Doodle Acres » Frugal Living

A Good Article About Eating Out on a Budget

Heather — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 22:37:15 +0000

I just read a good article about eating out on a budget over at Money Saving Mom. Hope you enjoy it!

What Do You Do With Your Old Snapple Bottles?

Heather — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 12:12:51 +0000

This idea would come under the categories of both “frugal” and “green”. I am not a big fan of plastic water bottles (both disposable and reusable). I tried a stainless steel bottle and the water always tasted bad to me. So when a friend recommended using empty Snapple bottles as water bottles, I gave it a try. And I must say that I love it!!! They wash up really well in the dishwasher. If I forget one someplace, it’s no big deal. They don’t break easily. Plus I feel that it is healthier to drink out of glass than plastic. So I keep about a half dozen filled with water from my filter in the refrigerator at all times (I drink a lot of water and I like it cold). I hope that you find this tip as useful as I have. Enjoy!!!

Book Recommendation: The Power of Less by Leo Babauta

Heather — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 13:56:03 +0000

This is the time of year when I look to simplify and streamline my life. Of course I got a stack of this type of book out from our local library. Yes, that’s my personality… if one is good then twelve is better… at least when it comes to books.

Well this one was definitely the best of the bunch. So far, it has helped me to deal with my email inbox and organize my busy life a bit more. If you’d like a taste, you can check out his free ebook called, Thriving on Less. Enjoy!!!

Small Successes – Jan. 22, 2009 edition

Heather — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 01:22:10 +0000

I saw this over at Ten kids and a dog and thought that it would be great for lifting my spirits during these dark, cold days of winter. Thanks Joann!!! You can check out more over at Faith & Family Live!

Here’s my list:

1- Getting back on track with formal school work this week after an extended layoff due to my husband’s being on vacation so much over the last six weeks.

2- Exercising three out of the last five days even though I have been feeling a bit under the weather.

3- Meal planning for this week. When my husband is home, he enjoys doing most of the cooking. Really, he enjoys it!!! I’m not making it up. So I was having trouble getting myself back into “Betty Crocker” mode. But Praise God, I did plan my menus and grocery shop within my budget ($120 per week) this week.

My Five Most Important Priorities

Heather — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 01:54:47 +0000

In my continuing journey through How Did I Get So Busy?: The 28-day Plan to Free Your Time, Reclaim Your Schedule, and Reconnect with What Matters Most , I was asked to write down my 5 most important priorities. These priorities are meant to guide me as I evaluate my activities as well as the items I put on my “To Do List”. Here is my list in no particular order:

Educating my children
Spiritual growth of my family and I
Clean yet friendly home for my family
Strong marriage
Living a financially responsible life

Please pray for me as I attempt to align my life with my priorities!!!

Frugal Fridays: My Inexpensive All-Purpose Cleaner

Heather — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 04:04:27 +0000

White vinegar mixed with water is my favorite all-purpose cleaner. I keep a spray bottle of it under my kitchen sink and in each of my bathrooms. We use it to spray and wipe the counters and tabletop in the kitchen. It is used daily by the children during chores to wiped down the bathroom counters, sinks and mirrors.

Another added bonus is the health benefits. A few years ago when one of my sons was diagnosed with a mild case of asthma, his doctor was glad to hear that we use this wonderful cleaner because the typical cleaners are harmful to an asthmatic.

Saturday during our family cleaning time (now that’s the subject of another post), I used the vinegar and water spray to clean walls, wood stairs, bathroom tile, bathtubs, showers, etc. I was amazed how well it performed on my shower stall. (However I am currently on the lookout for a healthy spray to deal with discolored caulk).

And best of all, I can buy a gallon at Costco for only a few dollars (I don’t remember the exact price because it lasted so long!!!)

P.S. While searching for a picture of vinegar, I happened upon a post called, “66 Uses for Vinegar”. Hope you enjoy it!!!

Our First Experience With Restaurant.com

Heather — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 23:35:27 +0000

I happened upon Restaurant.com as I was browsing the internet just before Christmas. The site offers gift certificates for local restaurants at significantly reduced prices. As my husband and I usually go out to dinner once a week for “date night”, I decided to give it a try. I bought a $25 gift certificate for $10 to a local burger joint (like an Applebees or TGIFridays). In order to use the gift certificate, we were required to spend $35. Our usual bill at this type of restaurant is usually about $35 plus tax and tip; so I figured that this would be a bargain ($10 for the gift certificate and $10 for the difference between the $35 tab and the $25 g.c. plus tax and tip).

It worked out even better than expected. The prices at this restaurant were a bit lower than Applebees so we even bought an order of 10 Buffalo wings to go (which the children enjoyed for lunch the next day in addition to the 1/2 of a hamburger I couldn’t finish and a bit of leftover pasta) to bring our tab up to $35. The service wasn’t quite as fast as Applebees but this actually suited us just fine as the main purpose of our “date night” is to reconnect through uninterrupted conversation; but the food was just as tasty!!!

Note to all my frugal friends: We pay cash from our weekly allowance for our date night dinners. We usually each pull $20ish dollars from our wallets to split the bill – very romantic, isn’t it? But those ugly credit card charges would definitely be very unromantic!!!

Raising the Bar: Improving Our Finances in 2008

Heather — Sat, 05 Jan 2008 02:59:11 +0000

Today at Money Saving Mom, Crystal Paine encouraged us to get our finances in shape in 2008. Well we are blessed with an income that meets our needs and many of our wants. We have worked hard on being fiscally responsible, have very little outstanding debt (only our mortgage), and generally live below our means. However, as Len and I look at our finances, we can honestly admit that there is a lot of room for improvement with our spending. In 2007, I FINALLY (after years of trying) got my grocery spending under control thanks to Crystal’s “Supermarket Savings Course” (see my right sidebar). Of course this is always a work in progress as I work on trimming the fat off of my food budget. However, if I never improved beyond where I’m at now, I think I would be satisfied in this area.

What I’d like to work on this year, is increasing our savings and using the savings to pay off a chunk of our mortgage. This is going to require a hard look at our budget – a hard look!!!

I plan to take the next couple of weeks to take that “hard look” recognizing that it will be a process of negotiation with dear husband. I’ll let you know what I come up with and look forward to hearing what others are doing via the links at Money Saving Mom.

Frugal Fridays: Warm Feet, Warm Body

Heather — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 18:57:39 +0000

With the price of fuel oil being so out of sight this winter, I have been keeping the thermostat set pretty low: 60 at night and 64-65 during the day. I have found several strategies for keeping warm – a hot cup of tea, keeping busy (not sitting too long), and a comfy sweater. Today, I’d like to talk about my favorite way to stay warm.

Well you may have heard the expression, “Cold hands, warm heart.” Well I have a new one: “Warm feet, warm body.” A pair of wool socks and a cozy pair of slippers go a long way in staying warm. Growing up, I always heard that people lose most of their body heat through their head and feet. This was my mother’s way of getting me to wear my hat. Well now that I’m the mom, my advice to you is to warm your body by warming your feet!!!

You can find links to more money saving tips at Biblical Womanhood!!!

Frugal Friday: My Trusty Friend for Preserving Your Clothes

Heather — Fri, 14 Dec 2007 12:49:57 +0000

My perhaps most important laundry secret for saving your clothing from the garbage can is Spray and Wash stain stick. I leave a stain stick in my top dresser drawer. Every night, I “evaluate” the shirt I wore that day to see if it needs to be “stain sticked”. It usually does because I always seem to forget to wear an apron!!! I have resurrected many shirts with my trusty stain stick. My trusty stain stick is so good that it will usually get the stain out on the second washing if I forgot to “stain stick” it the first time!!!