GET YOUR FRUGAL GROOVE ON

I keep hearing rumors of four dollars a gallon for gas by summer.  Hubby and I are looking for ways to cut back even more on our already frugal lifestyle.  We have our heirloom seeds for the garden.  I have my eyes out for canning jars and an inexpensive canning pot.  Our hot water heater is turned down to the lowest setting, and hubby keeps us on track with five-minute showers.  I never go over five minutes because I'm quick in the shower, but my daughter goes over the limit quite often.  When the shower police knocks on the bathroom door, she picks up the pace.

Saving money takes some thought and discipline, but there are so many ways to keep money from slipping through your fingers.  We bought those weird-looking light bulbs and we're trying to keep lights turned off when possible.  Today I opened all the curtains and was amazed at how much natural light came in.  I dilute whole milk instead of buying low fat, we reuse scrap paper and cut paper towels in half. Any paper that has no writing on the back gets put into a drawer for future use.  I cut the paper into long strips for grocery lists or into smaller squares for note taking. Computer paper often gets printed on both sides.  We stopped buying bottled water and purchased some reusable steel water bottles instead.  I wash my clothes in cold water and use half the amount of detergent suggested.  And I've been making my own household cleaners for at least a year now.

Our latest cut back will be recycling our garbage.  We're planning to buy a burn barrel for paper and everything else will have to be recycled.  This will mean I'll have to eliminate things like aerosol cans and anything that can't be recycled, so I'll have to change the way I shop, but to save almost three hundred dollars a year in garbage pick up fees is worth the effort.  That's two weeks worth of groceries for us.

Today I spent a good hour searching for blogs and websites about saving money.  I came across two I liked and even got a coupon for a free bag of pretzels at frugalmom.  Check them out and see what you can do to keep more of your hard-earned money in your own hands.
 www.thefrugalmom.net
www.familyfriendlyfrugality.com