My Frugal Book

I recently pulled out a little book that I call my frugal book. It’s a journal that I began adding frugal tips, recipes, cleaners, and other ideas into a few years ago after I found myself checking out the same resources from the library over and over again in order to learn from them. Last year at about this time I had resolved to get really serious about lowering my monthly expenditures for gas, groceries, clothes, school supplies, gifts, craft supplies, etc by at least $200 a month. Instead, our spring schedule got typically crazy busy and I increased spending by more than double the amount I had intended to reduce it. I kept up that level and now, a year later, am determined to get our spending down to a much lower level. Most of the extra spending has been in eating out and convenience items picked up in a rush due to busyness and exhaustion. However, now with my husband in grad school to get his masters’ degree, many home repairs that need made, and a bit of a tax bill coming due, I have to stop and change direction. That’s where my frugal book comes in. In it are many recipes for foods and cleaners that I can make at home, as well as other money saving ideas that I have used at one time or another. It’s good to pull that little book out again and to remember that it is possible to make many of the things we usually buy. The goal now is to use the book much more regularly. I’ll be sharing some of the things from its pages on this blog. The first hint is something that I have been successful in doing recently. That is to eliminate paper plates. I used up the last of our paper plates some time in January and haven’t bought any more since. It really doesn’t take that much time to wash 4 plates for our family after supper each night.