Living on Less Money

Thursday, December 1, 2011

And he said to them,

"Take care,

and be on your guard against all covetousness,

for one's LIFE

does not consist

in the ABUNDANCE of his possessions."

Luke 12:15 ESV

Saturday, November 26, 2011

ING Bank: Make $107 in 50 days

ING Banking has a special Black Friday deal for new customers. You can make $107 in 50 days with 5 deposits (made within 45 days of opening the account). No minimum balance and no monthly service fees. This would be a great way to help pay for Christmas. :-)

ING Bank Black Friday Deal

The deal ends today!

Saturday, November 19, 2011

Grocery Budget:: Trial and Error

I continue to think and pray about how to stretch my grocery budget of $200 a month. As food prices continue to climb I find myself searching for new ways to make our money go farther.

So, this month I had a brilliant idea (so I thought!!). I made out a menu for the entire month and then made a shopping list of the non-perishable food items and off I went! I hit several stores so I would get the best deal.

My plan failed. I ended up with only $50 by the second week of the month. The third week I purchased items for our Thanksgiving dinner which dropped my monthly total to less than $25. I panicked!

I didn't set out to worry and fret over this lack of funds but the Lord quickly showed me that I was not trusting Him. Forgive me Lord! So, I began reminding myself of all the years the Lord has taken such good care of us. I rehearsed the promises of God! I recalled to memory the Exodus and how God fed His people manna through the desert. My faith increased and I began to look to the Lord to multiply the money to reach until the end of the month.

The most awesome (I know.. poor grammar! *Smile*) thing happened a few days later. I found out our church was giving away free turkeys. I knew if I purchased my own turkey then I would run out of money by the end of the month. I emailed to see if I might have one. (It's hard to share this with you... I don't relish the idea of asking for help.. let alone sharing with others that I did). The pantry director set up a time to meet at the church. Before I left they had not only promised me a free turkey but given me many boxes of food. As I came home and unpacked the boxes I lifted my heart in praise to God for His goodness and His abundant provision! I now have more than enough food to last through the end of the month which means that the money I have left can be used for milk, fresh veggies and fruit. God is so amazingly good!

Lesson learned.... I'm going back to my weekly envelope method. I'll place my $50 in each week's envelope and shop for that week with the money in hand!

"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?" Matthew 6:25-26 (ESV)

Sunday, November 6, 2011

Calculating meat costs per serving

As the price of food continues to rise (and my income is not) I am being forced to re-evaluate my weekly menu and shopping list.

We've cut way back on carbs which means that I'm not able to fall back on homemade breads, tortillas or pastas to stretch my meals. Our main meals consist of meat, vegetables and limited fruits. Thankfully I can make homemade soups during the winter to stretch my meat budget. I've been collecting vegetable soup recipes that work great for lunch. I am also focusing on recipes that use small amounts of meat and focus more on the veggies.

I found this 'cost per serving' meat calculator fascinating (I know, I know.. I live a boring life! *S*). When you put in the cut of meat and the price per pound it will tell you how many servings you'll get per pound. I just bought some skinless chicken breasts (all natural) for $2 a pound. The calculator told me I could get 4 servings per pound according to US governement standards. I want to take the information from this calculator and use it with my recipes to see if my portion sizes are correct to get the greatest servings per recipe.

Calculate Cost Per Serving

I hope this can help you, too!

Monday, October 31, 2011

Gym Workout:: FREE!

God has given a gust of grace the past few months and as a result I've been able to stick to a walking regime. I've been averaging 8-9 blocks a day .. 4-5 days a week. I have more energy and I enjoy the walk. I take my dog and listen to sermons on my IPOD. It's an awesome time.

Unfortunately, I'm having some problems with one of my feet. I started thinking that it might help this old bod if I did something different a few days a week instead of walking.

I considered joining a gym but it's $20-$30 a month. The thing about adding something to the budget is that it's hard to cut it in the future. It's just better to do without it if possible.

I called the local Senior Citizen Center and sure enough they had a gym room. I didn't have high expectations but was more than pleasantly surprised. All the equipment was updated. They had 3 stationary bikes (digital with all kinds of programs and gadgets), a weight machine, and some kind of stepping machine. There are 3 flat screen TV's on the wall which you can listen to with earphones attached to your machine.

My husband and I paid $1 each to be trained on the equipment. The best part is that we will NEVER have to pay another penny to use the equipment. The 'gym' is open M-F from 8:30-4:15pm. The gym is less than 5 minutes from our home.

You only have to be 50 years old to use the facility. I guess there are a few perks to getting old!

Thursday, October 20, 2011

Frugal Fridays: How to Give a Haircut

I posted this "how-to" article on my other blog a few years ago. I was going through some old blog posts when I ran across this one. Since it received a lot of 'hits' I thought it might be a good resource for this blog.

I've been cutting my families hair for over 30 years. I first taught myself to cut hair with my youngest son when he was just a baby. I had a friend teach me a few more techniques when my children were older so I was then able to cut my husband's hair. I've saved us a ton of money. I will oftentimes trim my own hair inbetween hair appointments just to extend my haircut a couple of weeks.

Meet my handsome assistant.... Mr K.

Step One: I started at the back of the neck. I combed most of the hair up so that there was just a thin layer of hair at the base of the neck. I made a cut for my guideline and then used that guideline to cut the hair up to the crown.

Step Two: Pull the hair straight out and cut using the baseline cut on the back of the neck as your guide.

Step 3: Make your first cut at the front. Use this cut as your guideline. Pull up a thin layer of hair behind the guideline and cut to match the guideline cut. Continue this technique until you hit the crown.

Step 4: Decide where you want the hair over the ears and make your guideline cut. Use this as your guide and work up to the crown pulling the hair out to the side.

Step 5: Comb the hair over the ears towards the eyes and cut as shown.

Step 6: Shave the neck

Doesn't he look nice?

It helps if you can practice on a young child first. I also found instructional videos on U Tube which looked helpful.

I hope I explained this clearly.