Frugal Friday: How I saved money this week!

Is everyone done with their Christmas shopping? I have one gift certificate and 1 gift left to purchase and then I should be done. YAY!

 I'm looking forward to starting our Advent reading this Sunday. All the decorations are up. I got rid of a lot of tubs because we just don't have room for them in our new little 'cottage'. Decorating goes much faster when you use less STUFF. *smile*

Christmas is my favorite time of the year.

1. I went through the house and unplugged cords to appliances and gadgets I don't use daily. I've read that you lose electricity even when you're not using the appliance.

2.  I started using one extra dishpan to soak and rinse dishes instead of using the faucet to rinse off the dishes.

3.  I washed, dried and saved several freezer bags to reuse. (they did not have meat or cheese in them previously).

4.  Our Christmas tree would not fit in our home so we got rid of it after we moved in. My mom had a small 3 foot tree that she wasn't using so instead of buying a new one we were thankful to receive hers. I'm not sure how many years it will last because it's shedding.. but I'm not sure how many years I'll last.. so I'm thankful to have a free tree this year. :-)

5.  My husband loves Earl Grey Tea. I found it at the dollar store and he likes it so the difference will save me $1.25.

6. I saved the plastic wrap I used to wrap waffles to freeze. I'll reuse it for the next batch.

7. Instead of using the dryer this week while it's raining I've found ways to hang my clothes up in the garage, under the patio and on racks in the house.

8. I'm saving small pieces of Christmas paper as I'm wrapping gifts. I run it through the shredder and then save it to use in gift bags instead of tissue paper. Waste not, want not. :-)

9. I was interested in purchasing 2 devotionals but found them free online.

10. I found a book at the library that I had originally wanted to purchase. I'm glad that I didn't buy it because once I got it home I discovered I did not like it. I use the library a lot. While I was there I checked out there computers. Someday I may need to cancel our monthly internet and I think I could easily use the library's computers instead.

There's more but I'll save it for next week. What did you do this week to save money in your home?

Check out Frugal Friday over at Life as Mom

Serving stuff or others?

I'm daily (imperfectly and slowly) learning

 to not make stuff 

(obtaining and maintaining) 

a higher priority than serving others.
I fail daily!

I imagine it will be a life long fight

 as long as I live

 in this flesh 

(and in America).

Free Music Download

This was a wonderful way to start my morning. I wanted to share this free music download with you. 

The words showed up on my media player so I was able to worship right along!

Enjoy and start your morning off right!

All I have is Christ

Worries and Priorities

Now it happened as they went that He entered a certain village; and a certain woman named Martha welcomed Him into her house.

And she had a sister called Mary, who also SAT AT JESUS' FEET AND HEARD HIS WORD.

But Martha was distracted with much serving, and she approached Him and said, "Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore tell her to help me." 

And Jesus answered and said to her, "Martha, Martha,  you are worried and troubled about many things.

But *ONE THING is NEEDED, and Mary has CHOSEN that good part which will not be taken away from her.

Luke 11:38-42


* My emphasis.
NKJ

Why I do radical things to save money

I've often wondered what people think when they read some of my money saving ways. I remember posting something quite a few years ago that was very uncommon and had responses as to "why in the world would you do that?"

This is why I sometimes do things that seem radical to others in order to save money:

I have a plan...

and the plan is to eventually (hopefully) live on only my husband's disability check  (when Miss Alice no longer needs my help) which is under $2,000 a month.

My current budget is set at this amount and I'm practicing each month how to live on only his check. It's difficult but I'm thankful that I have some time to practice. Groceries are still the hardest since prices continue to rise.  I use my part time paycheck for 'extras' and savings. We had a plumbing bill this weekend so my check will pay for things like that.

This is how I look at it... I would rather practice 'radical' money saving ways than work extra hours outside my home. This is my preference. I would rather be cold in the winter and hot in the summer than work outside my home. I would rather cook everything from scratch than work more hours outside my home. I would rather make my own laundry detergent than work outside the home.  I see these.. not as inconveniences.. but as a lifestyle choice that will help reach our goal.

Life is more hectic when I work outside the home and it effects my relationships.. even if just a little.. but sometimes it's a lot. I struggle with impatience when I'm torn in too many directions and my husband knows this very well.  That is why he asks that I keep my outside commitments to a minimum.

I personally just miss being in my home full-time and especially now since my husband is home full-time. I've been a homemaker the majority of my married life except for these past few years since he became disabled. Most of the previous years I did something from the home to make extra money. I ran a used homeschool book business from my home for 10 years. I've done sewing, ironing, babysitting, surveys and typing.. all in an attempt to make extra money so I could be a full-time homemaker.

Everyone has their reasons why they live frugally. For me, personally, it's a small thing to live radically frugal because the benefits far outweigh the inconvenience.


How about you? Are there some things you do that others think are radical in order to achieve an important goal?

(Permission given to use picture from posters.com)