Honey and Ollie

Lucia started it and it’s such a great idea, I’m carrying it over here and making it a meme.

I wouldn’t necessarily call myself a frugal person, but I try to be thoughtful about how I use my resources. I strive for consciousness over frugality just for frugality’s sake. Like, we don’t reuse and wash plastic sandwich bags, but we aren’t needlessly wasteful either. My kids and I joke that we have “champagne taste” and you know, we really do, but at the same time, we’re not stupid with it. I always try to keep in mind that it is a matter of “or” rather than a matter of “and”. As in, there are going to be weeks where I can have the pound of gourmet coffee from Jones Roasting Co., OR I can have that skein of Colinette Jitterbug. I can’t have both. And it may be that many weeks I can’t afford either, and that’s ok too. We never forget that living here in the First World with the really ridiculously high (by comparison) standards of living that most of us enjoy, it’s all basically a treat, not an entitlement. If one of the kids needs new shoes, we don’t eat out that week. We keep it in balance. As long as I’ve always got that in my mind, I do okay. It’s when I forget that life is a matter of choices and not a smorgasboard of all I can eat, that I get into trouble.

Ten Ways I Choose To Save Money

1. I plan weekly menus, cook certain things in larger batches and plan the use of leftovers in those menus for lunches and dinners.
This really helps keep the grocery bill down. It’s not tremendously hard. I just sit down, figure out what we’re going to eat, go through the pantry and go shopping. If we have spagetti one night, well, I do a double batch of sauce and it’s a sure bet we’ll have lasagne or stuffed shells later that week. Less work for me in the long run, and I save money and time by having a plan. I just try to use everything up. We still have more food waste than I’d like, but we’re getting better all the time.

2. I have limited storage, so instead of shopping at Costco or big box stores, I shop at a local Mexican/Middle Eastern/Asian market that features very low prices.
Seriously? Meat and produce is higher quality as a rule, there’s a full service butcher, tons of variety and it’s like, 1/2 the price. Why would I shop anywhere else? We get all our basics here and then there’s a small list of staples and treats that we like from Trader Joe’s. With the money we save, those treats from TJ’s don’t bust the budget. I keep a careful eye on what prices are better in which store and I have it down to a pretty effective system now. I am really baffled as to why my suburban neighbors willingly shop at Ralph’s or Von’s where groceries are, on average half again as expensive. If not more. What’s up with that?

3. I cook most things from scratch instead of using mixes and pre-made stuff.
This is pretty obvious and self explanatory. Also, healthier. Grains and beans are ridiculously easy to cook and make tasty. You don’t need Rice A Roni! We also don’t drink a ton of soda, we bake our own cookies, ya know, we just keep the convenience foods to a minimum.

4. I’m not a total dork about using more energy than necessary.
I keep the thermostat either off or at around 65 in the winter, and I don’t use the air conditioner very much in the summer, but rely on fans instead. If we do turn it on, we keep it set at 78 and run it on energy saver mode. We turn off lights. We wear sweaters. We do a lot more baking in the wintertime!! So far, we’ve kept our heating and energy bills at a reasonable average. Also? A nice pile of tuxedo cats really warms the place up, I’m just saying.

5. I make my own coffee in the morning.
Not only am I saving money, but I’m also saving calories. Homebrewed coffee with a bit of half and half has less calories than a latte and that’s a great incentive. I like really good coffee, so I invested in an Aeropress, and I pay a little bit more for quality coffee. I figure I’m saving about $1100 a year. The Aeropress has already paid for itself. The go-cup I’ll buy (on sale!) when I start back to brick and mortar classes next month will pay for itself in the first week.

6. I am an avid fan of the public library.
I am a huge reader. I could easily spend hundreds of dollars in Borders or on Amazon.com each week. Instead, I just make a weekly trip to the library. Because it’s a large system, they have a lot of new releases. I tried the Paperspine service for a while and while I liked it, the library was a better bet for me. If I lived somewhere rural or with lousy libraries, I’d totally use it though.

7. I pay for things in full, in cash, not with credit.
I paid cash for my car, which I bought new. All of our other cars have been bought used, and paid for in full. After a disastrous bout of credit card abuse, we paid all our debts and cut them up. Now it’s cash for everything. I’ve saved a ton of money that way by not paying interest and fees, plus it is one less monthly bill to bite me in the arse.

8. I try really hard to pay for things on time.
It’s amazing how finance charges, late fees, traffic tickets, reconnection fees and other fines will add up. It’s an expensive lesson when I forget or misplace a bill. Plus? I just have less stress that way. If I can’t pay a bill, I make payment arrangements. Usually, people will waive fees and finance charges if you just talk to them and make payments.

9. I actually buy the more expensive, higher quality thing if it’s better.
I’ll buy the better jeans, the better shoes, the well made jacket. I’ll willingly pay more at the outset and take good care of it, because it will usually last me longer if I do. While “expensive” does not always equate to “better” I’ve found that as a rule, high quality does cost more. I do my research, but I won’t shy away from spending more, on less, to get more. This does save me money in the long run. It’s an investment. I’d rather have one pair of really high quality shoes that are a little more classic, than three pairs of crappy Payless shoes that pinch, no matter how fashion forward they are.

10. The most IMPORTANT thing I do to save money?
I stay the hell out of stores. Seriously. That’s it. I don’t go to Target unless I absolutely can’t help it, I don’t hang out in my local yarn shop (much as I’d love to, it’s danger in the skein there), I don’t pop into Barnes and Noble to look around, I avoid the mall and I don’t windowshop or browse just for fun. If I do, it is a given that I will see something I want, and I will spend money on it. Period. If we venture out to a retail environment, it is a given that money will go bye bye. This also includes virtual retail. If I click on that link to the Loopy Ewe, if I go browse over at Blue Moon Fiber Arts, money will go bye bye. Just, avoid retail like plague. Sucks for the economy, great for my savings account.

Actually? I have eleven.

11. Be freaking grateful for what you have.
Seriously. If you’re grateful for what you have? If you look around at all your blessings and your stuff and you think to yourself that “this is basically enough.” and you remember that there are people in the world who live 10 to a tin roofed one room leaky shack with a mud floor and no shoes? Who are starving? It’s a lot easier to skip going to Target because you realize how ridiculous it all is. So be grateful.

I wish that everyone had exactly enough. Ya know? And knew where that point was, so more people could jump onto that bandwagon of resources.

Oh, and that’s the other, last little piece.

Save it. Don’t leave it in your checking account. Squirrel it out of there as fast as you can, into a high yield savings account someplace like ING. Then, when you forget that bill or the cat needs surgery or the car busts a gasket, you can pay for it with cash, no interest, and keep saving. So you will continue to have enough.