A Practical Walk

I’ve hinted on the blog that our family is going through some changes. To be more specific, we’re resigning fromt the organization we’ve been with for a decade and moved back to the States from West Africa. I may get a job outside the home at some point, but for now I’m a stay at-home-mom. A good chunk of my mornings is dedicated to homeschooling my two high schoolers. Even though I don’t have a paying job, I’m still considering being at home a job. My job may not bring money into the home, but I sure can work to make our money stretch (and by the way I find this fun, in fact I used to have a whole blog dedicated to frugality!).

Here’s some of the ways I’m taking this job seriously:

• Gardening
  • So far we just have some plants growing on the kitchen windowsill. The mint is growing mightly! Which is fantastic as store-bought fresh (or not-so-fresh) mint is pretty pricey.
  • I’ve been composting. I’m trying this tub method, because I had all the things I needed for it right here at home already!
  • Thanks to the library and internet, I’ve been able to get lots of free resources on gardening, which is excellent as I have a lot to learn.

• Sell or donate clutter. Have I mentioned I like decluttering? I like it even more when I get some money from it!
  • I’ve sold some items on facebook and am preparing to sell on ebay as well.
  • Sometimes I donate items instead of selling them. Any time we donate to one of our local Goodwills I recieve a coupon for 20% off one item. We save these for big ticket items.

After purchasing a bunch of cast iron used, we decided we didn’t need this one, so I sold it on facebook. Clutter out, cash in!

• Repairing rather than replacing items. I can do minor repairs on clothes, like put a button back on or stitch up a loose seam.
• Shop used – Over the years we’ve increased the amount of things we purchase used. My wardrobe is about 75% used items. I love treasure, I mean thrift shopping. I also have plenty of kitchen items, books and even some school books that are used. I frequent thrift stores and shop on ebay.

All the furniture in our bedroom was either thrifted or given to us.

Top and blazer were thrifted, and I think the pants too, but can’t remember. The shoes I bought brand-new, but have gotten many uses out of them!

• Cooking
  • We eat most of our meals at home. This is so much cheaper than eating out! Where it gets the most tempting is when we’re traveling or out of the house for the day. So I’m trying really hard to pack yummy lunches on those days. I’ve learned over the years that spending a little extra time or even money to pack a nice lunch can save lots in the long run if it helps us avoid eating out. Not to mention how much healthier it is! I feel like I could do a whole post on this alone, but for now I’ll just leave you with my post on how we cut way back on lunch meats.

As an example, the above photo shows a meal I packed recently. The pretzel buns were on clearance at Wal-Mart. I put mayo, ham and cheese in them, the ham being a sale item. I added some grapes and a sauce packet leftover from a fast food restraunt. Also the container it’s in was on clearance.

• I keep trying to add new items to my list of things I make from scratch, because scratch is usually cheaper and healthier. Some items I’ve done are bread, yogurt, broth, mayonaise, dips and salad dressings.
• Shopping smart – I LOVE grocery shopping! Especially at our little local store. I always think through what I already have on hand and look through the sales flyers/coupons in the app. I make a menu plan with those things in mind and often stock up on the sale items that we use a lot. I also check clearance items whenever I’m at a Wal-Mart and love to stop by a bargain discount store in a neighboring town. I’ve found some amazing deals, like 10 cent granola bars!

Here’s a couple of examples of how I save just buy purchasing sale items.

• We eat a lot of cheap ingredients. Cheap doesn’t have to mean bad quality. Think potatoes, dry beans, and rice. More expensive foods like cheese or meats, we still eat, just in smaller amounts.

Forgive the blurriness! We eat beans and rice about once a week.

These are just a few examples of how I’m considering my chores at the house to be a job. Crystal Paine had an excellent post recently on how to know if your time-saving efforts are worth it, go check it out!

What are jobs you do at home that stretch your dollars?