Frugal Mania

If you don’t, maybe you should. There are lots of great deals to be found on Ebay. From clothing to cars and everything in between, Ebay is great.

A word of caution–be sure you’re getting a really good deal by investigating the seller, investigate the item to be sure it is not a fake and check out those shipping costs before buying. Sometimes the shipping costs negate the good deal when you can find a similar item in a local store.

Thank you, Ryan for the information about HSBC and their 5.05% APR savings accounts!

I took my youngest son to the pediatrician today for his 18 month well check. Our insurance benefits did not cover the visit. Lesson learned. Check insurance first so that I won’t be surprised at the doctor’s office! Another tip is to use the local Health Department for vaccinations (or not get vaccinations!) which are priced based on income and no matter your income will be less expensive than get vaccinations at the pediatrician’s office.

Gas prices in my area have gone down a bit. Of course, they are so ridiculously high that dropping 10 measly cents isn’t very impressive.

My husband got a Walmart credit card that gets us 3 cents more off per gallon. I was thinking about how many people sign up for this credit card for that reason and then don’t pay off the balance each month. That means using that card is costing them way more money than they are saving. Of course, Walmart knows that people will do that, so giving us folks who balances off every month a 3 cent discount on gas is no sweat for them.

Be smart with your credit cards. Forget the percentage rate. Find cards that offer cash back or other incentive and then do not spend more per month than you can pay off each month.

My husband and I use Tracfone as for our cell phone service and have done so for over four years now. We have never been disappointed and have recently gotten rid of our home phone when the bill climbed to nearly $80 per month.

Recently we upgraded to new Tracfones, these being the new Motorola Razor phones. We love them and the service is great, even where we live. I tried to use a Cingular (now, AT&T) phone that was a very good deal per minute, but couldn’t get coverage where I live. Tracfone has more coverage area than AT&T.

If you’re looking to keep your cell phone bill to a minimum, check out Tracfone!

Free iced coffee day coming up at McDonald’s. You may have already had that in your area, but if not, call your local McDonald’s and find out when they are offering it.

I love iced coffee in the summer time. Really,it’s more like coffee flavored chocolate milk, is fattening and is a total indulgence. It’s also much cheaper to make at home.

Make coffee in the strength you desire (btw, buy fair trade coffee–it’s worth not being frugal in this respect.), mix milk, a bit of brown sugar, vanilla, and chocolate syrup together. Fill a glass with ice, add the milk mixture and then the coffee. I like more coffee in mine than I can get at a restaurant, you may like less. Make it your taste while keeping it frugal.

You know you don’t have to buy expensive cleaners, right? Vinegar and baking soda are fantastic cleaning agents. Natural cleaning products are also better for your health and for the environment.

If you do not believe that natural cleaning supplies will really work for you but still need cleaning supplies at a good price, check out your local Dollar Tree. You’ll find a large assortment of cleaning supplies for one dollar each.

So, what are you doing this summer? The children are out of school and you are probably keeping busy trying to keep them busy, right? Yeah, me too.

One favorite thing for my boys is painting. Instead of the usual paint on paper I get wooden items or other small paint able objects from stores like Hobby Lobby or Wal*mart. Painting rocks is also a great idea and the rocks are free.

Sidewalk chalk keeps my guys entertained for a while on the deck and best of all it washes away after the next rain.

Making necklaces is fairly inexpensive with cross stitch thread and beads.

Hope these ideas help your week go a little more smoothly.

Check this out! ING Direct is offering 5% interest on CDs. For those of who don’t have thousands to invest at once, I suggest ING Direct for earning a bit on the savings you do have. Check out ING Direct to see if their CDs are right for you, too.

Invest, invest, invest!

This is a very inexpensive recipe that I love. I add ground turkey to it occasionally to “beef” it up a bit.

Pour 2 tbs of olive oil in the bottom of a slow cooker. Chop one medium onion and two cloves of garlic and place them in the slow cooker. Peel and chop 2 sweet potatoes and add them to the slow cooker. Add in 2 cans of black beans, 1 jar of salsa, 1 cup of water,and 1 tbs of chili powder.

Cook on low for 6 hours.

This recipe can be done without a slow cooker, in regular pot. The sweet potatoes need to be fork tender.

If you always have onions, garlic (onion and garlic powders if you don’t use the fresh stuff often enough), olive oil (canola or vegetable oil will work,too), chili powder, beans and salsa on hand, this recipe will cost less than a dollar to make.

I did not have beans or salsa this time, so it cost me an extra $1.50. If you add ground turkey, it’s another $.75-1.50, depending on if you add a half pound or whole pound. Still a cheap, delicious and very healthy recipe.

If you’re frugal by nature, you probably find it difficult to buy new clothing for yourself. My husband and I both are prone to wear things until they actually fall apart. Sometimes it’s because we’re attached to something comfortable (I recently threw away my favorite sweat shirt, one that I received when I was 12. I’m nearly 29 now.) and sometimes it’s because we balk at the price of new, quality clothing.

My husband has taken to thrift store shopping. We live near our favorite university and he loves wearing clothes that show off his team spirit but doesn’t like paying the prices at the university bookstore or department store. He’s great at finding a bargain, that’s for sure.

I, on the other hand, do not like wearing used clothing. Call me picky, but I can’t do it. And I can’t have used clothing for my children unless it comes from someone I know. Lucky for me,I have three boys, so the younger two always have plenty of play clothes and dress clothes that are handed down.

I’m a Target shopper. Walmart, too, sometimes. For me, at this point in my life as a student and stay at home mom, I don’t need quality clothing. I’m going to get food, markers, pens, dirt, bleach, etc on my clothing, so the cheaper the better. Every summer I buy five new t-shirts for less than $5 each and I wear them daily. Around the house, out and about. I buy one new pair of capris if needed and a new pair of workout pants. I’ve had the same dress clothes for five years now. Shoes, too. I have a standard pair that I can slip on quickly and those are replaced each summer.

I would never win any fashion awards. Ever. And that’s okay. Because the money I’m saving now will nicely fund a quality wardrobe when I begin my career in a few years.

For my sons, new clothes are outgrown within 6 months. Usually before they can tear them up. No need for name brands here. I’m sure they’ll want to add name brand pieces as they get older and eventually I’ll be in the market for high quality jeans and shoes, but for now, Target is perfect.

Being frugal is about taking care of what really matters. Would I rather blow my money on clothes and dinners out or save it and have a wonderful vacation with my family? Would I rather have a top of the line HD television or a great laptop that can actually help me make more money? Being frugal is about priorities and spending money on things that are really worth it in the long run. Being frugal requires being concerned with the future more than with the present.

So, to bring this post back around clothing, I don’t mind looking frumpy now so that when I am a professional I can look like a professional.

How much do you spend on groceries? This is a popular message board question. It all depends on what is included in “groceries” for most people. Food is not so bad (though I’ve noticed prices shooting up like crazy this summer!) but when toiletries and household supplies are added in, not to mention diapers and the like, that ‘grocery’ bill starts to add up.

For us, it’s $500 per month for a family of five with one dog. That includes one child in disposable diapers (though in the past when I was less busy and home more often cloth diapers saved both money and the environment, so I strongly suggest them.), all toiletries and household supplies. It can be tight. We do not qualify for any type of help from the government, but many families do and I encourage you to check out the WIC requirements for your family if you have children under the age or five or if you are expecting a baby.

I am able to feed my family well on our budget by buying generic. Don’t be afraid. There are very few generic products that actually taste different from the brand name products. Find the ones that must have in a brand name and buy generic for the rest. If you can’t resist the brand names buy them only when they are sale or when you have coupons.

I try to make as much from scratch as possible, but time is my enemy at this point in my life. I bought a bread machine from a thrift store for $7.00 and it has more than paid for itself at this point.

Cut out the junk food. Seriously, replace it with good stuff. No excuses. Treats are fine. A never ending supply of junk is expensive and definitely not okay to have around the house.

Drink water.

Make a menu, create a grocery list and stick to it. This has been my best money saving implement. If I make a list of exactly what I need before I go to the store, I’ll stick to it. If I just write down a few things I need and leave the rest to make up as I shop, I’ll overspend.

I’ll be adding frugal recipes in future posts.

This is my first post here at Frugal Mania. I am excited to share what I’ve learned about frugal living and saving money. After I had my second child, I left my telecommuting position because of a change in management at my company. Instead of returning to work in the office, I chose to focus being a full time mother and to finish my degree via my college’s distance learning program. This left us with much less freedom in our budget. I had no choice except to be frugal. It was difficult at first. We closed on our first home mere weeks before I left my job, so the loss of my job was obviously not expected. Times were meager.

Money isn’t so tight anymore, however, thrifty living is a lifestyle that I choose to continue. I spend when it really matters and have the money to do so by cutting corners where I can. It’s a great feeling.

Whether you are frugal by choice or necessity, I hope you enjoy this blog!