Frugal Treasure Hunt
I've been posting some excerpts and summaries of a fun Grace Livingston Hill novel over on my regular blog.
For those who don't know, GLJ was a Christian 'romance' writer in the early 20th century- mostly from the twenties to the early forties. Her books are formula fiction, but it's a fun formula fiction (to me) because of the period flavor and because of GLH's particular formula. Her formula generally involves a young woman who must make her way alone in the world, figuring out ways to make ends meet under dire circumstances, and often this includes finding ways to cook delicious meals from scratch using odds and ends on hand, making do with a drinking cup made of folded paper, and innovative uses of a pile of newspaper.
Here's an example of the creative cooking- when an employer charges a GLH heroine with making a 'clear soup' for some dinner guests, and tells her she will have to figure out how to make it from what she can find in the icebox, young Joyce rummages through the icebox and pulls out some chicken bones, a small piece of boiled beef, a leftover lamb chop, a bowl of chicken gravy, a few lima beans, and a cup of mashed potatoes. She skims the grease from the gravy, cut the fat from the meat and put it all on to simmer. She finds a carrot or two and onion, which she dices and adds to the pot on the stove. Later she will add some diced celery and a couple of sprigs of parsley, simmer them briefly. Then she will skim the mixture and serve the nourishing broth to the guests.
When we were first married and incredibly poor, I am sure that my misspent college days when I read a batch of my room-mates Grace Livingston Hill books instead of studying as I should have been contributed toward some of my frugal adventures in the kitchen. We often had a cup of soup with our meal of beans, rice, and/or potatoes, and the soup would be made by saving the broth and liquid from any can of vegetables and from other cooking.
I have, for instance a recipe for spinach lasagna which calls for defrosting a package of frozen spinach, squeezing the liquid out. I always squeezed the liquid into a measuring cup and made a light 'cream' of spinach soup with the liquid and a white sauce, or a sauce for crepes.
For the dinner meal above, Joyce also makes a salad by scalding and skinning some tomatoes, setting them on ice to get firm, scooping out a small bit from the center, filling it with a bit of diced celery, nuts, and home-made mayonnaise, and setting this on a bed of lettuce.
For another meal, she stuffs the chilled tomatoes with chicken salad made from a few bits of leftover chicken in the ice-box, including the gizzard, her home-made mayonnaise, and a stalk of celery (saving the leaves for flavoring soup).
And then there's this:
Then she made a game of getting an interesting supper out of the odds and ends she had in her little tin box out the window, which she called her refrigerator. A stalk of celery, too tough to enjoy raw, nearly a cup of stewed tomatoes left over from yesterday, a lump of baked beans, the last of a can she had opened a week ago, a scrap of hamburg.
She put them all in her little tin saucepan, and watched over them carefully, till there came out a very tasty dish of soup- was it bean or beef? At any rate, it had a delicious flavor.
There was also a lettuce leaf, two leaves of spinach, one radish, and a half a tiny onion, besides the little white leaf top of the celery stalk. Minced fine they made a very attractive salad with the last cracker from the box and a tiny wedge of cheese. It was a good dinner and she really enjoyed it. And then as she nibbled at a single chocolate peppermint left over from some that had been passed around in the office that day, and now serving as desert, she got to thinking that she really ought to go out somewhere and get a brighter outlook on life.
Partners, by Grace Livingston Hill..
Make it a game. Probably thanks to my reading of those silly, frivolous books in my college days, from the beginning of our marriage, at a time when we were sorely lacking in any spare cash (I looked for change on the sidewalk in order to do a load of laundry) I have imagined the grocery store as one giant board game, and the object of the game on my part is to keep as much money as I can, or make the most of the funds I have, while the object of my opponents is to get me to spend more of my money with less to show for it.
When cooking, I made a game of using as much as I could as wisely as I could, using the last shred of celery leaf, or putting a bit of milk in a bottle of seemingly empty salad dressing and shaking it up to mix into a bit of mayo or into a drier than it should be chicken salad.
These, and other reasons I have posted on before, are why it simply is incomprehensible to me when people read frugal blog posts here or elsewhere and make criticisms about somehow missing out on something by frugal living. Where is this special joy and blessing in waste? In material things that have a lifespan far more limited than the pinch of debt?
In the biblical story in the gospel account of Luke, when Jesus miraculously took two fish and five small loaves of bread and turned them into enough food to feed five thousand people- even though he had created this bounty with a word and could do it again and all day long without cost- he instructed his disciples to 'gather the fragments.'
I love that story, and I find joy in gathering the fragments and putting together ways to bless my family and friends with them. I like that part of my life is a treasure hunt for those fragments.
How do you make frugal living a joy and a pleasure? And if you don't- maybe it's time to start, because joy begins and ends not with what we have, but with who we are and an attitude that recognizes that the best things in life don't put you in debt.=)
You can read other posts about GLH books with similar domestic details at my regular blog:
Here
here
here
here
here
and here
Also here
and here
Grace Livingston Hill Books from Amazon
Senior Citizen Discount
“Happy Birthday, Mom! Now you’re eligible for the Senior Citizen Discount!” These words of greeting made me chuckle. Youngest Son knows his frugal mother well!
The Senior Citizen discount has been a topic of conversation in our house from time to time. Last year, Husband took on this eligibility, although not with the same enthusiasm as I! Actually, Husband was rather adamant that he was not about to take such a discount. Hale and hearty with a heart to work for many years to come, he does not see himself as a senior by any stretch of the imagination. (His almost white hair just offers “distinction.”) Husband sees this discount as a benefit to those retired and perhaps facing decreased incomes.
I, on the other hand, see this Senior Citizen discount as a marketing tool and a way to encourage more shopping. A discount is a discount and if my graying hair and advancing years make me more marketable, I’ll bite! Of course being the frugal mother that I am, and perhaps to the disappointment to store owners, I will do so within my budget parameters.
Although a subject of disagreement, Husband has no problem with my choosing to wear the title of Senior Citizen at the checkout counter. So, if you see a smiling, somewhat frosted with gray hair woman shopping on Tuesdays, it just might be me!
Any fellow Senior Citizens out there? What and where are your favorite Senior Citizen discounts?
Frugal Roundup
Gems from around the web:
- 10 Easy Ways to Minimize Your Life Insurance Premiums
- 12 Must-Have iPhone Apps for Serious Bargain Shoppers - Think this doesn't apply to the frugal? My husband inherited an old iPhone that is no longer connected to a phone plan. Instead, it works as an iPod with wireless capability and no monthly charges!
- Kelly's money saving tip #33: Define Art Yourself. Check out some of her other tips while you're there.
- Five Big Ways You Need to Think About Christmas … Now!
- Decluttering and Your Money
- $10 Dates - a fun challenge from Mary @ Owlhaven! I'm waiting to see how many ideas they come up with!
New members on the Frugal Blogroll
New blogs added to the Frugal Blogroll:
- Tightwad Gazette - promoting deals and coupon match-ups for Metro Detroit area stores, along with online, deals, freebies, samples and money saving strategies.
- momondealz - The goals of the site are to help others find deals, coupons, freebies, recipes, and coupon matchups in order to save money.
- Deb's Freebies - Freebies, giveaways, recipes, frugal tips, bargains
- Valley Deal Seekers - We put our primary focus on discount and coupon shopping in our local Red Red Valley of the north. We want to keep our small towns functioning and profitable.
- Kelly's Coupon Addiction - I am a frugal shopper in the Columbus Ga Area.
- The Saved Quarter - the chronicle of my family's journey in frugality, saving our quarters to save a quarter of our income. A few favorite posts: Free Fun for Families in the Bay area, Thrift Store Score, and How I Made an Extra $1,100 in April.
- The Family Saver - Helping families save on everyday items through coupons, matchups, steals & deals!
And here are two more new members that I'd like to highlight. The first is full of helpful lists and beautiful photos:
Tightwad - a blog about being frugal, being green being a mom and just generally about stuff that interests me. It's for people who are smart, sassy and thrifty.
The second looks very helpful for those of us who want to make a little money for blogging. Don't we all?
The Frugal Freelancer - Are you a freelance writer or photographer looking for upfront pay and residual earnings? Would you like to know how other freelancers' rate a particular site? What affiliate programs earn the most? How to monetize your blog or articles? Want to know how others are able to make ends meet on a freelancers salary? Then you have to check out The Frugal Freelancer!
What new frugal blogs have you discovered lately?
If you must eat out…
Do it like this. Be sure to read the fine print, but even with fine print this is a great deal! I found some of our favorite restaurants listed in my area, and others that we would like to try but didn't want to pay full price. Stock up for date night, for gifts, and just for fun.
Frugal Bliss
Our second daughter, the Equuschick, does not collect many things because she is not that sort of person. One thing she does collect is Christmas angels, the sort that light up and sit on the top of the tree. Hers sit out all year long on the television cabinet in the home she shares with her husband and baby.
Her collection began years ago when she was quite a small thing- she fell in love with a particular Christmas Angel at a home party of some sort (I think she was about 7 years old). It came in a diaphanous green gown layered like so many petals, and there were some plastic pearls around it. It wasn't chic or significantly well crafted, but green was her favorite color, and the shimmering mermaid-like greens in that dress were very pretty. So we bought it for her for her birthday, which falls near Christmas.
When the Equuschick was about 8 or 9 years old Jenny and The Cherub joined the family, just before Christmas. Sometime after that (I no longer remember exactly when), Jenny, who was always interested in clothes and how they were made, attempted to undress that angel figurine, and when she couldn't, she got a pair of scissors and cut the clothes off. Things are always easier to take apart than to put together, yes?
She left the pieces on the floor next to the Equuschick's bed and hid. So the Equuschick awoke to see the remains of her favorite physical possession that wasn't a book scattered on the floor like so many dead leaves. Jenny was just old enough to realize she'd been naughty after the fact, but not quite old enough to realize it <span style="font-style:italic;">before</span> she started and couldn't fix it again. She was also so young that she does not remember it (Jenny doesn't remember much of her childhood before ten, though). However, the Equuschick has long remembered- she has forgiven, but she really cherished that doll.
And that is how the Equuschick's collection began- we have been trying to make it up to her ever since. I have looked and looked for one in a diaphanous green, shimmering dress of petaled layers ever since, and I have never found one.
However, I have finished with buying Christmas Angels (Christmas Fairies, I think they are in England) for the Equuschick, and I suspect she might be through with adding to her collection.
Last week at a yard sale across the street from the park where we took the Dread Pirate Grasshopper and the FYB, a yard sale I almost did not go to because it was miserably hot and humid out, I found the <span style="font-style:italic;">exact same</span> angel figurine as the one Jenny had cut the clothes off of all those many years ago. It was only a dollar, and I was so excited I took it out of the box (yes, it was still in the box) and showed it to the Equuschick there on the spot, even though she cannot have it until Christmas.
So much delight, and all for only a dollar. This is a joy that I cannot describe to those who are not happily frugal. It is the thrill of the successful hunt, the fruition of years of looking, it is the joy of bagging two birds with one stone (the lovely angel lost so many years ago, a frugal purchase), and the glee of something long lost now found).
And yes, the fact that it was finally found for a dollar only heightens the delight, it's a thrill. It's like a bird-watcher finding a bird long missing from his list. It's like a gardener finally managing to get a finicky plant to bloom. It's like a baker mastering a complicated souffle that has never worked for him before.
I am Keats, first looking into Chapman's Homer. I am Cortez, silent on a peak in Darien.
I get a lot of joy and delight from these frugal finds, from this frugal lifestyle. And I submit that a certain way of thinking is required for deep satisfaction in frugalities- a creative and imaginative approach to the frugal life adds zest and patience is required as well. Developing and honing these qualities does not just benefit your pocket book, either. When money is not required to bring you joy, when saving money is not seen as a burden but a blessing, life can bring a hundred new little pleasures every day.
Actually, life doesn't bring them, God does, but He does ask that we open our eyes. Frugality is a way of opening your eyes.
Temptations in the Frugal Life
Opening window and basking in cool breezes, eyes taking in sun shadows highlighting bedroom walls, temptation came. Not prepared for such thoughts, I had been reveling in the unusually cool South Texas spring day. Without invitation, discontent seeped into my soul.
Early morning light previously enjoyed, now seemed to accentuate all that needed to be accomplished. Little did I know four years ago when moving in, my plans for this area still would not have found success.
Walls could use fresh paint, carpet now even more worn, dressers in need of some repair. My enthusiasm for this day was waning. Mind began to race as I contemplated a myriad of decorating ideas. Reality soon surfaced, however, as I remembered no budget for these projects and other priorities reigned.
Choosing to recall how grateful I had been that old quilt had matched curtains already here, rugs made to cover carpet spots still worked well and lovely pictures of precious family graced my walls, I made no allowance for this temptation. Having a budget helps to keep my emotions in check. No longer being ruled by feelings that so easily change from day to day, living with a plan keeps me from being ruled by momentary desires. Some day this room would get a chance to sparkle anew, but it was not to be for now.
Smiling, I chose to delight in fresh air blowing curtains with gusto. Reminding myself this room had comfortably housed many a guest and served my family well, I found victory! No more temptation for me. (At least for today!)
How do you wrestle with such temptations?
Save 100%
From a blog called Small Notebook:
One day last week I surprised my daughter with a trip to the mall so she could run around the children’s play area. All of a sudden, I saw lots of stuff that I didn’t even realize I needed until I saw them on sale. Especially sales for children’s clothes.
These are the stores I have been to in the last 30 days:
1. Thrift shop, once, because the Boy and the Husband needed new slacks and the FYG needed new shoes. The guys found pants, our daughter didn't find the shoes.
2. Grocery Store with a department store (not a Wal-mart, but similar to that or a Target, just a local version)- we bought needed groceries and I bought my daughter the shoes.
3. A drug-store because my 12 year old cut a pretty deep gash in his thumb with a friend's hunting knife, and we were out of bandaids and peroxide. We stopped at a drugstore instead of a grocery store, because that was on our way home, and a grocery store was pretty far out of our way.
4. I did buy something online, a math textbook for the 14 year old. I used Amazon Affiliate links and Swagbucks purchased Amazon gift certificates to buy it.
I didn't set foot inside a mall, coffee shop, restaurant, bookstore, or any other place to spend money. I didn't go anywhere where you have to pay an entrance fee to get in, not that there's anything wrong with that, it's just those things are not the only or even the best way to have a good time. I had a good time anyway.
Here are some things I did instead:
Went to church
Taught a lady's Bible class.
Went to visit a friend
Went to a big family volleyball tournament and watched my husband, son-in-law, two youngest children and several friends play volleyball all day while I sat in the shade and visited with my eldest daughter and friends.
Cooked with the kids
Cooked with the kids again, and again.
Had friends over for dinner (lots of times)
Went to three different libraries (this is fun for me) on three different days, one of them all by myself, and picked up four excellent old books for free at one of them.
Took the kids and kidlets to the park- an old fashioned park in an old fashioned town where I used to come to visit my great-grandmother and my late uncle and one of the slides and the merry go round spinning thingy are the same exact ones I played on forty years ago. That connection and continuity is so funny to me because I am 48 years old and the longest time I have ever lived in one state is nine years, and I was 17 when we left that state. I haven't lived in a single house longer than five years since I was 8 years old- but here I am in a place where the family connections and roots go back nearly two centuries. Weird.
Took the kids and kidlets joy-riding in the golf cart. Sang at the top of my lungs while doing so. Drove it along the grassy verge near enough to a highway that we could wave and be waved at. Yes, we live in the country and I love it.
Took the kids and kidlets to a free movie in town (our theater shows a free kids' movie once a week all summer long. We saw Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs). Did not buy popcorn, candy, or 'even soda,' which shocked my young foster/godsons, but they had a grand time anyway. It was a truly free movie.
Read books.
Watched a movie at home on my laptop with my two youngest children.
Read aloud to the youngest two and my two foster/godsons, who live with us Saturday night through Wednesday night.
Admired my flowers- they fill my soul with a rich sense of quiet joy.
Spent precious time with different members of my family who fill me with even more joy.
Played a couple of word games.
Tried out a few new recipes.
Started a rearranging project in my bedroom.
Ate cherry tomatoes fresh from my garden
Played with my grandson
Organized my freezers
taught a child pig latin
I know there are other things- this is just off the top of my head in five minutes at 2 in the morning. Why 2? Well, besides being a procrastinating night owl, one of the other things I did this month, this week, in fact, is have a tooth out and it's keeping me up.
The point is- look at that long list of fun stuff- most of it was free. Some of it required some extra gas or groceries, but mostly I tried using what I had in my hand for the cooking.
So how did I save 100%? All those things I did not buy because I wasn't at the store to see them and discover suddenly that I needed them- I saved 100% on them. Instead of investing money in junk, I invested time in people, in relationships, and in my mind (the book-reading).
It's a much better return for the money, as the resulting joy is longer lasting, deeper, and more meaningful than the superficial pleasure over a new dress (that's going to go out of style), a fancy restaurant meal (that you will flush a day later and it will look just like every other meal you've flushed), or a nifty gew-gaw for the home that you will have to dust and shift for years (it would be less embarrassing for both of us if you didn't ask how I know that).
Save your money. Stay out of the stores and go do something simple, free, and fun with your family.
Frugal Locations
It was a light bulb moment! Of course, I told myself! Years ago, seeking to be encouraged in trying to live the economical life, I had been reading some blogs where other women were also struggling to make ends meet. Although always needing to watch pennies, I was just beginning to understand the process of proactively living the frugal life. Now, reading a budget of another with similar income, I finally realized why I was so challenged to make the same progress. My fixed expenses were so much higher!
No matter how many coupons I cut or deals I found, my real estate taxes and car insurance were so high in my area that they kept me from making the much desired headway. Yes, it was a bit defeating, but it also helped me recognize that some circumstances are beyond my control and I would need to be more patient in my quest to be debt free.
Flash forward years later, and now I do live in a more economical area. My real estate taxes and car insurance are much more reasonable. Although not the main reasons for our move, these facts have contributed greatly to our ability to live within our means. In thinking about this change in our lives, I was wondering where might some of the most economical places to live be?
With this question, I am assuming that having a job, of course, would be first priority. When we moved, a job had already been procured. Husband and I would then set the following priorities:
Living close to our married children, in order to continue our multigenerational vision and build into the lives of their children.
Like-minded church fellowship. Worshipping with others with similar convictions and lifestyles is very important to our family
Economical housing. We chose to live in a doublewide mobile home in order to make a debt free purchase.
Musing on these things, I’ve been wondering where others think the best place to relocate would be according to their priorities. Where would you go given the opportunity, and why?
Frugal and Healthy
I am by no means an expert on this issue, and, of course, 'healthy food' means different things to different people.
But here are some ways that may work for some people to expand the variety of foods I would consider healthy in their diets:
Gleaning- this time of year you may find wild berry bushes which are free for the picking (huckleberry, elderberry, blackberry, red raspberry, cloudberry, and currants are a few we've picked wild in different places) or fruit trees whose owners no longer eat the fruit. When you see a fruit tree dropping its fruit to the ground to rot, be brave, knock on a door, and ask if you can pick any of the fruit that is falling off the tree in the front yard. You may be doing somebody a favor. The first time we tried this, it was somebody we knew- our girls' piano teacher had an apple tree in the front yard and the driveway was covered in fallen apples. We asked if we could pick up the windfalls to feed our chickens. She said we could have those, and pick the apples in the trees as well. We've found apples good enough to eat on the ground and used them for apple sauce, apple butter, and apple crisp. We've picked pears this way as well. We've also composted fruit that was too far gone to eat. If you know somebody with pigs or chickens, maybe you could trade fruit you've gleaned for pork or eggs. Often when the fruit is on the ground it's because the owners have grown too old to pick their fruit and their family members live too far, or are not interested. They might just be thrilled to have you clear up the fruit and use it.
One important aspect of health is having a variety in the diet. Eat seasonal foods (that link is for the Western Hemisphere, and mostly the States), and watch sales. To do this, you need your family not to put limits on what they will eat. One thing we did to encourage our children to see new foods as an adventure and a treat was to reward them from time to time with a treat from the grocery store- but rather than the treat being a package of cookies or a ride on the mechanical pony, I would buy a single fruit that we'd never tried before. As any economist will tell you, scarcity increases value, and when 9 people are dicing up and sharing one starfruit, that makes the starfruit seem very precious, even mysterious and exotic. Our single starfruit, 3 kiwi split 9 ways, or the 2 pomegranates divided amongst 9 of us made our treat all the more intimate and special. These seemingly small treats have brought us an abundance of joy, delight, family fun, and laughter- so much so that I feel sorry for those who would look down their noses at such small pleasures. They have no idea what a precious joy it is to bring home a single Asian Pear, cut it up carefully, sit down together and each eat our bite, carefully savoring every molecule while sharing the experience with those we love.
I watch sales and have a target price for most fruits and vegetables. I don't pay more than .99 a pound for grapes, for instance. This means last year we never bought a single grape. We ate other fruits. I thought I would have to raise the target prices this year, but this month grapes are on sale for .99 a pound and we are gorging.
Watch for sales, stock your pantry and freezer with things on sale, and when you grocery shop try to replenish the pantry with sale items rather than shop just for what you feel like this week. Our family prefers butter to margarine, for both taste and health reasons. Butter is, of course, vastly more expensive than margarine, and we are very blessed to be at a place in our lives when we can afford it. For years we could not, and I bought margarine because that was all we could afford. I can afford it now, but even now, I can afford it not just because we make more money now than we did ten years ago, but because I buy butter on sale and from places like Aldi or Save-A-Lot, and this way I don't pay over 2.00 a pound. Butter keeps in the freezer very well.
If you do a lot of baking from scratch, have a large family, wish you could afford some organic foods, or have other special dietary needs, consider joining a buying club or food co-op. Some people think these are a lot of work, but really, it depends on the co-op or buying club. Mine is easy (for me, not for our coordinator). I order online once a month, and on the day the truck delivers I take a couple Progeny and meet the other members of the co-op at the friend's house who runs our co-op. We help unload the truck. I pay for my order when I pick it up. Ours requires no dues and has no surcharges. There are two other co-ops I know of in our vicinity that charge dues and require a surcharge as well as a commitment to put in a certain amount of time taking care of co-op jobs. Ours is very low-key.
The catalogs and ordering can be confusing. It will really help to get a friend to help you work through it the first couple of times. Things I find particularly frugal to order from a co-op:
Organic oats and other grains- cheaper than at the grocery store by far
Organic spices, also cheaper than at the grocery store
Frozen organic fruits and vegetables- not always, but periodically they are on sale and then I buy a case. Not cheaper than the grocery store, but ever so much more delicious.
Organic whole coffee beans- I know, so not a necessity, but we really prefer our coffee freshly ground in our own kitchen, and I have found that when I watch for sales, I get these even less than conventionally grown at the grocery store
Essential oils- usually a couple dollars less than any local resource, and I watch for sales.
Legumes- I buy 20-40 pounds of dried beans at a time. beans keep well and I use lentils for sprouts as well as for lentil soups, stews, and casseroles.
Tofu- it depends on where you live whether this is cheaper through a co-op or not. For me, it's nearly half the cost through the co-op as it is at my grocery store.
Here are some websites that might help you get started:
There are some co-ops listed here.
This co-op directory service is impressive. It also has information explaining what a co-op or buying club is and how you could start one yourself.
United Warehouse will put you touch with buying clubs in your area.
More resources and information here.
If, unlike us, you don't think your family can use 50 pounds of organic oats and 20 pounds of organic coffee beans within a couple of months, at best, you can talk to friends and share an order.
Here are some other sources for healthy food options, although these are not usually affordable for those living from paycheck to paycheck:
Local Harvest- find farms, CSAs, and more in your area.
Eat Well Guide: plug in your zip code and find local farms, farmer's markets, grocery stores, CSA programs and more
Eat Wild has links to sources for grass fed and organic meat, eggs, and dairy products.
Ordinary Days
Taking out my fancy glasses (the Dollar Store sells some lovely ones), and setting them upon the table, I realized how much I enjoy ordinary days. Nothing special is happening, but I find it fun from time to time to serve our beverages in elegant style! Holidays and celebrations certainly have their place, but give me just “any day.”
No pressure or expectations, just a day to be lived out well. Ordinary days are perfect for the frugal woman. What better way to practice using what is in your hand than on an ordinary day! No traditions or commitments seeming to take more than can be found, ordinary days can make for simple fun.
Popcorn and peanut buttered apples for lunch, leftover soup made special with croutons or with shredded cheese on top. Music playing with some candle ends burning. Pretty napkins or just a special story at lunch. A picnic on the floor with quilt or blanket. Wildflowers from the yard in canning jar or an hour to sit close and talk.
Oh, the freedom of an ordinary day! Finding joy in the rhythm of tasks accomplished and savoring the opportunities to bless my family with a simple meal and clothes fresh washed, I relish precious moments of ordinary. How easy it is to lose sight of the significant realities when life is consumed with the pressures of hectic schedules and expectations seem to be everywhere. That is why we must capture moments and savor the hours we find to be, well, just ordinary!
How do you celebrate ordinary days?
Outsmart the grocery store
I just wanted to take a moment to share a worthwhile link. I consider myself a reasonably savvy and experienced grocery shopper, feeding 12 on a very modest budget, but I learned a few things from this list:
50 Sneaky Grocery Store Tricks That Trim Your Wallet and Pad Your Waistline
My favorite:
Sale items are out of reach. Let’s say a can of tomatoes is on sale. You search for it, can’t find it and instead of making your own marinara sauce, you opt for a pre-packaged option that’s high in fat and salt. Grocery stores know most people won’t bother to ask or seek out a sale item they can’t immediately find, causing you to buy the less healthy and more expensive option.
And I often let myself get fooled by this one:
Multiple buys. Grocery stores love to run promotions for multiple purchases with the worst food on the planet such as soda and chips. You don’t need one bag, much less the three for $7 batch.
This was a little intriguing to me. Do you ever fall for it, or think others do?
Produce at the front of the store. Research shows that produce is placed at the front of a store because shoppers will stock up and then feel less guilty about not-so-healthy purchases elsewhere in the store.
And I've had dark suspicions about this one for a long time:
Pricey house brands. We’ve been conditioned to think the off-brand is always cheaper. This isn’t so. Many name brand are competing with house brands and know it, so they can be cheaper based on ounces per unit. Read the label and don’t assume you’re getting a better deal.
That was 4. Read the other 46 tricks.
My own observation: Have you noticed that store brands, which used to imitate the packaging of national brands, are beginning to look cheaper and more generic? I think they are reacting to the struggling economy. While they used to strive to look like the higher quality products, now they want consumers to perceive them as being less expensive. Generic packaging does the trick, often convincing buyers that they don't need to do the math and compare unit price - anything generic must be cheaper, right?
What sneaky grocery store tricks have you figured out? Which ones have you fallen for?
Summer Salad
Here's a salad you can make without going shopping for the ingredients- although you might need to take a walk. As always, be careful and be sure of your plant identification:
Lettuce- grow this in an ice-cream bucket of compost or potting soil. Sprinkle with lettuce seeds, sprinkle with dirt, keep damp and set in a sunny window or outside on your deck or patio. Water regularly. Harvest by pulling off outside leaves rather than pulling up the entire plant.
Purslane: it should NOT have a milky sap (milky sap is a different plant). The leaves are succulent and I think delicious. Purslane grows just about everywhere and is easy to find- make sure the purslane you picke has not been sprayed for weeds.
Day Lilies: NOT tiger lilies, but day lilies, the plain orange ones. Snip the buds into rounds, tear the petals into ribbons, or have the petals inside your sandwiches instead of lettuce.
Viola or Johnny-Jump-Up petals
Sprouts you've grown yourself (all you need is a jar, water, and a bit of old nylon or cheesecloth, and seeds- lentils, mung, alfalfa)
Lambsquarter leaves (young ones are better)
Toss with lemon juice, vinegar, and herbs, or salad dressing of your own making.
Serve with croutons of your own making (dice leftover bread slices into squares, toss with oil and herbs, toast in the oven)
Add other vegetables as you choose- from the garden, farmer's market, or store.
Choose a book on edible weeds for further explorations in wildcrafting
Do you eat from your flower garden or consider weeding the garden harvesting dinner? What's your favorite edible weed?
An Old Fashioned Pounding
Sitting next to Firstborn Son and New Daughter, my heart was full. Surrounded by the smiling faces of our church body with our newlyweds close by, Husband and I were so grateful for this special evening. An old fashioned Pounding was being given by our church friends, Texas style!
Many, having not been able to attend the wedding, wanted to share in the joy of this marriage and so delighted all of us with a “Texas Howdy!” The generous children of our fellowship loaned their boots, in cowboy and cowgirl style, polished to a shine for the evening. Stuffed with a plastic bag and a bit of florist foam, these boots each housed a yellow rose. Plastic tablecloths provided a backdrop for red and blue bandannas, and boot centerpieces were the rage! (The children thought it great fun when spying their boots!) A few cowboy hats, a bit of rope, some strategically placed candles, and, of course, the Texas flag, provided frugal décor. New Daughter even had some pages left in her wedding guestbook, which were used to record names from this gathering. (She has the makings of a frugalite, don’t you think?)
Brisket, sausage, beans, and potato salad starred on the menu with watermelon and bread adding character. Of course, dessert was Texas sheet cake! Everyone had shared in bringing the makings of this feast that was so quickly devoured.
What made this evening extra special was the “pounding.” It truly made my frugal heart sing! New Daughter had been asked to give a list of supplies of any kind needed to set up her new household. Each family from church had picked from the list what they would like to purchase. Now Firstborn Son and New Daughter have a full pantry! What a wonderful way to bless a new family!
I couldn’t help but think that an old fashioned pounding really fits in well to the frugal life. It provides the newly weds with a wonderful start to their food budget and also produces a method of gift giving that doesn’t put undue strain on the pocketbook of the giver. I really like this idea! How about you?
Joyful Frugality
I scanned through my daughter's pictures for a few minutes last night looking for photographs of frugal good times, and then I started brain-storming a bit to flesh out the list. Some of these things are 'dates' and some of the are family activities, and many of them work just as well in either category.
In no particular order, here's a romp through some joyful, and very frugal, memories:
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Have a race. Jump rope. Play hop scotch. Find a hill and slide down it on cardboard boxes (wax them by rubbing with the side of a candle for even more speed). Skip. Play Mother May I, Red Light, Green Light, or ring around the rosy. Find a swing set and swing. Even if you are thirty. Especially if you are forty.
Go to the beach, a lake, a river, a stream, a creek, a brook or any body of water- hang out. Toss rocks in the water. Wade. Sit on a blanket or lawn chair and just talk to one another, enjoying one another's company
Have a picnic. We've had picnics at parks, at the beach, by the river, on the verge of a parking lot outside a museum, out of the back of the van, and on blankets on my living room floor. A couple times I even set out plastic ants. Invite friends. Bring cards, a ball, a book or all three.
You can have a picnic in the rain. This is from somebody's 18th birthday party, and she says it's the best party she had, ever, and all the friends who came agreed.
Go for a walk, even if it's muddy outside. Drive somewhere new, park the car and get out and take a walk. Go as a family or go with your spouse (above is our youngest child, our third youngest child, and their brother-in-law, only this was taken about three years before we knew that's who he was going to be).
Dress up and be silly and extravagant and more than a little ridiculous. Speak in period or in costume. Take pictures. Dress up like this and go out for coffee and a piece of pie. Split the pie. Put on a play. Let your kids put on a play for you. Go to the thrift shop or a yard sale together and look for the most outlandish piece of clothing you can find for a dollar or less.
Yes, my family is macabre. Go to the cemetary and find the oldest headstone, or the most interesting. Take a picnic (yes, we do this). Take a book. Take paper and crayons and start a collection of tomb rubbings.
Find a bridge and play Pooh-sticks. Walk slowly across it, hand in hand. Skip across it. Stop in the middle and sing a song to hear how your voice carries over water. Sing Bridge Over Troubled Water, very badly. Drop rocks in the water. Look for turtles. Slap mosquitoes and compare bite marks. Scratch each other's backs.
Bake up a storm, take cookies to a neighbor or a new mom from church. Have friends over for pie and coffee. Eat up your treats while watching a movie together. Play a board game or a game of cards. Play Charades.
Sing. Karaoke. Bring up midi files or youtube videos of songs and sing along with them. Make a family CD- everybody pitches in a dollar to pay to download a favorite song at Amazon and put them all on a single CD reflecting your family's unique tastes and vision.
Or you and your spouse put together your own special CD of romantic music and have a candlight ice-cream sundae in your room with the door locked. REad the Song of Solomon together.
Sit under a tall tree in the fall and read aloud from Janice May Udrey's very charming picture book.
Pick a book to read aloud to each other, or as a family. Three Men In A Boat (To Say Nothing Of The Dog...)
Look for free events in your town- concerts, lectures, museums, free days at the zoo or aquarium. Does your little town have a local historical society? A book club?
Volunteer somewhere together.
Weed the garden together.
Do the dishes together- you'll be surprised how much meaningful conversation can come from doing some mundane task together.
Take a free class together- card making night at the library, or a sign language class at church, or get certified by the Red Cross together.
The first couple of years my husband and I were married, we had to do our laundry at a laundromat. We would take along backgammon or mastermind and play one of those two games together while doing our laundry. Bring along a thermos of iced coffee or lemon-ade as well.
Visit a nursing home together.
Write down a list of people you know, put their names in a jar, take turns drawing names out of the jar and saying something nice about them- then write a note of appreciation to some of the people on your list.
These are just a few ideas. There are dozens of ways to have fun, meaningful, bonding, delicious, wonderful, joyful times together that do not need to cost much, or even anything. There are deliciously wonderful things which you can do to serve others, to grow together, to increase your level of enjoyment and understanding of one another- things that will bring wonderful memories and sweet fellowship without the bitter aftertaste of adding to your credit card, or finding that you really could use the money you spent on pizza for a pair of shoes or a visit to the doctor.
There is no lack of joy in frugal living. There is an abundance of all the things that matter most.
