Can you believe April has come and gone. So much education in regards to sound economics has taken place this month at The Thrifty Garden/Home. I have already figured out the household budget for May and have committed it to a spreadsheet. Having such .. an on target .. to the penny success with the April budget, I'm going to change grocery shopping gears to be even more thought out. I can not lower the $ amount of $350 for the month ... but I have made plans to shop only once for May. This will take a considerable will power on the entire family's part. Since we got our paycheck a day early and I had the budget done ... I took the opportunity to do the actual shopping yesterday when I had no kids to watch. The pantry shelves, refrigerator .. and freezers are stocked. I have taken a Sharpie marker and written on many of the items, that have to be rationed (when they can get used) and stored the excess in my basement's storage room (out of sight;) ... Everyone got a 'warning' that if they used up any of the rations beforehand ... they will be SO SORRY!;) I'm confident that everyone is on board with the plan. It was almost comical towards the end of April when we were running out of food items (flour/butter .. etc.) .. and I had to get very creative with meal plans ... but everyone survived without having to chew a foot off;) I did set aside $50 to supply extra fruit & produce .. sparingly when needed in May. This has been a GREAT learning process ... and makes me understand why my (Great Depression era) MIL would often re-use teabags ... and my FIL would just put another scoop of coffee grounds in the coffee maker, on top of the morning's used grounds, for a noon time pot of coffee ... we haven't gone that far YET:)
What's the thriftiest thing your family practices at home?
7 comments:
Everything I'm doing these days is with the thought of being as frugal as possible LOL. I have a certain amount set aside for groceries and yet I will still wait to go the grocery store only shen I absolutely have to or there is a fabulous sale on something that will help us in our quest to not spend so much. Like this week, chicken thighs and legs are on sale for 38 cents per pound. I don't really need any meat but that price doesn't come around too often so I must buy now. I also make almost all of our cleaning supplies and I'm planting some tomato plants and lettuce. Have a great weekend!
You're on a roll now! Well done, Mrs Mac. It is actually very liberating in some ways to live in this way and to challenge oneself to re-prioritise the budget - if the whole family realises that you have a financial goal, it is great the way that they will all band together and help.
Aside for paying cash for everything the 1st thing to mind is using old envelopes for notes or lists. Leftovers are frozen in small containers for my mother to reheat for her lunch or dinner.
Dryer sheets are reused several times.
Yikes... you are BRAVE... one shopping trip? FYI: I re-use my tea bags... I can usually get 3 Big cups out of 1 tea bag :)
I will often do the same thing with coffee as your FIL.:) I think perhpas the thriftiest thing we do is to heat our house with wood, that and grow our own food.
with depression era parents, i tend to be on the frugal side with the 'extras' rarely buying new, usually recyled or thrift store items.. water i'm the most frugal with as i have no well and the water is trucked in...because it's in a tank, i'm very aware of exactly HOW MUCH water i use... or don't use :D
Reading this makes me want to try to get my husband on board with budgeting. I'm not always good at it myself, but do live without using credit cards. He uses charge cards on almost every purchase he makes.
Anyway, I enjoyed reading your post. My father-in-law used to reuse coffee grounds, too, and I do on occasion. Sometimes I'll add a little fresh coffee on top of the grounds. I'm trying to remember what I do to save money. Oh, I'm staying out of stores and not even going to garage sales right now. I could use some clothes that fit, but I don't have to have them right now, and I'd rather spend money on plants for my garden.
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