Our family has been very busy lately. All the kids have activities, Howard is trying to put out his next book, and I’m trying to put out a book as well. We all spend a lot of time running here, there, and everywhere trying to get it all done. But recently I’ve had this feeling that I’ve been slacking. Specifically I’ve been slacking on doing the activities that help us live within our still slim budget. I’ve been buying time for my projects. I mean that literally. If I spend time formatting pages for my book instead of planning ahead for meals I inevitably end up choosing a pricier dinner option. So spending time on my projects costs our family money. I don’t intend to give up on my projects, but I should be making space for more frugal activities. With that in mind, I’m writing a list to remind myself what they are.
Frugal Activities I should be doing more often:
Gardening– specifically vegetable gardening. Right now we have no veggies planted. I need to get on this very soon or I need to accept that we’ll have no garden this year.
Garage Sales — This is where christmas came from two years in a row. Last Christmas we spent money, but I should probably still create a “looking for” list and hit some sales.
Menu planning — meals are more likely to be inexpensive if I plan them more than 10 minutes before I have to serve them.
Reading grocery store sales fliers — If I don’t read them I don’t know when the foods we eat are for sale at cheap prices. I should be buying in bulk when the prices are cheap.
Tracking food inventory — If I don’t keep track of what we have, then we run out of things. Then we run to the store and buy replacements despite the premium costs and the extra gas used. If I know I’m running low, then I can watch for sales and buy in bulk.
Repairing things when they first show signs of wear– If I repair frayed clothing then I never have ripped clothing and it lasts longer. Minor repairs can sometimes prevent major replacement costs.
Walking instead of driving — I can’t do this for all the places I go, but there are many places that I can. When I can, I should.