Tag Archives: frugal

I bought a cookie

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I didn’t even make it through the first day of my No Spend Challenge without spending money.

Sigh. I bought a cookie.

Not just any cookie. A Subway chocolate chip cookie. It cost .49 cents. And it was worth every penny.

I was on my way to a class last night and stopped by the library which happens to be conveniently located across the street from Subway. It was going to be a long night and I was running on fumes. So I slunk across the street and pulled out my change purse.

Today is going better. No currency has left my hands so far. After work I will walk and go home to eat leftovers from my fridge. I intend to do a little cleaning so there won’t be time or opportunity to spend money.

Can you believe I didn’t even survive a day? How sad.

A No Spend Challenge

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I’m thinking about doing a no-spend challenge. I do this periodically, choosing a period of time like one month or even just two weeks and work to not spend money.

Whenever I do this I always set some ground rules. For example, I have to drive to work to make money so buying gasoline is non-negotiable.

But I don’t NEED that pack of gum at the gas station or that cool t-shirt on clearance at TJ Maxx. In fact, I don’t need to spend my free time browsing stores and buying things at all.

I usually set a grocery budget for the period. Say maybe $5 or $10 a week to buy fresh milk, fruit and bread if need be. Sometimes I spend every penny on these perishables and sometimes I don’t buy anything at all. But the grocery budget can’t be spent on a pastry and a Diet Coke just because I have a hankering.

This comes up after a recent review of my budget where I tried to figure out ways  to pay for some reasonably expensive home protection items I purchased after the burglary at Mr. Wonderful’s house. This has been a very expensive month so far and I need to plug up the holes and get things back to normal.

I’m not a big recreational shopper but I notice that I’ve been doing more of this than normal lately and it really needs to stop. If I need a pair dress shoes for work that’s one thing but browsing the stores for the sake of seeing what they have is a very bad habit.

This weekend I walked in a local 5k and then went hiking with Mr. Wonderful. We spent a few dollars on a Subway sandwich for a picnic and we took our cameras out to play (pictures coming soon). If I had been home that morning I would have made something for our picnic but a $5 footlong was still was an inexpensive option and the hike was a relaxing way to spend our day. We went home later in the day and watched movies, lounging on the couch and enjoying each other’s company.

That’s the way it should be.

We didn’t frustrate ourselves with the crowds and high prices in stores and we just relaxed. We didn’t do anything that cost money. We just had a nice, quiet day.

To put this in perspective, on Sunday we had a whirlwind day with his family eating out and shopping to celebrate his dad’s birthday. We had a terrific time and I adore his family but I was exhausted. Plus I spent money that I shouldn’t have. Not much, really. I used a Kohl’s card to buy something and used $5 cash to cover the balance owed. And then I spent about another $20 on some other small things. Like I said, I didn’t spend a lot but I still spent. And I still came home with that vaguely dissatisfied attitude toward my life that sometimes creeps in when I’m comparing my stuff to other people’s stuff.

And you know something? My stuff is just fine. It’s even nice! There’s nothing wrong with my stuff.

I am aware that my neurosis is bleeding through here. My apologies.

Anyway, it is  better for my morale if I stay away from stores and shopping for a while. It’s also better for my budget if I leave my money in the checking account where it belongs instead of in the stores.

As I have been writing this insanely scattered post it has occurred to me that the No Spend Challenge needs to begin today.

I will attempt to make it to October 5.

It has been a while since my last one of these so I fully expect slip-ups but will do my absolute best to only pay my bills, buy gas for my car and pick up the absolute necessities for food. I have a pantry and freezer full of supplies so that part shouldn’t be too hard.

One confession though. I have to travel some and I usually indulge in some kind of fast food meal, mainly because it’s just too hard to find food for the road that doesn’t need refrigerated or heated. But my idea of cheating here is to take my own aluminum water bottle and apple from home and grab a Subway breakfast sandwich or a value menu burger. So this category isn’t the budget breaker it could be, I suppose.

But as we know, every penny counts so I try to keep this occurrence to a minimum.

Ok. So who’s with me? Who is willing to pack their lunch, give up their morning Starbucks coffee and spend their weekends living instead of shopping? Anyone?

Cleaning out the fridge: a frugal lunch

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I had some stuff in my fridge this morning that was approaching the point of no return. Another day or two and they would either get tossed or pushed to the back of the shelf to languish until the mold is so severe I contemplate how badly I want to save the container.

Sigh. This is not a good place to be.

So today’s lunch is an assortment of bits and pieces that might otherwise have been wasted. Some turkey, a banana that was a day away from turning soft, some very tasty hot pepper jack cheese and the last of this week’s grapes. It’s a little bland looking but very tasty.  It’s also a nice feeling to know that this stuff I worked to pay for won’t be wasted.

Simple ways to save: Laundry room edition

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Have you noticed lately what it costs to buy just one jug of laundry detergent? Why is keeping your clothes clean so expensive?

About a year ago I realized that my laundry detergent was costing a lot of money every year and that it wasn’t doing anything special. I mean, that $16 container of Tide doesn’t come with Rosie from the Jetsons to actually fold and put away your clothes for you.

A friend recommended that I try making my own laundry detergent and even gave me a recipe. With about a $7 investment I was able to make enough batches of detergent to last my single self for close to a year. My clothes look, feel and smell cleaner. The waste is just two small boxes and a soap wrapper and I store my detergent in an airtight container that looks attractive sitting on the shelf.  I couldn’t be happier!

Powdered Laundry Detergent:
1 c. grated Fels Naptha soap
½ c. washing soda
½ c. borax
For light load, use 1 tablespoon. For heavy or soiled load, use 2 tablespoons.

Here are a couple of other recipes that I have found useful:

Laundry Pre-treatment:
½ c. ammonia
½ c. white vinegar
¼ c. baking soda
2 tbsp. liquid soap or laundry detergent
2 quarts water
Mix in spray bottle. Spray spot.

Laundry Pre-treatment 2:
1 tsp. liquid laundry detergent
2 tbsp. ammonia
1 pt. warm water

Mix in spray bottle. Spray spot, let sit for 20 minutes.

Fabric Softener:
Add ½ – 1 c. vinegar to your softener dispenser

Bleach Alternative  for Laundry
¼ c. hydrogen peroxide

I know in this busy world it may not sound practical to make your own laundry supplies. But look at the recipes. All the supplies should be available at your local grocery or big box store. The most labor intensive part is grating the soap for detergent and that just takes a few minutes. The reward is well worth the grating time.

What do you think? Have you ever made laundry detergent? Do you like it?

Time to tighten up

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Some unexpected household expenses are about to leave me feeling pretty poor. Things could always be worse but it is apparent that my frugal self really needs to reduce expenses or increase income soon.

It looks like increasing income is an option as the newspaper where I freelance is allowing me to do more work. So there’s a little good news.

But it seems cutting expenses may be a challenge since I already attempt to live as frugally as possible. No cable or satellite and just a basic phone line for my dial-up internet because that is all I can access here in the country. My mortgage and insurances are reasonably low and I keep the electric bill as low as possible. Almost everything that plugs into the wall is on a power strip so I’m never wasting electric on a tv or radio that isn’t being used.  I keep the thermostat low in the winter and high in the summer and no burning light is left behind.

I do spend a lot on gas because my home is 10 miles from the nearest village and 30 minutes from the nearest larger town. Mr Wonderful lives 90 minutes away and I put a lot of miles on the car visiting him. Because I travel a lot I did break down and buy a Hyundai Accent  this spring but the fuel savings is remarkable so that doesn’t hurt so much. But I organize errands and trips as efficiently as possible so I’m not backtracking or making special trips.

I’m not a wasteful person and am not prone to buying a lot of stuff I don’t need. Thrift stores and antique malls call my name but I try to keep my splurges in those places to a minimum. The one area I could probably improve is in the food department. I struggle to find the balance between eating a balanced, nutritional diet and saving money. My real weakness? Fresh produce. I love to keep it on hand and I love to have a variety. I just can’t seem to tell myself no.

But I already avoid eating out as much as possible and tend to bring leftovers for lunch every day. I do some batch cooking and try to be proactive about using up what I have or at least freezing what I can’t use today.

Things haven’t been so great this week. With the air out I haven’t really wanted to cook at home so I’ve been relying more on Lean Cuisines (purchased with a coupon, or course) and even a few fast food meals. Sigh.

My one shame is a small amount of credit card debt and a student loan that I alternate between paying down like a mad person and just throwing extra money at when I remember.

Anyway, I will begin my audit of home expenses tonight and see what I come up with.  What are your favorite ways to save money at home? Would you like if I start posting lists of ways to save in various areas of the home?

Easy peasy pancake mix

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Do you love pancakes? Then I have a great recipe for you! In fact, I will never buy pancake mix again. This homemade mix is cheap, quick and tasty.  It can be whipped up in five minutes and it makes Bisquick taste like powdered cardboard.

Easy Peasy Pancakes

1 1/2 Cups Flour

3 1/2 teaspoons Baking Powder

1 teaspoon Salt

1 Tablespoon White Sugar (I substitute Splenda)

1 1/4 Cups Milk

1 Egg

3 Tablespoons Butter, Melted

1 Tablespoon Vanilla

In a large bowl, sift together all dry ingrediants. Make a well in the center and pour in the remaining ingrediants. Mix well. Heat a lightly oiled grilled over medium heat. Pour approximately 1/4 cup of batter for each pancake. Brown on both sides and serve hot.

I like to get crazy with my pancake toppings using a cheap pancake syrup as a base. Some of my favorite flavors to add to the syrup are peanut butter, frozen blueberries or even fresh strawberries. I just bring the syrup to boil in a saucepan and then add fruit or peanut butter to taste. Sometimes I’ll just use a bunch of whipped cream with fresh fruit.

Do yourself a favor and whip up a batch of these pancakes this weekend. By the way, if you’re a singleton like me and think you can never eat a batch of pancakes by yourself, this recipe freezes really well. Just  place them on a cookie sheet in the freezer until they are solid. Then toss them in a freezer safe container until you’re ready for them. Zap ’em in the microwave and you’re ready to go!