tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-46943463099177847162024-03-05T23:07:16.431-08:00Frugal Living At Its FinestOne family finding pleasure (and sometimes pain) in frugal living.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger49125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4694346309917784716.post-72315891629392076812011-01-04T08:28:00.001-08:002011-01-04T08:28:04.413-08:00The most thoughtful gift...My sister may not always "get" what we're doing or agree with Dave Ramsey, but her (and fam's) gift to us this Christmas told me that she supports it. <br /><br /><br /><center><a href='http://picasaweb.google.com/MamaDep/HelloBabyANDABigGirl?authkey=Gv1sRgCP7xpOPly9H3_QE#5558368356684905810'><img src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRB4qPBtafEeINGr2m0wRBU0W5jm95fLIjryBpygUecVy8q5snV-BNRJogDySJwUHHZy-L7wNjx1lXzABh-W2YYmIPdA29g6dtRX4vszD0g1Bu2HPEGZE84dK1cBMtxUeW6CkupxcC_8M/s288/iphone_photo.jpg' border='0' width='281' height='210' style='margin:5px'></a></center><br />"SnoBalls", 3 Cadbury Eggs for The Mister, a Lego cop, and a stack of cash... For our snowball.<br /><br />Priceless.<br />FrugalMissushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13650464372949988571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4694346309917784716.post-11261201657761641512010-12-27T09:13:00.000-08:002010-12-27T09:13:28.807-08:00Frugal Missus Solves All Your Problems (not really)I have had SO many requests for meal planning info, coupon clipping advice, and cost-effective meals. <br />
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Thanks, in part, to Dave Ramsey for turning Frugal Mister on to Jon Acuff, author of the incredibly entertaining blog, <a href="http://www.stuffchristianslike.com/">Stuff Christians Like</a>, who, in turn, drew Frugal Mister's eye with an ad for E-Mealz.<br />
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E-Mealz is INCREDIBLE (so far). They have multiple menu plans, for different diets, number of people, kid-friendly, etc., so the brain work is taken care of for you. But that's not the best part... ready for this??<br />
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The meals are planned with store specials/sales in mind already!!! Seriously. How cool is that?!?<br />
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And even cooler? It's *only* $5 a month (3-month subscription at a time and auto-renewal). You can use the coupon code "DAVE" to save $2.50 on your first month's subscription!<br />
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Go ahead... click the link below (or in the sidebar), and you can send me flowers with all the money you've saved. (ok, not really... I'd rather you spend the money more wisely in your own homes). <br />
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But you CAN repost the link on your FB pages and send in emails (just link to this post on the blog OR highlight the link and C&P in a new email to your friends and families) as a thank you! <br />
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Enjoy :)<br />
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Link to copy: <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"><span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1293468886_0" style="color: #366388;"><a href="http://e-mealz.com/amember/go.php?r=167876&i=l0" rel="nofollow" style="color: #1f892b;" target="_blank">E-MEALZ Easy Meals for Busy and Frugal Families</a></span></span><br />
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<a href="http://e-mealz.com/amember/go.php?r=167876&i=b3"><img alt="SAVE TIME AND MONEY WITH E-MEALZ MEAL PLANS" border="0" height="225" src="http://www.e-mealz.com/banners/banner-225x225d.gif" width="225" /></a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4694346309917784716.post-41219893328404628612010-12-22T10:09:00.000-08:002010-12-22T10:25:35.212-08:00Frugal Missus Takes The Hard RoadI realized, as I made a couple extra pancakes with the leftover batter this morning, that one way to save money is to let go of convenience. <div><br /></div><div>I made pancakes. With 2 small children. And saved leftovers (thankfully, a 16 month old isn't exactly picky!). In a reusable container. Yes, slapping a piece of tin foil over a plate is more frugal than using a one-time ziplock (I can't bring myself to wash them, no matter what was in it.), but using a storage container was even more frugal (and our high-efficiency dishwasher takes out the "but, the water!" argument). Yes, it's one more thing to put away, but it's like a gift that keeps on giving! </div><div><br /></div><div>You know those small cups of applesauce you stick in your kids lunches? Or the boxed juice? Or the pre-cut carrot sticks? Or frozen mashed potatoes? I had a bag of frozen mashed potatoes (about 1 bag would cover what I needed them for) in my grocery cart. They were "on sale" for 2/$5. When I headed to the produce section and saw a 10lb bag of russet potatoes for $.88 (you read that right!) I about keeled over in the middle of Safeway! ("Clean up in the produce section! Clean up in produce..."). I put the "easy road" back and put the "hard road" in my cart. I won't even get into the frozen vs fresh debate today. In my book, I was already ashamed at the frozen ones even being in my cart in the first place!</div><div><br /></div><div>So, no, being frugal isn't always convenient, but you know what? I made my dish that the frozen potatoes would have just about covered, I still have at least 3 more meals of potatoes in my pantry, AND I have $1.62 left in my pocket. </div>FrugalMissushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13650464372949988571noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4694346309917784716.post-81748687284771177072010-12-14T14:38:00.000-08:002010-12-14T14:38:04.299-08:00Frugal Family SPLURGES!Well, it's happened. Our craptop... err.... laptop, took a dump on us. It's been a LONG time coming (as in a month after we bought the darn thing in 2007!). However, we've been good little frugalites and haven't rushed out to buy a new one. And then the power cord stopped working. And I was in the middle of making money (editing 2 photoshoots). And, well... we took a big jump. To a MacBook.<br />
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(note all of the staccato sentences. For future reference, that means I'm in disbelief. Still am.)<br />
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We dropped The Big to preschool and headed to the Apple store, both nervous about making such a big purchase while still in debt. We had fully intended on buying a MacBook once all of our debts were paid, but I really felt like buying a new power cord was throwing good money after bad. Sure, it might have fixed the problem, for say, $50, but the computer was still a hunk of junk. It's THE reason I stopped blogging. It was so frustrating to try to write a post when it took 15 minutes for Blogger to load! Grrr.... Frugal Father would call me on his way home from work (about 25 minutes) to have me turn the blessed thing on so it would be semi-ready to use when he got home. I'm NOT even kidding a little bit here. <br />
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So, anyway... we calculated how much cash we had with Christmas Gift money, Frugal Father's "extra" income from his *paid* writing gig, not buying firewood as we had planned, not having Blow money for the month, nixing the last few Christmas gifts we were going to get the girls (they are both getting plenty!), and the money I had made from my photography gigs, and *VOILA*. Enough cash to buy our 13" MacBook Pro. <br />
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We've been planning on this for well over a year, and I'm incredibly proud that we were able to have the cash on hand for such a big purchase! It's a nice little glimpse at what our future has in store for us! <br />
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On another note, if you are in the East Bay Area, Frugal Father and I will be leading our second round of Financial Peace University, starting in February. It's $100 per family and runs for 13 weeks (I'm pretty sure they will be consecutive weeks, but I have to double check the calendar). If you, too, would like to learn how to "Live Like No One Else", we'd love to have you! Email me at frugalmissus AT gmail.com for details!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4694346309917784716.post-48888121652628157772010-11-11T14:37:00.000-08:002010-11-11T14:37:00.681-08:00Reader QuestionsA friend of mine emailed a couple questions recently and I thought it might be helpful to post the answers for all to see. Feel free to email me any other "reader questions" you have and I'll do my best to answer them!<br /><br />1. How do you budget for things like Christmas (or items that aren't necessarily in the normal monthly budget)?<br /><br />Answer: <br /><br />We put $100 away for gifts each month. That includes birthdays/anniversaries/Christmas/bdayparties. Before DR, we ad to wait until Jason's big paycheck on Dec. 10 to do any shopping (4 holidays in November!), but this year we have $600 waiting in our "gift fund" already! Makes it easier to shop sales. However, that's not to say that we'll just blow the whole $600 just because we have it. That's an important part of budgeting too. Last year, we didn't start saving until October for Christmas and STILL saved $800 in time (the bulk from that 12/10 check).<br /><br />2. Along those same lines, what about items that only come up once a year (car registration as one example)? Do you split them up into 12 monthly amounts and then just put that money somewhere (savings account, cash it out for an envelope)?<br /><br />Answer: <br /><br />You're asking about "sinking funds". Divide those yearly/bi-yearly payments into what it would cost per month, and put it into your savings acct. We use Quicken to keep track of how much we have in our various sinking fund accounts, but in reality, it's all (including the Emergency Fund) in one savings account. You could also keep track of spending an deposits for those on paper. Just make sure you remember to, and reconcile your total amount to your account balance! When we need money from our sinking funds, we just transfer it ASAP, since our budget equals zero each month.<br /><br />3. Any grocery shopping tips? I am not a huge couponer, I just don't feel like I have the time for it. I do cut the coupons out of the Safeway weekly since I do most of my shopping there and I'll use those if they are applicable to what I need that week. <br /><br />Answer:<br /><br />I've taken a BIG step back in couponing since The Big Kid is back in school, and usually just do what you do. However, if I see an awesome deal on some sort of meat (30-50% off, cheap per pound, BOGO, etc.) I stock up. Then on my "scrimp" weeks, I just shop in my freezer and only have to buy fresh veggies, dairy, and a couple dry goods to make meals. I also double cook some recipes and freeze second portions, which is good for busy days and it's cost effective. On months that have 5 weeks, I usually struggle to make it on my $400/mo, but this last month had 5 weeks and I had $30 left at the end of the month!! I'm also hosting Thanksgiving this month and have already bought all of my supplies except green beans and am still within my normal budget! It's nice to be able to provide the whole meal when I offer to host :)<br /><br />FrugalMissushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13650464372949988571noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4694346309917784716.post-53544680717260811772010-04-22T12:22:00.001-07:002010-04-22T12:22:43.185-07:00"Go Big, Or Go Home"When we first decided to become debt free, we weren't ready to be "Gazelle Intense". We liked our nice life we had built ourselves, even if we couldn't afford it and shouldn't have had all the "toys" in the first place. My philosophy, prior to Dave, was "go big or go home". In other words, if we were borrowing money for a new tv/ nice car/ vacation/ dinner out/ camping trailer, why not borrow lots of it and have the best?<br /><br />We ended up with lots of nice toys, but a big ol' debt. <br /><br />We bought a brand spankin' new Acura TSX, in November 2005. All the bells and whistles were a MUST, and back then, we thought in terms of "how much overtime?", as in, "Oh, we can get the payments to $556.45/month? That's one shift of OT! SOLD!"<br /><br />Little did I know, as we signed away our lives (a common cliche when you go heavily into debt, but does one stop to think about what it really means?), that I would get pregnant one month later and we had just committed to Frugal Mister missing one day a month for SIX YEARS with his family! That cliche takes on a while new meaning when you think of it in those terms!<br /><br />So, we had agreed to not sell the Acura when we started this whole crazy thing. Then something happened. We got smart ;)<br /><br />We are so tired of thinking in "HMOT" terms. The sooner we can be done with the OT, the sooner we get our lives back!<br /><br />We *finally* sold the Acura to a long time family friend, and bought her '03 Civic in return! It was an even trade, but we got rid of that UGLY car payment!! <br /><br />We do the budget tonight and I can't wait to see how that $556.45 builds steam on our Debt Snowball! And to think we will NEVER have a car payment again is an INCREDIBLE feeling! Our friend pays only $117/month for a LUXURY car! I am so happy for both of our good fortunes in buying and selling of great used cars :)<br /><br />I have also come to realize I don't have to abandon my old philosophy, "GBOGH". I just need to apply it differently. <br />FrugalMissushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13650464372949988571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4694346309917784716.post-20959942012990108642010-03-31T13:15:00.001-07:002010-03-31T13:15:24.940-07:00My Little Pony Madness!I got word that MLPs were on sale at Toys R Us Buy One, Get One today ONLY, so armed with some MFQs (manufacturers coupons) I headed to the nearest store. I called before going and was told they honor MFQs, but I doubled checked when I walked in. I had 3 BOGO MFQs that I used in 3 seperate transactions. Total OOP (out of pocket) was $.51 for two ponies! A TOTAL of $1.53 for SIX ponies!<br /><br />I am going to have one very happy 3 year old come Easter Morning! <br /><br /><br />- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone<br />FrugalMissushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13650464372949988571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4694346309917784716.post-80994738235242140722010-03-26T09:20:00.001-07:002010-03-26T09:20:15.012-07:00Heard Around TownIf you haven't guessed, I'm pretty jazzed on saving money. I get a thrill getting an awesome deal and am always on the hunt for coupons!<br /><br />A couple of days ago, while checking out at Safeway using the new self checkout kiosks, a Safeway employee was helping a man use the system. She reached for the Catalina Coupons (those things that spit out as you checkout), and said "don't forget your coupons!"<br /><br />The guy laughed and said "I don't need those. I'm a guy".<br /><br />Huh. Apparently money only grows on trees if you are a guy. We get Aunt Flow, and they get money trees. <br /><br />The Safeway employee offered me the coupons (good ones at that!!) which I gladly accepted. I said to the man, "these are as good as cash on the products you normally buy, you know that, right?"<br /><br />Again, he just laughed. I can't help but hope he thinks twice when throwing the coupons out next time. And if he doesn't, I hope I'm there to catch them again! (what?? I already said they were good ones!!)<br /><br />After that encounter, I went on to pay just $.74/product for hair care stuff using coupons and sale shopping.<br /><br /><br /><center><a href='http://picasaweb.google.com/KJP1979/HelloBabyANDABigGirl?authkey=Gv1sRgCP7xpOPly9H3_QE#5452978151223561538'><img src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnK4YrqJiAlm7BB1m_5GO5geCw3cwwfxi8ClFW1c9upkyVh-wECfZKUtJgYYFp50vL_IM3CozxbaEnBRgxGT63bAA00QAhvnf8sPeRILUluzV_PR4jyKGUrQnniS4Y6s29pY3iJ12-r0Q/s288/iphone_photo.jpg' border='0' width='281' height='210' style='margin:5px'></a></center><br />- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone<br />FrugalMissushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13650464372949988571noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4694346309917784716.post-40078733697427644912010-03-24T19:00:00.001-07:002010-03-24T19:00:11.415-07:00Frugal Missus Takes Over The WorldOk, so I may have exaggerated a tad... I'm just taking over the blog, because as you may have noticed, Frugal Mister doesn't do a whole heckuva lot of updating. I'm just tired of trying to think of new and exciting "Frugal Missus..." blog titles. <br /><br />So, to them, Frugal Missus Bids Adieu (to the kitchy blog titles, NOT the blog!)<br /><br /><br />- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone<br />FrugalMissushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13650464372949988571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4694346309917784716.post-45030011144522624282010-03-24T16:05:00.001-07:002010-03-24T16:05:01.195-07:00Check Out Michael Angelo's<a href=http://familytable.michaelangelos.com/referral/6662dc6d>Check Out Michael Angelo's</a><br /><br />Posted using <a href="http://sharethis.com">ShareThis</a>FrugalMissushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13650464372949988571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4694346309917784716.post-26460258842344378842010-03-23T12:49:00.001-07:002010-03-23T17:31:06.217-07:00Frugal Missus Shops and SavesCheck out my recent trip to the $.99 Store! <br /><br /><br /><br /><center><a href='http://picasaweb.google.com/KJP1979/HelloBabyANDABigGirl?authkey=Gv1sRgCP7xpOPly9H3_QE#5451918890064054258'><img src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibeTj3uLfFFYhyS1Rns7J23gR5xhf2tz1F-eZCD6gf-33uXVFLB0bQf4N4qJ39gEpX6Ccl6T4E2o_eGLzX71KszMt_5wWoifWNhs8yuNNYJnM7oLvQCS9nh66xbs6wHOQ_nCZsNwkfSns/s288/iphone_photo.jpg' border='0' width='281' height='209' style='margin:5px'></a></center><br /><br />- 3 boxes of Fiber One Apple Cinnamon muffins<br />- 2 beautiful containers of strawberries<br />- 2 Gallo Salamis<br />- 2lbs whole carrots<br />- 3 plump red tomatoes<br />- 2 tubes of Banana Boat Children's Sunblock, SPF 50<br /><br />Grand Total = $11.84 (corrected price)<br /><br /> Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone<br /><br />FrugalMissushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13650464372949988571noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4694346309917784716.post-53642543564542224532010-03-23T09:51:00.001-07:002010-03-23T09:51:36.041-07:00Frugal Missus Gets Back On The HorseI know it's been AGES since I last wrote, but we've been sticking with our debt payment and envelope system loyally!! To date, we have paid off all of our credit cards and are working on selling our Acura to get out from the $556.45/ month payment. Selling that bad boy would basically equate to us being able to pay off all of our debt by September 2011, rather than the projected payoff date of November 2013! HUGE difference, and well worth it, in my opinion.<br /><br />- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone<br />FrugalMissushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13650464372949988571noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4694346309917784716.post-78474746425185836792010-01-06T12:12:00.001-08:002010-01-06T12:18:46.890-08:00Frugal Missus Gets RealOk, so apparently, I am far too good at this living off a budget thing, because my grand idea of having an extra $280 for the snowball by living off the land is going kaput. Already. It's not even January 10th yet (my start date), and already , my pantries are bare! Then it dawned on me...<br /><br />I've been living with $400 a month for groceries since July. That $400 is the PERFECT amount for our family because I don't have "extra" to stock up on much stuff. At first, I was really bummed I couldn't "live off the land", but now I am quite proud of myself. I have been able to only buy what we'll eat, saving money all year round, instead of having excess food sitting around. (Frugal Nana would croak if she knew I didn't have an "earthquake supply").<br /><br />So, rather than only spending $30/week on dairy and produce, I'm going to clear out my freezers. That's my "living off the land". Then, come February, I'll be able to defrost and clean my chest freezer in the garage (something I've wanted to do for MONTHS). Then, I think we'll have to budget a few extra bucks to restock all the stuff my freezer is usually flush with.<br /><br />If you are taking on the "Live Off The Land" challenge, I'd love to hear about it and how you are, of course, succeeding in it!FrugalMissushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13650464372949988571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4694346309917784716.post-33432980556263619732009-12-30T15:44:00.001-08:002009-12-30T15:54:48.220-08:00Frugal Missus Lives Off The LandI was doing some blurfing (blog surfing. Did I make that word up?) today and came across a "Live Off the Land" Challenge on <a href="http://www.moneysavingmom.com/money_saving_mom/2009/12/eat-from-the-pantry-challenge-my-goals-and-plans-and-come-link-up-yours-too.html">Money Saving Mom's Blog</a>. Basically, I am going to use up the odds and ends in my pantry and freezers. I mean, I spend all this money on food each month, but it feels like I'm bursting with odds and ends of grub-type things. So, Money Saving Mom, I accept your challenge.<br /><br />My Goals:<br /><br /><strong>1) Spend no more than $30/week from Jan. 10 - Feb. 10 at the grocery store. </strong>(Our budgeting goes by our pay periods, not the traditional months)<br /><br /><strong>2) Only buy dairy (milk, specifically) and produce. </strong><br /><strong></strong><br /><strong>3) Blog about what I've spent at the store. </strong>(You folks have to keep my honest!)<br /><br /><strong>4) All "extra" money (hopefully $280!!) will be sent to the SnowBall on Feb. 10. </strong>FrugalMissushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13650464372949988571noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4694346309917784716.post-480990282824707522009-12-23T18:56:00.001-08:002009-12-23T19:31:45.499-08:00The Frugal Family Meets Mr. MurphyWell folks, after settling in as a Frugal Family of Four, I am happy to say we are still very much on budget and on track with our debt payoff! We've paid off a couple thousand to a credit card with our "leftover" money these past four months that we thought we'd only ever be able to send minimum payments! I've said it before and I'll say it again...<br /><br />WRITE A BUDGET.<br /><br />Every dime should have a name! I can't tell you how much MORE money we have just by changing how we spend it. If you have any desire to get on track with a written budget (you can't write it in your head, guys. It has to be on paper. No cheating), post a message here and I'll do my best to do "lessons" in how to go about it.<br /><br />Now, you might ask, what's with the title of this post?<br /><br />Well, The Frugal Family has met that little devil, Murphy, and his stupid law...<br /><br /><strong>If Something Bad Will Happen, It WILL. </strong><br /><strong></strong><br />Furthermore, I happen to think it'll happen at the worst possible moment. Indeed, Murphy landed in our house TWO DAYS before Christmas. Our 2005 Acura had a plethora of malfunctions in recent weeks and we finally took it in to a highly recommended mechanic (if you live locally, I'd be happy to pass on his info. Just ask).<br /><br /> 4 New Tires<br /> New Battery<br /> Alignment<br />+ Balancing and mounting of tires<br />________________________<br /><br /><strong>$692.80</strong><br /><br />Two days before Christmas.<br /><br />But, Frugal Mister and I did not bat a lash, for we had a Baby Emergency Fund of $1000 to fall back on! We wrote a check for $692.80. Done. The best part is that our car repair isn't going to cost us $692.80 + 13% interest. It's not going to take us 5 years to pay off. It's not going to haunt us. It's D-O-N-E.<br /><br />As for it being 2 days before Christmas? Big Deal! We've bought ALL of our gifts with cash this year so even an almost $700 car repair bill can't break our Christmas Spirit!<br /><br />Now, what happens to our Debt Snowball now that our Baby Fund of $1000 is no longer funded? We will take a short hiatus from throwing all of our "extra" money at the snowball until our Emergency Fund is full again. We don't anticipate it taking long, but you can be damn sure it's high on the priority list for us, just in case Murphy decides to test us again.<br /><br />As of now, we've paid off a total of $2004.37 in debt on just one of our credit cards AND had 3 visits from Murphy (Our Washing Machine broke, the toilets and showers all got backed up so we had to have an emergency plumber come to the house, and the car repair). I can't even BEGIN to tell you how proud I am to say we have not used credit cards AT ALL for any of it.<br /><br />Take THAT, Murphy!FrugalMissushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13650464372949988571noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4694346309917784716.post-83716018429852417752009-10-20T20:00:00.000-07:002009-10-20T20:17:44.094-07:00Frugal Family, Slaves No More!<div> We're BACK! Thanks for being patient as we adjust to our family of four status! Just because we have another mouth to feed doesn't mean we aren't sticking by our frugal ways! I will be posting ways to stay frugal with a new kid in the house! In fact, I can proudly say I have not spent one thin dime on our Frugal Fourth.<br /><br /><div><div>Not one penny.</div><div><br /></div><div>No Joke. </div><div><br /></div><div>I know it's a teaser, but I'll go into that in a different post. This post isn't about our new addition... it's about what we've gotten rid of! </div><div><br /></div><div></div><div>We took a trip to Seattle to visit Frugal Father's Family and vowed that, should we be able to make the trip up there and not put anything on a credit card, that we would cut the cards up! Well, folks... Checky check it:</div><div> </div><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 266px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 400px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5394886761369578434" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKNz2VcvX8ceYRKhCIM_OGx10pmRaEA79YxJuwM-zYPJFhM6WPoyKEzxCfsgZQqVLMFRnKON2JBsLX603TNEfUAXF783JPtbQMjvYUJDUULGHWijaiEdSgkwZbXq4ZpStsdpqF0caOGuta/s400/DSC_0347.JPG" /><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 266px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 400px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5394886771819772706" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvucZCvNFO5UA2HM3G85xBtqD0KhKQNPcxBFsehpbj-l-n9ITa12A6kbKkxEWRWUzlNVsRJYA4zz7LNSqyZNRCemLgfUNYuFbJ0xqpzqqAHOtJjUjUR-q4iPSEi9f0BPOahTeWhFVlaeJL/s400/DSC_0348.JPG" /></div><div>Dave would be so proud!<br /><br /><div></div><br /><br /><div></div></div></div>FrugalMissushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13650464372949988571noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4694346309917784716.post-25058382598326452682009-09-19T03:59:00.000-07:002009-09-19T08:01:12.184-07:00test...<!-- multiply:no_crosspost --><p class='multiply:no_crosspost'></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4694346309917784716.post-90810646294389393782009-08-31T10:17:00.001-07:002009-08-31T10:17:48.971-07:00Frugal Family Finds a Fourth!<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: -webkit-monospace; font-size: 13px; white-space: pre-wrap; ">Wondering where we've been and where Menu Monday is?? We've been busing welcoming our Frugal Fourth in to the fold! You can be sure I'll have many posts about raising a child with frugal tactics, but for now, we're just enjoying each other's company. We haven't forgotten about you or our Frugal Journey!</span>FrugalMissushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13650464372949988571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4694346309917784716.post-5112025368006695932009-08-21T11:18:00.000-07:002009-08-21T11:24:39.869-07:00Frugal Missus Is Soooo NOT Extreme!I was doing my regularly scheduled Frugal Blog Searching (ok, so it's not scheduled, per se, but I definitely do it on a regular basis to find new ideas!), and came across some <a href="http://frugal.families.com/blog/more-extreme-frugality">Extreme Frugal Practices</a>. I can't help but wonder, as the author ponders as well, when is it "frugal" and when is it just plain CHEAP?!?<div><br /></div><div>You be the judge!</div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(90, 90, 90); font-family: Verdana; font-size: 13px; border-collapse: collapse; line-height: 16px; "><p style="margin-top: 15px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; color: rgb(90, 90, 90); font-size: 13px; font-family: Verdana, Arial; clear: both; line-height: 16px; ">Writing on post it notes in pencil, so you can reuse them.</p><p style="margin-top: 15px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; color: rgb(90, 90, 90); font-size: 13px; font-family: Verdana, Arial; clear: both; line-height: 16px; ">Rinsing and reusing paper towels.</p><p style="margin-top: 15px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; color: rgb(90, 90, 90); font-size: 13px; font-family: Verdana, Arial; clear: both; line-height: 16px; ">Fighting over the pinata candy at a child's birthday party so you can save it and give it out for Halloween treats.</p><p style="margin-top: 15px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; color: rgb(90, 90, 90); font-size: 13px; font-family: Verdana, Arial; clear: both; line-height: 16px; ">Giving up your home to live in an RV, truck or car full time.</p><p style="margin-top: 15px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; color: rgb(90, 90, 90); font-size: 13px; font-family: Verdana, Arial; clear: both; line-height: 16px; ">Cut up <a href="http://frugal.families.com/blog/more-extreme-frugality#" class="kLink" target="undefined" id="KonaLink0" style="color: rgb(218, 8, 107) !important; text-decoration: underline !important; border-bottom-style: none !important; cursor: pointer; font-family: verdana; border-top-width: 0px !important; border-right-width: 0px !important; border-bottom-width: 0px !important; border-left-width: 0px !important; border-top-style: none !important; border-right-style: none !important; border-left-style: none !important; border-top-color: transparent !important; border-right-color: transparent !important; border-bottom-color: transparent !important; border-left-color: transparent !important; background-image: none !important; background-repeat: initial !important; background-attachment: initial !important; -webkit-background-clip: initial !important; -webkit-background-origin: initial !important; background-color: transparent !important; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; text-transform: none !important; display: inline !important; font-variant: normal; top: 0px; right: 0px; bottom: 0px; left: 0px; position: static; background-position: initial initial !important; "><span style="color: rgb(218, 8, 107) !important; font-family: Verdana; font-weight: normal; font-size: 13px; position: static; color:#da086b;"><span class="kLink" style="color: rgb(218, 8, 107) !important; font-size: 13px; font-family: Verdana; border-top-width: 0px !important; border-top-style: none !important; border-top-color: initial !important; border-left-width: 0px !important; border-left-style: none !important; border-left-color: initial !important; border-right-width: 0px !important; border-right-style: none !important; border-right-color: initial !important; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgb(218, 8, 107); padding-top: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-bottom: 1px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; background-image: none; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; -webkit-background-clip: initial; -webkit-background-origin: initial; background-color: transparent; width: auto !important; float: none !important; display: inline !important; font-weight: normal; position: static; background-position: initial initial; ">cereal </span><span class="kLink" style="color: rgb(218, 8, 107) !important; font-size: 13px; font-family: Verdana; border-top-width: 0px !important; border-top-style: none !important; border-top-color: initial !important; border-left-width: 0px !important; border-left-style: none !important; border-left-color: initial !important; border-right-width: 0px !important; border-right-style: none !important; border-right-color: initial !important; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgb(218, 8, 107); padding-top: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-bottom: 1px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; background-image: none; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; -webkit-background-clip: initial; -webkit-background-origin: initial; background-color: transparent; width: auto !important; float: none !important; display: inline !important; font-weight: normal; position: static; background-position: initial initial; ">boxes</span></span><span id="preLoadWrap0" style="color: rgb(90, 90, 90); font-size: 11px; font-family: Verdana, Arial; position: relative; "></span></a> and use them for post cards.</p><p style="margin-top: 15px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; color: rgb(90, 90, 90); font-size: 13px; font-family: Verdana, Arial; clear: both; line-height: 16px; ">Pouring pasta water down the toilet or in the toilet tank to reduce the amount of water used in a flush.</p><p style="margin-top: 15px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; color: rgb(90, 90, 90); font-size: 13px; font-family: Verdana, Arial; clear: both; line-height: 16px; ">Bring your own cheese when <a href="http://frugal.families.com/blog/more-extreme-frugality#" class="kLink" target="undefined" id="KonaLink1" style="color: rgb(218, 8, 107) !important; text-decoration: underline !important; border-bottom-style: none !important; cursor: pointer; font-family: verdana; border-top-width: 0px !important; border-right-width: 0px !important; border-bottom-width: 0px !important; border-left-width: 0px !important; border-top-style: none !important; border-right-style: none !important; border-left-style: none !important; border-top-color: transparent !important; border-right-color: transparent !important; border-bottom-color: transparent !important; border-left-color: transparent !important; background-image: none !important; background-repeat: initial !important; background-attachment: initial !important; -webkit-background-clip: initial !important; -webkit-background-origin: initial !important; background-color: transparent !important; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; text-transform: none !important; display: inline !important; font-variant: normal; top: 0px; right: 0px; bottom: 0px; left: 0px; position: static; background-position: initial initial !important; "><span style="color: rgb(218, 8, 107) !important; font-family: Verdana; font-weight: normal; font-size: 13px; position: static; color:#da086b;"><span class="kLink" style="color: rgb(218, 8, 107) !important; font-size: 13px; font-family: Verdana; border-top-width: 0px !important; border-top-style: none !important; border-top-color: initial !important; border-left-width: 0px !important; border-left-style: none !important; border-left-color: initial !important; border-right-width: 0px !important; border-right-style: none !important; border-right-color: initial !important; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgb(218, 8, 107); padding-top: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-bottom: 1px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; background-image: none; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; -webkit-background-clip: initial; -webkit-background-origin: initial; background-color: transparent; width: auto !important; float: none !important; display: inline !important; font-weight: normal; position: static; background-position: initial initial; ">eating</span></span><span id="preLoadWrap1" style="color: rgb(90, 90, 90); font-size: 11px; font-family: Verdana, Arial; position: relative; "></span></a> hamburgers out so you won't be charged for a cheeseburger.</p><p style="margin-top: 15px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; color: rgb(90, 90, 90); font-size: 13px; font-family: Verdana, Arial; clear: both; line-height: 16px; ">Go out to eat with friends and ask for their leftovers instead of ordering a meal for yourself. Using an old bra to grow tomatoes in the <a href="http://frugal.families.com/blog/more-extreme-frugality#" class="kLink" target="undefined" id="KonaLink2" style="color: rgb(218, 8, 107) !important; text-decoration: underline !important; border-bottom-style: none !important; cursor: pointer; font-family: verdana; border-top-width: 0px !important; border-right-width: 0px !important; border-bottom-width: 0px !important; border-left-width: 0px !important; border-top-style: none !important; border-right-style: none !important; border-left-style: none !important; border-top-color: transparent !important; border-right-color: transparent !important; border-bottom-color: transparent !important; border-left-color: transparent !important; background-image: none !important; background-repeat: initial !important; background-attachment: initial !important; -webkit-background-clip: initial !important; -webkit-background-origin: initial !important; background-color: transparent !important; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; text-transform: none !important; display: inline !important; font-variant: normal; top: 0px; right: 0px; bottom: 0px; left: 0px; position: static; background-position: initial initial !important; "><span style="color: rgb(218, 8, 107) !important; font-family: Verdana; font-weight: normal; font-size: 13px; position: static; color:#da086b;"><span class="kLink" style="color: rgb(218, 8, 107) !important; font-size: 13px; font-family: Verdana; border-top-width: 0px !important; border-top-style: none !important; border-top-color: initial !important; border-left-width: 0px !important; border-left-style: none !important; border-left-color: initial !important; border-right-width: 0px !important; border-right-style: none !important; border-right-color: initial !important; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: initial; padding-top: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-bottom: 1px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; background-image: none; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; -webkit-background-clip: initial; -webkit-background-origin: initial; background-color: transparent; width: auto !important; float: none !important; display: inline !important; font-weight: normal; position: static; background-position: initial initial; ">cups</span></span></a>.</p><p style="margin-top: 15px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; color: rgb(90, 90, 90); font-size: 13px; font-family: Verdana, Arial; clear: both; line-height: 16px; ">Spending hours to separate your two-ply toilet paper into two separate rolls when people will probably just grab more paper to start with.</p><p style="margin-top: 15px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; color: rgb(90, 90, 90); font-size: 13px; font-family: Verdana, Arial; clear: both; line-height: 16px; ">Shutting off the water when people visit do they will be forced to use the bathroom multiple times and not waste a flush (Yes, I know of someone who did this).</p><p style="margin-top: 15px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; color: rgb(90, 90, 90); font-size: 13px; font-family: Verdana, Arial; clear: both; line-height: 16px; ">Set up a cot in your office to save on housing.</p><p style="margin-top: 15px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; color: rgb(90, 90, 90); font-size: 13px; font-family: Verdana, Arial; clear: both; line-height: 16px; ">Empty saved ketchup packets from fast food joints into a ketchup bottle.</p><p style="margin-top: 15px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; color: rgb(90, 90, 90); font-size: 13px; font-family: Verdana, Arial; clear: both; line-height: 16px; ">Going through random garbage bags for the <a href="http://frugal.families.com/blog/more-extreme-frugality#" class="kLink" target="undefined" id="KonaLink3" style="color: rgb(218, 8, 107) !important; text-decoration: underline !important; border-bottom-style: none !important; cursor: pointer; font-family: verdana; border-top-width: 0px !important; border-right-width: 0px !important; border-bottom-width: 0px !important; border-left-width: 0px !important; border-top-style: none !important; border-right-style: none !important; border-left-style: none !important; border-top-color: transparent !important; border-right-color: transparent !important; border-bottom-color: transparent !important; border-left-color: transparent !important; background-image: none !important; background-repeat: initial !important; background-attachment: initial !important; -webkit-background-clip: initial !important; -webkit-background-origin: initial !important; background-color: transparent !important; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; text-transform: none !important; display: inline !important; font-variant: normal; top: 0px; right: 0px; bottom: 0px; left: 0px; position: static; background-position: initial initial !important; "><span style="color: rgb(218, 8, 107) !important; font-family: Verdana; font-weight: normal; font-size: 13px; position: static; color:#da086b;"><span class="kLink" style="color: rgb(218, 8, 107) !important; font-size: 13px; font-family: Verdana; border-top-width: 0px !important; border-top-style: none !important; border-top-color: initial !important; border-left-width: 0px !important; border-left-style: none !important; border-left-color: initial !important; border-right-width: 0px !important; border-right-style: none !important; border-right-color: initial !important; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: initial; padding-top: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-bottom: 1px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; background-image: none; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; -webkit-background-clip: initial; -webkit-background-origin: initial; background-color: transparent; width: auto !important; float: none !important; display: inline !important; font-weight: normal; position: static; background-position: initial initial; ">soda</span></span></a> caps to collect for their rewards programs.</p><p style="margin-top: 15px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; color: rgb(90, 90, 90); font-size: 13px; font-family: Verdana, Arial; clear: both; line-height: 16px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Georgia; font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; ">(For the record, I have never done any of the above mentioned things, nor have they ever even crossed my mind, and I KNOW I boarderline on "cheap" at times.)</span></p></span></div>FrugalMissushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13650464372949988571noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4694346309917784716.post-3476668569788073672009-08-20T15:06:00.000-07:002009-08-20T15:23:30.400-07:00Frugal Missus Forgets Her CashWe've started using the Envelope System to keep our spending in check. It's working for us, so far, I think! I have done all my grocery spending for the first 2 weeks and still have $19 left over! Yay me! My gas money was gone much faster than either Frugal Mister or myself had anticipated so we'll be doing some tweeking on that since Frugal Mister has almost half of his money left!<div><br /></div><div>I've also found those small little envelopes I had been using were difficult to manage and left me feeling very scatter-brained, especially when I was trying to keep track of how much I was spending and what coupons I was trying to use. I stopped by <a href="http://www.target.com">My Happy Place</a> and picked up a 13 pocket check-filing plastic envelope thing at the Dollar Spot. I have my sections labeled as I would my different envelopes, a small notebook in the front to keep track of what/when I spend, and extra pockets for receipts that need to be entered into my pricebook or coupons that need to be filed. </div><div><br /></div><div>One benefit (among many) of using the envelope system is that if you forget your envelope, you can't spend. Period. I went out for a walk with a friend of mine today and headed home around lunch time. I knew I had leftovers in the fridge but a quickie burger sounded soooo good! (Hey, cut a Frugal Gal some slack! I'm almost 39 weeks pregnant!) However, having only anticipated a walk, I left my envelopes back at home. Sure, it's only a couple of dollars, but I didn't spend it. Now I have a couple dollars to spend elsewhere, save, or put towards the debt snowball at the end of the month. </div><div><br /></div><div>For those of you wondering, Frugal Mister and I will sit down at the end of the month with the "extra" money in our envelopes and the money we've gotten from selling stuff on Craigslist and our garage sale we had a couple weeks ago, and shoot that off to our debt snowball. Just because we HAVE the money in the envelopes doesn't mean we have to spend it! </div>FrugalMissushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13650464372949988571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4694346309917784716.post-18164798987092715142009-08-17T08:01:00.001-07:002009-08-17T08:03:37.410-07:00For Laughs<div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 126px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_h6IDFaH0XKrDMZsQl1iujNfdxWBQ3PygoPRFBwDEi5U_PUPwW-3n-8QsKgF6irqcVf0ZUrRJRJmb4f1MySMK8NOte_uvq0SDxgkuqvznjDGY8R3-_SDTzklUdvV9m0SwCaVswRTbSMkU/s400/292415.full.gif" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5370948088537843874" /><div style="text-align: center;">(<a href="http://comics.com/the_knight_life/">The Knight Life</a>)</div>FrugalMissushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13650464372949988571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4694346309917784716.post-60825385994731137532009-08-17T07:24:00.001-07:002009-08-17T07:35:19.073-07:00Menu Monday<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEid-kPkJLBWzzZtQVC7YslIXncwRlTzNs6bsDk-1u7qB0eIF8LH9UMp1w1cnl4xALwFySbEyNnESpxHbRN1bSIP0qCH4KSR7gJIp2Hj-gNwoznzzHBZ9SOpyr9QdKg4fnifrqSggVDYvJA/s1600-h/Menu-Monday.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 172px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEid-kPkJLBWzzZtQVC7YslIXncwRlTzNs6bsDk-1u7qB0eIF8LH9UMp1w1cnl4xALwFySbEyNnESpxHbRN1bSIP0qCH4KSR7gJIp2Hj-gNwoznzzHBZ9SOpyr9QdKg4fnifrqSggVDYvJA/s200/Menu-Monday.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5370938834750475826" /></a> <div><br /><div><b>Monday: </b>BBQ Chicken Skewers, Potato Salad, and Corn</div><div><b>Tuesday: </b>Spinach and Cheese Manicotti and Green Salad</div><div><b>Wednesday: </b>Turkey Tacos</div><div><b>Thursday: </b>Leftovers (Frugal Mister is working OT)</div><div><b>Friday: </b>Rootbeer Pulled Pork Sandwiches (A new recipe! We'll see how it goes!), French Fries and Green Salad</div><div><b>Saturday: </b>Corned Beef and Cabbage<b> </b>(One of Frugal Mister's favorites. It's not a cheap meal, but he deserves the Thank You after working 55-65 hours of OT the past 2 months). </div><div><b>Sunday: </b>Fish Tacos</div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4694346309917784716.post-31627003978613687962009-08-15T16:28:00.000-07:002009-08-15T17:00:53.564-07:00Frugal Missus Finds a Deal!I've known about Yelp.com for quite some time, but for whatever reason, didn't really take it seriously. I often found jaded customers skewing the reviews with a negative one, or overly complimentary reviews, which of course, could only have been posted by the owners themselves (who's jaded now??). Well, I'm changing my tune!<div><br /></div><div>I've been searching for a great, local, CHEAP haircut place for myself f-o-r-e-v-e-r! I go through spurts of growing my hair out (read: not cutting it for far too long and having it be nasty and dried out by the time I just get fed up and chop it to my chin) because most decent hairstylists I've found charge $45-$60! I found a great one, but it was over an hour away from my house! BLECH! Who wants to drive that far for a haircut? Not me! With gas, a bridge toll, a lunch out, cost of the cut, and tip, we were looking at about $75. Yikes. </div><div><br /></div><div>Enter Yelp.com. </div><div><br /></div><div>I decided to look up a salon in my area with the price range set at "$". I found a salon about 4 miles from my house that had gotten 4.5 stars from 4 different reviewers! While normally, I'd walk by this place and think "chop shop" (aka stylists fresh out of beauty school with little extra training no matter how many Vidal Sassoon and Paul Mitchell posters they put on the wall of the salon), I thought the reviews had to be somewhat legit. Besides, I just wanted a trim AND it's only hair; it'll grow back! Upon further research (a visit to the salon's website), I found that haircuts started at $11! </div><div><br /></div><div>Furthermore, I've been doing the "<a href="http://www.naturemoms.com/no-shampoo-alternative.html">no poo method</a>" on my hair since May (don't judge till you've tried it. My curls have never looked better! And no... I don't stink) and haven't gotten a cut since I started going "no poo" (man, I hate that term), and knew I didn't want some stylist scrubbing at my head, undoing months of adjustment to the method! So, this morning, I took a shower, threw my hair back in a ponytail, and went to the salon with a wet head. It was perfect for me! And I didn't get any weird looks from the stylist. Bonus! </div><div><br /></div><div>It was also very comforting to hear both stylists greet everyone (except me since I was a newcomer) by name. Repeat customers. Always a good sign! After the cut, my stylist said "See you after the baby!!" Already knowing I'd be back, I told her I would indeed!</div><div><br /></div><div>While it's fun to walk out of a salon all done up, in reality, most people don't have a prayer of styling their hair to look like it does when they leave the salon. By not having the washing or the styling as a part of the price, my haircut came to a WHOPPING $13! </div><div><br /></div><div>WHAT?!?! You mean I can get my hair cut on a regular basis instead of every 6 months?? You mean I don't have to feel guilty about not getting The Princesses hair cut because I need to pay $50 for MY trim (Trim = less than 1")?? What a new fangled concept!</div><div><br /></div><div>In any case, Yelp.com is my new friend for finding great deals with great vendors. I highly suggest you take a chance on a couple of searches! Just make sure you do two things: 1) come back here to tell me about the awesome luck you had, and 2) write your own Yelp review about the place. Pay it forward...</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>FrugalMissushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13650464372949988571noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4694346309917784716.post-54392640572702771472009-08-11T15:48:00.000-07:002009-08-11T19:15:07.963-07:00Frugal Missus Makes CentsI did a big ol' shopping trip at Costco this week, in preparation for our Frugal Fourth, and finally decided to make a Price Book of my purchases to help me figure out where the best prices were for the things I buy on a regular basis. <div><br /></div><div>What's a Price Book you ask? Well, it's a list of grocery items and the best price you've paid for them! <span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 17px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">With this record, you can tell where your commonly purchased items are typically the best priced as well as if stores are buffering their sale prices (marking them higher so you think you are getting a better deal than you are when they are on sale). I spent a couple hours working on an Excel Spreadsheet for this exact reason and when I came across <a href="http://www.uncommonwaytowealth.com/wp-content/uploads/grocery-price-book-spreadsheet-thanks-for-downloading/price-book.xls">this AWESOME spreadsheet</a> from <a href="http://www.uncommonwaytowealth.com/">uncommonwaytowealth.com</a> (disclaimer: I've only checked out the PriceBook spreadsheet so I am not endorsing their other ways to manage debt/finances!) and spent another couple hours with my past receipts to get started. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 17px;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 17px;">Seeing things broken down in black and white like that gives you an interesting insight into how your money is being spent! Only after inputting my purchases, did I come to find out that one of the items (Frozen Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts) I typically waited to go to Costco for is actually $0.46/lb more expensive than when it's on sale at Safeway! Now I know when chicken is on sale at Safeway for $1.99, it's actually a better deal! I used to kick myself for having to buy chicken at Safeway, always thinking it was so much more expensive! Now I'm REALLY kicking myself. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 17px;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 17px;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 17px;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 17px;"><br /></span></div>FrugalMissushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13650464372949988571noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4694346309917784716.post-6937668889985218702009-08-10T08:05:00.000-07:002009-08-11T13:02:33.469-07:00Menu Monday<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCRAfhoMLvpsvcr2RVG0jaC-bRXQ9XVtTZnNNBk6NL5rMhTwyrLm1U0EMu1VI0zOMszObxCeZ-Vd_I5jND76Zob7K2kqjtF4_Jwv5H86NX9AKRzB-3TMLlK9Yrt7oipv9RZ096FuO590I/s1600-h/Menu-Monday.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 172px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCRAfhoMLvpsvcr2RVG0jaC-bRXQ9XVtTZnNNBk6NL5rMhTwyrLm1U0EMu1VI0zOMszObxCeZ-Vd_I5jND76Zob7K2kqjtF4_Jwv5H86NX9AKRzB-3TMLlK9Yrt7oipv9RZ096FuO590I/s400/Menu-Monday.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5368166069629376994" /></a> Seeing as how I am 37 weeks pregnant, family and friends are sweeping in and saving my tired body from having to cook a couple nights this week! I'm not sure I'm going to be able to deal with not having to cook all weekend long! (oh, who am I kidding?? I'll manage!) <div><br /><div><div><br /></div><div><b>Monday: </b>Beer Can Chicken</div><div><b>Tuesday: </b>Baked Penne (making an extra night's serving for the freezer)</div><div><b>Wednesday: </b>Spicy Tuna Melts</div><div><b>Thursday:</b> <a href="http://www.recipezaar.com/Chicken-Cordon-Bleu-Casserole-Oamc-243721">Chicken Cordon Bleu Casserole</a> (a new recipe! If I like it, it'll be a staple OAMC)</div><div><b>Friday:</b> Chicken Taco Salads</div><div><b>Saturday: </b>Dinner out with Frugal Missus' Parents</div><div><b>Sunday: </b>Friends bringing our favorite pizza to share!!</div></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1