at the flyers from the local grocery stores and see what I can get for little to no money. Loss Leaders are my favorite items to buy in a store especially when I have a coupon for them. Last week our local store had Rotel tomatoes on sale 2 for a $1.00 and I had a coupon for $.50 off and my store doubles coupons for up to $.50 so I got the Rotel tomatoes for FREE! Now I realize not everyone has the patience for coupons and I also realize not everyone cooks from scratch like I do.

Wasters and Wants

Every month you are losing a lot of money on simple things you may not be aware of. Look around your house for money wasters. What is a money waster you ask? Well a money waster is the cell phone charger still plugged in even though your cell phone is in your purse. Another money waster is the kids or in my case my husbands XBOX 360 plugged in and yet no one is using it. Go through your house and unplug all unused appliances, and gadgets. We plug our television and gaming systems into a surge protector, and turn off the surge protector until we use it.

How to find extra money

If you find your self short on money and need extra, here is a simple exercise to help you. If you are a budget person, and you need to find money do the same exercise.

Track every single penny you spend for an entire month. And be detail oriented. Example don't write down gas for 38.45 if you really bought gas, a coffee, and a candy bar. YOU HAVE TO WRITE DOWN EVERYTHING.

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