Think Healthy Equals Expensive? Think Again!

It's tax season...no matter how much we wish it wasn't. We are faced with our income or lack thereof in stark black and white and we start thinking about earning more money in the future or how to pay those stinkin' taxes!

I am in the category of thinking about how to increase my earnings and because of that, I live extremely frugally. I am also kind of a health nut unless I eat something sugary and then I become a voracious eating machine, but that is the subject of a different post! Can being frugal and healthy co-exist?

Many folks think that living a healthy life is expensive. They are sure that eating healthy food is pricey. They are sure that they can't get in or stay in shape without a membership at a fancy (meaning costly) gym. With those assumptions, a lot of people just give up or they blow their budget at the grocery store and don't have money for much else.

When I am faced with prevailing thinking such as, "It costs a lot of money to be healthy," I take it as a personal challenge to see if that school of thought is true or not. Let me encourage you that giving up a large portion of your budget to groceries to have quality food is not necessary if you are willing to change your mindset just a bit. Isn't that good news?

What do I mean by changing your mindset? You have to be willing to buy marked down items at the grocery store. These items are marked down because the packaging has been damaged, the item is about to go past its sell-by date (which isn't its expiration date, by the way), or the store is clearing out the item because it wasn't a good seller. Generally, these items will have large orange stickers on them showing the original price and the new, reduced price and the savings is anywhere from 25-80% off of the regular price. I also use coupons and oftentimes I can use a coupon on a marked down item for the maximum savings possible.

This nice California mix made a delicious
addition to our healthy stir-fry. 

I don't know about you, but I would rather get the best and most items I can for the least amount of money and have some funds left to put towards other items I have to buy.

Recently I made a nice pot of vegetarian chili. It made 7 1/2 cups of chili, which was about seven 1-cup servings. I often serve my chili over rice so we don't need huge portions of chili that way. This pot of chili cost me a shade under $2.00 to make and I got two dinners and a lunch out of it. Right now, you are thinking that can't possibly be correct. I can feel your skepticism coming through the computer. I will explain so you can do similar feats of financial alchemy yourself.

My husband, who wasn't frugal when we married but has been a good student, purchased two cans of pinto beans that were marked down because the cans had been dropped and dented. The regular price of these beans is 72 cents per can, but in this instance, one was reduced to 36 cents and the other to 18 cents.

He also bought a bag of black beans that had been torn open and re-closed with tape that had been $3.00 but was reduced to 25 cents. I had some Northern beans in the cabinet from an earlier purchase to add to the mix of beans and I had a can of diced tomatoes. I had purchased some cans of seasoned tomato sauce that was originally intended to make meatloaf the store was clearing out because it hadn't been selling (I am always thinking of multiple ways to use items). Each can was marked to 24 cents and I bought a dozen cans (when you see a great deal, buy as much as you can). I had onions and the seasonings for chili already on hand that I had used for other dishes so the cost of these ingredients had already been paid. The total of all items used in the chili was $1.77! And it was no-meat chili which is healthier.

It may say Dinner Starters for Meatloaf
but the way I think, that is merely a suggestion.

We scour every store where we shop for clearance items or hugely discounted items. Because of this unique acquisition method, I do not make a menu prior to going shopping. Once we get our goodies home, then I proceed to create a menu and see if I will need to buy any additional items. We eat a good variety of foods due to this creative way of procuring groceries.

I carry this way of thinking to just about every budget category as much as possible. Anytime I have to spend money, I see if I can reduce the expense somehow. I pretty much live in hyper-frugal mode. 

 Because I am interested in living a healthy lifestyle, I also am into exercising. Exercise equipment, workout clothes, and gym memberships can really take a big bite of a budget if you allow it. I work out at least three times a week and I can safely say that I haven't spent more than $50.00 in the past two years on anything fitness related.  

I have purchased my gym clothes at the thrift store or found them at retail stores deeply discounted. I received an exercise bike from my brother-in-law for free because he was tired of it and all my free weights were given to me by people who no longer wanted them. My yoga mats were gifts as were many of my exercise videos. Some videos I purchased I found at the dollar store. I also found great exercise programs on my local PBS station. Working out doesn't have to be expensive any more than eating healthy does, especially if you work out at home.

Perhaps you don't need to watch your spending as much as I do. But, what if you did anyway and you saved the difference? What could you do with those saved dollars? Travel? Fund a retirement account? Buy a vacation home? 

Tighten Your Spending, Not Your Living

People who know me and later find out that we live on a very low income are amazed to discover this information. Some think that given our low income, we get some kind of government assistance such as unemployment or food stamps to make it. However, that is not the case for our family. Our philosophy is that we will trust God to provide what we need, and we will do the very best with can with the resources available to us.

Some of the resources we have are ourselves and our abilities. I love to learn new skills and I love to shop for bargains everywhere I go. Recently, our living room furniture's well loved look started to get to me. I decided to go to the thrift store to see if I could find something to use to freshen up the look of the couch and two side chairs. I don't have any funds for replacing the furniture at this time.

I had a coupon in my possession for the thrift store that would allow me to save $5.00 off a purchase of $15.00 or more. I went looking for a large bedspread to use as a couch cover, a nice piece of fabric to use to recover the living room chairs, and a fitted sheet to use to cover the seat cushions on the couch.

My living room is decorated in the colors mauve, forest green, cranberry, and white. I found a large mauve bedspread, a forest green queen-size fitted sheet, and a drapery panel in forest green that has a nice pattern in it. I also found a new Christmas tablecloth at the same time that has mauve colored poinsettias on a cranberry colored background. I spent around $17.00 for these items. Let me show you the before and after on the chairs.

I can't believe I let the chairs
look like this as long as I did!

 We had originally bought these chairs as part of a lot of twenty chairs for $40.00 at an auction. So, the chairs cost $2.00 each and we have had them for around seven years. This is the third time I have recovered these chairs. Each time, I look for inexpensive fabric at a thrift store. The drapery panel I bought cost $2.99, so I recovered each chair for $1.50 plus the cost of the staples in the staple gun, and my time to recover the chairs. I spent around 1 1/2 hours removing the old fabric and putting on the new fabric. I kept the contrasting fabric from the previous recovering job because I liked that look but I still have enough fabric to change it if I decide to do so later.

All freshened up for the new year!

We have to keep a tight grip on our spending so that we have as much of our income available as possible to pay the non-negotiable bills such as the house payment or electric bill. However, tightening up our spending doesn't mean we don't enjoy our lives. We do everything everyone else does; we just do it differently.

Case in point- I have been wanting a pair of warm, snuggly boots for quite a while, but I was unwilling to spend the money that would be required to buy such boots at a retail store. Every time I went into my favorite thrift store I made sure to look at the boots they had in stock. A week ago, I finally found exactly what I wanted in my size. The boots were only $4.00! The only issue with them that I had to resolve was to buy new laces. I bought an inexpensive pair for $1.97 because if I had bought the suede laces, I would have spent as much for them as I did on my boots. I may upgrade to the suede laces but for now I am quite happy with my boots and laces.

I told my husband that these boots have changed my life. I get
very cold in the winter and once my feet are cold, I can't get warm
for a long time. These boots keep my feet nice and toasty. I can
stay outside longer and more comfortably. I am one happy gal! 

Would it have been easier to go to the store and buy a pair of boots when I needed them? Maybe for some people it would have. For me and my family, when we have a need we know we have to be a bit patient to get that need filled. Would it have been easier to get new chairs rather than to find the fabric and make the time to recover the chairs? Again, for some people that answer would be yes. 

In our family, due to our restrictions, we have developed many useful abilities and attitudes. We are generally content with what we have, we have learned to do many things so that we can live within our means (cooking, baking, making simple repairs, doing simple maintenance around the house), we are grateful and appreciative of whatever we receive, and we help each other as much as we can. 

My younger daughter and her boyfriend recently brought us a microwave and coffee maker that they did not need. A roommate had left the microwave and they had gotten a Keurig so they didn't need a full size coffee maker any longer. 

I cleaned the microwave and improvised a foot to replace the two back feet that were missing. We had been without a microwave for nearly a year but I didn't want to spend money on a cheap model microwave and then have to spend again when I finally had the funds to get the over the stove model I really want, so I just did without. My daughter knew we didn't have one and rather than selling her extra one, she blessed us with it. My coffee maker had also died and again, I want a certain model of coffee maker so rather than buy a cheap one I decided to learn to make coffee without a coffee maker until I could get what I want. Here are a couple sites that I found helpful:

http://www.articlesbase.com/coffee-articles/how-to-make-coffee-without-a-coffee-maker-1967702.html?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=ab_paid_12&gclid=CPPr69eR47sCFUho7Aod7lIAEA

http://www.ehow.com/how_4505550_brew-coffee-coffee-maker.html

If it had bothered me to be without these items, I would likely have gone to the thrift store to get them while saving for the nicer ones I ultimately want. I find that the thrift store allows me to have just about anything I need or want and still stay within my budget. 

Letting others know of items you need is also a useful way to tighten your spending but still get what you need. Lots of people have no longer needed items cluttering up their homes and would be happy to pass them on to someone who can make good use of these household goods or clothes. I belong to my local Freecycle (https://www.freecycle.org/) and have gotten lots of needed items for free as well as decluttering my home by passing on no longer needed things to others who need them.

Anyway, I hope you are getting the idea that there are a lot of ways to manage when money is tight and still enjoy your life. There will be more posted on this topic throughout the year and I hope to hear from you so I can learn more!

Couponing Woes

I LOVE couponing! But, lately I have not really been utilizing my coupons the way I would like. I have a bag full of coupons to cut out and put into the envelopes in my coupon box. When I say full, I mean really full. The bag probably weighs at least 10 pounds! That is a lot of coupons waiting to save me money and stock my cabinets.

Last year, I carefully cut and filed my coupons each week. Then I went Walgreen's and CVS to get awesome deals. I had accumulated 6 months worth of toothpaste, laundry detergent, body care products, and toilet paper. Right now, the stock is getting a little low.

How will I solve my coupon crisis? I have a couple ideas.

1. I will take my coupons, coupon box, and scissors with me to work on during the time I am waiting on one of my sons to finish an activity.

2. I will designate an hour each week on Saturday to cut and organize my coupons. I will conquer my coupon problem and begin using my coupons responsibly!

3. I will rebuild my stock using my semi-extreme couponing capabilities of combining sales with coupons for the greatest savings and even to get free items.

It is very important to my budget to spend the least amount possible on any item I purchase. This policy frees up valuable resources to use in other areas of my budget. Since we are on a very tight budget, every dollar has to be allocated where it can be most useful.

Do you coupon? How do you manage your coupons?

Home Management- Saving Money Everyday

I recently decided that I needed to do better at making good use of all the various drugstore sales in my area. I have been a pretty consistent Walgreen's shopper and have done pretty well shopping there. But, CVS runs some great sales too and I need to make my precious dollars work as hard as possible. I am always trying to do better at managing my home and money. I work at this on a daily basis. 

Even those pennies add up when you save them consistently!

So, I went to CVS today with vitamin coupons in hand. I stopped at the CVS coupon kiosk as is my custom. I got a coupon that gave me $3 off a $12 vitamin purchase. I decided to buy some acidolphilus as we are out. Sundown vitamins were buy one get one free. I had two $2 off coupons and at CVS shoppers are allowed to use a coupon on each item, even if one is free, and to combine the CVS coupon with the manufacturer's coupons. The acidolphilus was $12.49 and I got two bottles, saved $7 and ended up only paying $5.49! That is $2.25 per bottle! Can you tell I am really excited? 

Because one of my main contracts is tied to the school year and my husband's work slows in winter, we don't earn as much during the major holiday season, which is also when three of our five children have birthdays, so I need to do all I can to be prepared. I stock up like a squirrel storing nuts for the winter on everything: non-perishable foods, toiletries, pet needs, gifts, and more. 

I am not one of those Extreme Couponing types-my stock doesn't have a room of its own, nor do I have enough pasta for the next ten years. What I do try to accomplish is to have about 3-6 months worth of goods on hand. I try to get items at the most rock bottom prices possible. This frees up money for items where it is harder to save, like the house payment. 

Another way I work my savings into a daily occurrence is by only stopping at stores that are along routes I already travel. Today, I had to pick up one son from the bus stop so I went to the CVS where he would be getting off the bus. Another time I might stop at a store in another area of town. An advantage of going to different stores is that I have access to more stock. My local store might run out of a certain item, but another store could still have it. I don't have to wait for the item to be restocked and hope that I don't lose my rain check while waiting. 

An additional motivation I have to stay stocked up is to manage my home the best I can. As a Christian I follow the teachings of the Bible. I have been inspired by this passage in Proverbs 31:10-31.

Epilogue: The Wife of Noble Character

10 [b]A wife of noble character who can find?
    She is worth far more than rubies.
11 Her husband has full confidence in her
    and lacks nothing of value.
12 She brings him good, not harm,
    all the days of her life.
13 She selects wool and flax
    and works with eager hands.
14 She is like the merchant ships,
    bringing her food from afar.
15 She gets up while it is still night;
    she provides food for her family
    and portions for her female servants.
16 She considers a field and buys it;
    out of her earnings she plants a vineyard.
17 She sets about her work vigorously;
    her arms are strong for her tasks.
18 She sees that her trading is profitable,
    and her lamp does not go out at night.
19 In her hand she holds the distaff
    and grasps the spindle with her fingers.
20 She opens her arms to the poor
    and extends her hands to the needy.
21 When it snows, she has no fear for her household;
    for all of them are clothed in scarlet.
22 She makes coverings for her bed;
    she is clothed in fine linen and purple.
23 Her husband is respected at the city gate,
    where he takes his seat among the elders of the land.
24 She makes linen garments and sells them,
    and supplies the merchants with sashes.
25 She is clothed with strength and dignity;
    she can laugh at the days to come.
26 She speaks with wisdom,
    and faithful instruction is on her tongue.
27 She watches over the affairs of her household
    and does not eat the bread of idleness.
28 Her children arise and call her blessed;
    her husband also, and he praises her:
29 “Many women do noble things,
    but you surpass them all.”
30 Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting;
    but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.
31 Honor her for all that her hands have done,
    and let her works bring her praise at the city gate.

I will keep you posted on how I am doing on my restocking and home management and I hope to hear from you readers on what you are doing. I am always interested to learn new ideas!

Super Saver Saturday

Even small savings can add up!

A few weeks ago I purchased a $10.00 Target gift card for only $5.00 on Groupon Mobile. So, I went to Target today armed with my gift card, coupons, and some time on my hands to see just what I could do there to stretch my hard-earned dollars.

I began by getting a large bag of Pedigree Healthy Weight dog food which is $12.99 at Target. I had a $1.00 off on it. I was just getting started though...

As I wandered around, I noticed an end cap loaded with lots of clearance items. One item that caught my eye was the Glade scented oil plug-ins. I really like these, but they can be expensive, so I don't purchase them very often. Target had a warmer with refill marked down from $4.99 to $4.24 and a four-pack refill down to $3.64. I had a coupon for $1.50 off the warmer with refill, a coupon for $1.00 off the refill pack, AND (icing on the cake!) a Target coupon for $1.00 off when purchasing ANY (love this wording) 2 Glade products. So, I got a total of $3.50 off these items! Many people don't know that coupons can be used on clearance items (some cashiers don't either so you have to nicely ask them to check with the manager at times) and more people don't know that BOTH a manufacturer's coupon and a Target coupon can be used together on the same item. Cha-ching! More savings for you!

I clip coupons when I wait on my son to get done at Kung Fu or while watching television.

I also found a cool plaque to give to my almost son-in-law for Christmas that was originally $10.00 but marked down to $3.00 (this counts as a $10.00 gift by the way).  I like to try to stock up on fun and cool items in advance of the Christmas shopping season. Snagging cool clearance deals like this is one way to do that.

I then grabbed a small can of cat food at 47 cents and $2.00 worth of items from the dollar spot and headed to the check out with coupons in hand, gift card pulled up on my phone, and a smile on my face!

My total before the clearance prices, gift card, and coupons would have been $34.46. I paid $12.45 out of pocket at the store plus the $5.00 I spent a few weeks ago to get the gift card.

If you aren't signed up for Groupon Mobile on your smartphone, I encourage you to give it a try. Every little bit of savings frees your money to go towards other expenses and who can't use that kind of help?

Savvy Shopping is Fun!

I have a peculiar sense of fun in that I think that coupon shopping is hugely entertaining. I find it to be game that I really enjoy.

Yesterday I went shopping at Target and got twelve items for $11.38. I bought a pound of ground beef, a bunch of celery, a bunch of bananas, a pound of strawberries, two 1 lb. boxes of macaroni, two boxes of fruit snacks, and four jars of Pace salsa! How did I accomplish this feat?

I used Target mobile coupons combined with Target paper coupons that I received in the mail, and manufacturer's coupons from the Sunday paper used on clearance items (Pace salsa). Go to http://m.target.com/sms/coupon-alrts/form to sign up for these hugely helpful coupons to be delivered to your phone.

Another way to save at Target is to go http://www.target.com/ to print Target coupons. A very cool aspect of shopping at Target is that you can pair a Target coupon with a manufacturer's coupon for greater savings.

I never used to shop at Target until one opened in my little town. As gas gets more expensive, I try to do as much of my shopping as close to home as possible so it makes sense to explore the stores in my area. I have saved a lot shopping carefully at Target.

Another place I have always enjoyed shopping is Dollar  Tree. I like shopping there even more now that they accept manufacturer's coupons. I know that some of you reading this are thinking, "Seriously, who can't afford to pay a dollar for items?!" Many people I know have reduced income at one time of the year or another so any savings is a huge help. I have a reduced income in the summer because one of my major contracts is tied to the school year. No school in summer means no pay. I have to shop smart.

Last week I went to a Dollar Tree in Austin as I was already there to drop my two sons to their jobs. This Dollar Tree has refrigerated and frozen items in their store which my local Dollar Tree does not. I purchased Luigi's Italian Ices for 50 cents per four pack, got a bottle of liquid hand soap for 50 cents, bought some 3-packs of Dial soap at 50 cents each, and got VO5 shampoo for my son at 75 cents per bottle. With careful coupon use at Dollar Tree, I can make my money go farther, and we can still enjoy name brand products we prefer.

I have to buy certain items no matter what my budget, so it makes sense to me to get these necessities at the best price I possibly can, which frees up my funds to go towards items or bills where it is much harder to save. The electric bill is higher in the summer here in the South and try as I might, I haven't found any coupons for my utility providers. ; )

I encourage you to try some of these avenues of saving on your shopping trips and let me know how you did!

I Love Couponing!

I do what I call "Semi-Extreme Couponing". I don't get cartloads of items for pennies on the dollar like the folks do on the "Extreme Couponing" show. But, I do get real life great deals that anyone with a pair of scissors, a newspaper, and a sharp eye can get anytime, anywhere they are shopping.

I almost always take my coupon box with me when I leave my house just in case I see a coupon opportunity.  Yesterday I went to Walgreen's to purchase some Arizona drinks that were on sale 2/$1.00 and while I was there I walked the aisles to see what was on clearance as is my custom.

Many people don't realize that coupons can be used on mark down items. I absolutely LOVE using coupons this way as it is a huge bang for the buck!

In the shaving aisle, my Walgreen's had some Gillette Fusion Shave Gel marked down to $2.49 each. That is a very good price as at full price this item is around $5.00 for one shave gel. I got into my envelope marked Shaving Items to see if I might have a coupon or two on this excellent product. I pulled out Gillette Fusion coupons- one that was buy one, get one free and one that was $1.00 off the purchase of one Gillette Fusion shave gel.

End result was that I paid $1.49 for two name brand shave gels. They ended up being 75 cents each and a better price than generic. My husband and sons were really happy to see what I got and my budget was happy too! We didn't need shave gel for a few more weeks but if I had waited until it was needed I would have spent a lot more to get a lot less.

If you haven't tried couponing because you think it will be a huge hassle or it isn't worth it, keep on checking back as I share more on this topic. At the very least, get a Sunday paper this week and see what you can do to spend less on items you are already going to have to buy!