Don’t Buy Cheap

One of the things that can be said about my household is that we try not to have anything cheap. That doesn’t mean that we spend a lot of money on stuff, it just means that we aim for good quality for things no matter what they are or how we acquired them. Something in frugal living, it is easy to go for the dollar store mentality, shopping for things that are cheap. Personally, unless there is no way around it, we would rather do without than afford something that is not up to snuff. For example, we went without … Continue reading

What You Can Find At Goodwill Series – Kitchenware, Luggage and Accessories

Our exploration of three top Goodwill stores in our area was quite an event for our family. It had been many years since I had visited one, and it was in a different location. As a whole, we were both surprised and amazed at the variety of items and the condition of them. There were so many useful things and the price was so amazing, it was well worth the trips. Here are a few more departments that most Goodwill stores have. Accessories We found a huge amount of accessories to fit your every need. For men there were belts, … Continue reading

What You Can Find At Goodwill Series – Clothing and Furniture

Goodwill is an awesome place to shop if you don’t mind buying used items. Of course Goodwill also has many new items that were donated from people who didn’t need them or stores that were getting rid of overstock and donated the items instead. It is easy to see that Goodwill is like a used department store. When shopping at Goodwill stores you are going to find some stuff that you would never buy or that you would never use. But if you are patient or looking for anything in particular, you might be surprised at the great finds. Here … Continue reading

Frugal Living Review: June 9th Through June 15th

Have you been finding that your budget is exploding these days? We actually haven’t been doing too badly, but we have changed our lifestyle just a little bit to accommodate some of the increases in prices. Later this week, I’ll be sharing some of the changes I have made in grocery shopping, for example. Meanwhile, check out this past week’s articles, including two by Nicole. Welcome back! June 9th 6 Ways to Reduce Our Use of Paper Products Paper products, such as paper towels, paper plates, paper napkins, baby wipes and even printer paper are certainly convenient in today’s world. … Continue reading

An Attitude of Gratitude 2

I’ve been talking about how an attitude of gratitude is important when living frugally. if you missed the first part of this topic, please click here: An Attitude of Gratitude. I really appreciate all of the great comments on that post! Here are two instances in the same day just this week that illustrate how good things may happen when you are grateful. The first was on a trip to the library to pick up some books and a movie. The person ahead of me had a large stack of books to check out, so I decided to browse around. … Continue reading

75 Things You Can Do to Save Money (2)

We are counting out 75 different things that you can do to be frugal and save money. Which ones are your favorites? If you missed the first part of this topic, click here: 75 Things You Can Do to Save Money. 42. Carpool. 43. Telecommute if you can or find a way to work from home. 44. Practice gas saving driving, such as keeping a steady pace under 55 mph. 45. Get rid of your gym membership and exercise outside or in your home. 46. Pay bills online. 47. Rent equipment with your neighbors and split the cost, such as … Continue reading

75 Things You Can Do to Save Money

If you need or want to tighten your budget, there are so many things that you can do to save money. Pick a few from the list and get started today, or try them all. It will be nice to have some extra money available. Mow your own lawn and perform lawn care yourself. Drink water instead of flavored drinks. Get rid of the cleaning service. Perform your own minor repairs, such as patching a hole or fixing a leaky faucet. Change your oil in the car. Paint a room yourself. Hand wash clothing instead of taking it to the … Continue reading

Frugal Living Review: June 2nd Through June 8th

Did you have a good week? I am so grateful to be back from a very bad respiratory infection that drained out my energy. My wonderful husband got me to the doctor just in time to prevent a hospital stay, which wouldn’t have been very frugal at all. But now I can concentrate some more on learning new ways to save money, such as making my own cream soups instead of buying the ones in a can. Check out this past week’s list of articles for that story and more. June 2nd Frugal Living Review: May 26th Through June 1st … Continue reading

6 Ways to Reduce Our Use of Paper Products

Paper products, such as paper towels, paper plates, paper napkins, baby wipes and even printer paper are certainly convenient in today’s world. But, let’s face it, these products aren’t very frugal. We have come to believe that many of these products are a necessary part of our household, but are they really? Reduce the use of your paper products, and you’ll reduce the amount of money that you spend. Here are 10 ways that we can reduce our use of paper products. 1. Purchase inexpensive dish towels or cut up old towels and use those in place of paper towels. … Continue reading

Questions Answered about Cream of Soup

Since the most recent post here in the Frugal Living Blog, I have gotten some questions about my “cream of… soup” usage and the homemade from scratch “cream of… soups” that I make. I thought I would answer those questions and give a little more detail on the whole homemade “cream of… soup” thing being frugal and easy to do. If you missed that earlier article, you can click here to catch up: The Cream of Soup Budget. The first question asked which “cream of… soups” can be made easily from scratch. This is a wonderful question. Actually, pretty much … Continue reading