Keeper of the Home: Frugality

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Frugality

July 3, 2008: Gas prices too high? Try water!
Comments: 7 | Categories: Current events , Frugality , Going green

I don't know what you're paying for gas right now, but yesterday I saw gas at a whopping $1.52 a litre! (For the Americans, that's $6.02 a gallon. Read it and weep.) Which brings me to a fascinating thing that my husband and I learned about last night. Did you...

June 28, 2008: Oh garage sales, how I love thee
Comments: 7 | Categories: Frugality , Good stewardship

Would you rather buy these for $16.50, plus tax and shipping... ...or all of this, for $15.50 total? In a couple hours of garage saling this morning, I purchased 6 pairs of pants (khaki, cord and jeans), 2 knit sweaters, 2 knit winter hats, 1 sweater vest, 6 warm sleepers,...

June 27, 2008: The Value of a Chicken
Comments: 10 | Categories: Frugality , In the kitchen

When you're on a tight grocery budget, just how far can you stretch one little chicken? I decided to track exactly what I did with a my last free-range chicken, because I wanted to know the ultimate value derived from it. I started with a box of Whole Chicken Fryers,...

June 25, 2008: Nourishing Frugal Food!
Comments: 1 | Categories: Frugality , In the kitchen

Inspired by the recent rise in grocery costs, and our ever-present desire to cook whole, nourishing food for our families (and encourage you to do the same!), I will be collaborating with Kimi of The Nourishing Gourmet to bring you a carnival that we are really excited about! Actually, it...

June 19, 2008: Grow, little garden, grow!
Comments: 12 | Categories: Frugality , Gardening

Did you know that you have some incredible garden fertilizers, right in your very own kitchen? As I am trying to keep my garden costs low, I have been so blessed this year to discover a few very simple, yet very effective ways to boost my garden! It all started...

May 30, 2008: Now this is something that I have definitely never thought of using cloth for!
Comments: 11 | Categories: Frugality , Going green , Natural living

I stumbled upon this creative thrifty odd interesting idea today, and thought I would pass it on to you all! Have any of you ever heard of this idea of Family Cloth? Have you tried it? (If you have, wow, you are a brave soul, you have my most sincere...

May 30, 2008: 14 ways I have (and haven't ) been frugal enough lately
Comments: 4 | Categories: Frugality

So, I'm feeling uninspired and perhaps just a little bit cheeky this morning as I sit at the computer, thinking of what to post about. I am usually just full of various post ideas, so many that they never all get used, but today is a big ol' exception. In...

May 29, 2008: Who knew going cheap and minimalist could be so good?
Comments: 9 | Categories: Frugality , Natural living

So, in the past month I've ditched shampoo, starting using the Oil Cleansing Method for my face, and started making my own toothpaste. Any one curious to know how it's all going? Actually, I don't think that I mentioned I was doing the Oil Cleansing Method (OCM). I discovered it...

May 13, 2008: Best deals on Klean Kanteen?
Comments: 8 | Categories: Frugality , Natural living

A quick question for you all (because I know you're such a resourceful bunch!)... My SIL and I have decided to bite the bullet and start buying some Klean Kanteen bottles that I've been mentioning, as we've been wanting to for quite some time, but the cost is just somewhat...

April 22, 2008: Q & A: The necessity of a low grocery budget
Comments: 9 | Categories: Budgeting , Frugality , In the kitchen

Here's a comment from my recent post on rising grocery costs that I wanted to respond to: Do you have that low of a grocery budget because you have to or because you want to (ie: pay off your mortgage faster?) Because sometimes I think we spend so much time...

April 18, 2008: Cost-per-serving for dinner menus
Comments: 5 | Categories: Frugality , In the kitchen

As promised, I've worked this week on some more breakdowns of the cost-per-serving for meals, particularly dinner dishes. If you missed last week, I broke down different breakfast dishes into the cost-per-serving, in order to compare them. This all stemmed from my original post about needing to find a way...

April 10, 2008: Breaking down meals into price-per-serving
Comments: 22 | Categories: Budgeting , Frugality , In the kitchen

Tedious as it may sound, this is what I've been working on in my "spare" time this past week (I use that term extremely loosely). As I mentioned last week in my post about working with rising grocery costs, I thought that it would be useful to start to take...

April 4, 2008: Rising to the challenge of higher grocery costs
Comments: 5 | Categories: Frugality , In the kitchen

Am I the only one who has felt an increasing difficulty in making the grocery budget stretch to keep our family well fed? It feels that each time I visit the grocery store these days, yet another item on my list has gone up in price, and I'm struggling to...

March 28, 2008: Eating like a big boy
Comments: 9 | Categories: Babies , Frugality , Our family

Someone asked recently where my son was at with eating and what types of foods we were feeding him at this point (just turned 10 months) and Crystal asked what works for others in feeding babies nutritiously and frugally. Here's what our big/little guy (he's growing up so much, but...

March 25, 2008: Simply sprouted grains
Comments: 8 | Categories: Frugality , In the kitchen , Nutrition

There are so many different kinds of gadgets out there for sprouting: special sprouting jars and mesh lids and home sprouting devices... I've been sprouting grains and legumes for a couple of years now and I have never purchased a single piece of special equipment in order to do it...

March 20, 2008: Millions of oranges, oranges for free
Comments: 0 | Categories: Frugality , In the kitchen , Recipes

For the past two days, I've had a song stuck in my head... Movin' to the country, I'm gonna eat a lot of peaches (oranges) Peaches come from a can they were put there by a man In a factory downtown If I had my little way I'd eat peaches...

March 19, 2008: Why I resemble a truck driver and a few good deals...
Comments: 0 | Categories: Frugality

For the past couple of years, my husband and I have rarely paid for more than one entree when we go out to eat, and it's not just because we eat like birds (I know for a fact that as a nursing mother I am more likely to resemble a...

March 7, 2008: Buying used- Which items are worth it?
Comments: 14 | Categories: Frugality , Good stewardship

She had been such a good little vacuum for us. She was a purple, upright Dirt Devil, the first decent vacuum I ever owned. We bought her for $16 on a half price day at Bargain World. She even came with 2 packs of extra bags. I thought it was...

March 5, 2008: While we're on the topic of cloth diapers...
Comments: 3 | Categories: Babies , Frugality , Natural living

Here's a site for you to check out: The Used Diaper Company During my recent diaper cover research, I ran across this site that I thought I would pass on to you. When I was originally planning to buy new covers, I spent quite a bit of time looking on...

February 21, 2008: Cutting down on waste
Comments: 18 | Categories: Frugality , Going green , Good stewardship

Ever since Christmas this year, and especially since watching the video "The Story of Stuff" (I highly recommend watching this short but very thought-provoking video), the amount of waste that our small family of four puts out has been bothering me. Now, since we already eat primarily from whole foods,...

February 15, 2008: "Whatever Ya Got" cooking (a frugal way to use what's in your fridge)
Comments: 5 | Categories: Frugality , In the kitchen

When we were engaged, my sweet husband bought me a book called The New Bride Guide by Ellie Kay (she's the Coupon Queen- you may have heard of her book Half-Price Living: Secrets to Living Well on One Income). One of the best things that I got from the book...

February 7, 2008: Sometimes it pays to pay someone else
Comments: 11 | Categories: A bit of this, a bit of that , Frugality

I feel like I'm going just a little bit crazy. These last couple of weeks I have been working on my blog redesign, and I have been learning (through trial and much, much error) about html and installing wordpress.org and ftp connections and config.sample.php files and mySQLdatabases and customizing headers...

January 31, 2008: Homemade soup broth- An essential element in any healthy, frugal kitchen
Comments: 5 | Categories: Frugality , In the kitchen , Nutrition

Ever wonder why fokelore has always included chicken soup as a remedy for the common cold? And why your Grandma's tastes just so good (so much better than any canned or dry variety ever could)? The secret is in the broth. Rich, delicious, nourishing homemade soup stock. Why is chicken...

January 28, 2008: Cloth or disposable- It applies to more than just diapers (this is a "girls only" topic)
Comments: 21 | Categories: Frugality , Going green , Living healthy

I came across an interesting topic this morning that I thought I'd share with you, and I'd love to hear your feedback on this one! It all started while visiting a new blog, and stumbling upon this post. The subject of menstrual pads is not one that is commonly discussed...

January 23, 2008: From the wedding to wise stewardship- a frugality story continued
Comments: 3 | Categories: Frugality

As many of you guessed, this story has a happy ending. Allow me to continue it... It was a humbling thing, to be engaged to a man who had no debt and actually saved up cash to make major purchases, while she was sitting nearly $30,000 in debt. And as...

January 17, 2008: The Dirty Dozen- Making the most of the money you spend on organics
Comments: 10 | Categories: Frugality , Natural living

Have you ever wondered whether some fruits or vegetables are more important to buy organic than others? The simple answer is yes! Certain crops can be more difficult to grow, and when not using organic and natural methods, require the use of many more pesticides and sprays than other crops....

January 16, 2008: What happens when I find organic milk on clearance …
Comments: 6 | Categories: Frugality , In the kitchen

I spend all day in the kitchen! Actually, most of last night, too. Yesterday, I went out to do my grocery shopping and I had less grocery money than usual for this next 2 1/2 week period (partly due to mismanagement on my part- our budget system has changed slightly,...

January 12, 2008: 14 tips for eating healthier on a budget
Comments: 4 | Categories: Frugality , Nutrition

One of my favorite topics in the nutrition discussion is answering the objection "But I can't afford to eat healthy" or buy all organic or make every single food in our house from scratch or... well, you get the point. Here is a list of 14 tips I found this...

January 9, 2008: From innocence to irresponsibility- a frugality story
Comments: 5 | Categories: Frugality

Once upon a time there was a little girl who couldn't understand why her clothes were bought at Value Village and Walmart, and why Santa didn't bring the right brand name items on her Christmas list. She hurriedly rushed out to spend every cent of her meager allowance on the...

January 5, 2008: More healthy and frugal meal planning...
Comments: 3 | Categories: Frugality , In the kitchen , Nutrition

Seems like the topic of healthy and frugal meal planning is a timely one for many! I'm so glad! If you didn't get to read yesterday's post yet, please go read that one first, then come back and read this post. There was one thing that I realized in re-reading...

January 3, 2008: Healthy and frugal menu planning help!
Comments: 11 | Categories: Frugality , In the kitchen , Nutrition

If you have never been much of a meal planner, I encourage you to grab a cup of something steaming and delicious, and sit down to join me as I discuss how I use meal planning to keep our meals cheap and nutritious! There are two things that I really...

January 3, 2008: What are your financial goals for the New Year?
Comments: 6 | Categories: Budgeting , Frugality

In light of the New Year, I know that many of us have been establishing new goals, resolutions, priorities and schedules. My husband and I recently made a date night of it, and spent an evening setting some goals, which I hope to post about shortly! I thought it might...

December 17, 2007: How not to buy organic
Comments: 6 | Categories: Frugality , Nutrition

I wish I had my camera. It was a fantastic photo opportunity, although I'm not so sure that the lady in line in front of me at the grocery store would have been so keen on the idea. Tonight I saw firsthand a perfect example of how not to buy...

December 14, 2007: Healthy vs. Frugal- Do I have to choose?
Comments: 11 | Categories: Frugality , Living healthy , Natural living

In a word... NO!!! Honestly, I don't think it has to come down to that. I believe that frugality includes the ability to be creative, to think outside of the box, to cheerfully go without certain things or substitute items for others. It includes carefully weighing quality and cost and...

November 29, 2007: All good things must come to an end (yes, this is the giveaway!)
Comments: 5 | Categories: Budgeting , Frugality

It's over! You did it (and all across the continent, there is the sound of a collective sigh of relief)! In some ways, this month has been a real stretching experience, and in other ways, it's flown by and I barely even noticed that I wasn't spending any money. It's...

November 28, 2007: Giveaway coming up on Friday!!!
Comments: 0 | Categories: Books , Frugality

Just wanted to remind all of you that this Friday is the official end of the Savvy Spending Challenge! To finish the challenge off, I will be posting an overview of how our family did this month (I need to get my hubby to crunch some numbers for me, first)....

November 27, 2007: Making Do Tuesday- Cutting costs in the kitchen
Comments: 2 | Categories: Budgeting , Frugality , In the kitchen , Nutrition

Since I couldn't access my blog until late last night, I wasn't able to get my regular Making Do Monday post up. Seeing how this is the last week of the Savvy Spending Challenge, I wanted to make sure that I still posted the money saving post I had been...

November 27, 2007: Natural household cleaners, Part 2
Comments: 3 | Categories: Frugality , Living healthy , Natural living

I wondered last time how many people were hoping for a list of every natural substance (vinegar, baking soda, lemon, etc.) and how I make different combinations and concoctions in order to cheaply make my house sparkling clean and non-toxic, with the scent of lemons wafting on the breeze. You...

November 26, 2007: What's on my frugal gift list...
Comments: 1 | Categories: Frugality , Holidays

I know that one thing we are doing for sure is purchasing magazine subscriptions from Amazon, as I mentioned recently. This will account for at least 2 or 3 of our gifts. Another thing that we will be doing for our own children, rather than buying them "stuff", is that...

November 22, 2007: Weekly update- Savvy Spending Challenge- Week 3
Comments: 2 | Categories: Budgeting , Frugality

It feels like it's getting a bit easier. I'm not quite sure why, but perhaps because we've just gotten used to knowing that we can't buy things! I've even stayed strong with the temptation of $2 ebooks at Biblical Womanhood- and I love books! But with any challenge, there are...

November 21, 2007: Setting up a cash system- Part 2
Comments: 4 | Categories: Budgeting , Frugality

As promised, here is the second part of setting up a cash system. If you missed the first post last week, you can check it out here. I've been discussing what works for my husband and I as we set our budget and implement a cash system. Last time I...

November 19, 2007: Making Do Monday- Getting creative with your resources
Comments: 2 | Categories: Frugality , Good stewardship

One of the most challenging parts of this spending challenge has been to come up with ways to do the things I need or want to do, without spending any extra money. It's fine to go without sometimes, but what about birthdays? Road trip food? Unruly hair? It's often a...

November 17, 2007: Christmas gift alert!
Comments: 0 | Categories: Frugality , Holidays

Jill at The Diaper Diaries posted about magazine subscriptions on for ridiculously cheap at Amazon. Great prices to start with, plus an extra $5 rebate until the end of December! I just checked it out and there is a good selection of magazines that would appeal to many people. I...

November 16, 2007: Setting up your cash system- Part 1
Comments: 1 | Categories: Budgeting , Frugality

Since my post about using a cash system, I have had several comments and questions from those wanting to know more about how we determine our budget and establish our cash system. I'll try to answer the questions and comments that I think will be most helpful for you! This...

November 15, 2007: A bit of frugality linkage
Comments: 0 | Categories: Frugality

Just wanted to pass on some great links to other blogs with posts on frugality or savings this week! Lots of current deals- Aldi, Meijer, Walgreens, CVS, Target, Safeway Black Friday tips Frugal thanksgiving and other frugal finds Great interview of Dewey's Treehouse with a lot of thoughts on frugality...

November 15, 2007: Weekly update- week two
Comments: 2 | Categories: Budgeting , Frugality

Here is my second weekly update for the Savvy Spending Challenge. I'm sorry, but I have no exciting pictures or stories of grocery store victory this week. However, I have news that is equally as good- we didn't go over our significantly decreased grocery budget!!! This week's grocery spendings: $6...

November 13, 2007: Fudge-it or Budget
Comments: 12 | Categories: Budgeting , Frugality

I wish I could claim to be so creative as to have come up with the title for this post, but it wasn't me. My hubby, Ryan, was making jokes about non-budgeting methods of money managing (er, mismanaging?) and calling it "smudge-it" or "fudge-it" and I said "Hey, I like...

November 11, 2007: Making Do Monday- Nipping discontentment in the bud
Comments: 0 | Categories: Frugality , Good stewardship

It's often when our budget is the tightest that these small thoughts starts to creep into my mind: "Gosh, I wish my house looked like ____ (fill in the blank with whomever's house I have most recently visited)", or "I have nothing to wear", or "I know we don't have...

November 9, 2007: Giveaway announcement!
Comments: 0 | Categories: Frugality

I'm so excited to announce the prize that I will be giving away at the end of the Savvy Spending Challenge! Crystal, whom many of you may be familiar with from Biblical Womanhood, and her incredibly practical and helpful new blog Money Saving Mom, has generously agreed to give a...

November 9, 2007: It never hurts to ask!
Comments: 4 | Categories: Frugality

Lately I have spent a lot of time brainstorming the ways that I have learned to save money, in order to share them with those who are joining me for the Savvy Spending Challenge (read all about my frugality challenge for the month of November and join my family and...