Frugality

I know that we are not alone, but things have been very tight for us lately. Duane had 3 days off last week because there wasn't any work for him. Partly because things are slow, partly because of all the snow and ice we got last week. I don't know about you but when you only have one income missing three days out of five really hurts. Luckily he can take vacation days to cover them, at least for now.

In an attempt to make what we do have coming in stretch a little farther I have been reading up on living frugally. I found this fantastic blog Apron Thrift Girl, which I cannot stop reading. Of course it doesn't help that her "job" is buying & reselling thrift store & craigslist vintage finds. Now that is my kind of job!

As far as our bills go we don't have much to cut down on. We don't have cable or car payments. And we have good yet minimum cell service. I am not an avid coupon user(shame on me), mostly because I don't get the paper because it is a monthly expense we cannot afford. Duane has started driving my car to work as many days as possible for a couple of reasons. One, it get's better gas milage than the truck and two, because it means I can't be tempted to go to Target, the bane of my budget, because I refuse to drive the truck simply because the driver side door is half broken & doesn't shut properly. I have to climb over the passenger side to get into the seat. And when you have a manual & not an atomatic it's not that easy to do without getting the gear shift shoved near places it doesn't belong.

I sell what I can on febay & craigslist. Stuff I don't need, stuff the kids don't need, stuff I find at the thrift store ... That becomes my spending money, right now I am saving for our trip to Gatlanburg this month!

My parents live closeby so my mom & I try & combine trips to the grocery store whenever possible. I also buy all my bread at the bakery thrift store. I can get the wheat bread I buy at meijer for $2.79 a loaf for $.59 a loaf on Wednesdays. We don't eat out very often. One of your favorite "fast food" places is Chipotle. But for Duane & I alone it is over $13.00. Last night I attempted to make our own Chicken Burrito Bowls. While it wasn't exactly the same it was still pretty good & it fed our entire family plus leftovers for less than what it costs Duane & I to eat the real thing.

I am going to be meeting up with this couponing guru soon. So that she can show me the way & hopefully I can become half the couponing queen that she is. But despite my efforts I still feel like there is more I can be doing. Any suggestions?