Day 6: Frugality, Health, and Happiness

This has definitely made me stop and think, I read it a couple time last night and couldn’t figure what all I should say.  The question which left me in shock?

How has your health and happiness affected your ability to live frugally?

Uhm.

Mostly negatively in the past.

I looked back on when I was really struggling with my body, my health, and our finances were all over the place.  I dreamed of being “frugal” but it was a foreign concept in my own personal chaos.

So now here I am down 100 pounds from just about 3 years ago, we are living in a much more responsible way and I am on the sixth day of the 23 Day Frugal Living Challenge over at Frugally Sustainable.

Who would have thought that all of this would go hand-in-hand?

Day 5: Tips For Saving On Groceries

Day 5 of the 23 Day Frugal Living Challenge at Frugally Sustainable is on a topic that I love learning and blogging about – saving money on groceries!

I’ve eaten vegan, vegetarian, processed foods, and recently I’ve been focusing on “whole foods”.  Food that isn’t full of chemicals and sodium and a ridiculous amount of packaging.  Occasionally, we still end up with a few things that aren’t quite meeting the “whole foods” standards.  I love finding blogs like Whole Food Mommies and Once A Month Mom’s Whole Foods Menu.

Quite a few tips were things I already know and/or practice – budget, menu planning, grocery lists, get rid of all the processed junk, and more.  There were quite a few though that made me take note.

7. Cook ahead.
If you have one free day a week (or even a month), cook food in big batches and freeze in dinner-sized portions. I admit that I do not do this all the time, but I have done it in the past and it does save money. You have to plan it out a bit, but once you’re done, your meals each night are quick and easy. This can save you from the temptation to eat out or eat convenience food when you’re hungry but too tired to cook.

9. Grow your own herbs.
No matter the amount of space you have, you can grow herbs on a windowsill or kitchen counter with very little effort. Have you seen the prices of herbs in the store…jeez…grow your own!

14. Shop at farmer’s markets.
Often local farmers are happy to match or beat supermarket prices because they don’t have to pay large overhead costs. Another tip that I’ve found very effective – go to the farmer’s market 20-30 minutes before it closes. Usually the farmers are willing to almost giveaway the food because they don’t want to haul it home. Check this site out to do a search for a farmers market in your area.

15. Don’t buy plastic wrap, tin foil, plastic sandwich/snack bags, etc.
For everything that you could think of needing – plastic anything, tin foil, or any other disposable nonsense – there is a non-disposable alternative.

19.Join a CSA (community supported agriculture).
Often CSA’s will require the cost of products for 10-12 weeks at the time of joining. This really helps me to save money and time because I don’t have to worry about price matching fresh items week to week. I know each week I will get my slotted amount of food without a change in the price. My meal plan is pretty simple…it’s based off of what is growing seasonally. Now is the perfect time to find a local CSA near you and join!

22. Buy in bulk when it makes sense.
Buying in bulk is another method of purchasing that has revolutionized the way I shop. By switching to a simple, unprocessed food diet, buying in bulk can help any family meet their goals. Warning: There are downsides to buying in bulk…just be sure that you’re going to use all of it before it gets bad — it isn’t cheaper to buy in bulk if you don’t use it.

39. Try co-ops.
You can often save a lot of money on staples at co-ops or buying clubs. There are many different options to choose from.

47. Clean out your fridge.
How long has it been — no really, how long? Just go in and start new. Toss out the old and make room for the new. Read more here on how to naturally deodorize and clean your refrigerator.

48. Garden and Preserve.
These can add up to big savings over the long run. Obviously families living the the “country” or rural areas have more gardening options than those living in suburban or urban areas. Families with limited or small outdoor spaces should look for resources on urban gardening. Likewise, home canning, dehydrating, and freezing are all vital skills necessary for a frugal kitchen.

49. Look for free food.
Foraging is quickly growing in popularityand rightly so! Once you begin to learn what wild etibles grow seasonally in your area begin looking around. Recently, I was driving down a street that I have traveled thousands of times and noticed a couple gleaning citrus fruits. Naturally I pulled over, asked a few questions, and helped myself to nearly 25 lbs of lemons, grapefruit, and oranges that would otherwise go to waste.

50. Make cloth grocery bags.
You’ll save tons of plastic over time, and help the environment tremendously.

Were there any tips that seemed helpful for you?  Which tips have you already put into practice in your home?

Day 4: Reducing Household Bills

Who doesn’t want to reduce their household bills?

No really, if you don’t please comment so that I can envy your carefree life.

Stacy Makes Cents did a guest post for today at Frugally Sustainable’s Day 4 of the 23 Day Frugal Living Challenge which really surprised me and gave me a boost of confidence.  Out of the “15 Easy Ways to Save Money On Your Household Bills” I was so excited to have so many of these things already checked off on my list.

Totally awesome!

A few things that I felt I needed to pay more attention though stuck out.

1. Buy in Bulk – the savings for buying in bulk are usually very high, especially on things like beans, rice, and flour. Instead of buying two bags of flour, why not buy 50 pounds at once? This is a gradual process and not one you should tackle in one month. If you wonder how to make your budget stretch for this to happen, check out this great bulk buying tutorial from Penniless Parenting

2. Use Coupons – I am a self professed Coupon Queen who has turned into a Frugal Healthy Housewife . I don’t use many coupons anymore because I find myself buying scratch ingredients and making my own household products . However, there are savings to be had with coupons – just don’t go overboard and buy a bunch of junk. Save coupons for the toilet paper, man. For great tutorials and lessons on how to coupon, check out Southern Savers.

3. Use Space Heaters – In the winter, we find ourselves cutting our heat pump down to around 65-68 degrees…sometimes even less than that because I’m tighter than Dick’s hat band. Then, if we get cold we use a space heater to only heat the room that we’re in. Wonder what the cost savings on using space heaters is? Check out this breakdown from The Simple Dollar .

11. DIY – Try making that gift yourself. Read up online and figure out how to fix your washer. Don’t just run out and buy something new or hire someone if it is something you can do yourself. I’m blessed with a very handy husband. We always try to fix things ourselves first. If it doesn’t work out, THEN we call in the help. By trying first yourself, you haven’t really lost anything – unless you break it beyond repair…..not that I’ve done that or anything. *Cough*

12. Buy Used – This is one of my favorite philosophies of the Duggars. For the most part, we try to buy used instead of buying new: used computers, used furniture, used appliances, etc. The savings are HUGE! “Yes, but Stacy you don’t get a warranty.” That’s okay with me. If I’m paying half the price and it works for at least half the time of the brand new item, I’m golden. So far, we’ve never had a problem with anything we’ve bought used. Check out Craigslist.org. Embrace it my friends. It’s a beautiful thing.

15. Make Homemade Cleaners – I’m still astounded at how much I save by making homemade cleaners. I also avoid worrying that Annie will turn into a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle by breathing in bleach fumes. My homemade laundry detergent saves us a bundle! Check out Andrea’s recipes for toilet bowl cleaner  and soap scum spray . Embrace white vinegar and baking soda. They are your friends.

Out of the fifteen things on the list, what things do you already practice?  What are some things you would like to start doing?

Day 3: Downsizing Your Home

Day 3 of the 23 Day Frugal Living Challenge at Frugally Sustainable was really fun for me.  I have had an interest in small homes for a long time even though I’m not sure I’m in the kind of situation where I’d feel comfortable with a small house.  I first started to become fascinated in the many different housing options when I started following Sara at Walk Slowly, Live Wildly where she has an awesome fascination with small homes.

When I checked out the Our Tiny House which was linked in Day 3′s post, I pretty much spent about an hour looking through pictures and reading through their FAQ’s.  Then I checked out their main blog, let me tell you, they are some cool people over there and it is totally worth subscribing to; especially for anyone interested in simple living.

Today was actually a guest post from American Family Now and it was totally inspiring hearing her story.

So many people in the U.S. are experiencing the difficulties associated with downsizing, but I think that convincing ourselves that the life of “bigger and better” isn’t necessarily… better.  Even if you aren’t in a situation to jump into a more compact living situation, you can still learn so much from these families and their journey’s and how they have completely changed their lives.

Do you know any great blogs about families who have downsized in some way?

 

Day 2 – How to Develop The Frugal Living Habit

So today is Day 2 of the 23 Day Frugal Living Challenge at Frugally Sustainable

Meeting my minimum is actually something I’ve been working on for a while, luckily.  I went through the list provided and was actually pleasantly surprised by how many steps I’ve already taken.

We still have some stragglers, but most of our cleaning products including soaps and shampoos are either natural or homemade cleaners.  We use baking soda for toothpaste and ACV with the baking soda in place of shampoo, and I will tell you about this more another day, but it is totally worth it.

There are a lot of things that I would like to change still to be living as frugally and responsibly as possible.

• Reduce water usage.  This is a hard one for me.  I enjoy my dishwasher and when I do take a shower I tend to like them steamy hot and quite a long time.

o    Water Conservation

o    Greywater Recycling

o    How do you reduce your water usage?

• Stop buying shaving cream.  To be quite honest with all of you, I am not the biggest fan of shaving in general.  I just find it rather unnecessary and the hippie-feminist in me thinks it’s just a desire rooted in patriarchy and societal pressure for women to be perfect beings and someone somewhere along the lines of history decided that in our culture, shaving for smooth hairless skin was absolutely necessary.  So I go through phases where I don’t shave for sometimes months at a time, mostly in the winter and when I’m pregnant, and then other times when I shave quite a bit.  So now I’m really interested in this idea of making my own shaving cream.

o    Have any of you made your own shaving cream or lotion?

• Buy in bulk.  I haven’t quite gotten this one down.  We use dried goods, but I’ve just never really gotten into bulk bins that often.  I’ll confess this is rooted in the fact that I still find myself chronically addicted to shopping at those giant multi-purpose stores that shall remain unnamed where they don’t sell things in bulk.  My goal is to start buying in bulk at local stores; in the long run it saves me money, challenges my creativity in the kitchen, and supports local businesses.   To be candid, this is the scariest and most difficult task to complete.
• Turn down the thermostat.  I like to be snuggly.  I don’t mind the cold.  I just really, really like to be snuggly in the winter.  This is just a matter of snuggling up in clothes instead of turning up the thermostat!

o    Home Heating Tips

Oh, the most difficult part of typing this was walking over to my thermostat and bumping it down to 65 degrees.

I’m hoping that through the next 21 days, I will begin to experience how it feels to start grasping for the minimum that will give me something to go off of.

 

Day 1 – Redefining Frugality

I was looking at all sorts of websites and I came across Frugally Sustainable and her 23 Day Frugal Living Challenge.  I feel like it should be expected that I gladly accepted the challenge!  So here we go with Day 1 – Redefining Frugality.

I have this thought in my head that maybe I’ve got everything wrong.  I manage to apply this liberally in almost all aspects of my life, often times to my detriment.  Frugality makes sense to me, at least on paper.  Putting it into action in my life though, that is where the trouble comes in.  I have everything I need currently to be frugal.  Somehow though, I convinced myself that I am doing it all wrong and that is where I have trouble.

We are looking to downsize all of our possessions, part of our regular need to purge before moving.  So this all is coming in at the perfect time to start conquering this before we have to move out with a hundred boxes packed full of things that we don’t actually need and which serves little to no purpose.

Okay, maybe not a hundred boxes but you totally get my point, right?

The biggest misconception that I need to overcome in this challenge is the one that tells me frugality is extremely complicated and therefore I may as well abandon my goals before I even begin.  If I can’t do it perfect, why do it at all?

Clearly I have some mental impediments that I need to conquer!

Materialism is a bitter foe of mine and our relationship is full of ebbs and flows.  After losing 100 pounds, trust me, that new pair of blue jeans that fits like a glove doesn’t have a bit of negative emotion attached to it!  It is all love.  However, the closet I have full of clothes that fit from size 24 to size 18 and yet do not even begin to stay on my body; the clothes that I can’t seem to convince myself to get rid of… and for what?

Fear.

I have followed the battles of people for years with their journey to escape materialism and so I know I’m not alone.  I’m tired of this though, and by what is so obviously bondage.  I never thought to look at it like that though, as a form of personal bondage.

Do you have any challenges or misconceptions about being frugal?  Have you made any improvements in your life regarding materialism?

Hi, My Name’s Liz and I’m a Hyper-apologetic.

Yeah, you read that right. Normally now I would apologize to you right now for the lame title, but today is no normal day. Today I am severing ties with a word I don’t think I’ve been using correctly for years and years.

Growing up, my mom did a good thing by teaching us to say sorry and to mean it, by no fault of her own though, I took it to mean that sorry fixed things. It repaired broken situation, broken people, and so I began associating many situations with the phrase “I’m sorry.”

Also, I interjected wretched feelings into every type of situation. I forced many regrets and hard feelings down people throat when after I graduates high school I wrote a long apology letter for being so gloomy and basically obnoxiously hating everyone and everything in life. I will admit right here that yeah, at the time I thought I was incredibly mature for my age.

I just laughed at myself and I’m not sorry.

I’ve spent more time apologizing for things I’ve done, not done, and had no involvement in than probably any other actually productive thing at all. I am totally that person who forcibly tries to remove everyone else’s burden and carry it on my shoulders.

I’m the epitome of the girl with the weight of the world on her shoulders.

So this word is getting a revamp. It is no longer as obtuse as I had defined it in my head. It is limited for only events when I have done something wrong. No more apologizing just to make myself feel better.

I don’t want my sorry’s to lose anymore meaning than they already have.

Anyone else confess to being a hyper-apologetic? Do you apologize for every little and big thing known to man that isn’t your fault? Share below in the comments, or share a blog link about it.

New Goals, New Year

This morning me and Aedan slept in, until 11:00AM! We both woke up pretty happy after our very late New Year’s Eve celebrations. During nap time, he gave me some peace to work through my New Year 2012 Goals.

Firstly, I’m working through a great book to help me stay on top of my normally disorganized home.

http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?lt1=_blank&bc1=000000&IS2=1&bg1=FFFFFF&fc1=000000&lc1=0000FF&t=aswegrgr-20&o=1&p=8&l=as4&m=amazon&f=ifr&ref=ss_til&asins=1600940560

Right now, I’m just learning more about time management and working on our kitchen. Regina Leeds is very helpful and doesn’t just give a how-to on how to organize, but helps you figure out and troubleshoot WHY you are disorganized to begin with.

Next, I started a new budget notebook!

Oh nerves! This is one of those things that can sometimes really freak people out. It is very important though and can really be helpful to being organized.

Now a few things on my general goals list for this year are really exciting!!!

• Learn how to weld. My husband welds, but I’d really like to learn myself.
• Make soap. I want to make my own bars of soap.
• Make candles. I’m excited about this project because I live candles.
• Learn to sew basic items.
• DIY. DIY. DIY.
• Eat more whole foods.
• Plant a garden that yields food. I am pretty stoked about blogging about this.
• Did I mention DIY?
• Blog more! I have always wanted an active blog, but had a hard time following through, I’m really going for it this year!

Generally speaking, I really want to work on my “follow-through.”

What are YOUR goals and resolutions for 2012? . Post in the comments or link me to your blog post about them. Happy New Years!!

Happy New Years Eve!

I have all sorts of to-do’s and things to learn for this new year.  I hope that everyone enjoys welcoming in 2012 and saying good bye to a wonderful (or not so much for some) 2011.  I’ve had a really interesting year though, and I wanted to recap some of it here.

• Last year at around this time I was anxiously pregnant.  We were waiting to make it to the 28 week mark, which was when we lost our daughter.
• We were living with my wonderful sister-in-law and her family until finally we found a place of our own.
• We moved into an incredibly large apartment that we probably didn’t need so much for practical reasons, but which really provided a nice starting point for our growing family.
• On April 26th, Aedan Joseph was born; beautiful and happy.
  
• We experienced the joy of Aedan’s first camping trip to Lake Michigan, which was a first for all of us.  It was breathtaking.
  
• Andrew and I celebrated our fourth anniversary on September 15th.
• Aedan experienced many first’s, including his first Nut Club Fall Festival, his first Halloween, his first Thanksgiving, and his first Christmas.

So there you have it, well, the extremely condensed version.

Bread and Patience

It took me four years to figure out how to cook a simple loaf of bread. Something about yeast, it makes bread so yummy and fluffy. Something about yeast, it confounded me! So two weeks ago my mother showed me the error of my ways. I was too afraid of using hot water and had never had the patience to wait for the bread to rise.

So silly, two things like fear and impatience kept me from succeeding! I’d mastered it, well, maybe not mastered… but surely I made great strides and the last four loaves were not only edible; they were delicious.

Feeling confident I bought two bags of flour to make bread for the holidays. Somehow in the confusion of my day though I managed to leave the flour somewhere.

So silly.

And yet…

My instinct was to panic. I ended up hanging up on my own mom.

Deep breathes.

If I can spend so much time making bread, I could handle this.

And after my awesome husband stepped up to go buy more I stood prepping my kitchen and dwelling on the whole seemingly silly thing.

We celebrate the birth of Jesus, but I forget about how important patience can be in the scheme of things, and not panicking.

The long wait for a Savior.
The fear Mary experienced waiting those long 9 months.
The way everyone watched in wonder as Jesus grew.
Jesus knowing what had to happen and still waiting.
The seemingly slow going resurrection.

And now we still wait, ever so patiently for His return. Patience really comes with the territory of being a follower of Jesus.

So breath in.
Breath out.
We have a lot to be thankful for.