We are a one income family by choice. We believe that God has called me to stay at home and to homeschool the kiddos. I have a degree, I have abilities, I know I could get a job - but i have no desire to because of a calling God has placed on MY life. Not on every one's life, MY life. God brought us through a time where I was going to work every day for a while and leaving my children with someone else during the day and it was further confirmation that I am supposed to be at home.
This does pose a few challenges. My husband is a minister, and while we are SO thankful for his job, we are on a tight budget. So, I feel like my contribution to the family finances is to figure out ways to be as frugal as we can. I am not a couponer, I figured out a long time ago that coupons only work if you buy name brand products, and I rarely do that. I grocery shop at Aldi, they are always cheaper and have virtually no name brands.
I make my own laundry soap, fabric softener, dryer sheets, wrinkle spray, all-purpose cleaner and stain remover. I don't need help in this area, but I'm looking for ideas for all other areas!!!
I read a lot of blogs and websites about homemaking stuff (because I'm weird that way), but I'm looking for real-world, works for your family - advice. What do YOU do. I'm asking for wisdom from my readers, things that your family does to help you be wise with your finances.
COMMENTS PLEASE!!!! Leave advice, recipes, websites, whatever works for you!!!! I promise to give you the credit when we're millionaires, ha!
I try to break down every category of our budget and look for ways to cut expenses. For instance, our home phone/internet bill runs around$80. We have decided to ditch the land line and go with Magic Jack. It will cut our bill in half. We also don't have cable. We watch Netflix through the Wii. Any item you need, always think can I make it, borrow it, or buy it used. I try to stay away from convenience items. Make as much at home as you can within your time frame. Coupons are good for those items you know you will buy. Like Ketchup, you could have a coupon for a name brand plus it will be on sale. These are the times it makes sense. I only keep coupons for items I typically buy name brand or not. Otherwise, I really don't use them much.
ReplyDeleteAlicia Taylor
You can also try google voice. It's a free answering machine and phone service and it will dial your home #, cell #s, work #s whatever you set up. In addition it will text messages to your cell phone if you have one. Hope that helps!
DeleteIn His Grip,
Monica
http://happyandblessedhome.com
Thank you Alicia! I'll have to look into Magic Jack!!!
ReplyDeleteI like shopping at the Savers near Kohl's. They've got quite a few good deals if you don't mind secondhand goods.
ReplyDeleteMagic Jack seems to work great. I worked for a family that had one.
ReplyDeleteWe buy what we can in bulk, often ordering through azure standard. We eat a LOT of rice. And if you like beans [ok if you can stomach them] they are good too. Chickpeas/garbonzo beans are a nutritious and can be used in all sorts of ways. Hearty soups tend to last forever- which is sometimes too long. Freezer eat meat at Sams is a must for my family. You have to cook it within a day or two of buying it but having cooked meat in the freezer is kinda nice. We also like the "chicken store". [I really don't know the name of it but if you message me I'll give you directions.] Processed food is a treat. It serves fewer and costs more.
Garage sales/savers/goodwill/salvation army/ designer again 2 are where we find almost all our ladies and kid girl clothes. Boy clothes are harder to find but we like to haunt khols. Get on their mailing list cause they send pretty good deals when in conjunction with their sales. Some of these places have non clothes items as well. AND who says you can't have namebrand from those stores. I got a J Crew dress for 10 bucks at Savers with the original taggs. Get on their mailing list too cause they have half price days.
One of the things I am learning is that when there is a need or even just an "it would be nice" I talk to Jesus about it before I go shopping. I know you pray. That is a no duh but don't ever think that anything is too small for Him to care. Even if it isn't a material need. He keeps wowing me with how much He wants to lavish His love on His children.
I have found a source in our area for farm-fresh eggs. Jumbo size for 1.20/dozen. As well, for a family outing, we went to pick blueberries. IN the store, they were $4.00/lb. We picked our own for $1.50/lb. Got nearly 15 lbs, froze them in quart-sized bags, have enough for the year.
ReplyDeleteEat ethnic: this has saved a lot. We eat Middle Eastern dishes (usually vegetarian, so that saves on the cost of meat); Hispanic (refried beans are cheap to make. I bought a 25# bag at Costco and use what I need. Dry beans keep for a long, long time). Lentils: we eat lentil soup, Mujadara (brown rice, lentil and caramelized onion dish). Greek: we love hummus and garbanzo beans in our salads. So, I got a 25# bag of garbanzo beans and can make hummus anytime. At the store a 4oz container is nearly $5! NO way! Too expensive.
I cook up various types of beans (pinto, garbanzo, black, etc.) once a month or so; allow to cool and freeze. Again, this saves time and money. I just pull what I need out of the freezer and in 20 minutes can have a meal pulled together.
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~Jada
Do y'all like pizza? I just posted our pizza recipe on my blog (www.foodfunfamily.wordpress.com) I can have a pizza on the table in 30-35 minutes. I purchase mozzarella cheese and pepperoni at a warehouse store (we have a gift membership). Prepackage the ingredients in meal-sized portions. Just last week I did this. I now have enough pre-packaged pizza ingredients for 12-14 pizzas for about $25, plus the cost of flour for the crust. CHEAP in comparison to take-out or even frozen.
ReplyDeleteOther ways to save: I called our cable provider, told them for budgetary reasons, we need to cut back on our services. I was ready to cut it all (other than internet, as we need that for school and work. And, let's be honest, sanity!) After a 30 minute conversation of why, and telling them I absolutely couldn't spend over $40/mth, I got high-speed internet and basic cable. That's less than internet alone in our area.
Did the same with our cell phone. Was able to negotiate a better deal, since we were long-standing customers and get our bill down to what we could afford each month. They don't want to lose customers and do want to work with you.
We use Netflix for our entertainment needs. Rarely do we go to the movies. Maybe once or twice a year. We find local concerts and events to attend. In our area, they are plentiful. But I have lived all over the country. If you do the research, you can find so much to do, locally, that is fun and entertaining (concerts, plays, exhibits, etc.)
READ: we read a lot. That's is a nightly ritual for our kids. We all pile up on the couch and read before bedtime.
cont'd
jada
Last post! :-)
ReplyDeleteWe purchase many of our clothes at thrift stores, or on sales racks. Or when we were down south a few weeks ago, my husband walked into the Guess store. I laughed. However, they had an amazing clearance rack, which was 60% off the sale price. He was able to get 3 pairs of Guess jeans, four shirts and some other items for less than $100 dollars. The jeans were only $18/pair after all the discounts. For men's jeans that was a KILLER deal.
Same with my kids: found sales at Osh Kosh B'Gosh that were WAY less than thrift stores after I combined the clearance price with the back to school sales. My folks even gave us another suitcase to hold our loot b/c we knew we had found major deals on clothes, which the kids and Jon needed.
I am sure there are other ways we have saved, but I've written a book already. I have been amazed at how we have been able to slash grocery prices and our household budget all the way around. When we think it's not going to work, it does. We have guests over A LOT and take meals to folks, too. So the groceries I buy don't just feed the four of us.
Praying for y'all on this journey. It's not easy, but it will be amazing to see how God works and how he provides!
Blessings to you all,
Jada
One of the posts on food got lost. ARGH.
ReplyDeleteHere is a link to a post I wrote about meal planning, http://savesimply.blogspot.com/2011/03/dinnertime-dilemma.html
A post on eating more beans, which we do
http://foodfunfamily.wordpress.com/2011/03/04/legumes-legumes-and-more-legumes/
Stocking the pantry:
http://foodfunfamily.wordpress.com/2010/09/07/tuesdays-tip-the-pantry/
I am in the same situation as you. I home school, but do work about 7 hours a week teaching piano/voice. I work about 25 hours at our church, but am unpaid. So, I need to save time and money. After nearly 13 years of marriage, we are living off of much less now , than we had to live off of then. ANd we live in a very expensive area of the country.
I have a price book, which helps tremendously. I meal plan. I know what is a good deal and what is not a good deal. I am not a super-couponer (don't get a paper), but I will print an internet coupon for an item I use. Regularly, I am able to save 60% off of my grocery bill, even with hardly using coupons, but just buying things at their best prices.
We don't have Aldi's, but do have Grocery Outlet. I, also, stock up on dried beans, flour, yeast and rice at Costco once or twice a year (gift membership).
I've found cooking from scratch to be a huge money saver. A bit of time on the front end, but makes life easier throughout the week/month.
I don't have all the answers, but have been on this journey for a while now. If you have other questions, email/facebook me.
Blessings to y'all,
Jada
Amy, I agree with all your commentors. From looking at each line of your budget for cuts, to buy what's on sale with coupons, to buying used clothing. I found that doing all these things has really helped us save a bundle. I also read a couple of blogs that help me know what sales are on. One is Money Saving Mom - she really does a great job of covering all the bases you asked about (recipes, websites, coupon tips, cheap DIY projects, etc). The other I watch is my local coupon site, Creative Couponing - she helps me build my shopping lists for the week by giving me coupon match-ups to the sales. This is important because coupons in the newspaper are region dependent, so you will need to find one in your region that works for you. Just remember to only shop for things you NEED! Like Jada, contact me if you want to talk about any of this! I'll miss seeing you this week.....
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