FRUGAL FRIDAY: General Tips

Frugality is something that has occupied my mind for many years. When the Hubs was in the Navy and I stayed at home with the kiddos, things were tight. We knew it would be if I stayed home, but it was a sacrifice we took seriously. So in an effort to live off his salary, we had to be FRUGAL. Let's just say, I learned as I went. I got a copy of the book The Complete Tightwad Gazette by Amy Dacyczyn and still use it as reference today. Growing up on a farm helps too. We didn't have much money then, but we always had plenty to eat, clothes and shoes, good friends, and of course one thing was abundant: LOVE. So here's a series of posts about living with less, FRUGAL FRIDAY. Feel free to leave comments and share your ideas for living abundantly with less.

Todays tips are general in nature and cover a wide range of topics.

1. Get real about your expenses. Have a family meeting and look at all the places your money goes. This may involve tracking where every dollar goes for a period of time (a week or a month should do). Do you need the long distance service on your house phone? Do you even need a house phone? The most expensive dental insurance plan (which includes orthodontics) is fine if you have children in need of braces, but for empty nesters? How about unlimited internet? High-end cable or cable at all? If you're not sure you can do without something, try a short period of time of not using it. If you decide you can live without it, you don't need it.
2. Live close to where you work. Or work close to home. I'm lucky: my commute is about ten minutes. My son moved from a low-rent home 1.5 hours from his job to a higher rent apartment 15 minutes from his job and he's saving some serious money. You could also consider the time used on other things besides sitting in a car as a bonus.
3. Garden. I've talked about this before and I truly believe that you can save so much money by doing this. Consider how much you would save if you grew 4-5 tomato plants and 1-2 zucchini plants. These could easily be in pots on a patio. Those few plants alone would provide so much fresh produce, I'm sure you would lower your grocery bill for the summer months. Throw a couple herb pots next to a sunny window and you'd be good to go.
4. Go Camping. You could go on a weekend trip, stay in a state or national park and enjoy nature and park activities for a fraction of the cost of a hotel stay. It's a cheap way to see the world. I know it's not for everyone, but we truly enjoy it. And it's not always in the middle of nowhere, either. We took our children to Washington D.C. for a week and enjoyed the sights, museums, the White House and monuments. We took the metro to within 2 blocks of our campsite at a national park. You can often find camping equipment at yard sales for big savings. These items are usually brand new or only gently used.
5. Use a mail-order pharmacy. The Hubs and I both have some medications that we take on a daily basis. Planning ahead so we don't run out saves us hundreds each year. Seriously.
6. Use your cellphone. Set reminders so you don't forget important things (like appointments where you can be charged if forgotten). Download coupons and deals on the spot. The caluculator function can help you figure unit prices in the grocery store. Write yourself a note to compare prices in different stores. These gadgets have so many neat bells & whistles!
7. Accept freebies. When someone says, "I have some clothes that I think will fit your child. Would you like them?" You should always say YES! If there are items you don't want, pass them on to someone else or donate. If you say no, that person will find another mom to give her hand-me-downs to.
8. What did Grandma do? Most people my age (40s) grew up hearing stories about the Great Depression from their parents or grandparents. There are really good lessons to be learned from the older generation. I found when my children were babies that cloth diapers weren't so bad. After all, Grandma used them on nine babies (one at a time, of course). If we just incorporated a few of those tips, we would realize at least a bit of savings. There was a lot of common sense of those stories!

Hope you enjoy this series. I'll cover other topics here and here and here as we go along and hopefully offer something useful to you! Again, feel free to leave comments and share your Frugal Friday tips!

Next week I'll change things up a bit. Frugal Friday will come a day early and I'll post some Black Friday deals for you crazy shoppers. Be sure to stop by!