Frugal 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 Extreme Frugal Practices. I can't help but wonder, as the author ponders as well, when is it "frugal" and when is it just plain CHEAP?!?

You be the judge!

Writing on post it notes in pencil, so you can reuse them.

Rinsing and reusing paper towels.

Fighting over the pinata candy at a child's birthday party so you can save it and give it out for Halloween treats.

Giving up your home to live in an RV, truck or car full time.

Cut up cereal boxes and use them for post cards.

Pouring pasta water down the toilet or in the toilet tank to reduce the amount of water used in a flush.

Bring your own cheese when eating hamburgers out so you won't be charged for a cheeseburger.

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 cups.

Spending hours to separate your two-ply toilet paper into two separate rolls when people will probably just grab more paper to start with.

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).

Set up a cot in your office to save on housing.

Empty saved ketchup packets from fast food joints into a ketchup bottle.

Going through random garbage bags for the soda caps to collect for their rewards programs.

(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.)

Frugal 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!

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.

Enter Yelp.com.

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!

Furthermore, I've been doing the "no poo method" 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!

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!

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!

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!

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...

Frugal Missus Makes Cents

I 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.

What's a Price Book you ask? Well, it's a list of grocery items and the best price you've paid for them! 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 this AWESOME spreadsheet from uncommonwaytowealth.com (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.

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.

The Missus Shares More Tips

I told you the list would grow!

I've decided to just add to the old list and republish it so all my tips will be in one handy dandy place for reference!

Enjoy.

Frugal Missus Shares Some Tips

Frugal Missus Shares Some Tips

I've stared compiling a list of things I do to live frugally and thought I'd share it with you! I've added a tag for "Frugal Tips" because I am sure this list will grow, out of necessity, as we continue on our financial journey. Take what you want, leave what you don't. Enjoy!

Menu Plan!

Check out my Menu Monday post for details!

Live by the "One In, One Out" rule

No more quarter bottles of shampoo sitting next to the bottle you just bought at Target. I keep a list of Household Purchases we need (toiletries, paper products, cleaning supplies, etc.) and wait until the very last minute to buy them. If the price is INSANELY good, go ahead and buy two of them! But make sure you have

1) a place to store the stocked up products

2) the money in your budget to stock up

3) the ability to remember that you had an extra tube of toothpaste in the closet before going out and buying another one.

Always, ALWAYS, shop with a list!!

If you are anything like me, Target (my happy place), is a void where paychecks go to die. The less often I go for a "quick run", the less likely I am to spend. If I go with a longer list, I feel less need to aimlessly wander the aisle (you know you've done it too!).

Not All Dollar Stores Are Created Equal

Call them The $.99 Store, The Dollar Tree, or The Dollar Store, you know the establishments I am referring to! In a 3 mile radius of my house, I have all of them, and a "Dollar" Store where everything is $1.25 (What a racket!). I buy party decorations, favors, gift wrap, sand toys, and even some toiletries (they have Kid's Colgate Toothpaste! It's $2.89 at Safeway!) at The Dollar Tree by my house, but have had NO luck at The $.99 Store, which incidentally is walking distance from my humble abode! What I'm trying to say is that just because you've been in one Bargain Store like the ones noted above, you have NOT been in them all!! Give 'em another shot.

Buy in Bulk

Gotta love those big warehouses that have all the stuff you never thought you'd need but could never live without! I have been a longtime member of Costco, and find it's worth the renewal fee each and every year (I believe it's $40 for our business membership that we have through my Dad's biz). It's almost always cheaper to buy in bulk, but the scary part is when you buy more than you can afford and more than you can store! I have my list of 10 or so items that I buy everytime because I know they are so much cheaper than my local Safeway (then again, what isn't??). Again, I only shop with a list because the deals are just so awesome that I could spend an entire paycheck there if I'm not careful! Plus, the list helps me get in and out of the chaos with my sanity intact (for the most part... I still usually have to take The Princess, who, at 3 years old, is not as helpful as she may think she is!)

Pool Your Resources

Frugal Missus has a Sister and a Mom who like a good deal as much as she does! SO, when it comes time to buy trash bags, Ziplocs, or dishwashing liquid, I turn to them! As I stated above, buying in bulk is the way to go, but do you always want/need to purchase a years worth of Dawn? No!! So, find a couple of frugal friends and share the big stuff! You get the great deal, plenty of product, and your friends reap the benefits too! I just start making a list of all the household items I need to buy and run the list by my sister and mom. They put their initials next to whatever they want and I go shopping! If you can afford it in your budget, you can just pay for all the goods up front and they can pay you back, or, if you know how much each item costs, you can get paid beforehand. I find it easier to just pay the whole tab and get reimbursed since I know they are good for it.

Love Your Library

Frugal Mister is anything but frugal in the mind. That man absorbs books like cotton and water! His Barnes and Nobel addiction could very well put us in the poor house! In the time it takes me to read 1 book, he's finished 4. Do you get the gist?? He reads. A lot. In the past year, we've become very familiar with our local library. Not all books are available immediately upon release, but for the can't-beat-it-price, we deal with the wait. We are able to hop online, put a hold on the books, and get a phonecall or an email letting us know when the books are available to be picked up (usually 2-3 days if it's not checked out). I love going to the library with The Princess because she gets to pick a few new books out and learns all about how the library works! A bonus is that if I don't particullarly like a book's message it's sending to her, I can just take it back! There is no money lost!