When I was growing up, I had no clue of what I wanted to be when I grew up. I went to college and quit after 3 years, since I couldn't decide on a major and thought I was wasting my money. I went from job to job, starting in retail and then on to office work. I was a national sales secretary for Nike, and a department secretary at Boeing, and worked as a temp in various places. It was all interesting enough, other than Boeing, which I couldn't really describe in that way.
When I became a mother, and was working at Boeing, we were hard-pressed for money. My husband was trying to break into the field of sales and started working for various brokers. They'd hire him full-time and immediately put him on part-time so they wouldn't have to pay benefits. So he was going through regular job changes at that time. There I was with my colicky baby, waking her at 6 a.m., hurriedly dressing her and myself, taking her to daycare at 7 a.m. and going to see her at lunch; taking a pump to work so I could continue nursing. (You should have seen the gate guards' puzzled faces when they'd ask me to open my cooler with it all in there!) I'd pick her up after work and go home too exhausted to clean house well (I was anemic also...). She'd wake up at 2:00 every night. I hated work; Katie hated my work as well. She finally got kicked out of that daycare; the woman said (though she'd been doing daycare for 25 years) that Katie was the most difficult baby she'd ever watched--not a distinction that I'm proud of. I hired a neighbor to take her in instead. (Thankfully she's no longer difficult!)
Finally a month after becoming a Christian I knew very strongly that I really needed to quit working and stay home. It was truly a stretch but I had to trust in God's help. The first morning that I stayed home, I suddenly knew what I was wanting to be...I'd wanted it all my life and just didn't realize it. I wanted to be an at-home mom. Because I'd never thought of it as an option, and because I'd never really been trained in it growing up, I was ill-equipped. I had a lot to learn; I still do!
There are various ways other than what I've already blogged about (garage sales and grocery store shopping) that I use to save the money to stay home. I cut our own hair, all four of us (sometimes with better success than other times--but the biggest challenge is my own head, and I can accept that), and I figure I save about $100 or so per month by doing so. I clean our own carpets. I fertilize our yard (I recently learned that getting this done commercially would cost us about $450 per year!). I fix our furniture and many appliances and prune our own trees. I do our plumbing, sewing, gardening, indoor painting, and home schooling. I don't do car repairs or get on our roof, but I do many of the other things! Sometimes I think knowing how to do these things is a drawback, in that I never feel free to call and get someone else to do it, but we'd be struggling financially far worse if I didn't. And though getting everything done that seems to need doing is perhaps impossible, I'm never bored! Life is fuller than it ever would be in an office, away from my home and family!
For all these things that you can do to save your money and be able to stay at home with your family, you can find out how to do them either on line or by looking at books from the library--I've done this many times. If you're in the middle of a household project and can't figure it out, the hardware store is full of people who can advise you on how to finish the job. I installed a sink, for example, taking 4 trips to the store to ask questions and buy parts and tools. Sometimes the difference between being able and not being able to do these things might lie in buying or renting the right tool.
If you're perplexed with your work and longing to stay home, pray for God's help and inspiration. He'll give you the means to do what He wants, and I believe that His ideal is for families to be together.
Friday, May 05, 2006
Singing the Praises of Garage Sales!
There were a lot of years even in the midst of my greatest need for frugality that I neglected the benefit of garage sales. Maybe I went to one every now and then, but not much. Then suddenly neighborhoods started having them all together, and that caught my attention! Suddenly, I could go park, and walk down the street and hit ten or more at a time! Now I buy clothes, books, furniture, hardware, tools, kitchen gadgets, pictures, frames, games, toys, and innumerable other things at garage sales. Most things sell at about 10% of the retail price; clothes, being so plentiful, run about 5%. Now I'd estimate that at least half of our furniture and other household goods must consist of garage sale finds.
I've heard people say you can't find brand names at garage sales, but they are those who don't shop there. My daughter loves brand names and almost never buys them in the stores. She can therefore afford three or four times the brand-name clothing that her friends have (space, however, is a practical limitation). We buy more clothes in a far faster time than we ever could in the malls! Then there are people who sniff that they would never buy used clothes. Well, if they're dirty, torn, or ugly, then no, I wouldn't either. But if they're respectable, why not? Take them home and wash them, and there's nothing objectionable about them.
Suppose you spend $800 per person per year on clothing. If a child goes through 18 years of his life wearing only store-bought clothes, then $14,400 is what you'll spend on his clothes until he graduates. If you spend $50 per year at the store and the rest at garage sales, you'll spend $1,575 on clothes in that period of time. Maybe there will come a day when he finds garage sale clothes unacceptable, but then maybe he can earn the money for his own clothes.
Not only that, but we avoid sales tax; at 8.5%, that in itself is a pretty normal year's return on an investment. And for those who are concerned about it, it keeps that many more useful items out of the dumps; garage sales are one of the more commendable aspects of American consumer science.
So there you go. My plug for one of the best money-savers I've found! I hope you'll try them out as well.
I've heard people say you can't find brand names at garage sales, but they are those who don't shop there. My daughter loves brand names and almost never buys them in the stores. She can therefore afford three or four times the brand-name clothing that her friends have (space, however, is a practical limitation). We buy more clothes in a far faster time than we ever could in the malls! Then there are people who sniff that they would never buy used clothes. Well, if they're dirty, torn, or ugly, then no, I wouldn't either. But if they're respectable, why not? Take them home and wash them, and there's nothing objectionable about them.
Suppose you spend $800 per person per year on clothing. If a child goes through 18 years of his life wearing only store-bought clothes, then $14,400 is what you'll spend on his clothes until he graduates. If you spend $50 per year at the store and the rest at garage sales, you'll spend $1,575 on clothes in that period of time. Maybe there will come a day when he finds garage sale clothes unacceptable, but then maybe he can earn the money for his own clothes.
Not only that, but we avoid sales tax; at 8.5%, that in itself is a pretty normal year's return on an investment. And for those who are concerned about it, it keeps that many more useful items out of the dumps; garage sales are one of the more commendable aspects of American consumer science.
So there you go. My plug for one of the best money-savers I've found! I hope you'll try them out as well.
Frugality Incorporated!
I just happen to be one of the most frugal people in the universe. Well, I'm not stingy. That's different. (I don't think I am, anyway.) Frugal is saving money so you don't go broke as fast in tough times, and stingy is not being willing to share with others when their times are tough, or give something to them to celebrate events. I jokingly attribute my frugality to my Scottish and Jewish blood. It's diluted, supposedly, by many other things, but in my fingertips, which are of course what handle my wallet, these two ethnicities run the strongest! It's good, too, because my husband has changed jobs many times and our heads are still above water so far. Now here's how frugal I am (or at least was, before kids!)--I used to spend about $70 per MONTH for our groceries. Okay, so we ate a lot of potatoes and split pea soup back then. Anyway, I thought I'd share about my frugality, since I find it very helpful. Here are some of my most effective ideas that you can accept or reject, but I've been applying them for years with great success, I'd say; I usually save at least 35% according to the store receipt, and that doesn't even take into account that I don't buy the more expensive brand or size. Imagine that! I always think of investments, and how people are glad to get 10% in a year on their investment. They'd be thrilled out of their gourds to get 35%! And my savings is far more sudden than over a year's time! Whaha! So here are my methods:
Check the ads if you have time. If you lost the ad, you probably can look it up online; often they have extra copies at the store, too. If you buy according to the ad, and make meals that suit what was on sale, you'll be miles ahead.
Look at unit pricing, EVERY time it's an option. (This is the part of the price label stuck to the shelf underneath that tells the price per unit, such as per pound, per ounce, per sheet, per gallon.) It really clarifies which version of what you're buying is cheapest. Usually it's the largest, or the store brand, but not always.
Buy the least expensive option at the grocery store of all that category that you're seeking. As an example, I found that the little 12 oz. chubs of (even reduced fat) Italian sausage, the store brand of the Jimmy-Dean type, are cheaper per pound not only than the store brand but also than the tray pack of similar, more fattening Italian sausage that is out in the meat department.
Also, use any coupons if you can stand that. I generally stick to store coupons because though I used the brand type for a while, they take a lot of time to manage (cutting out, tossing out expired, storing, transporting) and a lot of alertness to use in the store. I think it was the advent of kids that made me toss the brand type, for lack of time. Some swear by them, however.
Don't buy groceries that aren't on sale or cheaper at another place, unless it's absolutely necessary and urgent that you buy regular price. I'd say less than 1% of my groceries are purchased at regular price. This includes all categories!
Don't go to the grocery store too often. Buy and store--whether on shelves, in fridge, freezer, or even cooler if it's really a good deal and will last long enough! The more often you go shopping, the more you are bound to spend on each trip and on each meal.
Go with a list! It's not that I always stick to mine (especially if I happen upon a bargain), but then I don't forget some crucial item that I would have to return to the store to get. I make my lists in one of those tiny binders that you can get at the start of the school year. I list on separate pages according to store--slightly different lists for each. I may have something I'll check the price on at one, and wait for a trip to another store before I'll get it.
Buy the large packages of hamburger or ground turkey if they're cheaper per pound, and take them home, divide into freezer bags and freeze.
Find the meals you make that have the least-costly ingredients and make those your family stand-bys. For us, we have homemade pizza once in a while, and baked potatoes with chili, and taco salad, and casseroles and crock-pot meals, homemade soups, spaghetti...things that aren't a huge piece of meat as the focus.
Don't eat out--whether school lunches, dinners, or anything. It's incredible how fast the cost of this adds up! I think my homemade lunches probably cost about 35 cents to one dollar per serving. Dinners in a sit-down restaurant run ridiculously high-cost! We have gotten less and less frequent about eating out, and I've become much happier about it over time. Now when we do eat out, I'm disgusted at how long it takes to get seated and served, how much the waiter wants us to order some costly drink, and especially how much we spend including tips and taxes. Yow! It's phenomenal.
So there is a start. I could probably post 300 more ways, if I could think of them all. After a while, they become so second-nature that you don't even realize that you're doing them. Happy shopping, saving, and thinking how much more money you have as a result!
Check the ads if you have time. If you lost the ad, you probably can look it up online; often they have extra copies at the store, too. If you buy according to the ad, and make meals that suit what was on sale, you'll be miles ahead.
Look at unit pricing, EVERY time it's an option. (This is the part of the price label stuck to the shelf underneath that tells the price per unit, such as per pound, per ounce, per sheet, per gallon.) It really clarifies which version of what you're buying is cheapest. Usually it's the largest, or the store brand, but not always.
Buy the least expensive option at the grocery store of all that category that you're seeking. As an example, I found that the little 12 oz. chubs of (even reduced fat) Italian sausage, the store brand of the Jimmy-Dean type, are cheaper per pound not only than the store brand but also than the tray pack of similar, more fattening Italian sausage that is out in the meat department.
Also, use any coupons if you can stand that. I generally stick to store coupons because though I used the brand type for a while, they take a lot of time to manage (cutting out, tossing out expired, storing, transporting) and a lot of alertness to use in the store. I think it was the advent of kids that made me toss the brand type, for lack of time. Some swear by them, however.
Don't buy groceries that aren't on sale or cheaper at another place, unless it's absolutely necessary and urgent that you buy regular price. I'd say less than 1% of my groceries are purchased at regular price. This includes all categories!
Don't go to the grocery store too often. Buy and store--whether on shelves, in fridge, freezer, or even cooler if it's really a good deal and will last long enough! The more often you go shopping, the more you are bound to spend on each trip and on each meal.
Go with a list! It's not that I always stick to mine (especially if I happen upon a bargain), but then I don't forget some crucial item that I would have to return to the store to get. I make my lists in one of those tiny binders that you can get at the start of the school year. I list on separate pages according to store--slightly different lists for each. I may have something I'll check the price on at one, and wait for a trip to another store before I'll get it.
Buy the large packages of hamburger or ground turkey if they're cheaper per pound, and take them home, divide into freezer bags and freeze.
Find the meals you make that have the least-costly ingredients and make those your family stand-bys. For us, we have homemade pizza once in a while, and baked potatoes with chili, and taco salad, and casseroles and crock-pot meals, homemade soups, spaghetti...things that aren't a huge piece of meat as the focus.
Don't eat out--whether school lunches, dinners, or anything. It's incredible how fast the cost of this adds up! I think my homemade lunches probably cost about 35 cents to one dollar per serving. Dinners in a sit-down restaurant run ridiculously high-cost! We have gotten less and less frequent about eating out, and I've become much happier about it over time. Now when we do eat out, I'm disgusted at how long it takes to get seated and served, how much the waiter wants us to order some costly drink, and especially how much we spend including tips and taxes. Yow! It's phenomenal.
So there is a start. I could probably post 300 more ways, if I could think of them all. After a while, they become so second-nature that you don't even realize that you're doing them. Happy shopping, saving, and thinking how much more money you have as a result!
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