August Frugal chatter

[jasperandchar]

Junk food is allowance money. We may buy a couple treats on the grocery shop, but if we are going outside the grocery shop, allowance money it is. It is our frivolous spending money: coffee, dinner out with friends, "I wants," it works out to $20 each a week. It may sound like a lot but has curbed a lot of other needless spending. The $20 doesn't go far. Dh saved $10 from his for 10 weeks to surprise me with an anniversary day date.

that's sweet, it just goes to show you can do without when you have a plan/goal.

[coupon girl]

well took my sister-in-law out to sears with other sister-in-law she didn't want us to buy her anything but we said your 50th birthday is coming up so let us -she got (2) pairs jeans at sears for 28.20 they were 24.00 with 50% off with the sears charge -well I didn't have one so other sister-in-law stepped up and I gave her 15.00 towards it -it will help the one on disability out as she find each month hard -rent ,bills groceries -she lives on her own -it felt nice to do something nice for a family member

[saundyl]

My DH meets/met a lot of the above points. Our improvements. Cash only spending for individual spending money i.e. we are both on an allowance. I "do" the finances, but we both sit and talk about them biweekly. The allowance and talk have improved things around here drastically. Junk food is an addiction...one we both have an issue with...see also, all my rants about Coke in the weight loss thread. Gah!

WEIGHT LOSS THREAD? i THINK I FOUND THE WEIGHT lol

[coupon girl]

well have spent 294.16 in groceries so far this month -maybe a bit over-like 147 a week-but stocked up on a few items so that accounts for it-plus I am eating more fruit and veggies and there is no coupons for that

[jasperandchar]

well took my sister-in-law out to sears with other sister-in-law she didn't want us to buy her anything but we said your 50th birthday is coming up so let us -she got (2) pairs jeans at sears for 28.20 they were 24.00 with 50% off with the sears charge -well I didn't have one so other sister-in-law stepped up and I gave her 15.00 towards it -it will help the one on disability out as she find each month hard -rent ,bills groceries -she lives on her own -it felt nice to do something nice for a family member

very nice indeed

[jasperandchar]

So went to get the mail today and I am the one who opens all the mail as dh never gets around to it and really doesn't mind. So I opened a letter from EI saying that dh does not have enough hours to get EI....grr...dh is going to be so disappointed as I am. Oh well just another reason to be more frugal and make better choices when possible. Can`t wait until 10PM tonight to watch the new Duck Dynasty episode (Phil & Kay are renewing their vows - shh...it`s a secret).

[thriftygranny]

Junk food is allowance money. We may buy a couple treats on the grocery shop, but if we are going outside the grocery shop, allowance money it is. It is our frivolous spending money: coffee, dinner out with friends, "I wants," it works out to $20 each a week. It may sound like a lot but has curbed a lot of other needless spending. The $20 doesn't go far. Dh saved $10 from his for 10 weeks to surprise me with an anniversary day date.

That is so sweet, now that is a special gift!

[Crochetlady]

So went to get the mail today and I am the one who opens all the mail as dh never gets around to it and really doesn't mind. So I opened a letter from EI saying that dh does not have enough hours to get EI....grr...dh is going to be so disappointed as I am. Oh well just another reason to be more frugal and make better choices when possible.

That sucks big time.

[avoncallingu]

[QUOTE=jasperandchar;5588146]So went to get the mail today and I am the one who opens all the mail as dh never gets around to it and really doesn't mind. So I opened a letter from EI saying that dh does not have enough hours to get EI....grr...dh is going to be so disappointed as I am. Oh well just another reason to be more frugal and make better choices when possible. )

Poopy! My heart goes out to you. I wish you could catch a break! You're so kind to all of us around here!

[sweet sparrow]

It wasn't until I got myself the book "Your Money of Your Life" and did the steps in the book did I start seeing the light, although it took about 5 months before I started really seeing a dent in my spending habits. One of the tools used was the hourly rate, like I mentionned in an earlier post, which was an eye opener. The one step that had the most profound effect on me was asking myself every month, if the money I spent brought fulfillment to my life and would I still be making the same purchase if I wasn't working. The first month everything was a necessity. After five months, I had to ask myself why I was spending the same $$$ on my hobbies, when I already had a room full of unstarted projects. Overnight, I stopped buying supplies for my hobbies.

The whole idea of the book is to live a frugal lifestyle to save yourself from the tyranny of needing to have a job, which our consumerist society goes against by making us slaves to buying our happiness. (Just the other day, on another thread, I saw someone bragging that they rewarded themselves with buying a rolex (and already owning 5) as a reward for working so much... Why wouldn't they put the money in the bank and quit working a year earlier than they planned?)

I checked and our library didn't have this book. It looks like it's an interesting read.

[sweet sparrow]

[QUOTE=avoncallingu;5588195]

So went to get the mail today and I am the one who opens all the mail as dh never gets around to it and really doesn't mind. So I opened a letter from EI saying that dh does not have enough hours to get EI....grr...dh is going to be so disappointed as I am. Oh well just another reason to be more frugal and make better choices when possible. )

Poopy! My heart goes out to you. I wish you could catch a break! You're so kind to all of us around here!

Yes, ditto! I'm sorry to hear that.

[avoncallingu]

There has been some new produce in my garden for us to eat in the last week. We have started to enjoy some young zucchinis and cherry tomatoes. We were already eating peas, swisschard, potatoes, and green onions (done for the season).

I stopped over to visit my neighbour across the street yesterday afternoon. She has three children, her youngest son is 10 months older than my baby boy. She is done having children, so she has been giving me clothes and toys for our son (most for keep, some to borrow). She knows that I coupon and I mentioned to her that I found infant Tylenol on sale at WM for $5, just in case she needed any. She said that she is so broke she can't even afford that. When I asked her a couple of questions, she told me that they were running low on food, but she was hoping that her long term boyfriend (father of the children, and lives with them) would see what they had left and finally step up and buy some food. With a little coaxing I managed to get her to come back to my house briefly to get some food. I was able to send her home with 3 grocery bags of food from my pantry and freezer. I know about her and his relationship and it really bothers me when a guy doesn't step up and care for his children. I don't just mean financially either, he's a bit of an absentee dad.

Thank-you for being so kind!

[avoncallingu]

Well this morning woke up with a backache so couldn't do my customer .I took some Tylenol Back and Body so hopefully it goes away so.

Ouch! I've had long term back problems so I know what you're describing. My physio says that by the time you FEEL the pain, you've been hurting your back for a while. You do a very demanding job. Be careful, my friend. I hope you're back in the pink soon!

[jasperandchar]

That sucks big time.

yeppers it does

[coupon girl]

so sorry to hear that jasper-you are so kind to all of us - but we are a tough group and frugal so that will help when things get tough right