If you have followed my blog, you may have noticed I haven't had a big shopping trip in awhile. When I describe "big", I mean a trip where I take a Saturday and spend most of the day going and doing about 5 weeks worth of groceries. My last couple large trips was about Christmas time for $34.00 and one is January for $30.00. I have made A LOT of little trips, all under $15.00 to get loss leaders and perishable items, but not a big trip.
The reason is we are trying to put our money toward some medical bills and pay them off, which means I have to live off our stock pile. We have been creative in our menu and have been eating meatless dishes about 3 times a week. We have been eating alot of soup because I have alot in stockpile and it warms the family up on these cold days. We are eating down our bags of veggies that I picked up. Also, eating fruit or oatmeal most mornings.
I had planned on going shopping this weekend, but a small medical emergency made a change in my plans. So, hubby and I said we will continue to live off the stock pile for 2 more weeks and see if we can stretch our stockpile to that point. My freezer is about 1/2 empty (we typically don't have it get that empty). We know when we see another meat deal, we will have to stock pile meat.
Since the economy is still struggling, I was thinking about all the things I do to make ends meet. I want to add more tips or things I do to be and stay frugal. This will kinda give me a jump start to my frugal journey. I admit paying off the credit cards and cars has caused me to kinda relax a little bit!
So, for starters, I am not going shopping for another 2 weeks, making the stockpile stretch. ( except for Loss leaders). Every morning, I bring tea or hot cocoa with me to work. I don't buy it at the gas station or the coffee shops. I have been going back to the library to get books or buying them from the sale flyers from my kids school or using paperbackswap. I have Valentines that I bought last year really cheap and will use those, free pencils and free coupons for the kids for Valentines Day. We keep our wood burning stove going to add heat to the house with free wood that was offered to us. It has REALLY kept our utilites low this year. Also, we have cooked on the top of the wood stove. We have made soup, hot dogs, and bread rolls on the stove. This saves us from heating up the kitchen stove. We have been looking for free events to do with the children. We have come up with a free day at the Circus, and a free day at the zoo. :) We will pack snacks for those to keep the costs low. I WANT TO PAY OFF THE DENTAL BILL!!!
In the days to come I will try to think about other ways I save, I will keep adding to the tips or ideas. This blog has always been just a think tank for me and a place to post freebies and deals. So, maybe I can help someone else.
Do you have a tip to being frugal? Post it in my comments sections.
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