Living Within the Means God has Provided for you.

I have been a stay at home mom since 2003, although living on one fairly small income has been challenging, God has always provided for our family. With a Gross income of aproximately $20,000 we own our own home, actually have two running vehicles and want for very little. Lots of people complain about not having enough money to pay their bills. I have a hard time understanding why. On a monthly basis, we make a mere $1, 356, I had no clue til recently how low that really was. Its funny, but being Poor is more of a mentality than an actuality for most of us.

Saturday, December 29, 2007

Quality Investments

Ok, Two posts in one day is kind of strage, but it did not quite fit with the other post.

When making a purchase, think about its usage and how much things really cost.

I have to replace a 4 slice toaster sometime, I am not sure when because it is currently working as a two slice toaster and I am GOING to find out what the best toaster is out there before I buy another one.

I paid $20 for this toaster about 8 months ago, that means it cost me $2.50 per month to make toast. That is pretty expensive toast, don't you think? It was a cheap toaster, I needed a toaster, but I am not happy with the money I wasted. Is a $10 toaster a better deal if it lasts only 6 months? Yes, it cost $1.66 a month at that rate, but say it only toasts two slices, is it still a better deal? Possibly, but maybe not, because being used twice as much, it may only last half as long, at that rate, it is now over $3 a month to use.

I am not going to be replacing my $20 toaster with another cheap toaster, but rather hoping to find one that will last more than a year. A $30 toaster that last two years only cost about $1.25 a month.

Now, even at $2.50 a month, it is still saving us money to have a toaster, that saves us from going out to eat, I can put a bagel in the toaster, add 1 Tbsp cream cheese and I have a good meal for under 50 cents a day. When I was working at Breakfast time, I could not even buy a bagel at work for under 75 cents.

How much do you REALLY pay for what you own?

I got a New Toy

Ok, so its just a piece of bake ware, but its a toy to me.
I have had the worst luck with homemade pizza. It's a favorite dish around here, DH and Bug absolutely adore pizza, I think the only thing dh likes more is Mexican.

Well, I have a few different crust recipes, but no matter how I rolled it, tossed it, or stretched it, my poor cookie sheet just was not a good pizza pan. With the gift card from my in laws, a trip to Meijer (not a smart idea, it was a mad house) and 14.99 gone, I got a HUGE baking stone. Not only will it come in handy for pizza, but also french bread, cookies, and odd shaped breads.

I plan on learning how to make things like pita bread this year and enjoying my stone a lot.

Being frugal, does not mean being cheap, quality things get more use because you are not tossing things that got ruined.
My baking pans are old and not very good (the best one though, is the OLDEST one inherited from my grandmother, back then they actually made things to last)

Monday, December 24, 2007

New Years Resolution?

Ok, Technically its not a NEW resolution, its one I have been working on for MANY years, My goals for 2008 are to become more financially stable.
I recently joined Frugalvillage.com and was really encouraged by some of their challenges to stay within budget.
My Budget for 2008?
$70 monthly for gas
$200 monthly for groceries
$103 Phone, Internet and Cable
$752.54 Mortgage (this includes a little extra towards principle every month)
$165 Utilities (Gas, Electric, and Water) l
$145 Car Insurance, I hope its lower than that, but I wont know for at least a month but we do know its going down from its $182 mark as we will only be insuring one vehicle this year.
Our tax refund covers our Property Taxes and House Insurance for the year.

My goal is to keep tabs on where the bills go and to make sure all extra income is going towards something useful. And to get the untilities down a bit, hopefully we will also be able to refinance the house in the springtime.

Friday, December 21, 2007

Frugal Gift

I do not usually like Budget 101, but in the crafts section this past week I saw the COOLEST gift for my Brothers in Law. http://budget101.com/crafts/fcp4.htm
I could not do it 100% the way the directions tell you to because I could not get the hands off the clock, but for $4 plus a battery, We have a beautiful clock with a wedding photo now how cool is that for a frugal gift.

I am waiting on my mother in law to email me a better photo of other BIL and SIL because the first one she sent was too dark, they may just get an IOU because I need a Perfect Photo first.

Monday, December 17, 2007

Crunchy Cookies

Lands End sells these really amazing cookies for $20 for 1lb. To me that is a ridiculous amount to spend on cookies or almost anything else for that matter.

I use Nabisco Famous Wafers (chocolate wafer cookies in a yellow package, sold in our Kroger near the ice cream cones) for $3.99 for 40 cookies, I dip these in white chocolate, a half a pound of chocolate goes a LONG way. and add pulverized candy canes to the top, or other varieties of sprinkles.

A pound of MY crunchy cookies cost a mere $6 and would be less if I ordered the cookies in bulk or found them on sale, the chocolate cost me 1.79 for 1 lb, so 89 cents, the candy canes, I use the mini ones, cost 1.50 and I use half the package so they are 75 cents. $5.63 divided by at least 3 people who I give these out to (40 cookies is too much for any one family especially when used as part of a NO Bake Cookie tray) I package them on plates with Reynolds wrap so altogether this recipe costs me $1.87 per family.

Three other cookie recipes complete the tray and I have never seen anyone unhappy.

Sunday, December 9, 2007

Aldi and Price Book

Ok, I dont actually HAVE a price book, but I do stay aware of what things cost and where.

Today, I went to Aldi, I had a few things I needed to help the Bare cupboards and Aldi has the best prices even with sales. One of those things, Kidney Beans, At Kroger they are on sale for 50 cents per can, a typical sale price around here, and a good price for most people, at Aldi however, the same can of Kidney beans is regular only 39 cents per can, that's an 11 cent difference per can.
I know 11 cents isn't much, but it all adds up.
Another Item that I was surprisingly shocked to get, Aldi carries a generic version of Rotel Tomatoes, a favorite in our house, 49 cents a can, Here is where the savings really come out, our local Shoppers has Rotel's on sale, for $1 per can, that's a 51 cent difference. Now there are many more deals like this, Aldi brand is just as good for most of their items and so far, the only ones my family hasn't liked are things that we really should not be buying anyhow (like little Debbie snack cakes)

Basically, be sure you know what your prices are, know where you can get the best deals you can for your family and do not be afraid to try a new brand if its cheaper.

Wednesday, December 5, 2007

Chaos, Confusion, and Confessions

This has been anything but a frugal week.
For starters, it seems when one thing goes wrong, the rest seem to fall apart too.
I did stay out of the grocery stores this past week, but I don't think it helped us since I was not doing a pantry challenge.

Yes, we have eaten at home a bit, but the bit certainly hasn't been enough.
Tonight, we are having a freezer meal, tomorrow hopefully the same, except tomorrow, my goal is to have it be MY freezer meal and not the out of the box kind.
Today its all about Angelfood Ministries We are having Salisbury Steak we got from there and Green beans that came from them, the Baked Potatoes are the last of the Kroger's just before Thanksgiving sale, when I got them for a good price for baking potatoes.

I guess I had better go pull down that meatloaf now then, huh? Ok, that's done, now tomorrow I wont have any excuses to not have it. Today I have been cleaning a lot, I finally got my furniture rearranged for Crystal's Make Your Home a Haven. My living room looks pretty good, next I have to tackle the dining area so I can take a picture and post it on the other blog.
I guess that's as frugal as I have been as cleaning doesn't cost me anything and actually saves me money in the long run as I don't need to go get something I found while de-cluttering, there is always at least one or two things I find that I have been missing.