But that got me to thinking, as someone who's getting pretty savvy about budgeting but also sometimes totally blows it, what are some of my frugal successes and failures (intentional or not)?
Hits:
- Swagbucks. And now (choke) Bing Rewards. Guys, I like getting free Amazon gift cards for doing nothing but searching. I can't help it. It's addicting.
- Couponing. I know a lot of people dis this, but it's saved us a ton of money this year. You can get things for free or almost free sometimes with coupons that you can't possibly get that cheap no matter how marked-down the price is. It's saved a ton on diapers alone. It also doesn't have to be crazy time-consuming. Just today I printed coupons for fresh pineapple, something we're pretty fond of.
- Making due. Out of money for the grocery store? Time to finally use all that stuff in the freezer and pantry. (I'm still working on this, though. I love buying produce.)
- Free magazine subscriptions! I got Martha Stewart free thanks to Rewards Gold. (Also Better Homes & Gardens.)
- Marked-down meat. That sounds gross, but I do like getting meat for sometimes half off, just because it needs to be frozen or used by that day or the next. Would you rather pay $6 for some steaks or $3? Cheap meat makes me happy. We're not really very good of vegetarians here.
Misses:
- I have a problem. I like to wash clothes mostly on warm or hot cycles. I cannot bring myself to wash towels or sheets or even underwear (usually) on cold. Apparently 90% of your energy comes from hot water usage, though, which makes me feel rather guilty. But I feel so germ-free this way! I need to start washing things like socks and shirts in cold water, though, no matter that they're sweaty or have been on dirty feet. After all, I didn't mind things being handwashed in cold water in Karamoja. (Except towels. There is no way to defunkify towels in cold water, IMO. I know I might be almost alone there.)
- Having a smartphone. I am SO thankful for mine, but man, I hate that bill every month. And this month dear AT&T tacked on a $36 charge for upgrading that they failed to tell me about. I suppose I should be on the phone complaining to them rather than blogging.
- Selling things online / on craigslist. I have had a few etsy sales and a couple book sales on half.com, which is promising. But it's very slow going. I suppose that's just as well, because I don't have loads of time, but it's still not exactly a way to earn bucketloads of cash. Also, I didn't charge enough for shipping the first couple times, so I lost money. Oops! Priority Mail is expensive.
- Costco. This really should be on both lists - it saves us so much on things like dog food and bread and produce - but I can't go into that store without being sucked into something else which may be cheap for the amount you get, but our budget doesn't need 15 pounds of sausage at a time (usually). I just need to be smarter about it. However...the unnecessary flannel sheets I came away with last week sure are nice on cold nights. :)
I think when it comes down to it, I'd like to live more simply and contentedly while still enjoying good things in whatever form they come. After all, some of my best memories are from a place where there weren't many luxuries.
But now to ogle my new phone some more....
No comments:
Post a Comment