Frugal Living Tips

In nearly every magazine, newspaper and search engine you will find so called tips for saving money. Well, for me every time I read one of those I sigh because I have heard it all before! Those tips usually include advice on how to "feed your family for $25 for a year" or something like that ;)! But honestly how many coupons can one family clip, and how are we supposed to get all those coupons? The Sunday newspaper in our area cost $1.75 and if we find one coupon or several coupons for say .50 they suggest we get multiples of those coupons, but how does one do that without forking out several dollars buying newspapers you are are only buying for the coupons to save maybe $2.00? Talk about a waste of our trees! It seems after reading several of these amazing savings stories that in some areas of the country (not anywhere I have ever lived) there are these fantastic grochery stores that not only double coupons but triple them and also offer about to expire milk and meat at ridiculously low prices. So maybe for the very lucky few of you who live near one of these stores you quite possibly could spend "$25 and feed your family" but for those of us who have maybe two grochery stores within a 20 mile range of our homes the expense would not be worth the effort. So, for me coupon clipping is out. The articles usually go on to say how to save money on you utilities by using your dishwasher during off peak hours, switching to energy efficient light bulbs (have you checked the prices of those?! $8 for a pack of three!!), and turning up the thermostat in the summer and turning it down in the winter. Aside from that they quite often tell you to shop at thrift stores like the Salvation Army. All of those are excellent ideas but we have already been doing those things for several years and we need to save more money! Here are the things we have done and I guarantee you will save money (as long as you are not already doing them of course!).

#1. Stop paying for Cable, Satellite etc. We turned ours off and are now saving over $85 a month! We do have a Net Flix account but the cost is less than $20 and we still watch considerably less TV. Television today is more like a soap box for all the liberal, socialist in the media and in Hollywood anyway! Personally I have no idea how Christians can justify watching TV when 95% of the programming is immoral! My own rule of thumb is to ask myself if I would want Jesus to return when I was watching _____________(fill in the blank)? If I feel any kind of twinge of guilt I don't watch, it is as simple as that. So I may not be up to date on the latest craze on TV but I do have kids who love to read, a husband that talks to me and a clear conscience!

#2. Get some chickens & a milk goat. Yes, it does seem a bit extreme to some, but it is possible for nearly every one who lives in their own home! The chickens are especially easy since you do not need very much space for them and there is no need to ever buy a rooster if all you want from them is eggs. Coops are easy to build and you can find them pre-built for less than $1oo that will fit up to three large breed hens (do a search for backyard poultry or visit www.backyardchickens.com also www.randallburkey.com for premade chicken coops). Chickens are quite easy to take care of and they make excellent pets! As for dairy goats, well we raise Nigerian Dwarf Dairy goats and you can generally find one that is being sold "in Milk" for around $200 depending on the pedigree and milk production history of the doe. The best time to find these is to search in the Spring and the Fall during kidding season. Craigslist is an excellent source and most breeders have websites that you can easily find by doing a search for Nigerians in your area. Websites such as the Nigerian Dwarf Goat Associastion and the American Goat Society also have breeder listings by state. Nigerians are small, eat very little compared to full size goats and give an average of 1 quart of milk per day, plenty for your average family.

Milking them is not that difficult either. I am a born and raised city girl and learned how to milk by reading Storey's guide to Raising Dairy Goats. After about the 2nd week of getting very little accomplished that first doe and I figured it out and now I am sailing through milking three does twice a day. You can find "starter" milking equipment sets on websites from goat supply companies such as Caprine and Hoegger's (www.caprinesupply.com www.hoeggergoatsupply.com), both have virtually all you would need to get started with goats. A doe can be "in milk" for quite a long time and you would not need to re-breed until she is going dry which for some goats can be as long as 24 months from the time of their kidding.

We currently have 5 does on 1 acre of pasture, however we do practice rotational grazing by using electric netting from Premier1 fence company. Our total acerage is 5 acres and by rotational grazing we use about 3 of that during the year, rotating every few months to a new pasture. We also keep a buck in his own permanent pasture. In a typical backyard you would have to supplement with hay but even that is not too expensive with only one or two goats. Grain is quite inexpensive, actually cheaper than your average dog or cat food as we pay $8.50 at our local co-op for a 50lb bag which with three does in milk lasts us about 3 weeks but we do add things such as black oil sunflower seeds and flax seeds so it is extended to about 53lbs with our various top dressings. Regardless keeping a goat is something worth looking into if you would like save money and at the same time become more self sufficient.

#3. Clean Naturally. Stop buying all those chemical cleaners! You can easily clean your entire home with Vinegar, lemon juice and baking soda! All natural and all very inexpensive! Mix 1/2 water 1/2 vinegar and use it to clean everything from your bathroom sink to your windows and tile! It also cleans stainless steel! Baking soda works wonders when combined with water and a good green scrubby pad to clean your tub and tile and when mixed with a little lemon juice it removes stains from tea cups and coffee mugs! I also can recommend a great book titled Better Basics for the home by Annie Berthold-Bond for many more great recipes and advice on natural cleaning and general less toxic living.

#4. Make your own Laundry Soap. It is easier than you think and will save you a lot of money in just a few months. The supplies are pretty easy to find and all you need is, Borax, Washing Soda, and a good bar soap such as Felz Naptha or Octagon (by Dial corp).

Take 4 quarts of water and place in a pot designated for soap making only, set on medium.
All 1/2 cup borax & 1/2 cup washing soda, mix until disolved.

Shred 1/2 bar soap and add to water mixture, stir over medium heat until dissolved. Once the soap has dissolved remove from heat and pour into a 3-5 gallon container. I use an old 5 gallon bucket from Home depot. Let this sit for 1 hour then add enough hot water to fill the container to 3 gallons. Mix and either pour into old liquid soap containers or leave it in the bucket and scoop out 1/2 cup of the mixture for each wash load. It will get more solid as it sits but you can easily either shake the containers or mix in the bucket with a spoon to liquify it again.

#5 Grow your own! In the afore mentioned articles they generally do mention one thing that I will also include and that is to grow your own garden. However, I will go a little further and advise to grow a lot! To actually save a considerable sum at the grochery store you will need a rather large garden. Ours is over 2000 sq ft and we still need more space to grow enough so that we can not only feed our family during the growing season but have enough to put up for the winter. One tomato plant may save you a few dollars but a row of tomato plants can save you possibly a hundred dollars or more! By planting succesional plantings of green beans you can also save even more since the price of can goods is soaring! We plant every ten days but so far we have managed to eat all of our crops, we have harvested from a total of 16 plants so far and have eaten green beans twice or three times per week since the start of June. Hopefully when our runner beans take off they will produce enough to allow us to can some of them for the winter. But so far from an expense of three dollars and a little of our time we have saved nearly $20 just by not have to buy 4 cans of green beans per week, and ours are organically grown so if comparing apples to apples the savings nearly double! So, if living in the suburbs or if you just have a small yard I would offer that you make the whole area into a garden! You will save not only at the grochery but you will no longer have to mow the yard! Of course you will need to leave some room for the chicken coop and the goats :)!

Thats about it for today! It is time for school work! Which reminds me of one more thing famalies can do to save money!

#6 Homeschool your kids! Stay home and teach them yourself! The expense of having two incomes is not talked about too much in modern society but if you do a little math you can figure it out on your own pretty quickly. Think about how much you spend on vehicles (we downsized to only one), insurance, meals, wardrobe (not to mention clothes for the kids), shoes, cosmetics (the kids don't care!), office donations, day care etc. The cost for me to keep my job was going to be substantial compared to staying at home where I really wanted and needed to be anyway. We spend an average of $300 a year for curriculum and supplies for our three children and we save more than that by not having to buy them the latest in fashion! We also have two of our three chidren that have processing issues and homeschooling has allowed us to teach them in a fashion that best fits them and they have thrived under our instruction.

Here's to hoping this helps someone! Blessings & Take care!