Monthly challenge for February
cwaltz suggested a monthly challenge for frugal hackers. In the interest of becoming more self-sufficient, I hope to try something new every month this year. Some of our goals include cloth diapers, composting, chickens, and gardening. What would be on your list?
Or, to put a finer point on the matter, what change do you resolve to make in February? Even if you try something new and decide it doesn't work for you, at least you tried. Mine will be making the switch from disposable to cloth diapers.
What will yours be?
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19 Responses to “Monthly challenge for February”
January 21st, 2009 at 1:06 am
For the month of February, I have decided to move to a much smaller place to save on my rental bill. It has a back yard, large enough for chickens. Cant wait to have fresh eggs again!
January 21st, 2009 at 1:52 am
I am going to create a designated no spend day once a week. Alot of times I go out for one thing and end up impulse buying. I also need to brainstorm how I can get the kids past the “Mom, we need__________” that seems to happen on a daily basis. If I tell them that I will not be shopping on such and such a day perhaps I can get them into planning a little better and roll some of the money I would spend on impulse buys into debt.
January 21st, 2009 at 6:23 am
I’m going to try sewing. I don’t plan on making my own clothes but I want to be able to do basic mending and hemming.
January 21st, 2009 at 6:36 am
making more meals from scratch would be good for me.
January 21st, 2009 at 6:48 am
I am going to try “shopping” from my fabric stash all month — no running out to the fabric or quilting stores for a “fix” when I’m feeling bored or lonely. Instead I will make something new out of what I already have — and maybe create a few extra things to sell, moving our finances even further in the right direction!
January 21st, 2009 at 7:34 am
I am going to put at least one auction a week up on eBay for the month to get rid of this clutter that piled up since Christmas!
January 21st, 2009 at 9:41 am
I like Andrea’s plan. I should add learning to do that to my list of things to learn this year. First, I should actually create the list before these ideas start falling out of my brain.
One of my new things for the February Challenge is homemade laundry detergent. I finally took the plunge and made my first batch on Monday, the 19th. You can read about my test load here. http://shipfullofpirates.com/2009/01/20/wfmw-laundry-detergent-test/
January 21st, 2009 at 10:36 am
I am ironing all my husbands shirts and jeans to save at the Dry cleaners.
January 21st, 2009 at 10:41 am
I am a cokeaholic and I am going to TRY to just have one a day and drink water the rest of the time. This will be a biggie for me as I constantly drink sodas.
January 21st, 2009 at 11:39 am
i’m going to try not buying groceries this month. i had two $5 off $45 coupons for kroger this month and stocked up. i have powdered milk in my cabinets and plenty of frozen veggies in the freezer.
January 21st, 2009 at 12:09 pm
I am going to try the baking soda instead of shampoo method, with a vinegar and water rinse instead of conditioner. Less money spent, less packaging waste, less chemical exposure!
January 21st, 2009 at 12:39 pm
Wow! Some of these are great and will definitely be on my list in the coming month. Kim is there anyway we can have somewhere to check in on the frugal boards to be accountable, get encouragement and maybe check in from time to time. Support when you are trying something new and tweaking it can be invaluable. I know I’d look forward to hearing what Andrea’s weekly treasure was(and Andrea if you can’t sell it perhaps you should think of Freecycling it or taking it to Goodwill for a donation?) or seeing how judyy is doing breaking that caffeine habit(You can do it! I did this in the summer and it was amazing how much better I felt drinking water). Brooke kudos to you, I have yet to make a frugal budget freeze work in my household. I think alot of these ideas are awesome!
January 21st, 2009 at 2:57 pm
I’m going to clean up the garden, so that I can get back to growing some veges, all we have at the moment is rhubarb and 3 green tomatos and some herbs. I dug holes for 3 sprouting potatos yesterday, probably the wrong time of the year to plant them but it’s a start. January was turn off at the wall overnight month
January 21st, 2009 at 9:24 pm
I am going to try and cut back on processed foods and prepare more from scratch.
I’m also ironing more of hubby’s shirts at home. When my can of starch runs out. I’m going to make my own starch. I’ll see how it turns out.
January 22nd, 2009 at 9:33 am
We have been striving for this over the past few months. Already have the chickens, bread making, homemade cleaners and sock knitting down. This month I will be focusing on getting our family of 6 down to a food budget of $450/month by making more mixes myself, going meatless 3 days/week, shopping my pantry and freezer as well as the sales at various stores, and remembering the dollar general!
January 22nd, 2009 at 12:10 pm
I’m new here! I’m a total frugal guru, and this site is awesome.
I’m going to continue to cut back on eating out, and cook 90 – 100% of our food at home. So far I’ve been doing great, but I need the challenge to continue.
January 23rd, 2009 at 2:02 pm
My goal for February is to get my garden planned out and planted. And have a soil test done. We had a garden last year, but the only things that grew were the tomatoes and jalapenos. At least they go together.
January 30th, 2009 at 10:28 pm
So many awesome ideas! We do a bunch of these already but have just started tightening our grocery budget. I’m notorious for getting the stuff on sale and not the stuff we actually need. So we have all these full cupboards, but still need to run to the store for that one ingredient in the recipe we really want to make! So – follow the menu plan and eat what we have. No more noodles should enter this house until we are down to the last 4 servings…!! I’ve been on your site in the past but just re-discovered it =) Thanks for all the ideas!
February 22nd, 2009 at 8:51 am
After pricing replacement blades for the gillette fusion, I went to Ebay and purchased a double edge razor, then found Ebay sources for blades 10 cents per blade that last all week. Instead of 20 dollars a month, I now spend 40 cents, and the shave is just as good as the fusion.
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