Happy 3rd Quarter!

Wow, even when you love blogging you have to have the time to do it, and I have not had the time. May and June were a complete blur. Starting with my precious oldest celebrating her First Communion on May 3rd and ending with our Brownie Troop's end of the year party on June 29th. Everything in between is fuzzy :).

During my time away I have been working on becoming more frugal, or more simple, I'm not really sure which is a better word. The economy in Michigan, and everywhere really, is in the crapper and I don't want my need for useless items to be the demise of my family financially. I am really becoming more about what we need rather than want. I'm also all about eliminating debt. I am a little over a year away from no car payment and no full time daycare costs and I can't wait! I'll admit that some of the most frugal out there would probably question some of my choices still, but I'm not looking to deprive us completely. I just want to be smart. Here are some of the changes I/we have made:

• I will not waste gas. I don't stay home all the time, but I will not drive all over if it's not necessary, and it has made a difference.




• I found a bakery thrift shop. Wow. Day old, tastes-no-different, bread for 69 cents a loaf. Hamburger and hot dog buns are just the same. Oh and did I mention that I pass this place twice a day during my commute and I have for about 6.5 years. Go figure.




• On that note I have cut back on convenience items. Most notably, no more Uncrustables in my house. Actually I stopped buying those a long time ago, and I now make my sandwiches from scratch :)




• We buy our meat from a butcher in bundles. We are receiving over 40 lbs. of meat for $100! This includes t-bone steaks, roasts, whole roaster chickens, etc. I still have to buy Ballpark hot dogs though, we are picky hot dog people, and yes I know what you're thinking. I just try not to think about it.




• I am switching banks. Currently we use a credit union in our old hometown. They charge us $60 a year for our checking account. Not cool. Buh-bye.




• I didn't renew our subscription to our newspaper. I was only receiving Sunday's edition anyway, mainly for ads and coupons, all of which can be viewed online. $61 savings there.




• We are keeping our Blockbuster online subscription. It's too cheap to give up with individual rentals averaging $4.69 each in the store.




• I bought a used edition of The Complete Tightwad Gazette. I am loving all the cost savings ideas she has, even if she wrote it all in the early 1990's.




• I visit the Freebie Forum on Budget101.com. I don't know where she finds the offers she does but some are really awesome. I received a free subscription to Women's Day magazine. No catch, completely free.




• I look for things on CraigsList, our local garage sale site, and freecycle before I buy them. I have found some great deals and made some money selling as well.




• I trade books on Paperbackswap.com. There's a link to the right. Just recently have I started getting a lot of requests for my books, but it's worth it. I think it's takes them awhile to get to the top of the list. I have sent 4 out recently and now I have 4 credits to request books from others. The only cost to you is the $2.23 average media mail postage.

After awhile being frugal becomes a game. I would like to eliminate our credit card debt all together and it's not impossible. It's amazing how the little things add up. It's also amazing how the crap piles up when you buy things that aren't necessary.

So this is my new project for 3rd Quarter, saving my family from financial ruin. I would love to hear any cost savings idea you may have. Just send me a note!