Saving Money by Using What You Have

I can freely admit that the creative part of my brain is often underused and perhaps even undervalued. I am used to routines, schedules and deviating from the normal can be hard for me. Yet this year I’ve been more determined to be a wise steward and make do with what I have.

My husband made a delicious dinner for New Years and I was in charge of dessert. I have always been a fan of pudding parfaits and wanted to make them in fancy, festive glasses. The only problem is we don’t have any fancy, festive glasses. So I looked through my cupboards and this is what I found. Festive canning jars. They may not have been fancy glasses, but they were better than our usual plastic ware.

One bad habit that I’ve picked up is spending hours skimming through various tot school blogs looking for ideas for creative play for my son. I often think if I had this cool toy, or these expensive art supplies my son will be happier in his play. I don’t take into consideration the fun stuff I have just lying around the house. While I was cleaning up the kitchen I ran into an empty cinnamon jar. It was going to find an immediate new home in the trash, but I decided to give it to my son with some shortened spaghetti so he could do this.

Both of these ideas were quick, easy substitutions that didn’t cost a cent but still fulfilled their functions.

See more ways to save at Lifeasmom’s Frugal Friday.

Our New Way of Budgeting

After reading “America’s Cheapest Family”, my husband and I decided to alter the way that we budgeted. In essence we do a zero-based budget where every dollar of Tim’s paycheck is accounted for before we spend it. But where our budget gets a little more complex (but essentially easier) is that we divide our bank account into basically sub-accounts such as clothing, groceries, utilities, rent, etc.  The total of all of our sub-accounts is what is in our bank account. It’s similar to the envelope method but instead of using cash we just kept track of our expenses on paper as we spend throughout the month, and always know how much is left in a category to spend.

The advantages of this budget is that I always know how much is in each sub-account for clothing, rent, etc and when the balance is zero, I know I have to wait for the next paycheck. In addition, we have the freedom to carry over any money left in a certain category to the next month or put the money into savings. We usually carry the balance over which is especially helpful for things such as utilities where some months have higher expenses than other months. If we find that there’s too much money left over at the end of the month we’ll either put it into savings or adjust the budget the following month.

The disadvantages of this budget is that it takes a little more time to set up and use than using Quicken did, although it does get easier with practice. Also, you need to make sure you’re not too strict staying in the budget that you can’t plan for unexpected occurrences in each category such as an extra high utility bill or an unexpected extra trip that depletes your gas account. You can get around this by simply transferring money from one sub-account to another, but it is important to only do this when necessary.

The first thing I did to prepare this budget was create an excel spreadsheet that divided each of our expenses and subtracted them from Tim’s paycheck. Each month Tim and I alter the different balances for the month’s needs, but I always make sure each dollar is accounted for.

The second thing I did was to make a budget notebook. I put each expense listed on the spreadsheet on a loose leaf piece of paper and arranged them alphabetically.

Finally, I broke out our checking register. Now I was prepared to start the budget.

Here is the process that I use to budget, starting a few days before Tim’s paid.

1. After talking with Tim, use the excel spreadsheet to decide how much to fund each sub-account for the month. We make sure to fund our tithe and savings first.

2. “Deposit” the money into a main check register and also record each deposit in our main sub-account notebook. For example, I would put the total amount of Tim’s check in the register, but then I would go through page-by-page in the notebook and deposit the alloted amount. For example, if I assigned $50 to utilities for that paycheck then I would add $50 to whatever (if any) balance was left from the last paycheck.

3. Add up the totals from all of the sub-accounts, these should equal the balance in the checkbook.

4. As purchases or extra deposits are made throughout the pay period, record them in the checkbook and the notebook and adjust the balances.

5. Reconcile the account with the balance and purchases listed from my bank online

This process was a little tedious at first, but now the process is a lot more smooth and I end up balancing the checkbook about once a week, and then on paydays. We also set up our budget so that each paycheck funds one-half of our monthly bills and expenses. For example, to pay for our July rent we we will fund half the rent account the second check of June and then fully fund it the first check of July. This way, all of the paychecks are evenly divided and we’re not paying rent out of one check and then catching up later in the month with the other expenses. This also pads our checking account a little to avoid overdraft fees.

I still use the envelope system and cash for a few categories such as garage sales, clothing (which we mainly purchase at garage sales), Tim’s lunches and groceries (because I spend less using cash). I just record a withdrawal and don’t keep a sub-account of cash because I can easily count it in the envelope.

Even though it feels strange going to a mostly paper system, when I had used Quicken for years, this method is really fulfilling our family’s needs right now and keeping us on track. If I ever find a similar computer program we may use that, but for now this system works for us.

Storing Water

Our apartment building shut off our water last night for repairs. Of course we didn’t realize this until Tim used the bathroom and needed to wash his hands. Luckily we just pulled out an apple juice container full of water and Tim could wash his hands.

We have been slowly building up a supply of water, food and basic necessities since moving into our apartment. We do this because our church has counseled us to be ready for emergencies, but I think it’s sound advice for any family. We currently have about 40 gallons or 8 days of drinking/cooking water for our whole family. One day we will have enough for two weeks, but our storage space is limited for now so we stored as much as we could.

Having water stored is handy when the water runs out but also for emergencies that might occur in your area. Bottled water is one of the most important items in any natural disaster but sometimes the trucks can’t get through for a few days. In addition, if there is a limited supply of water the cost may be very expensive. That is where having your own water comes in handy, so you don’t rely on others for your needs. In addition, you may be able to help your friends and neighbors who don’t have water.

We started out small by storing our water in used, clean juice or pop bottles. FEMA has a site here about how to properly store and rotate water, and here is another site with water storage guidelines. Because we don’t buy that much juice or pop and wanted to build our supply more quickly, we started purchasing packs of bottled water. Whenever I could find water for $3.00 for a package of 24 16.9 oz bottles I would stock up and buy a few. These packages are approximately 3 gallons, which makes them around $1.00/gallon.

I have found that I also need to keep on top of my water supply. I was sure we had 45 gallons of water, but when I took an inventory this morning, I only found 40. Which means another trip to the store when I see some bottled water sales.

We are glad that we made storing water a priority because part of being frugal and living off of one income means being prepared and self-sufficient. We know that if our water goes out, the water supply is contaminated or some other disaster occurs we have supplied our most basic needs and could sustain ourselves for over a week.

Our Valentine’s Day

Tim and I celebrated a wonderful Valentine’s Day this year. We kept it simple and the best part was the time we spent together, and the lovely flowers Tim gave me. We decided to make a fancy dinner at home to save on costs. Tim was the head chef and I followed his orders. The dinner turned out wonderful. Since we stayed home we also didn’t need to pay for a baby-sitter. I tried to roughly estimate the cost of our dinner below. I only added the cost of the food we ate, not any leftovers we had. I would estimate that this meal would cost at least $12.00/plate at a restaurant.

Menu:
Stuffed pork chops with apple bacon stuffing
Rosemary potatoes
Salad
Garlic Bread (yes, the top was accidentally burned)
Water

Pork Chops: $3.00
Stuffing with apple and bacon: $1.50
Rosemary Potatoes: $1.00
Salad: $1.00
Garlic Bread: $1.10

Total: $7.60
Per Plate: $3.80

We splurged a little and went out for ice cream for dessert and spent a little over $5.00 for high quality ice cream cones (we still used a coupon). Since we rarely have ice cream it was a delicious treat. Our son (who’s allergic to dairy) was happy to snack on grapes while we enjoyed our dessert.

After dessert, we put our son to bed and watched a movie on Hulu then turned in for the night. Overall, it was a terrific Valentine’s Day and we didn’t blow the bank to celebrate.

Making Orange Zest

Tim’s been coming down with a cold so we’ve been eating a lot of oranges over the past week to boost our vitamin C intake. Since I don’t like things going to waste, I put all of the orange peels in a large cup. When I have collected enough peels, I sit down and grate the peels to make orange zest to use in baking. I then store the zest in a jar in the fridge.

Making orange zest isn’t the only thing you can do with orange peels. You can thrown them in the disposal to freshen up the drain. Or you can put an orange peel with your brown sugar to keep it soft. Dried orange peels are often used in potpourri as well.

I waste more than I like to admit, but one easy thing I can do is save my orange peels for other uses.

The Simple Life: Beans and Rice

I have read many frugal experts who tout the benefits of beans and rice. The dish is cheap, easy, and healthy, especially when using brown rice. The only problem was that Tim and I couldn’t find a recipe that tasted good. Then Tim struck gold.

He found this recipe online that was quick, cheap, yummy and we had all the ingredients on hand (with slight modifications). We served it to our friends who enjoyed it as well. We often put it in homemade tortillas with salsa, cheese, sour cream, lettuce and tomatoes or whatever we have on hand. But these aren’t necessary and invariably drive the cost per serving up.

To make this recipe even cheaper we don’t buy canned beans but instead soak and cook dry beans ahead of time then divide them into ziplock bags and freeze them until needed. I’ll even save some of the water I cooked them in with some beans to flavor the beans and rice. We also have used kidney beans in this recipe. We don’t purchase instant rice either so I’ll throw either white or brown rice in our rice cooker and add it to the recipe at the end.

Although this recipe is simple we enjoy how easy and versatile it is to make. Since it makes a lot we always have leftovers for lunch or another dinner. Now that we found a recipe we enjoy I too can tout the benefits of beans and rice.

The Simple Life: The Story of the Shared Fork

When Tim and I were engaged we were invited over with a group of fellow college students to our local church leader’s home. When we drove into their neighborhood and saw the beautiful landscaping and large homes we knew this family did very well for themselves. They were in the prime of their lives, with three or four children still at home.

Towards the end of the evening we were able to talk to our leader and his wife and they shared some stories of when they were young and first married. The story that has stuck with me is the story of the shared fork.

During the first year of their marriage they were in school and had very little income. In fact times were so lean that they had only one fork in their household which they took turns eating from. They did this for nine months until they had the extra money (about a dime) to buy a fork. They were so determined to live within their means that they made the necessary sacrifices to achieve their goals.

As I heard them speak of their humble beginning in the walls of their beautiful home I knew they had learned the lessons of frugality to achieve financial goals over time. The greater lesson I learned was that this family looked back with fondness at the times when they relied on each other and used creativity and humor to make it through each month. Tim and I both received the feeling that although they were grateful for the security they now enjoyed, they would return back to those lean times in a heartbeat because of the simplicity and closeness those times brought.

This family learned how to be the master of their money, however little or great that was, in both action and attitude. This simple lesson has stayed with Tim and I through the early years of our marriage, as we remember that most successful people started where we did, in a little apartment just scraping by.

Tim and I have a similar story from the first month of our marriage. We were living in Utah, having just been married around Thanksgiving, and moved into Tim’s uncle’s basement. I was going to school and Tim was working until we would both go back to school in Idaho that January. Our wedding receptions were scheduled after Christmas when we had a break from school. So during this month we had very little household items, and little desire to use our meager income to purchase items until we knew what gifts we would receive at our receptions.

Somehow we ended up with only one plate between us. Remembering the story of the shared fork we resolved that we could live off of one plate until our wedding receptions. We did this for a few weeks, until one day I decided that we really could spare $1 for a plate and bought one at the dollar store. Tim was disappointed that I didn’t last the month, and looking back I am a little disappointed too.

Even though our experiment was prematurely ended the lesson of simplicity and frugality has stuck with us. There have been times in our marriage when we slept on an air mattress as a bed, didn’t have a microwave, and walked everywhere to save gas money. However lean the times though we never bought stuff on credit and we always made saving and staying out of consumer debt a priority.

Now I don’t know if we’ll ever live a house as nice as our church leader’s, and I don’t want to set my heart on that goal and lose focus on the most important things in life. But I do know that when we control our money in action and attitudes, our lives are simpler and our peace increases.

Consumer Product’s Just Noticeable Difference

In high school psychology I learned about the term “just noticeable difference” or “differential threshold”. To paraphrase, this is the smallest measurement where your senses can detect a difference in light, sound, touch, etc.

This term, doesn’t only apply to psychology, but can also help your family budget. If you seek to find the “just noticeable difference” in the least amount of product it takes to still be effective, you can help stretch your budget.

Be aware that in order to more effectively market and sell their products, many companies suggest using more product than is necessary. This is especially true in laundry detergents. I have found that my clothes are still clean even if I don’t go near the suggested cap fill line.

Try an experiment in your household. Cut back a little on the amount of laundry soap, dishwasher detergent, shampoo, toothpaste and other consumables you use and see if you notice a difference. If not then cut back a little more and continue doing this until you find the minimum amount you can use before it affects the product’s performance.

Two products that I can think of that are easy to reduce consumption of are shampoo and dryer sheets. To extend your shampoo simply skip the “repeat” step listed on the bottle. To make your dryer sheets last longer, use only half a sheet in each load of laundry.

There are many other products you can reduce your usage of and save. Just think the next time when you’re using a product “Do I really need to use this much or will less do?”

The Simple Life: Dried Flowers

These are the beautiful flowers my husband gave me for our Anniversary last month. When they were on their last breath I decided to make a nice decoration from them.

I simply turned them upside down, grabbed some ribbon from a present we received and hung them on a nail. They may not fit in with the rest of our Christmas decorations but they have added a bright spot to our home and remind me of my husband.

The Simple Life: The Night Before

I have found one simple trick that helps my mornings run a little smoother and lets me accomplish more during the day. That is to prepare for the morning rush the night before.

One way I am doing this is by making Tim’s lunch the night before. This gives me time to unload the dishwasher and quickly pick up the house before Tim leaves for work and while our son is eating breakfast in his high chair. It also saves us money because we are less tempted to say, “Oh we forgot your lunch, why don’t you just go out today.” Although Tim does have a budgeted amount to spend on lunches with co-workers 3-4 times per month, any more than this really eats into our budget.

I also prepare for laundry day the night before. Since our apartment doesn’t have washer/dryer hookups we have to do our laundry at the laundry facility in our complex which is 2-3 blocks away. I have found that by having the laundry sorted, the coins and detergent gathered, and retrieving all the odd washcloths and rags laundry goes so much smoother. I am able to start the laundry before Tim leaves for work which makes it much easier to finish with my toddler.

If I know that I am making pancakes or hashbrowns for breakfast I often whip up the pancake batter or microwave the potatoes the night before to speed up the baking process. This helps me feed my family healthy meals even when everyone’s rushing around.

Even though we don’t have school age children, I know how crazy getting children ready for school is. You can help them by laying out their clothes and backpack the night before. This way they aren’t looking for lost shoes while the bus drives away. Encourage older children to prepare for school the night before.

Even though I am not as good at this habit as I have been in the past, I know the days go by much easier if I have prepared the night before.

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