Frugal Living

* Preface: Forgive me if I am repeating myself from previous things I have written, and I really don't want to come across as self-righteous or like I have all of the answers. I'm just excited that we are finally getting out of debt and wanted to share what has worked for us. It's been a long, sucky road getting here, but we're doing it, and I hope by sharing what works for us I can help someone else who may be struggling with the same thing.

Cameron and I have been on a Dave Ramsey inspired debt reduction plan. It's been wonderful, but difficult at times. We eat lots of beans and rice and pasta. I cut lots of coupons. Date night sometimes consists of pizza at home with a Netflix movie. But it's all for a good cause. Our marriage has become stronger and we are both on the same page, excited about living debt free.

For the first few years of our married life, we always lived paycheck to paycheck. It's kind of embarrassing to admit that because I always considered myself a planner and a fairly responsible person, but for some reason, life's circumstances always seemed to leave us with too much month and not enough paycheck. We didn't exactly plan out having kids so early, and anytime we thought we were making some headway, there were unplanned expenses such as medical bills, car repairs, and other setbacks.

I began to feel hopeless, like there was no way for us to get ahead. After buying our house (a dream realized  mostly by the help of family and loans to be paid back through the new home buyer tax credit) and fixing it up to livable standards and having our second baby, our debt situation began to feel overwhelming. How were we going to dig ourselves out of this mess when we could barely pay for our monthly living expenses and bills? We considered drastic things like movings somewhere where the cost of living wasn't so ridiculously high, or me working full-time and putting the kids in daycare, but those options just didn't feel right for us. We felt stuck.

Well, I'm happy to report that we are doing it! We're slowly paying off our debt! There is hope! And I am so excited about it, I want to share a few of my frugal living tips with anyone else trying to live on meager funds. The more simply I live, the happier I feel.

We Communicate
Money use to be a source of stress. We'd talk about it and we'd both be tense and stressed the entire conversation. We would talk about our giant bills and small income and stress over what we could do to fix it. We'd feel helpless together. But we never had a guide or a plan, so our discussions always seemed to end up at a dead end. We read the Dave Ramsey book and watched a few of his DVDs and began to talk about it in a more organized fashion. It was really helpful to have something to guide our discussions and give us ideas. Check out http://www.daveramsey.com/fpu/. Once we started following a plan and saw that it was working, our talks turned from stressful to hopeful to excited. Now we look forward to our budget talks! I know, we're nerds.


The envelope system 
We pay for everything with cash. I've tried multiple different kinds of budgeting, but for us, the cash system takes the cake for the easiest to follow and the most effective way of staying in our budget. We separate our money into different envelopes at the beginning of each month. I keep all of the receipts in an envelope so that we can review where our money has gone each week. When the money is gone, its GONE, and we have to get creative. Plus, paying cash really makes me think a lot more about where my money is going. There is just something about handing over a stack of bills verses swiping a piece of plastic. The only things we don't pay cash for are our monthly bills and gas. Any other spending is cash.

Another reason why paying cash is a good idea? It helps small businesses. Credit card companies often charge retailers fees when someone uses a credit or debit card.

Buying Organic/Living green
I wish I could afford all organic produce. I wish that every dime I spent went to a business that used sustainable and green practices,. I can't. I have to pick and choose. I have some standards I don't budge on. I avoid Walmart at all costs. I try to buy the top twelve items from the Environmental Working Group's dirty dozen: http://www.organic.org/articles/showarticle/article-214. I also buy most meats and dairy organic. We eat meat fairly rarely. I also try to support local/small businesses when I have a choice between that and a chain.

Buying used, growing my own produce, recycling, and getting eggs from my own chickens are some other ways I try to live more green.


Craigslist
I have a huge crush on craigslist. It's not only a great place for shopping, but a great way to sell what we no longer need or want. And another way to live green. Our monthly clothing budget is only $20 total. That's for all four (soon to be five) of us. But you know what? I think  my kids dress pretty dang cute. I buy all of their clothes off of Craigslist, aside from what they inherit from friends who have older children who outgrow their old clothes. I bought Sunshine three huge garbage bags full of clothes a few months back from a woman on craigslist. She had so many clothes I couldn't fit them all in her dresser. I'm pretty sure I would have paid hundreds upon hundreds if I bought them new. And they are adorable. Nobody but me knows they are used.

Swapping
It's nice to find other people with kids who I can swap clothes with. Some of my friends who have older girls give me their daughters old clothes and I give them Apollo's old clothes for their little boys and it works out great. And seriously, kids are cute in anything, as long as it's clean. I'm pretty sure Sunshine could make a burlap sack look adorable. Plus, my kids don't really care what they are wearing as long as it's comfortable.

We do a babysitting swap with two other families the first three Saturdays of the month. Apollo and Sunshine LOVE it because three Saturdays a month they get to have a play date with some of their best friends, and we get two dates out of it and only have to spend one night per month watching six kids. The nights that we have all the kids are usually fun too. 

In the past, Cameron has traded his magician skills for things that we can use. He did magic for a few years at the Marriott's Santa breakfast and in return we got a free overnight stay with breakfast. It was a great (and free) way to celebrate our anniversary.

We also participate in research studies and surveys for extra cash when we can. Check out the etc. section on craigslist and see if there is anything you'd be interested in participating in. 

Estate Sales
I love going to estate sales. I recently found nesting cast iron pans for only 25 cents! I wanted to get rid of my teflon pans because I worry about the health risks associated with old teflon, and all it took to replace all of my teflon was a quarter! Woo hoo! I also found a dresser for $2. It needs a paint job, but it's solid wood and just the right size for Apollo's room. Estate sales are also a great source for tools and gardening supplies. Plus they are fun :) You get a glimpse into what someone collected over their lifetime. I like getting something with a little history.

Elbow Grease/ Do-it-yourself
I use a lot of spray paint. Click here to see my most recent project. I love having a nicely furnished house, but I can't afford new furniture. The only thing I have ever bought brand new is our couch (and we kind of cheated- we returned all of the china people bought us for our wedding and used the store credit at Macy's for a couch. We figured we'd use the couch more than we'd ever use china). It's the only upholstered thing in our house. If I need something that isn't upholstered I will never pay for it new. I like buying used because I can get something made of solid wood that will last much longer than something made from veneer. I also think it gives a home lots of character when it doesn't look like everything was bought at furniture showroom- Boring. It's easy to make something look new with new knobs or pulls and a coat of paint.

I also make my own laundry soap, fabric softener, and dishwasher detergent. Click here for the laundry soap/fabric softener recipes and here for the dishwasher detergent recipe.

One of our favorite changes we recently made is baking our own bread. It takes more time, but it tastes so much better than store bought bread, plus it's cheaper. We buy the giant Costco bags of flour.

Cameron is handy and knows how to fix things when they break (thank goodness) and if we can't fix it ourselves, we usually know someone who can at least explain to us how to do it ourselves. Our cheapness has forced us to develop skills we might not otherwise have.

Needs verses wants
 We really had to be sticklers about our needs vs. wants. I have never owned an Ipod but I have wanted one for the last six years. Sometimes it sucks, but it isn't a need and I can hold out until we are debt free before I have my Ipod full of my favorite tunes to help drowned out the noise from the kids. I also don't need a flat screen TV, a cell phone, a Kindle Reader, or a Kitchenaid Mixer. But I really, really want them. And sometimes it sucks.

We bought a system called Ooma for our landline. Basically, for a one-time fee of $200 we have a free landline with no phone bill, EVER. The landline works through our internet connection. I'm pretty sure that it has already paid for itself.

We decided we needed a cell phone for traveling and emergencies, so we bought a prepaid phone at Fred Meyer that we rarely use. Whenever I spend $75 at Fred Meyer, I get 20 free minutes, so I have only had to reload it twice in the last six months. I'm pretty sure our monthly cell phone bill works out to be less than $5 per month. Before we switched everything over, our cell phone bills were around $130. Big difference! Granted, I don't have the internet on my cell phone, but I don't miss it. I get more than enough internet time on my laptop, and it's a nice way to help me live in the moment rather than having a phone/ the internet to distract me.

Sell stuff
We saved up our emergency fund by selling things on Craigslist. For example, I had a beautiful Heywood Wakefield table that my mom had given to me. It was the table I spent all of my childhood dinners and birthday parties at. I loved that table, but I also knew I could probably sell it for a good amount. It also didn't fit very well in our tiny dining nook. It took some patience and I ended up posting it on craigslist probably a dozen times, but I finally found an antique collector who wanted it enough to meet my asking price of $900. I replaced that table with a wood table and six chairs that I only paid $25 for. Woo hoo! The new table is . probably going to get a spray paint makeover one of these days, but it makes me happy knowing that we have an emergency fund. Plus, now I don't have to worry about the kids coloring on the antique table.

If you don't have the cash to pay for it, don't get it.
A simple concept, but hard to live by. There are all kinds of things I think I need right now. I have mild scoliosis and my Chiropractor wants to see me three times a week to help fix some of the problems associated with it. We need to pay someone to trim our trees so that they don't fall down in the next wind storm. I need to have some of my baby teeth replaced with implants (three of my adult teeth never came in for some dumb reason). I want a mini-van instead of a dented Buick whose paint peels off when I wash it. I want to go on a family vacation. But... one thing at a time, we can save up for it and prioritize. It's not always fun, but it is nice to pay cash and not put things on our credit cards. I feel empowered instead of feeling like a slave to my debt, and you can't put a price on that.

How do you save money? Please share your tips.