Being frugal .....

We watch programmes on BBC iplayer, which is good as we can watch what we want when we want to. It is free and really eays to use. We've really cut down on eating out which has saved a lot of money, mainly because our favourite place to eat is not cheap. Like yourself we walk lots, I like to use the car as little as possible. I borrow books from the library rather than buying books. I find I rarely reread books, and I can always buy afterwards if the book is one I feel I should own. As I read a lot this is probably a big money saver. I love to read magazines when on the train and usually pick one with a free item. I know it sounds a bit silly but I got a free top last year with one and I wear it a lot.

we as a family stay home on nights that we can and have been playing baseball outside or if it is really hot (or cold) we play games inside (like scrabble) or perhaps we will get a movie or two from the library (not current always, but still free!)

On the news this morning they followed this one lady around that went shopping and well after watching her I have decided to cut coupons. This woman went grocery shopping and had 300 dollars worth of groceries and paid 25 dollars and some change. she had this binder where she had all her coupons in order by types and so forth it was awesome. Snip Snip I've got my scissors ready. She even had coupons from online to use in the stores to. I thought it was awesome and her family didn't want for anything they had plenty to eat and same things everyone else ate they just got it cheaper. I figure if I do that I won't feel so quilty when i go to the movies....lol

I am a frugal person but I think I learned how the hard way. We could not afford to live so I had to figure it out. Now it is in my blood. I save most of my money at the grocery store. I clip coupons and carry them in a case to the store so I have them all with me. At first my Hubby was embarrased but after he saw what I can do with it he is all on board for it.

Groceries and cleaning products are a good place to start. Cooking from scratch is usually a money saver as is using common kitchen items to clean. Pretty much anything can be cleaned with vinegar, baking soda, ammonia or bleach. For a cheap toilet cleaner, sprinkle about a half a cup of baking soda in the toilet and let set about 15 minutes. Use toilet brush to scrub and then add a half cup of vinegar (either white or cider vinegar will work) let it bubble up and then swish with your toilet brush again and flush. Either buy a bundle of cleaning towels at the discount store or sort out some of your old towels to use for cleaning instead of paper towels - they can be washed and bleached between uses. Here in ND, it's called "Norweigen Tupperware" but you can reuse plastic containers and bottles for storing bulk staples that you buy for the kitchen or to store leftovers in the refrigerator. There are also many homemade mix recipes on the internet that can substitute for some of the convenience foods in the store. This site has one for baking mix (like Bisquick) that is great: http://extension.missouri.edu/explorepdf/hesguide/foodnut/GH1055.pdf