Frugal Parenting

A great way to save yourself money is to look for ways to reuse what you already have and make it into something you need. Not only can this save money, but it also helps prevent waste, as you’re not buying something brand-new.

There are so many ways to reuse things. Here are a couple of examples. We just moved into a new house, and there is a small kitchen window that doesn’t have blinds or curtains. We almost bought a new curtain for it, but decided instead to take a curtain we already have and cut it down to the right size for the kitchen window. Easy, and doesn’t cost us anything!

We are also wondering how to decorate our bedroom wall. We used to have a painting that hung over our bed, but we decided it looked better in the living room. Now our bedroom wall is bare. I decided that to save money (and also to be retro and cool), we would buy a few record albums from the local thrift store and find a way to decorate the wall with cool album covers. It will only cost us a couple dollars, and we’re making use of something that already had a use.

We’ve also taken forks from a thrift store and bent them into a shape that makes them good picture or postcard holders. You can also take old clothing such as T-shirts and cut them into cleaning rags, baby wipes, or even baby diapers.

There are endless possibilities for reusing stuff, plus it’s fun to try and make things last longer.  What are some things you like to reuse for different purposes?

If you’re a young parent, you might worry about being able to provide for your child through college and beyond. After all, college is terribly expensive, and it only makes sense to want to help. However, there is something to consider: Studies are showing that adult children who receive monetary help from their parents are ultimately being financially crippled.

Adult children of parents who routinely give them money actually accumulate and have less wealth than those whose parents don’t do this. Check out the article here .

I’m not suggesting that you shouldn’t help your child in college or whenever you feel you should. There are times when children struggle and can use a boost. I know my parents helped me as much as they could while I was in college, and I was always very grateful for it. But I also worked during the summers and took a part-time job during the school year. I helped myself, too.

What I am saying, though, is that it might not be necessary or even wise to save up hundreds of thousands of dollars so that we can make sure our children have every luxury while in college. The message I’ve been getting is that if you don’t have $100,000 for your child’s college education, your kid is screwed. But that article is easing my mind a bit. Our children need to learn to make their own way, too.

Okay, so we all know that yard sales are great ways to get great stuff for low prices. But not all yard sales finds are created equal. Here is a tip I discovered today: The time of day you show up at the yard sale matters a great deal.

If you get to the yard sale early, you’ll get the pick of all the best items for sale. This is helpful, because often a lot of the good stuff sells first, and if you get there late, you’re picking among stuff that may or may not belong in the garbage can.

But if you get to the yard sale late, you can get amazing prices on items. Because the sellers realize that all the junk left is probably not going to sell and they’ll be stuck with packing up boxes of crap, they sometimes drastically reduce their prices.

That’s what happened to me today. I showed up at a yard sale at noon, which is about the time yard sales start winding down. The family still had tables and boxes worth of baby clothes. Earlier in the yard sale, they were selling each item of baby clothing for $1 to $2. By the time I got there, they were handing out large garbage bags and asking $10 per bagful of clothing.

My husband and I filled a garbage bag completely full of clothing, paid the $10, and counted up our items. We got around 40 items of pants, shirts, and onesies, 10 hats and bibs, and about 10 pairs of baby socks. That’s 60 items for $10. (And these were Baby Gap, Old Navy, Baby Guess brands.) So we paid between 15-20 cents per item. Not bad!

So my advice is this: If you’re looking for rock bottom prices, show up at the end of the yard sale. You can find some great deals that way!

I don’t yet have a baby (though I will very soon!), but I’m putting a lot of thought into the things I would like to do when the baby arrives. One of those things is to make my own baby food. Not only is it the more frugal choice, I feel that it is also healthier. I get to control the freshness of the food, the types of ingredients that go into the food, and other things like organic, locally grown, etc.

But let’s get down to the fact that it’s cheaper! Because from everything I read, making your own baby food is much cheaper than buying the jars from the store. I read an article today on Baby Fit that gives tips for making your own baby food . The article is worth a read, but this is what I got out of it:

• Cleanliness is paramount, so keep your kitchen clean and sterile when making baby food. This includes thoroughly washing the foods before processing them.
• Make nutritious choices and follow doctor’s recommendations when making your food. Choose fruits and vegetables that are fresh or frozen.
• Choose foods and textures that are appropriate for your baby’s age and development. For example, a younger baby won’t be able to handle anything more than puree.
• Make sure to store the food properly. Homemade baby food can be refrigerated for up to three days. To store it longer, fill an ice cube tray with the baby food, and then once frozen, store the frozen pieces in a zip lock baggie. Pretsto! You’ve got baby food whenever you need it.

The article also includes some easy baby food recipes, so check it out and give them a try.

Gasoline prices are hideous right now, and I think they are only going to go up. This doesn’t bode well for a lot of things like food prices, airline tickets, etc. But right now, the concern for me is how to spend less at the gas pump. Here are some tips I’ve gleaned from several other sources:

• Carpool. And not just for work, though it’s a bonus if you can find a carpool buddy or two for getting to work. I’m also talking about carpooling to a party, church activity, or even carpooling with a neighbor to go grocery shopping. Every little bit helps!
• Bundle your errands. Pick one day a week as errand day, and try to only run all your important errands all at once.
• Take the bus. If you have a public transportation system in your area, consider using it.
• Ride a bike or walk. If there’s something close by, consider doing the healthy thing and biking or walking!
• Spend time at home. This one is hard if you like to go out a lot, but you may want to plan more family activities at home or in the neighborhood park.
• Vacation close to home. If you’re taking a family vacation, it may be in your best interest to chose a destination that’s not too far away. Sometimes even a vacation in your own city can be nice. How often do you do the tourist thing at home?!
• Fill your tires to the correct pressure. Incorrect air pressure can eat up gas, so make sure your car tires are filled correctly.
• Maintain your vehicle. Get regular tuneups, and make sure the car is in proper working order.
• Don’t drive over 55mph. You lose efficiency at that point, so don’t speed!
• Drive consistently. Accelerating and decelerating quickly causes you to burn quickly through gas, so keep your pace consistent.
• Don’t load the car up with stuff. The lighter the car, the better gas mileage you’re going to get.
• Coast to a stop at stoplights. If you anticipate stops take your foot off the gas immediately, you’ll save a bit on gas.

There are tons of money-saving tips for saving on gasoline, but these are a good start. I hope you can implement one or two  to save money. Do you have any money-saving tips for reducing your gas bill?

If your family is anything like mine, you find that a lot of your budget goes toward food. For us, it’s partly because we don’t always know what to make, so we buy produce and then don’t end up using it. Or there are times when we just don’t feel like cooking, and so we eat out, which ends up costing a lot more than if we had eaten at home.

Does any of that sound familiar? If so, here are a couple of tips for keeping your monthly food bill a little more manageable.

1. Plan meals in advance. If you’re new at it, start at a week’s worth of meals and work your way up to a month. When you know ahead of time what you’re going to make, you can keep the right ingredients on hand. Plus, you won’t waste produce, and you won’t waste time wondering what to make for dinner.
2.  Buy staples in bulk. If there are certain food items you eat a lot, it’s a good idea to buy in bulk. Items like rice, toilet paper, pasta, or any canned items you regularly eat are easy to purchase in bulk. This can help save money over time.
3. When you see a good sale, stock up. But only buy if it’s something your family regularly eats anyway, or it really doesn’t save you money. When you’re financially strapped, it can be hard to buy extra, but even just a few extra cans of whatever is on sale can help you build your pantry and save money over time.
4. Double or triple your recipes, and freeze the extras for other meals. Bulk cooking saves time. If you are making a casserole for dinner, it doesn’t take much longer to double or triple it. You can freeze a whole pan in the freezer, and just pop it out the next time you don’t feel like cooking. This will save you on trips to eat out.
5. Utilize frugal recipes. I posted my frugal beans and rice recipe, and I will be posting more frugal recipes over the next while. Some frugal recipes out there will cost you just pennies per serving.

What do you do to help keep your family food budget manageable?

Happy Mother’s Day! If you’re a mom, enjoy your day. And if you’re blessed to have your mom still around, give her a call today.

Because it’s Mother’s Day, I decided to focus on a family focussed post - family togetherness. In my family growing up, my parents made an effort to spend at least one evening a week together as a family. Sort of a ‘family date.’

Our family day didn’t always happen, but it was a great way for us to grow together as a family and enjoy time together. We usually played games, shared a treat, and sometimes our parents taught us an object lesson or discussed chores and other family concerns.

A ‘Family Activity Day’ once a week is a good idea for several reasons. It builds togetherness, it gives parents a chance to talk with their children and teach them things, it’s fun to spend time together, and it’s also quite inexpensive.

What are some things you can do for Family Activity Day? Here are a few ideas:

• Play board games together
• Pop some popcorn and watch a movie together
• Plant a garden together
• Make a fun craft together
• Visit the library
• Have a picnic at the park or even in the backyard
• Attend a local concert or theatre production together
• Plan a service project - do something good as a family

These are just some of the things you can plan to do together as a family. If you don’t plan a regular ‘Family Activity Day,’ try it out this week. Do you have some favorite family activities you like to do?

I consider thrift store shopping an essential skill for the frugal parent. There are some items that shouldn’t be bought second-hand (such as a car seat and possibly a crib), but there are many items that are worthwhile finds at thrift stores. Here are some of the things you can find at thrift stores:

• Clothing - If you look hard, you can find all kinds of clothing, in all sizes.
•  Toys (The washable kind; I don’t buy plush toys second-hand unless they can be washed.)
• Games & puzzles - Looking for a fun family evening? Buy a ‘new’ game or two at a thrift store.
• Sheets, towels, bedding - You may have to look hard to find a complete set, but persistence can pay off!
• Decorations & furniture -Pictures, picture frames, lamps, beds, dressers, etc.
• Baby items -Baby bouncers, exersaucers, swings
• Books! I love finding books at thrift stores, and there are so many good children’s books to be found.

Those are just some of the many items you can find at a thrift store. What items do you shop for at the thrift store?