Frugal Memories ...Do You Have Any?

 

Hello my friends! It's been a rainy, cold week again, so we've been spending lots of time inside. David and I have been enjoying these first few weeks at home together. I've only had one day where I felt like I needed some space, but I was tired and felt better the next day. 

Can you relate? I'm the kind of person that refuels on time spent alone - reading, cleaning, being creative - and need to have some quiet in my day. 

I am married to someone the complete opposite! David can sit on the couch, with laptop, phone, tv, papers and coffee and be as happy as can be, which drives me crazy! 

It makes me feel like my house is in disarray all day, which I don't like. 

We did fix him a small desk in the spare room, but it is torture for him to actually work in there alone, with no tv or noise 😅

I've always said that God has such a sense of humor when it comes to putting opposites together. 

He's been very busy taking calls from people who want his resume, which is such a blessing. We are taking it all in and will put lots of prayer into choosing his next job. 

I am still devouring blogs and books about homemaking, living on a small salary, and being frugal. 

I am naturally a frugal person, but also love to shop, so finding ways to pair those two aspects together has been fun and challenging. 

But the most challenging thing so far, has been not eating out. I love to pick up lunch a few times a week, but for the past two weeks, have been eating at home, with the exception of Valentine's night and yesterday when we bought Chick-fil-A breakfast for the girls.

Today I am going to a friend's for a few hours and she has offered to buy lunch this time, so I am looking forward to that!

I made a list of my freezer inventory at the beginning of the week and can easily see what's available for meals right now. I think every little bit of prep work (even just having a list of foods) will help me be successful at spending less. 

After taking the girls home yesterday, we stopped by the Dollar General to grab a few snacks that David wanted. While there, I decided to pick up some paper plates and was so frustrated that they actually cost more than the grocery store! This is why I don't shop dollar stores! You have to be so careful on some of the products where they jack up the prices to make up for the ones that are actually cheaper. They will get their money somehow. 

The other day, while we were in town, I was reminded of our first few years of marriage, when I would go with a co-worker to the bakery thrift store. I'm not sure if these still exist (the one in our town is gone), but we would buy bread and breakfast pastries for small amounts of money and it was a fun outing on our lunch break. 

I have another memory that comes to mind, every now and then, of the year our first baby was born and I would pay all the bills, buy all the diapers and formula and have $25 left for the week. I would go to the store in town, with a carefully written list, and buy just enough to last for the week. Those were challenging times, but we made it work. 

Do you have any memories of times where you had to really stretch your dollars?

I would love to hear about them in the comments!

Until Next Time...

Blessings!