Frugal Living

While people sometimes view frugality and thrift as just “being cheap,” frugal living is about so much more than simply clipping coupons and pinching pennies. A truly frugal lifestyle is not about doing without; it’s about making the most of what you have. As many experienced frugal people know, living well does not require spending a lot of money. You simply need to spend the money you have wisely.

So what exactly constitutes a “frugal lifestyle?” The following are just a few of the essentials of living economically.

Managing Money Wisely

One of the most important aspects of frugal living is learning how to manage your money. Wise money management involves understanding your income, budget, expenses, and savings. The key to controlling your finances is to always live within your means. By establishing a solid financial plan, you will be better able to live frugally and use your money wisely.

Shopping for the Best Deals

Once you understand your personal budget, you can begin shopping for the best deals of everything from clothing to groceries or household items. There are so many great ways to save money on the things you buy, including coupons, discount stores, online savings, and savings cards. Shopping for the best deals may take a bit more time and effort, but the rewards can be astounding. Just small savings here and there can add up to thousands of dollars saved each and every year.

Finding Affordable Ways to Have Fun

Frugal living doesn’t mean skimping on the things you enjoy. Family fun and entertainment can take a big slice out of your budget if you’re not careful. Fortunately, there are plenty of ways to have fun without spending a lot of money. By establishing an entertainment budget, finding creative ways to have fun, and enjoying low-cost entertainment, you can live life the fullest without breaking the bank.

Learning to Do-it-Yourself

Basic maintenance on your home and car often takes up a huge portion of your family’s budget. By learning just a few basic do-it-yourself techniques, you can literally save thousands of dollars every year. Instead of hiring a professional to change your oil or fix a leaky faucet, learn how to do these necessary tasks yourself. With a little elbow grease and know-how, you can significantly reduce your household expenses.

Finding Creative Ways to Reuse and Recycle

Frugal living is also about finding creative ways to reuse things that you already have. Why spend money on something new when you can recycle something you already own? The only limit here is your own imagination, so always be on the lookout for great recycling tips and tricks. You never know when something you have lying around the house will come in handy.

Related Articles:

• Why Should You Become a Thrifty Shopper?
• Top 10 Discount Shopping Tips
• Top 10 Frugal Cooking Tips

We all know that coupons are an excellent way to save money on grocery bills, but finding the time to clip and organize coupons can be difficult. There’s nothing worse than standing in the checkout line wrestling digging through your purse trying to find a particular coupons. Or worse, digging through your coupons and realizing that many of them have expired.

While it may take a little bit of effort, organizing your coupons can streamline your shopping process and ensure that you actually use many of those great savings. While you certainly won’t be able to redeem every coupon you find, creating an organized place to store and sort your coupons is one of the best ways to trim down your monthly grocery bill.

There are a lot of different systems you can use to organize your coupons. The one you choose will depend largely on your own needs. Consider some of these options, and then choose the one that works best for your lifestyle and shopping habits.

First, some important tips for getting organized:

• Set aside a day to clip and organize your coupons. Weekends are ideal, especially since the Sunday paper contains many of the week’s best coupons.
• Choose the coupons you know you will use, but also clip out coupons that you might use. Even if you end up not using it, you might find a friend to give it to or you can just toss it out after it expires.
• Sort coupons into piles according to category: food, health products, beauty items,etc.

1. Organize Your Coupons with Envelopes

This is probably one of the easiest ways to organize your coupons. Start saving those postage paid envelopes that come with all of your junk mail. Use a marker to label the envelope according to category, and then place your coupons into the envelopes. Voila! Then, find an empty storage container and place the envelopes inside for a handy coupon file.

This method works well if you have a relatively small number of coupons to sort.

2. Store Coupons in a Binder

A small binder is a great place to store coupons along with other supplies, such as a paper pad for your grocery list or a calculator to tally up your saving and spending. A cheap three ring binder is a workable solution, but I personally recommend using a zip binder that offers protection against losing items.

Purchase some plastic sheets that are used for collecting photos or trading cards and some divider labels to mark the various sections of your binder. You can divide each section in a number of ways, such as by coupon category or expiration date.

3. Organize Coupons with a Small Accordion File

A small accordion file that can easily fit inside of your purse is another fast an easy way to store and organize your coupons. Larger sized accordion files would also work, but they can be bulky and difficult to manage in a shopping situation.

Start by placing labels on each section of your file, and then just sort your coupons into their various locations. This can be an excellent system if you have a small number of coupons, but it can become a bit unwieldy for storing a larger quantity of coupons.

4. Use a Pre-made Photo Book to Organize Your Coupons

My preferred method of storing coupons is to use a small photo book. These books are compact and can be purchased in a wide variety of designs, making them an attractive way to store your coupons while shopping. Simply place your coupons inside the handy photo plackets, and then place labeled divider tabs on the right-hand side of the pages to mark different sections of your book.

5. Try Small File Boxes to Store Coupons

Those small file boxes that are often used to hold 3 x 5 note cards or 4 x 6 recipes cards are also great tools for organizing coupons.

Ways to Save Money When Eating Out

When money is tight, dining out is one of the first things many people cut back on. For those that enjoy eating out at their favorite restaurants, such cutbacks can seem especially difficult. Fortunately, there are plenty of great ways to save money on dining out expenses. A recent story in the New York Times suggests that many top eating establishments are offering deals, perks and specials in response to the economic downturn.

“Battered hard already by the recession and petrified of what’s to come, restaurants are talking sweet and reaching out in ways they didn’t six or even three months ago. They’re cutting special deals, adding little perks, relaxing demands and making an extra effort to be accessible.”

While you may not live in a food Mecca like NYC, your local eateries are just as likely to features great deals. It might take a little extra planning and you’ll probably have to learn where to look for the best deals, but a little extra effort just might save you a substantial amount of money on your dining out bill each month.

Check Out Overlooked Gems

Skip the high priced restaurants in favor of smaller spots. Just browsing my own local eateries revealed a number of fantastic options, such as a small, family-owned Chinese restaurant offering lunch specials for just $3.95 a person. That’s half the price of a value meal at a fast food place.

Start Being an Early Bird

Dining out late in the evening means that you’ll have to pay full dinner menu price. Instead, try making it to a late lunch, between the hours of 4PM and 6PM. Restaurants will generally allow you to order off the lunch menu during these times, offering virtually the same options as the dinner menu at dramatically lower prices.

Drink Ice Water

Ordering drinks such as soda, lemonade, flavored drinks or alcohol is a sure-fire way to ramp up your eating out bill. Instead, just order ice water. Not only is it usually free, it’s also a lot healthier for your body.

Ask About Loyal Customer Rewards

Do you often eat out at the same restaurant? Then be sure to ask if the establishment offers a customer loyalty program. Such programs build points every time you eat there. Eventually, you can build enough points to pay for a free or discounted meal.

Use Coupons

You may be surprised to learn that many popular restaurants offer great coupons. Check out coupon mailers such as ValPack, or browse your local newspaper for great finds. Such coupons might shave dollars off your bill, offer free appetizers or even provide buy one/get one free deals.

When you are trying to save money, eating out might be one of the first things to go. If you budget wisely and keep an eye out for great deals, however, there is no reason why you can’t occasionally enjoy great meals out at your favorite restaurants.

Glass doors on fireplaces and wood stoves are wonderful since they allow us to enjoy more radiant heat, monitor burn rate and enjoy the beauty of the fire. Most new stoves with glass doors utilize a type of air wash system which sends clean, fresh air for combustion over the window before it enters the fire. The high temperature of the fire also helps to keep the glass clean but no glass stove door is going to stay perfectly clean by itself. No matter what you do, your stove glass will get dirty. The following tips will help you keep that nasty soot minimized by providing a non-stick surface to the glass.

The daily soot build-up isn’t easy to remove and finding the easiest and least expensive method for removal was a primary goal for me. The stove dealer sent us home with an 8 oz. glass cleaner priced at $6.99. Needless to say, it was used up in no time and its performance did not merit its high price.

Cleaning a stove glass door is going to require some elbow grease, reducing the amount of effort was important to me since I clean the door each morning before start up. This works well for our family since we do not burn the stove at night. I like starting the fire with a clean glass surface and a freshly polished shine to the stove so the beauty and warmth of the fire can be fully enjoyed.

Frustrated by suggested methods of using newspaper and ashes, or scraping I decided to try what made sense to me. This method works only when the wood stove is completely cold, never use this cleaning method on a hot or burning wood stove.

Materials Required

1. 0000-superfine steel wool (Pull off in portions and reserve the rest for later).
2. Liquid or powder abrasive cleaner similar to Comet or Ajax or its generic equivalent
3. Sprayer filled with water
4. Newspapers
5. Several old washcloths or cut-up old towels.
6. Cheap Silicone Spray  (Never apply spray after lighting fire, doing so will cause fire to ignite spray)
7. Cheap painting masks (Use to prevent inhalation of soot or silicone spray).
8. Plastic glove

Make sure the fire is out and stove is cold. Lay out your supplies, including kindling, newspaper, wood, and lighter, this will make it a one stop job and save you from getting up and down to retrieve items. Spread one sheet of newspaper under the stove door; and put on your plastic glove and mask. Lightly spray the glass with water and then add a small amount of powder or liquid abrasive cleaner to the steel wool.

Begin scrubbing gently in a circular motion with the #0000-superfine steel wool. The soot and creosote will come off quickly, as long as you keep the surface lightly damp. Do not overspray, and wipe up frequently to minimize dripping of dissolved creosote or water on you stove or floor. When finished removing soot, use a fresh cloth to shine the glass. Next, spray a small circle of silicone spray on both sides of the glass; spread the silicone with a small piece of plastic or your glove over the glass surface of the door. Make sure you apply silicone to the glass only and not to any other stove surface.

Put your cleaning supplies away.

Tips for keeping glass door clearer, longer

1. Start fire and load fresh logs in the rear of the firebox.
2. Smoldering fires cause condensation of unburned soot to collect on the glass. Burn wood at a medium burn rate.
3. Use dry, well-seasoned firewood.
4. Try to maintain a smaller, hotter fire by not setting the draft down too far to maintain a medium rate burn.

Disclaimer: Always wear a mask when cleaning the stove, airborne particles of soot and lubricant can and will cause health related concerns.  It is recommended that before you begin to use any formula, you read the directions carefully and test it first. Never apply lubricant after you have lit the fire or on a hot stove because of extreme fire danger.

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