Some years ago, as a new Relief Society President, I taught a lesson on frugal living. I ran across the lesson recently and thought that with the current economic conditions, there was much that could be re-learned from that old lesson. So here it is, presented pretty much as it was presented back in 1999. I’ve removed references to games we played as a learning experience, but decided to leave in the names of the dear friends who gave me their best frugal living tips to include in the lesson.
President Gordon B. Hinckley had much to say on the topic of “thrift” and I’d like to share some of those things with you before we start the lesson so we can see that there is a prophetic basis to learning to live frugally.
“I commend to you the virtues of thrift and industry,” said President Hinckley. “In doing so, I do not wish you to be a ‘tightwad,’ if you will pardon that expression, or to be a freeloader, or anything of the kind. But it is the labor and the thrift of people that make a nation strong. It is work and thrift that make the family independent. Debt can be a terrible thing. It is so easy to incur and so difficult to repay. Borrowed money is had only at a price, and that price can be burdensome. Bankruptcy generally is the bitter fruit of debt.”
The Prophet has also said, “I deplore waste. I deplore extravagance. I value thrift. I believe in prudence and conservatism.”
President Hinckley has also said, “We live in an age of persuasive advertising and of skillful salesmanship, all designed to entice us to spend. An extravagant husband or wife can jeopardize any marriage. I think it is a good principle that each have some freedom and independence with everyday, necessary expenditures, while at the same time always discussing and consulting and agreeing on large expenditures. There would be fewer rash decisions, fewer unwise investments, fewer consequent losses, fewer bankruptcies if husbands and wives would counsel together on such matters and seek counsel from others.”
It is with that thought in mind – seeking counsel from others – that I begin with my grandmother’s favorite saying and our first category of the evening: Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without.
Use It Up, Wear It Out, Make It Do or Do Without
• Take care of what you have. It will last longer.
• Check clothes for stains before washing and drying; because once the stain is heat set, it’s there permanently.
• For a grease stain, spray it with a small amount of WD40 before washing.
• Don’t throw away those little scraps of soap. Instead, after you’ve used them for the last “useable” shower, piggyback them onto a new bar of soap by pressing firmly. They will adhere as the soap dries and you’ll extend the use by a couple of showers.
• Another soap trick that I learned from my Mom – store your year’s supply in a container under the sink, but take the bars out of their wrappers. Being exposed to the air makes the soap harder, so it lasts longer.
• Teresa Hina says to rinse out containers such as laundry soap or shampoo with a small amount of water to get another use out of the product.
• Sonya Brantley cuts open toothpaste tubes to squeeze out the last few drops.
• Sonya also re-uses paper towels to spot clean the floor before throwing them out.
• Karen Bearce mends clothes rather than replacing them. She also cuts off jeans that the knees are out of to make shorts.
• Monique Bayes suggests wearing clothing that isn’t dirty a second time before throwing it in the wash. It will not only save on utility bills, it will also extend the life of the clothing.
• Jennifer McCafferty recommends learning how to fix it yourself. Read up on home repairs, auto repairs and other simple repairs, or ask someone who is familiar with what you’re trying to do for help and guidance.
Energy Efficiency
It’s how you USE what’s in your home that can double or halve your energy bills!
• Replace four 100-watt incandescent light bulbs that burn four hours a day with four 23-watt fluorescent light bulbs and save 1356 kilowatt hours or $36 a year
• Double-pane windows can cut cooling costs by as much as 38%. On an average bill of $100/month, that’s an annual savings of $456.
• Can’t afford new windows? Do what Jennifer McCafferty did – buy USED double-pane windows. She replaced six windows in her house for a total cost of $90.
• Install a programmable thermostat to automatically adjust the temperature of your home according to your schedule. That way, you’re not paying to cool the home while you’re all out at school and work. You can also set it at a lower temperature for winter nights and add more blankets.
• If you don’t have a programmable thermostat, remember that the house will not cool down or heat up any faster if you crank the thermostat past the desired temperature – and you might forget to turn it back to its original setting, which wastes money.
• Rule of thumb: For every degree you lower your thermostat in winter, you save 3% on your bill. For that same $100 bill we talked about earlier, that’s a $3 savings per degree per month.
• Darla Back keeps her air conditioning set at 80 degrees and uses fans to keep cool.
• Enrolling in load management programs offered by your utility company can save up to $100 a year in electricity costs.
• Protect what you own. For $5 a month through SECO (our local electric company), you can have whole-house surge protection to guard against loss of your sensitive and expensive electronic equipment like computers, TVs, stereos, etc.
• Adding attic insulation can drastically cut your electric bill. The first month we were in our Belleview, Fla., house, our electric bill was $250 because we had added central air conditioning and the house wasn’t designed for central air. We immediately called SunCoast Insulation (a local contractor) and had another 12” of insulation added to the 3” that was already in the attic. Our next bill was only $150 in the dead of summer, so our investment paid for itself in two and a half months.
• Buy the right size refrigerator for your needs to avoid wasting energy cooling nothing.
• Do as Darla Back does and cook with your microwave, slow cooker or toaster oven whenever possible. They use less energy than your oven.
• A watched pot will eventually boil; put a lid on it and save energy.
• Match pot size to burner size to avoid energy waste.
• Set hot water heaters at 120 degrees (low). It’s warm enough for most uses, including dishwashers, which usually have a hot water booster. It will also keep kids from accidentally burned.
• Wrap your hot water tank in an insulating “blanket” made for that purpose.
• Only wash full loads in your dishwasher or washing machine. So what if your dishwasher hides dirty dishes for a day or two until it’s full?
• Use cold water in your washing machine when possible, and always rinse in cold if given the choice.
• Turn things off! Lights, computers, TVs, radios, etc. The average home wastes $30 a year leaving on appliances that aren’t being used.
• Many appliances use electricity even when they are turned off, such as TVs, VCRs, cable boxes, DVD and CD players, burglar alarms, microwaves. They consume energy keeping display clocks lit and memory chips functioning. When in the market for new appliances, look for Energy Star technology to save up to 50% on energy costs.
• In the market for a new home? Obtain a home energy rating to determine a home’s energy efficiency prior to buying to see what upgrades would have the greatest payoff. The cost can sometimes be financed as part of an energy-efficient mortgage.
• If you’re refinancing your home, consider wrapping in energy improvements. The interest may then be tax deductible.
• Monique Baynes only gets 87 octane gas since that’s all her car requires, and she gets it at the station with the cheapest price.
• Improve your car’s fuel economy in three steps:
o Get a tune up to improve fuel economy by 6-9%
o Drive slower – for each mph under 65, you save 2%
o Properly inflate the tires and check inflation often. You lose 1-2% in fuel economy for every pound of under-inflation.
Kids’ Stuff
• Babysitters are expensive! Instead, join together with another family and swap out child care time. You watch the kids on Friday while they go out; they watch the kids on Saturday while you go out.
• Why pay $4.50 for Diaper Genie plastic bags? Use a plastic grocery bag instead. When it’s full, just tie it up and take it out – the lid will keep the odors in regardless of whether there’s a Diaper Genie bag or not.
• Even better, skip the Diaper Genie entirely and just tie the dirty diaper in a plastic grocery bag and throw it away.
• Create Mom’s “Attic Store” for children so they can exchange gifts on birthdays and Christmas without Mom spending a fortune. Choose good quality books, games and craft materials at yard sales or on clearance for under $1 and store them in a box in the attic or a closet. When one child has a birthday, let the others go “shopping” in the Attic Store for a gift.
• Tanya Byrd has been known to buy clothes on the Internet through E-Bay. She recently got about 20 girls’ outfits for $35.
• Tanya also consigns her kids’ clothes, both selling and buying. You’ll get a better rate of return consigning your kids’ used clothes than you will selling them at a yard sale.
• Instead of coloring books, give kids plain paper and crayons. It’s not only cheaper, it will increase their creativity.
• Teach kids the value of money buy having a “Family Fund” says Kim Gibson. When she was growing up, everyone first paid their tithing and then added 10% to the “Family Fund.” That money was then used to send siblings to college or on a mission, or for a special family vacation.
• Give older children their own reasonable clothing budget. They’ll quickly learn that money only goes so far.
• Many moms I spoke with used cloth diapers on their kids, only using disposable diapers when going out.
• Off-brand diapers that have been recommended as being very good are Publix and Wal-Mart’s Dri-Bottoms. And I’ve heard that White Cloud diapers, while cheap, are not of good quality.
• Karen Bearce recommended turning disposable diapers backwards for girls since they seem to hold more that way.
• Lisa Brantley makes her own baby wipes. You’ll need a Rubbermaid-type of container (width of a roll of paper towels, and the height of half a roll), a roll of Bounty paper towels, baby oil and baby bath. Cut the roll of paper towels in half and put it in the container. Mix one cup of water with two tablespoons of baby oil and two tablespoons of baby bath and pour it over the paper towels. Let it sit for about an hour before using. Lisa also keeps store-bought wipes on hand for when she goes out.
• Lisa Brantley also recommends looking for baby items on special clearance sales. For example, she got Pampers real cheap because they were changing the packaging.
• Jennifer McCafferty has found that the cheapest baby wipes are available at Sam’s. Their no-name brand sells for about $7 for either six or eight packages of wipes (she couldn’t remember). They’re of the same quality and strength as Huggies wipes, not flimsy things like the K-Mart brand I tried.
Miscellaneous Money Tips
• You owe it to your family to become money-smart, and there’s tons of information out there to help you. The Federal Consumer Information Center has dozens of booklets – many of them free or just 50 cents – that address a myriad of topics such as wills and trusts, life insurance, understanding how credit works and protecting your credit, investing and saving, stocks, bonds and mutual funds, and retirement planning. Their Web address: www.pueblo.gsa.gov.
• Buy life insurance equal to five to seven times your gross annual income to ensure your family is adequately protected in the event of your death.
• Stay-at-home Moms should also have life insurance, not just working Moms and Dads. If a stay-at-home Mom were to die, Dad would probably have to put the children into child care and maybe even hire someone to cook and clean – and all of that takes money. Our financial advisor recommended that I have 2/3 of the insurance protection that my husband has.
• There are advantages and disadvantages to both term and whole life insurance policies, too many to list here. But you can read all about it at the Federal Consumer Information Center Web site mentioned earlier.
• Banks will sometimes lower or drop fees if paychecks are automatically deposited by your employer.
• To earn the highest return on savings, consider CDs or Savings Bonds instead of a regular savings account. But remember to only put into CDs and Savings Bonds what you absolutely won’t need until they mature since there’s usually a penalty for early withdrawal.
• Pay off credit card debt as it is incurred, whenever possible (especially on high-interest store or gas cards). When payment in full is not necessary, switch to a low-interest card and pay the highest amount possible each month, not just the minimum payment.
• Shop for the shortest-term mortgage you can afford. For a $100,000 fixed-rate loan at 7% interest, you will pay $75,000 less in interest on a 15-year mortgage than you will on a 30-year mortgage.
• Check your phone bill to see if you have optional calling services and do as Lisa Brantley did; drop call waiting and caller ID and save up to $96 a year.
• Or do what Darla Back does. She has Sprint long distance on her phone, but uses prepaid phone cards. She bought the first one at WalMart, spending $12 for 120 minutes (or 10 cents a minute). Refills on the card are only $7.20 for 120 minutes, or six cents a minute.
• Do as Monique Baynes does – only spend DOLLARS when you go to the store and put all your change into a jar. You won’t miss it, you’ll be surprised at how quickly it accumulates, and it’s a built-in emergency fund.
• Never pay late fees – it’s a huge waste of money. Discipline yourself to mail your payments on time or return movies on time to avoid late fees.
• Increase the deductibles on your car and homeowner’s insurance to save on monthly premiums. We recently doubled our deductible from $500 to $1000 on our auto insurance, and were able to increase our coverage from $50/100,000 to $250/500,000 with the savings. Caution: This tip should only be used if you have a savings account sufficient to cover the amount you would have to pay for your deductible if a claim were to occur.
• If you can afford to do so, pay your insurance premiums annually rather than monthly to avoid the monthly fees. That’s a savings of about $24 per year on each type of insurance policy you carry.
• As a rule, extended warranties aren’t worth the cost. My mother recently bought a refrigerator for $500 and they tried to sell her an extended warranty that would cost $50/year. The useful life of a refrigerator is about 20 years. If she were to carry that extended warranty over the life of the refrigerator, she could have bought at least two more refrigerators with that money. It’s of far more use to her sitting in the bank earning interest. Besides, the majority of appliances don’t break down in the usual extended-warranty period.
• Jennifer McCafferty advises having good insurance plans – health, life, auto, home and disability. In general you’ll pay a little more now, but the insurance will be there when you need it and are unable to pay.
Odds and Ends
• Keep your septic tank healthy and avoid costly pump-outs by flushing a package of yeast down the toilet once a month. The main ingredient in high-dollar septic tank products you see on TV is “yeast.”
• Ditch the fabric softener sheets. Try one of these options:
o Buy some liquid fabric softener, put 2 ounces in a 16-ounce spray bottle and fill with water. A couple of squirts in the dryer works as well as a dryer sheet.
o Another method is to put a small amount of the full-strength liquid fabric softener onto a scrap piece of fabric and toss it into the dryer.
o Another method is to put a small amount of the full-strength liquid fabric softener onto a USED dryer sheet and hang it up to dry. Then use as you would a dryer sheet.
o Another method is to get a Tupperware pickle keeper (or other type of plastic container with a lift-out center). Fill it 1/4 full with liquid fabric softener and top off with water. Buy cheap sponges and cut them in half and soak in the solution. When you run a dryer load, wring out a sponge (not totally dry, but not dripping either) and put it in the dryer. When the load is dry, put the sponge back in the solution.
• Landscape economically by calling around to professional landscaping companies to see when they will be removing old landscaping. Many office complexes update the landscaping every 5-10 years, and the torn up plants usually go to the dump. Ask if you can take the removed plants or even go a day or so ahead of the scheduled removal and carefully dig them up yourself since the professionals won’t be careful with the removal. Be sure to have water, string and burlap on hand to thoroughly wet the root balls to prevent shock, and move quickly; time spent out of the ground is deadly to large transplants.
• Grow a garden, says Esther Richardson. Even if you only have a few plants in pots, you can reap the benefits of healthier, fresher vegetables at a fraction of the cost of store-bought. Be prepared to can and/or freeze the abundance that will come all at the same time. Be creative. Make tomato sauce or chili from an abundance of tomatoes then freeze or can it. This January, I had an abundance of oranges from my trees so I cut out the pulp and squeeze out all the juice. Then I froze some and pressure canned others.
• Ask your doctor for free samples of any medication you are prescribed. Most drug reps load the doctor up with samples, so don’t be afraid to ask for a week’s supply.
• Another tip from Monique Baynes – brown bag it for lunch most of the time, and only treat yourself to a lunch out occasionally.
• Join SHARE, an organization that for a two-hour time donation (a commitment you can easily fulfill with your calling) allows you to purchase $30-$40 worth of food for $15. (Note: SHARE is an organization in Central Florida; other communities may have similar groups.)
• Use e-Bay and similar sites to purchase life’s little “luxury” items since used things cost much less.
• OK, so we’ve got you going to thrift stores and yard sales to buy clothes now. But suppose there’s a great designer outfit in the wrong size? Buy it anyway if it’s cheap enough and sell it at a consignment shop for a profit.
• Carry that hint one step further and look for current books in good shape at yard sales. Buy them for under $1 and take them to a second-hand bookstore for a trade. One Miserly Mom recently traded books she bought for $5 for $20 worth of new books she wanted to read.
• Eliminate unnecessary things. Tanya Byrd only has basic cable; premium channels add considerable cost per month.
• Lisa Brantley agrees on canceling cable. She tapes shows for her kids from someone who has cable; and when they get tired of those, she tapes some more. (2010 update: Go to Hulu.com and watch tons of shows for free on your computer, or hook your computer up to your big-screen TV. Netflix is another great option; unlimited download movies and one-DVD-out-at-a-time for $10/month.)
• Looking for furniture? Watch the paper for moving sales. They have the best furniture prices.
• Write or E-mail your favorite products’ manufacturers saying what you like or dislike about their product. Be sure to request free samples or coupons and ask to be put on their mailing list.
• Movie-going hints:
o Monique Baynes rents movies for her son from a local video store, which is cheaper than Blockbuster.
o Another movie tip: you can borrow classic movies from the library instead of renting them.
o Be patient and wait to see new movies when they come out on video, or take advantage of our local drive-in. You can bring the whole family for only $5 and you can even bring your own snacks for additional savings.
o If you just can’t wait, see new releases at Belleview’s theater for only $2 each.
• Don’t buy expensive lotions to treat a sunburn. Just rub down with vinegar BEFORE SHOWERING for fast pain relief and to minimize blistering. Follow up with aloe from your aloe plant.
• Ask card shops for their throwaway envelopes after a special occasion. They usually send the cards back to the suppliers for a credit and will have extra envelopes.
• Don’t buy expensive fire ant killer. Just boil water and pour it over the mound for pesticide-free, cheap ant control.
• Pay attention to product packaging. Frequently there are coupons on the INSIDE of the box that aren’t advertised on the outside. I just happened to find one yesterday on the inside of a case of soda for $1.50 off my next soda purchase. And Jennifer McCafferty recently bought a box of cereal on sale with a coupon for $2 off; and she discovered a coupon for a free box of another brand of cereal on the back of the box she bought.
• Advertised items are not always the cheapest. Watch for unadvertised specials.
• Buy items before you run out of them so you can buy at sale prices.
• Remember that due to volume discounts, larger stores are generally cheaper than smaller ones.
• Your emotions affect your shopping. Be careful of the “I deserve it” mentality.
• Remember that no particular store has the lowest prices on all items, and shop around.
• More often than not, the best sales are on the front and back of your supermarket flyer.
• Darla Back found that she really enjoyed a particular magazine that sells for $3.50 a copy. She found a coupon where she could get 12 issues for $12.00, or a savings of $2.50 per copy over the newsstand rate.
• Don’t drive out of your way or make a special trip just to get one item. You lose the savings then in gas and wear and tear on the car. Plan your trips to run four or five errands at a time.
• Esther Richardson said anytime you can get something for free, don’t pass it up. A recent example would be when Bishop Muffett brought in a truckload of oranges to share with everyone. You can always preserve what you can’t use right away.
• Jennifer McCafferty says if you see something you like, make it yourself. Her sister saw a coat rack she liked for $45.00. Jennifer made the coat rack for her sister for just $12 with a little help from her dad and gave it to her as a wedding gift.
Shopping:
• “Always, always, always make up a weekly menu before going shopping,” says Tanya Byrd. It will keep you from spending excess money or buying too much produce that will go bad before it’s used. You can also plan your leftovers that way. For example, have roast chicken on Sunday. Then Tuesday, make a casserole with the leftover chicken.
• Plan your meals around items you already have on hand and around the sales flyers from the local grocery stores.
• A simple approach to meal planning is to have a budget in mind for each meal. For example, breakfast at 50 cents per person, dinner at $3-$4 total for the family.
• Invest in a good cookbook for new ideas. I particularly like my Quick Cooking cookbook on those days when I’m rushed, and Deseret Recipes when I want to cook something new from scratch. You can purchase Deseret Recipes from the church for about $3.50. (2010 Update: Google it! Type in “chicken casserole” and pick from a wide variety of recipes. Print and save the ones your family particularly likes in a 3-ring binder or recipe file.)
• “Make a list and stick with it,” said Vicky Weaver and Lisa Brantley. You will spend less if you shop with a list because impulse purchases are lessened or eliminated.
• Buy generic whenever possible, said most folks. That includes drugs.
• Speaking of drugs, you should call several pharmacies and ask about the cost of a prescription since drug prices vary widely. If you will be taking a particular drug for a long time, consider a mail-order or online pharmacy, which often have cheaper rates.
• Buy liquid soap in one- or two-gallon containers from Sam’s Club (or other warehouse store) and refill your smaller dispensers. One large $7 container lasts me about a year.
• Remember that Wal-Mart honors other grocery store sales ads, so you can get the benefit of one-stop shopping with the best prices from all of the local grocery stores.
• Buy all white socks without colored bands. That way when one gets a hole or is lost, you don’t lose the whole pair.
• “Buy and cook what’s on sale!” says Kim Gibson. Buy large, uncut portions of meat and have it cut into roasts and steaks.
• “Never pay full price for anything,” is another Kim Gibson hint. She frequently goes shopping but only to LOOK. That way, she knows what she wants and waits for a sale.
• “Shop the fourth of July sales for school clothes,” says Kim Gibson. If you shop out-of-season you get better deals.
• Lisa Brantley agrees but takes it a step further. She recently saw shoes on sale for $3 and bought them, even though her girls won’t be into them for quite some time. I did the same thing with a sale at Target and bought the next four sizes of sneakers for Nick at $3 each.
• “Frugal” doesn’t mean “cheap.” Know the value of what you’re purchasing. Some things are worth paying a little bit more for if they will last longer.
• Grocery stores place their “high profit margin” items at eye level. Therefore, most bargains will be found on shelves way up high or way down low.
• Buy in bulk when it’s the best deal, but bulk is NOT always the best deal. Sometimes a smaller package that’s on sale coupled with a coupon will give the better bargain.
• Shop with cash. It’s a surprisingly effective way to stay on budget.
• Compare price-per-ounce or other unit prices on shelf labels. Stock up on the items with lower per-unit cost, which is not necessarily always the largest package!
• Shop with a pocket-sized calculator to easily figure out price-per-unit savings on different brands, but don’t try to use the calculator to keep a running total of what you’ve spent. Keep the running total by marking lines on your shopping list instead.
• Keep a price diary in a small notebook that will fit in your purse. List the items you normally use and jot down (in pencil) the lowest price and store you’ve found them in. Check sale prices against your price diary and that way you’ll know if it’s truly a bargain. (2010 Update: Many of today’s smart phones have an application that will do the same thing. I have “Grocery IQ” on my Droid and love it.)
• Beware of advertised specials at the end of the grocery aisles. The display is usually accompanied by high-priced add-ons to tempt you into impulse buying.
• Sometimes a store will offer “Loss Leaders” which is a product they know they’ll lose money selling at such a low price. A good example is Winn Dixie’s buy-one-get-two-free meat deals. That’s to entice you into the store for the good deals, and get you to impulse buy on additional merchandise. Hold strong! Only buy what you went there for!
• Only use coupons for items and brands you would normally purchase anyway. Otherwise, go generic.
• Hand coupons to the cashier BEFORE she starts to ring up the order so you don’t forget later.
• Don’t buy non-food items at the grocery store. They can usually be purchased cheaper elsewhere.
• Watch closely as the cashier rings up your purchases. Sometimes the scanner rings up the price incorrectly. Some stores will give you incorrectly scanned items for free.
• The Belleview Kash N Karry’s policy is to give a double-money-back refund if you are displeased with any purchase from their deli, meat or produce departments or with any store brand. Just bring in the receipt or the product to receive your refund. Check your favorite stores for their policies.
• The Belleview Kash N Karry also honors other grocery store coupons, although not their ADS.
• When purchasing pre-bagged produce such as potatoes or apples, weigh several to find the heaviest bag. They sometimes vary by as much as a pound.
• Cut up your own meat. A whole chicken costs less than a cut-up chicken.
• Get a raincheck if the store is out of an item you want. Sometimes I even wait until the last day of an advertised sale if I’m low on money that week, then get a raincheck I can use when our cash flow is better.
• Karen Bearce has found that the cheapest milk around is at Save-a-Lot – just $2.59 a gallon compared to $2.79 at WalMart and $2.89 at Publix. At two gallons of milk a week, that’s a savings of $2.40 a month. Since we use four gallons a week, that’s a savings of almost $5 a month for our family.
• Jennifer McCafferty recommends speaking with the grocery store manager to find out if they mark down meats that are almost to their last sale date, and if so, when. She recently went to Winn Dixie early in the morning and picked up $120 worth of meat for $20 because it was approaching its last sale date. Once frozen, the meat will last for months.
• Jennifer also recommends signing up for all the coupons you can. “The Internet is your best friend,” she said. It’s easy to find printable coupons on the Internet and several of those Web sites are on the handout.
• Be flexible when shopping for large-ticket items. Jennifer McCafferty recently purchased an expensive Berber carpet and pad for only $90 because it was a remnant. Being flexible as to the style and color brought her a huge bargain.
• Another Jennifer hint: don’t be afraid to bargain, whether it’s at a flea market, garage sale or even the Mall. She recently got money off on an outfit at the mall. It was too long for her so she approached the manager and asked for a discount, which she got. Make sure to bring single dollars and quarters when bargaining at yard sales and flea markets, though. It’s tacky to bargain their price down and then pull out a $20 to pay with.
• Jennifer also buys all her appliances at the Sears outlet in Orange Park. They may have minor scratches, but as a rule she saves hundreds of dollars per appliance. Their phone number is on the handout.
• Lisa Brantley buys her paper goods and cleaning supplies from the scratch-and-dent stores.
• Many moms recommended using the bread store outlet for cheap bread.
• Understand that to everything there is a season and shop accordingly:
o January – Post-holiday sales, linens and towels, sports equipment for weight loss, computers and turkey.
o February – Electronics, floor coverings, housewares, furniture, candy and chocolates.
o March – Spring apparel and accessories, winter sports equipment, gardening supplies, luggage, frozen food.
o April – Coats and hats, paint, wallpaper, Jewish foods and eggs.
o May – Linens and towels, spring cleaning supplies, auto maintenance, home maintenance, sodas, hot dogs, hamburger meat and condiments.
o June – Summer apparel, pianos, TVs, building materials and hardware and dairy products.
o July – Air conditioners, summer sports equipment, sportswear, craft supplies, and sodas, hot dogs, hamburger meat and condiments.
o August – Linens and towels, barbeque and patio equipment, back-to-school supplies, bathing suits, fresh fish and vegetables.
o September – Back-to-school supplies and apparel, gardening supplies, housewares, bicycles, and canned goods.
o October – Cars, houses, fishing equipment, crystal, silver and glassware, candy.
o November – Winter apparel and accessories, quilts and blankets, heating devices, turkey and sweet potatoes.
o December – Toys, gift items, party ware, post-holiday sales, party foods, baking goods and various meats.
Frugal Cooking Tips:
• A great on-the-go lunch is burritos. Cook up a batch of Spanish rice and buy a bunch of flour burritos, shredded cheese, refried beans, hot sauce and olives. Make an assembly line and put together a couple of dozen burritos. Wrap each individually in plastic wrap and freeze. Grab one on your way out the door in the morning. It will be defrosted by lunchtime, and need just a few minutes in the microwave.
• What to do with all that wheat you have in storage? Use it to stretch ground beef in recipes. Boil the wheat just until it is soft and store it in the refrigerator to use with ground beef. To 1/2 lb. of ground beef add 1/2 cup of cooked wheat as filler. When the beef and wheat are browned with onion, the meat and onion flavor the wheat. It’s low cost, low fat and adds fiber to your diet.
• What if there’s a big sale on milk but you won’t use it all before it goes bad? That’s OK. Freeze it. It will separate a little as you thaw it in the refrigerator, but a shake will make it good as new.
• Make your own baby food by blending it in a blender. Add water to the desired consistency. Nick especially loved carrots, broccoli and cauliflower blended up. You can use empty baby food jars to freeze the blended baby food; just leave headroom for expansion as it freezes. To use, defrost in the microwave.
• Toss that spoonful of vegetables or leftover meat into a container in the freezer. When it’s full, put it into a crock pot and add half a bag of barley and some water. (Or if you’re saving pork, try some beans.) The seasonings are already there from the ingredients’ first go-round.
• You can make an intensely flavorful vegetable broth. Just wash the carrots, onions and celery first, then save all scrapings and peelings in a container in the freezer. When the container is full, dump it into a pan, cover with water and simmer for 90 minutes. Strain and you have free vegetable broth that is more nutritious than canned broth. Mushrooms will make a brown, earthy broth. Say away from broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage and fresh herbs, though, as they all give a bitter taste if simmered over a long period of time.
• Cook from scratch, says Tanya Byrd. Don’t grab “quick & easy” foods; frozen and boxed goods are expensive.
• Make up two or three batches of cookie dough at a time. Use a “cookie dough baller” to make cookies, put them on a cookie sheet and freeze. After an hour or so, put the cookie balls into a bag and back into the freezer. You can then make as many or as few as you want for after-school treats or bake sales.
• Make a double batch of whatever you’re cooking for dinner tonight, and freeze one for use on a busy day later in the month.
• Think of meat as a side dish and fill up on salads and vegetables instead. It not only saves money, you’re following the Word of Wisdom as well!
• When cake mixes are on sale, stock up. Cook several, cut into individual serving pieces and freeze for lunchbox snacks.
• Whenever I roast a chicken, I freeze a two-cup portion of leftover meat to use in a quick casserole.
• Instead of buying baking and other mixes, Vicky Weaver makes her own. They’re more economical and they taste better than store-bought.
Cleaning Tips:
• Vinegar Tips:
o You can get a gallon of vinegar at Sam’s Club for about $1.50 and it has many uses.
o Use a mix of one part vinegar and two parts water to clean floors and windows.
o A vinegar-dampened cloth removes stains from stainless steel and chrome.
o Pour boiling vinegar down drains to unclog and clean them.
o Boil vinegar and water in pots to remove stains.
• I’ve seen several people online recommend using only half the soap called for in everything – dishes, laundry, shampoo, etc. Everything is still clean but you save money.
• Use newspaper instead of paper towels to clean glass/mirrors says Teresa Hina. It’s not only cheaper but it works better since there’s no lint left behind.
• Sonya Brantley only uses paper towels for greasy things; otherwise, use cleaning cloths for cleaning since they can be washed and reused.
• Rinse out an old pump bottle and fill it with liquid laundry detergent. Keep it by the clothes hamper and use a squirt of laundry soap to pretreat stains before throwing them into the dirty laundry. Then just wash as usual.
Christmas Tips:
• Buy things on sale all year round and store them safely away from prying eyes. They’ll also be available for quick gifts if a child is invited to a birthday party.
• Use the pretty fronts of last year’s Christmas cards to make postcards or gift cards to attach to your packages. You can also amuse small kids with a craft project using the old cards. Just punch holes around the outside and use a length of yarn (with one end dipped in nail polish to harden it) for lacing practice.
• Tired of wasting money on Christmas wrapping paper? After Christmas or during a great pre-Christmas sale, purchase inexpensive Christmas material. Sew it into various sized squares and attach a ribbon tie. After gifts are unwrapped on Christmas morning, just fold them up and put them away with your other Christmas things until next year. Or, instead of sewing it into squares, you can sew them into various sized bags with drawstring closures. You’ll want to have some inexpensive paper on hand for gift-giving outside the family, though. Get it at the dollar store or on clearance sales after Christmas.
• Keep an eye out for great deals all year long. Buy a great deal when you see it, because it might be gone when you go back for it. (I’ll never forget the absolutely-perfect shirt I found for my brother for only $10. By the time I went back for it a week or so later, it was gone. I still regret not getting it because he would have loved it!)
• Keep a list of who you intend to buy for, what you’ve already bought for them, and how much you intend to spend on them. Once you reach that limit, STOP! (You can keep the list in a spreadsheet such as Excel or a table like in Word. Update it frequently and carry it with you when shopping.)
• If you have family that you have to mail packages to, make sure their shopping and wrapping is done by the end of November. That way you can send it parcel post instead of priority and save money.
• Combine your limited resources with other family members to secure a weekly cleaning or other service for elderly relatives.
• When Karen Bearce’s kids were little, she made them a lot of inexpensive toys. She crocheted trucks for Chris, made him a bank out of materials around the house, and knitted a sweater. He got just as much enjoyment from his hand-made toys as he did from the store-bought ones.
• It’s only September now, but you know you’re going to be crunched for time from mid-November until the first of the year. Now’s the time to plan ahead! Make those extra meals and freeze them for busy days. Make your Christmas chocolates now and freeze them until gift-giving time. Cook a turkey now and have one dinner with it, then make a huge pot of turkey soup and freeze or can it for quick meals during the holidays. In short, do as many Christmas preparations as you can in September and October so that you can finally sit back and relax during the November and December holiday season. Wouldn’t it be great to have spare time to go caroling or just look at Christmas lights?
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