Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Okay well I have tried a few ways to save some mulla to help off set the fuel costs and they worked! So I'ma gunna pass it on to you gals (and guys=)

Tip # 1 I take a piece of paper and at the top I write my grocery budget on it then below it I listed the places I shop. When I am writing my check that piece of paper is right there on top of my checks (and in front of the credit card) so I can write down the amount I spent right then. At a glance (if it's a good day and I can count lol) I know how much money I have left at the next store. I usually get essentials first and then if I have money left over I can get extras on the next shopping trip.

Tip # 2 Grill Out! Boy o' boy that stove sure heats up the house and then the air kicks on agh! So I try to not turn the stove on all summer! Of course I do from time to time but for the most part my gas, charcoal, and smoker work their booties off. Yum!

Tip # 3 Indoor line drying! I take my hangers put most of my wet clothes on them and dry them in the laundry room ala natural! I don't like the smell of the outdoor line drying soo I do it in the laundry room. To help the cloths smell good I add fabric softener to each load.

Tip # 4 Homemade laundry soap. I think I figured it up and it runs me 7 cents a load to make my own soap and it smells yummy! I buy homemade Lye soap (you can get some online or at local Amish stores) that costs around 3.25 a bar. I buy a box of Borax (laundry isle costs about $3ish) and washing soda (laundry isle of your grocery store-don't look for it at Wallie World -costs about $3ish) I melt the bar of soap in a sauce pan of water then add it to a 5 gallon bucket, put in 1 cup of borax and one cup of washing soda and fill with water to about 3-4 inches from the top. Makes 60 loads 3+3+3+1(for taxes and cents) so for $10.00 you can get 6-60 loads and when I did the math last time it came to around 7 cents.

Tip # 5 Turn the air down! Sad but true we keep our air at 75 all summer. In years past it was around 70-72 but not anymore.

Tip # 6 colder showers! I love to burn my skin when I get in the shower but now I go as cold as I can.

Tip # 7 Make it yourself! Okay if ya know me ya know I loveas me some latte's but at $5 a drink Star Bucks can look like a ripoff! So I bought me a latte machine (around $30) and make them at home for about .70 cents a cup...much better! Same goes for blizzards, breakfast burritos and anything else a fast food place can come up with that I love.

Well that is all, what about yall! My savings have totaled in the hundreds! That is sweet! Of course I am totally not perfect and I still splurge or go over budget but every bit helps aye?

Latte

4 comments:

The Beshores said...

Hey, thanks for the comment on my blog. I'll have to try out some of your tips as well. By the way, you're a great photographer! How many kids do you have exactly?

The Beshores said...

I don't know if this is the best way to correspond with you, but it's the only way I can figure out right now. Thanks for sending me your input on the wife working thing.

I was recently in your same boat working per my husband's request for the last 4 years. Only until recently did he allow me to stay home full-time. Before then I would share with him my concerns and left it up to God.

I don't disagree with wives working. I have no problem with working, like your examples in Proverbs 31. Unfortunately, most women don't even try to work from home, but rather think in order to be counted as something, they HAVE to have some big corporate job and their children and family suffer for that. They put their lifestyles and dreams above their children and I think that's wrong. Obviously not everyone does that, but a lot do.

There are always exceptions. There are single mothers and couples who just CAN'T afford for the wife to stay at home. We technically can't afford for me to stay at home either, but it's such a priority for me to stay home and eventually homeschool our kids that it's worth the sacrifice. Hence, the reasons why I'm posting money-saving tips.

I'm having to get more and more creative on how we can cut back and we just can't live the same lifestyle we used to, not that we ever lived a lavish lifestyle by any means anyhow.

All I ask is that mothers/wives evaluate their reasons for staying at home and see if their heart is right. I'm sorry if I probably didn't make that clear enough on the blog and I'll probably make that disclaimer at the top. Thanks again for your input!

The Beshores said...

Thanks for the email contact, however it sent it back to me. Was there a typo in the address? anyways, this is what the email said.

Hey, thanks for the email contact. I'd appreciate any feedback on my blog and our other blogs if you've checked them out. We just started this whole blogging thing and it looked like you just did too. Thanks again nd your kids are gorgeous!

The Beshores said...

The email still isn't working. I published your comment in hopes that I might see the check-mark thing, but I don't see it and I can't find out how to delete your comment now so no one has your email address. I'll have to look into posting on allrecipes. I think that's where I got some of my bread recipes.

 

Missing You Blogger Template