DEBT is NOT a GOOD THING!

So many people who visit my blog are savers and very frugal! But I am sure that there are some who have debt. I believe the worst debt that you can have is credit card debt. The second worst debt is  mortgage debt with an ARM because of the the interest rate resetting at a certain date. In my mind, the third worst debt is a car loan because cars depreciate the minute you drive them off the lot and rapidly depreciate during the term of the loan.    

I realize that it is difficult for many people, especially, those who are young and newly married to start out without some kind of debt.  But your goal should be to get rid of that debt as soon as possible.  It will strangle you if you don't. It takes your freedom away because you are always living under that cloud of owing your future paychecks to someone else. If those future paychecks disappear because of a job loss, then you are in deep "doodoo". 

Wouldn't you rather keep those future paychecks than give them to someone else? Can you just imagine how much money you could accumulate if you weren't paying this debt every month? Wouldn't it be nice to have the freedom to purchase what you need with cash and not have to go into debt for it?

Will it take you a while to get out of debt?  Of course, it will because I am sure it took you a while to accumulate that debt. But without a plan, you will never be out of debt and it will continue to suffocate you. I know that it is not a subject that you want to think about with Christmas approaching! But there is not a better time to think about this than now, before you pull out that charge card for those gifts that you can't afford. Think about what it would be like not to add any additional debt this Christmas and to make a plan for the New Year to pay off the debt that you have already accumulated. We are very creative people and we can give gifts from our heart that don't involve a lot of money. We all have accumulated lots of free or cheap stuff from CVS and elsewhere to make gift baskets. Ask yourself if you really should to be giving gifts to friends if you are carrying debt?  If you want to give them a gift, just bake a few Christmas cookies, put them on a Dollar Store plate and wrap them in colored saran wrap with a bow. When I worked, my boss did this every year for all of us and it was one of my very favorite Christmas presents!

I know so many people who have owed $40,000 - $ 80,000.+ in credit card debt at one time or another. I also know many people who have held mortgages on their homes for 30-40 years because they keep using their homes like piggybanks pulling more and more money out of them,sometimes to pay off those credit card bills. They pay the credit card bills off, owe more money on their mortgage and then charge their credit card bills right back up. Now they are farther behind and they own less and less!  They get to retirement and they have nothing and have to worry about where the next dollar is coming from to pay those bills and their everyday necessities. Do you want to be these people? Or do you want to be free of debt, have savings in the bank and live with no stress in retirement? I know which one I opted for!       

With the economy in the toilet, paying off your debt is the best thing that you can do for yourself and your families.  I know, I know they are trying to tell you that the economy is recovering. Being an accountant and having taken many economics courses, I can tell you this economy is NOT recovering. The numbers are being manipulated the way they want by the Feds and Bernanke not raising the interest rates . It is not sustainable.  Think about the economy for just a brief minute. How many of you have found jobs since the billions were spent on the Stimulus Package? I would bet very few of you. Remember how we were promised that tons of jobs would be created by repaving our highways and fixing our bridges; how many of you have seen that construction or been able to get a job doing it? I would bet none.  Think for a minute how much your debt has affected you and then think about how the government is doing the same thing. They are spending our money with no way to pay it back but borrow from China, who is getting fed up with our borrowing and could say no at any time, or by printing money. What do you think printing money does to our dollar?  It devalues it. In the past 6 months alone, our dollar alone has been devalued by 26%. If the Feds keep printing money, it will quickly be worthless. Just take a look at how worthless our dollar is right now against so many world currencies. One that easily comes to mind is the Canadian dollar. It is worth so much more than our dollar right now that Canadians come across the border in droves to shop here. The snowbird population has increased substantially these past two years here in Arizona due to so many more Canadians wintering here.

All of what I have told you in the last paragraph is not meant to be a political rant against any particular party. God knows the Republicans did their share to create this mess. It is to open your eyes up to the fact that we as a country cannot sustain all of this debt. Our government needs to stop borrowing and make a plan to balance the budget, just as Americans need to make a plan to pay off their debt. 

We are in scary times right now. If I had any debt, I would be paying it off as quickly as I could. I would be making a plan that I could stick to, to do it. I personally will be stockpiling food and non- food items as quickly as possible after I move because when the Feds decide to raise that interest rate(which I believe is coming sooner rather than later), we are going to have inflation like we have never seen in this country. The 16% interest rates of the early 1970's are going to look small compared to what we are in for. I also will be planting a garden in the spring to become more self sufficient. I will be stockpiling winter clothing which we are in desperate need of. And I will be stockpiling anything else that I deem a necessity ( not a want)!  I truly do believe that we are on the edge of a depression that is going to be as bad if not worse than the depression of the early 1900's.

It is time to start living like your grandparents did! They lived with cash and not debt. If they wanted something they saved for it. They bought few luxuries and spent their money on necessities. So make a plan today to pay off that debt and protect yourselves from the massive inflation that is going to grip this country. I know it is hard for younger people to believe that this could happen because they have always had it good. But it can and it will!

Please feel free to leave a comment.     

Happy Thanksgiving to Everyone!

I hope that every one of you has a wonderful turkey day!  This is a time to be thankful for family and all of the blessings that have come your way this year.

Even though DH and I are alone this holiday, we are thankful that this is the last holiday that we will not have family around us. We are truly blessed for all that we have.  For us it is a time to think about how we can make another family's Christmas Holiday a little better this year.  Each year around Thanksgiving, we decide on how we can help another family who is temporarily having a hard time and has not been as blessed as we have.  DH and I took some time this week to go out to a nice dinner. We discussed who we are going to bless this year and have decided how. So for those of you who can give a little to someone less fortunate, think about it. You will be blessed many times over for your generosity.

Since DH and I cooked our turkey dinner a month or so ago, we will be not be roasting a turkey with all the trimmings.  However we did decide that it would not be Thanksgiving in our household without turkey. So we are having a Jennie-O So Easy Turkey Roast with gravy, instant mashed potatoes, Stove Top stuffing and green beans. We also enjoy a really nice breakfast on holidays! So I cooked my last ham slice that I got free from Target, a while ago. We also had cheese omelets, English muffins with jam, OJ, and coffee! YUM!  Between these meals and lots of football, DH and I will have wonderful time!

So to you and yours:  ENJOY!

   

Plan for 2010 Now!

I realize that everyone is busy with Thanksgiving and Christmas plans but right now is the best time to plan your goals for 2010.  It is the best gift that you can give your family for the future. So take a few minutes to set those plans!

Do you want to pay off a certain amount of debt next year? Or do you have an amount that you want to increase your savings and investments by? Are you planning on purchasing a home, car or other large ticket item? Is it important to you to be able to help your child with college expenses? Do your retirement savings look meager and need a boost in the right direction?  These are just some of the questions you should ask yourself before you decide how much money you will need to allocate toward your goal.     

Our goal for 2009 was to set aside about $20,000. earmarked for a family vacation for our children, grandaughter and ourselves.  Well, as you all know, our goals changed. The vacation goal got set aside and the money we were saving quickly became earmarked for our move and to build our brand new home. We ramped up the savings so that we could afford our dream of moving cross country and being with our family, all year round, not just on a short vacation. We set aside every penny that we could justify without feeling deprived. I found new ways every day to save on costs and eek out just a little bit more. The money saving challenge was born to help with this goal! Just when I thought that there was no other way to "find more money", I would stumble upon another idea to get us to our goal.  We ended up setting aside a lot more money than the original $20,000. and we are realizing our dream!  If we had not been so driven, we would not have been able to realize that dream! That would have just crushed DH and I, so we made a plan that we knew we could accomplish.  There was no such word as "failure" in our vocabulary! We knew that we could do anything that we put our mind to! 

Now that we are realizing that dream, it is time to set our goal for 2010!  That goal is to replenish our savings and investments that we are using to pay for our new home and still be able to decorate and furnish our home the way we want to. So we have decided how much money we want to set aside in 2010 toward that goal. On January 1, 2010, we will become as driven towards that goal as we were toward our moving plan.  We know exactly how much money we need to put in savings every month to get there by December 31, 2010! I WILL be continuing the money saving challenge to help us get to this goal! I find it really motivates me!


So I hope that all of you take some time to set your money plan for 2010 also. Did you set one for 2009? Did you reach your goal? Or did your goals get sabbotaged because you made a plan that was unreachable? If so, don't beat yourself up!  A new year is starting shortly and it is time for a NEW BEGINNING!  Decide with your family what that goal will be and make a plan that you know you can stick with!  Then review that plan every month and make sure that you are on track!  So many people never set goals and they wonder why 5, 10, or even 20 years have passed and they seem to be standing still  and getting nowhere!  I don't want that to be you!!! So take the time to do it now before January is here!  Remember, I am rooting for all of you and I will be posting the money saving challenge again in the New Year to give you some more ideas!


Please feel free to leave a comment and share with us your dream for 2010!  

The Holidays!

I just wanted to quickly let you know that I saw the cardiologist this morning for a follow-up on my stress test. He says I have no blockages and I have great blood flow to my heart. So I guess I will be around for many more years to aggravate my kids! :-)

In honor of the clean bill of health that I received today and because I am too busy to write a post right now on holiday shopping, I am linking the post that I did for last Christmas. Enjoy!

http://frugalmakescents.blogspot.com/search/label/gift%20giving


I wish everyone a wonderful Thanksgiving Holiday. If you are traveling, drive safely!

We Thought DH's Computer was Toast!

This morning we had a momentary electrical outage.  Both of our computers were on at the moment. My PC came back with no problem. But DH's would not. We thought his computer was TOAST! Both of us had the very same first thought. OH NO, we just lost over 2 years worth of our grandaughter's pictures. That is all we were concerned and upset about.  DH contacted our son who told him to try something and the computer came back up and appears to be fine. 

The moral of this story:  If you have something on your PC that you would just be absolutely lost without, back it up and do it often.  It has been a while since DH did. But you can easily guess what he is doing now!      

So Many of You Have Asked....

UPDATE:

Sorry!   I had to tell you that we were moving more towards Christmas. There have been so many thefts and break ins in the Phoenix area because people left the real info on their blogs. Since we were leaving the house empty while we drove cross country and the house wasn't closing until the day we arrived in New York, I had to tell you a little "white lie" about when to protect the house.   


So many of you have asked when we will leave for New York.  I can let you know at this time that we will be closing on our house here in Arizona around Christmas.  We will be staying here until the closing when we will sign all of the paperwork. Next, the van lines will load our things. Then we will leave on our cross country trip to our new town.  It has seemed like such a long drawn out process to us but it really hasn't been. Things have gone pretty smoothly for the most part. It's just been a lot of work for DH and I. The packing still goes on, little by little. The telephone calls and address changes are a work in progress. We are getting there.


Meanwhile, I will be posting when I can find a few minutes as we come up to crunch time. Please feel free to leave any comments as usual. I apologize in advance if I don't get to them in a timely manner. 

As we are all celebrating the start of the New Year, I will get back to my NORMAL posting from the Buffalo area.

Keeping Christmas Gifts Reasonable

This morning, I am fortunate to have a guest post from a longtime online friend, KC, whose blog is here: http://desertdealsdiva.blogspot.com/. I started trading with KC back when she lived in this neck of the woods. She may not remember me from My Coupons but I remember her and the Gamestop or Gamework (not sure which name is right) coupons that we used to trade. She has written this wonderful and timely post on Christmas Gifts. Enjoy!

Keeping Christmas Gifts Reasonable....

The basic of frugal Christmas giving ideas include keeping a strict price limit on each gift, drawing names so you don't have to buy as many gifts or making homemade gifts ( assuming you are creative enough to keep the cost low).

However as a couponer and deal seeker you can also get creative with deals to keep gift costs lower!

• Shop Early! I mean start in January if your budget allows.
• Keep an open mind on gift ideas! If a smoking deal comes up, think about who would enjoy or benefit from it.
• Shop for deals online: Meaning check deal websites and blogs for great deals that pop up. Sometimes these deals are online, sometimes B&M. I am a big fan of Slickdeals.net, but deal blogs like Swaggrabber.com might be easier for some people to check frequently and not get lost in the thousands of posts. Some deals you can find by reading deal websites/blogs are the following:
• Mall Freebies! Very often there are mall deals at stores like Bath and Body Works or Victoria's Secret where you can print a coupon online and get a freebie with any purchase. You can buy hand soap for $ 3.50 and a receive a lotion using a coupon. Wrap these together with maybe some free chocolate and you have a nice , usable gift to give someone! Or even cheaper, buy the $ 1.00 gift bag and get the free lotion and add something else to the gift later on! Also sign up for their e-mail and mailing list, because freebie coupons can come via e-mail or snail mail!
• Consider Rebate Deals: One deal I snagged this year ended up being free after rebate for many people that bought it as reported on slick deals. However I procrastinated and by the time I found it in the store, there was only one left and it was further discounted. I still received the full rebate amount, making it a money maker for me!
• Earning gift cards by doing promotional offers. Normally you sign up for a free or cheap trial offer online in exchange for a free gift card. The catch being that they want you to keep paying their monthly fee, but it isn't required. I do these on occasion when I am organized enough to "cancel" the offer I have signed up for to avoid extra charges.
• Rx transfer gift card deals. In most places, there are coupons periodically available to give you a free gift card with the transfer of an Rx! My favorite ones are from Safeway because I can use their gift cards to buy other gift cards in their extensive "gift card mall". Even at places like CVS where you can't buy a gift card with a gift card, you can use the $25. to buy a gift or buy other household necessities and then designate that money "saved" towards your Christmas fund! I find the transferring of RXs to be well worth the time and effort!
• Saving Register Rewards at Walgreens, particularly when there are money makers on items you use. For example, a $ 5. bottle of lotion is Free after RR, meaning you pay $ 5. for it and earn a $ 5. RR to use on a future purchase. However, if you have a $ 2. Q for that lotion, you actually buy the $ 5. lotion less the $ 2. Q for $ 3. and STILL earn a $ 5. RR for the purchase. Depending upon what you need/use and the particular deal, you can really rake in extra funds this way. You can use Wags RR's to buy gifts as well.
• You can't outright buy gift cards at Wags with RR's because they exclude gift card purchases, however you can use the "overage" from them to buy gift cards. Register Rewards are just Manufacturer's Coupons good on your next purchase. If you have 3 $10. RR's ( $30. total), you can buy 3 items for say $ 2. each and then use the "overage from each of the RR's to buy a gift card. So you buy a $ 25. gift card, 3 $ 2. items and your total is $ 31., use your 3 $ 10. RR's and your total is $ 1.+ tax!! That is one way to recycle RR's into a gift card!

• Join Reward programs that reward for online purchases like bing.com or ebates.com. They give you say 2-10% back ( it varies) on purchases you make at major retailers ( again which stores vary). When you hit a certain pay out level, like $ 20. you can request a check. Of course, I am generalizing, each program is different with what % they give back and how they send out their cash. But they are definitely worth it if you make purchases online!!
• Or better yet, join MyPoints or Swagbucks which allow you to earn gift cards with No purchase. MyPoints is and oldie but goodie. You can simply read e-mails and visit websites (literally just one click to the website and then close it) to earn points that can be redeemed for a variety of gift cards. You can also make purchases or do surveys to earn points faster, but it is definitely an easy and free way to earn a gift card. Swagbucks is fairly new. I have been a member since February and have earned well over $ 150. in amazon.com gift cards. Swagbucks works as a search engine. Instead of "googling" a search, you use their search engine and will earn Swagbucks that you can redeem for various prizes. The best gift card value is amazon.com, however others are available. Swagbucks is a great site that allows you to earn gift cards for "FREE"!!
• Being a member of loyalty clubs like Mycokerewards can also benefit you. I am not a super loyal coke drinker, but I would say more than half the time we are drinking it because it's the best deal we can find. I save the reward points from their packages (and have some family members saving for me too) and enter points on their website. Then I watch for various rewards that work for me or work for a gift.
• Costco/Sams Club offer gift card deals as well. I know they often have (2) $ 50. gift cards to a specific restaurant chain available for $ 79! Split them into 2 gifts and you have saved $ 10. on each one!! Also movie tickets are a great price there and an easy gift.
• Around the holidays other stores offer pretty decent gift card promos as well. Right now CVS is offering a dinner and movie gift card promo where you buy a $25. Applebee's gift card and a $25. movie theater gift card and you earn $10. ECB's back. Not a bad deal if you plan on buying a few gift cards for Christmas gifts anyway.
• Never underestimate the appeal of photo gift ideas particularly if you have kids!! These deals are quite frequent around various holidays including Mother's Day and Father's Day, earlier in the year. These deals can be online ( watching deal sites will help you find them), like the free photo cards and free Christmas ornament that is available at seehere.com. Or in store, earlier this year, CVS was offering photo books after ECB, with a limit of 5! I totally took advantage of that and made some fun books to give to the grandparents and great grandparents at Christmas time. My SIL also did a similar thing with her wedding photos from April for Christmas gifts! Or even if the deals aren't FREE....if you have the RR's (Wags) or ECB's ( CVS) saved, you can use those towards photo gifts. I have ordered photo mugs in previous years with Quinn's picture on them that didn't cost me anything OOP because I used CVS ECB's or Walgreen's RR's!!

Basically keep your mind open to what you give as gifts and how you can obtain them. Don't wait until December and head to the local mall and pay outrageous prices! A little planning, patience and creativity can go a long way in keeping gift costs low!


This is me, Precious now. I apologize to KC for screwing her bullets up on her post. But I am not good at that kind of thing. Hers were perfect, so blame me!


Also, the picture is a Christmas gift that I made cheaply last year. Here is the blog post describing it: http://frugalmakescents.blogspot.com/2008/12/all-year-round-holiday-basket.html


Please feel free to ask any questions of KC about this post. I am sure that she would be glad to answer them.

Planning Ahead on a Small Income

Recently I asked my online friend, Lyn, if she would write a guest post for me on how she and her husband live on their small income. Lyn's blog is here:

http://essentialthrift.blogspot.com/

Here is how she does it, in her own words:

Planning Ahead on a Small Income

Presently, my husband and I are living on about $ 1,600./month net (one income). I do not work due to health issues. We own a small home. We live in New England and have expensive heat - which is something we must plan ahead for. Our biggest strategy in surviving is planning ahead. We know on average what our bills will be, and we know which months are more expensive than others. If you live on a small income, it is vital, I find, to utilize this concept. It can save so much, especially when the unexpected things in life happen.

One of the things we do is to take any extra money that comes our way, and to divide it up into catergories for areas that we need to plan ahead for. We divide long-range bills like insurance, taxes, etc. by twelve months and therefore we know the amounts that must be set aside monthly. These categories will be different for every family, but some of the categories that we set aside for are home repair, auto repair, savings, heating bills ( we start working on this each summer). We don't really put large amounts of money into each category, rather we slowly build them up as we can. By planning ahead, we are now at a point that we can pay

all taxes, insurances, etc. in full when the bill comes in. We have an account that is set up simply for these bills. This did not happen overnight. It's a great feeling to know that we won't have to scrounge for money to pay these expenses.

The biggest suggestion that I can recommend to anyone it to put aside ANY extra money - whether it is overtime, your tax refund, extra pay, etc. That means when that money comes in that you don't go out and spend it on frivolous things. The money gets put aside for future necessities. A lot of people will get something like a tax refund and spend it on non-necessities. We simply don't do that.

I am not saying by any means that you can't enjoy life. But I don't understand some people when they complain about how broke they are, yet they spend money they should not spend. If you can't afford your bills, then you can't afford to spend extra money that comes your way. That money needs to be used responsibly. Things, like taking a vacation, are not in the budget right now. It has not been since we've been married, but I know someday it will. Things like new clothing, shoes, things for the home, etc. are purchased only when needed (versus wants). Our main forms of entertainment are internet and cable. We get both of those very basic forms at a very reasonable cost. I save a lot of money with having the internet and having low- end cable is a blessing, especially when I don't feel well. However, if I had to get rid of both, I most certainly would. My husband and I have become experts at paring down our expenses (due to previous income loss). We routinely go through to see how we are doing.

Things are tight for us, but they would be so much worse if we were not frugal. If one is having a hard time making it financially, it is important to continually check to see how frugal they really are. Even little things can make a big difference. Make sure that things like convenience store stops, snacks and drinks out, extra food items in the grocery budget, vending machine visits, unplanned entertianment expenses, drugstore purchases, etc. are not wreaking havoc on your budget. It's easy for little bits of money here and there to slip through your fingers and destroy one's budget.

Ultimately, I don't proclaim to know everything about frugal living. However, we must be doing something right if we are able to live on our small income and have little debt. We don't live above our means. We live in an inexpensive small home and drive an older car. In general we are not focused on having material things. I hope my story might help someone else who doesn't think they can make it on one income ( especially in this recession). It may not be doable for everyone but it is certainly possible for some. It does not come easily, but it is rewarding nonetheless.

This is Precious now. I applaud the way Lyn and her husband are living so well on their small income. In case, you haven't figured it out yet, they live on about $19,200. net income a year. In this economy, that is not easy! But I want to make one point about this. I have known people who made $80,000. a year with two incomes most of their lives and can't pay their bills without using credit cards. They have never planned ahead and wonder why they don't have their property or school tax money when it is due. They just pull out the charge card to pay it. Matter of fact, they use that charge card whenever they need money and just keep digging that hole bigger and bigger. Who would you rather be, Lyn and her DH or that other couple? I know who I would pick!

Feel free to leave a comment or ask Lyn a question. I am sure that she would be happy to answer any that you might have.

Laura's Thought Provoking Thursdays

Laura, whose blog is here:

www.sharpenyourscissors.net was nice enough to offer me this guest post on rebates. Enjoy!

My thought provoking Thursday's goal is to offer a new- ish perspective to saving on necessary items aside from our grocery and household needs. Each week I will bring an idea to the table to share how I personally tackle area's of my own family's spending. I am hopeful that my faithful readers will feel the freedom to offer more advice through comments below each post.

Today's provoking thought is rebates. Rebates....hmm. Purchase the item, clip the UPC and send that along with purchasing receipt and later receive a dumpy little check in the mail.... hardly worth your time and postage?

Think again!

I used to think the exact same way...until I decided to give 'rebating' a try. (Have you ever noticed that every word turns into a verb with coupon spenders?)

At first I started small. I looked for rebatable products within the coupon insert sections of my Sunday newspapers. Often times the rebate form was accompanied by a coupon (yipee) and all I had to do was wait for a sale to come along.

Rebate checks are written for the purchase price BEFORE coupons......so if I spent my coupons strategically (in a store that would double my coupon) I would not only receive a FREE product but I would actually make a bit of money as well ( my husband would call this "passive income"!).

I found myself very eager to peek in my mailbox each day - knowing that I could possibly be receiving my small salary for being a savvy consumer.

After a while I began to branch out from just purchasing rebatables that came to me (via my Sunday paper) and I began to prowl around for more moneymakers for myself.

I learned to keep my eyes open in the stores as I shopped - especially the drugstores. Many health and beauty items like shampoos and vitamins offer money back rebates. I actually honed my drugstore rebating skills by spending my store reward money on items that I in return would receive a check in the mail for. SWEET!

The grocery store is littered with rebatable items......think cereal, yogurt and even cleaning supplies! The more you actively pay attention while shopping, the more money you can keep in your pockets!

So far this year, I have collected $ 579. back in rebates!

My family has decided to keep adding each rebate check into a special savings account to pay for Christmas or on other various gifts throughout the year. We could just blow each check as we receive them, but it makes far more financial sense for us to lump the checks together to gain purchasing power later on. Your family may want to save your rebate checks for a new washing machine or for spending money on your annual trip to Disney!

You have the choice of becoming one of three different kinds of rebaters:

1. The Recycling Rebater: the recycling rebater will set aside maybe $25. or so per year to purchase rebatable items and when the checks come in (s)he will recycle that money into purchasing another rebatable item. Thus, recycling the $25. over and over while scoring some FREEBIES!

2. The Loaning Rebater: The loaning rebater allows stores or companies to borrow their money for a short while in return for their money being returned in a few weeks + FREE ITEMS. This rebater is willing to shell out all sorts of cash upfront.

3. The Budgeted Rebater: the rebater on a budget will look for ways to include rebatable items into their weekly/monthly shopping adventures. Scoring some FREE products while maintaining enough funds for the rest of the items necessary for their household.

I am sure that you probably guessed that I am a Budgeted Rebater!

What kind of rebater are you/ or do you aspire to become?

My posts at www.sharpenyourscissors.net are geared towards groceries and items necessary to run a household. I teach classes in the Metro Detroit area to raise funds for Raincatchers.org, a non-profit that brings the means to clean drinking water to some of the poorest villages in Haiti - my husband volunteers on these trips annually.

This post is part of my Thought Provoking Thursday series, in case you are interested in other posts.

This is me, Precious, again. Laura's post brought back fond memories. I was an avid rebater back in the late 1960's and early 1970's. I saved my rebate money and bought a dining room table and 6 chairs to match a hutch that we had inherited. Without that rebate money, we would not have been able to purchase it. We used that dining room table for 32 years. Since I plan on replacing,as rapidly as possible, the money spent to buy our new home, I think I will concentrate a little harder on rebating after the move.

Please don't hesitate to leave a comment or ask Laura a question. I am sure that she would be glad to answer any.

Twitter

Lyn who visits my blog e-mailed me and let me know that for two days she could not get to my blog. She says that she was getting a message that Twitter was blocking it.

I deleted my Twitter account yesterday and for some reason they blocked my blog. Weird! I think I have it fixed now.

Hopefully, Lyn will let me know. Thanks Lyn!

My Plan for My Blogs When I Move!

I got the nicest comment from Stacey this morning on my prior post and because of her writing, I realized that I should let all of you know what my future plans are for my blog.

I will not be leaving all of you who have become dear online friends who frequent my blog from Arizona and other states. I will also be checking your blogs daily. A lot of what you all write helps me in my everyday quest to save money. And I hope that I have helped all of you in some small way.

My plan for this blog after we move is to continue writing about frugality and my money saving challenge. The challenge will be even more important to me to replace the money that we are spending on our new home. I also plan on continuing to post the deals for CVS, Walgreens and Rite Aid (new one for me) and all of the national chainstores like Target and SuperWalmart. I also hope to get some pictures up of our new home as soon as we are in it and settled since so many of you have asked me to.

My new blog which will be here: http://frugalprecious.blogspot.com/ and titled "Frugal Precious" is where I will post all of the deals relevent to my new area. Stores like Wegmans, Tops Supermarkets, etc. will be put on this blog.

By doing this I hope not to clutter up my original blog with stores that so many of you who frequent my blog don't have in your area. If you are still interested in my grocery deals and how I am doing them, you can pop over to the new one. I will make sure to link the Buffalo area blog on the front page of my original blog.

Even Though the Move is Expensive...........................

Even though the move is very expensive, I have still tried to do as much as I can over the past 6 weeks to be frugal and save money. There isn't much that I can do about the cost of the move; it is what it is! However, here are the things I have been doing to save as much as possible:



1. Since coupons for the giftcards for prescriptions are illegal in New York, I have been filling as many as possible here before we move. I have about $500. worth of CVS giftcards to take to New York with me that have been accumulated not only from prescriptions but through other deals and programs. That should give us a good start on HBA and cleaning products after we move. I also want to help my son and DIL stock on diapers for the new baby.
2. I received a $90. Rewards Rebate from Staples that has to be used by the end of December. That will help buy a few Christmas gifts.
3. I have accumulated $200. in Kohl's giftcards to buy more Christmas gifts. I have delayed the majority of my shopping until we reach New York, so that I don't have to pay to ship it.
4. I had my DIL purchase a couple of Entertainment Books for me at a price cheaper than I can buy them online.
5. I have accumulated $100. in Target Giftcards to use for food and/or Christmas shopping.
6. I have packed a few things like dishtowels, a set of dishes and utensils, some pots and pans and a crockpot for the apartment so I don't have to buy these things. I also packed all of our Christmas wrap, tags and bows for there so that I don't have to buy any. I am also taking some dish detergent, laundry detergent, TP, bar soap, and paper towels in the car with us.

7. I had already bought a few Christmas gifts and have packed them to go to the apartment. I will ship them from there to relatives in NY. It will be much cheaper than shipping them cross country. Most of the gifts will be delivered in person this year! Yeah!
8. I have put fast food and other restaurant coupons in my coupon envelope for my purse for the cross country trip for the towns we will be staying in. I am not adverse to stopping in a supermarket and picking up a bagged salad and some prepared chicken either and taking it to the hotel. We will have plastic utensils and paper plates in the car with us.
9. I have spent a bit of time researching the grocery store policies in my new area and keeping my binder up to date with coupons.
10. We had our preconstruction meeting today for our new home. We had already upgraded to a high efficency hot water tank but decided to upgrade today to a Rinnai Tankless Water Heater. It only heats the water as you use it which will save us megabucks on our gas bill. It is only costing us $ 75. more than what we were already paying for the high efficiency tank. This change alone will save us a ton of money over the years. The other advantage of the tankless is they last twice as long as a hot water tank and they mount on the wall of the basement so take up no floor space.
11. We are still conserving on energy. Since most of our lamps are packed already, we are using mostly ceiling lights.
12. Our big screen TV died today. DH thinks it is the color wheel. We have decided to take it with us and when we get in the house, DH will replace it himself. There is a terrific video on You Tube showing you step by step how to install a new one. We have too much to do to bother with it right now. It will go in storage and we will purchase a new wall one when we get to NY. I would be purchasing one for our exercise room in the house anyhow, so we will just get it early. We have another TV to watch for now; not that we get a lot of time these days to watch TV.
13. We are researching rock bottom prices for the 4 star hotels and motels that we will be staying in cross country. Checking them out online and then calling the hotels on their local numbers and asking for the best price. We also have a # of discount cards we can use for belonging to the hotel clubs, AARP and AAA. We will only be staying a maximum of 8-10 hours in each hotel. We are looking at hotels with complimentary breakfasts that take pets. We will also have a box of cereal with us and you can always find milk in a vending machine or locally.
14. Since the beginning of September, we have basically eaten from our stockpile. Except for a little money spent on fresh milk, orange juice, eggs, bread and the things for our early turkey dinner, we have spent nothing on any other food. We have just about enough to last us till we leave.
15. I made homemade turkey soup today which will give us a few meals.
16. There were a number of reasons that we rented the luxury apartment that we did.... location, location, location, the fact that they would allow our pet although they are charging us for her, and the very nice fitness room with lots of machines that is available to residents 24 hours a day. Another reason was because high speed internet, cable TV and a washer and dryer were included in the rent for the apartment. This will save us a bit of money over the three months we live there.
17. We have done most of the packing ourselves. The van lines are making crates for two expensive tables and packing those up. They will be shrink wrapping all of our furniture, huge plants (not live), and a few other odds and ends that are too big for us to pack. We found the moving boxes at Home Depot were the cheapest in the area. We did have to put out some bucks for specialty boxes from U-Haul like lamp boxes, boxes for our art pieces and mirrors, and dishpacks. We are also letting them ship the back seats from our minivan so we have more room for the crate for the cat, our luggage, cat litter and cat food and some food for us while we travel, and other items that we are taking like soaps and paper products.
18. I have boots. DH did not but found some at Lands End that were on sale and free shipping so I ordered those for him and went through Ebates to get 3% cash back.
19. I went to Goodwill and found a couple of cheap paperbacks to take with me on the trip. I used to navigate the maps on trips but with GPS that is not necessary anymore. So DH will drive and I will read.
20. I almost forgot. I have $ 250. in prepaid gasoline cards to help defray the cost on our trip.
21. We have not eaten out in a restaurant since we got back from N.Y. in September. The H1N1 virus is rampant out here so we are avoiding crowds right now. This has saved us some money.
23. And lastly, I have gotten my Christmas cards written early this year. I plan on mailing them right  after Thanksgiving even though we won't close on this house until close to Christmas.  In them, I have let family and friends know our temporary address and our new address and approximately when we will be in the house, so that I don't have to do a mailing twice. This will save us about 75 stamps. We have taken a P.O. Box for 6 months to give us some overlap when we move from the apartment to the house.
So even though, we have been extremely busy, we have taken the time to plan all of the above so that we are organized and prepared. I have found over the years that a little planning pays off in a big way.
Please feel free to leave a comment and share with us what you have done lately to save money.

Stock Up on Those Turkeys!

When we lived in the Northeast before, I owned a large 27 cubic ft. chest freezer. I did not bring it to Arizona because the only place in this house to put it would have been the garage. Running a chest freezer in the heat here in my garage would not have been cost efficient.

But I truly do miss having one and it will be one of the first purchases after we close on our new house in New York.

However, when I had the freezer, I alway stocked up on turkeys at rock bottom prices at this time of year. You will never find cheaper and healthier meat. I would buy or get free, 6 large turkeys each year. Every two months I would cook them for our family. By doing this I was able to keep the percentage of our income that we spent on meat extremely low. My DH and boys loved turkey. I think the reason they were so happy to have it more often than most people is because I would make different types of meals with the leftovers. That way the meals did not get boring.

Here in Arizona, the best price I have seen so far is $ .37 a lb. for Jennie -O at Fresh & Easy with a limit of 2 . I have 4 of these stores within a few miles of my home. If you don't have one near you, price match it at SuperWalmart. Even at that price it is worth stocking up. You will not find chicken, beef or fish that cheap per lb. In New York, where I am moving to, there is a better deal this week. My son and DIL are stocking on 4 turkeys for their freezer and the only freezer they have is on the top of their refrigerator. Tops Supermarkets this week has turkeys for $ .29 a lb. Wegmans turkeys are $ .39 a lb. My son and DIL are price matching at Wegmans and getting the Tops price. This is a fantastic deal!

I am so jealous and wish I was there to stock up on six. Hopefully the deal will be as good next year!

Even if you only have a refrigerator freezer, you can stock on at least two if you have planned ahead and saved some room. I always made sure that my freezer was unstocked enough to be able to do that. I will miss doing that this year but DH and I did have our Thanksgiving dinner last night. So we will be using leftovers most of the week.

DH loves it when I make homemade turkey soup. I have also made, over the years, turkey, stuffing and gravy bake, turkey tettrazini, turkey pot pies, turkey enchiladas, turkey stir fry, turkey salad, and hot and cold turkey sandwiches. Just about any casserole that calls for chicken can be substituted with turkey.

So if you want to keep your budget low for protein during the year, this is the time to do it.

Please feel free to leave a comment and share with us how you do your turkey shopping.

Being Young and Frugal

My friend, Amiyrah whose blog is here: http://4hatsandfrugal.blogspot.com/ was nice enough to write this guest post for me. I have followed her blog since she started it and I am amazed at how such a young person "Gets It" when it comes to frugality. I hope you enjoy her blog and post below as much as I do.

Being Young and Frugal

One of the best feedbacks that I get over on my blog is from my readers who can't understand how I am so young but yet so frugal. I get the pats on the back, combined with the "How the heck do you do it?" I've had many readers give props to my parents for "raising me right" or to my military background for teaching me the discipline at an early age. I hate to break this to you all, but neither one of those aspects in my life helped me stay frugal. Quite the contrary.

My parents had me in their early twenties. They were the couple that worked all week just to be able to party and hang with friends on the weekends. They were also DeeJays, so partying was really a second job for them. Because of this, we ended up in apartments and townhouses for a little less than half my life. I still remember seeing lots of bills and second notices coming into the apartments. Credit cards, store cards, rent, electric bills; they were all paid late or not at all. Because I saw this day to day, I thought it was the norm. I also thought it was the norm to get a million presents for Christmas, eat out at least once a week, go on little shopping sprees once a month, and oh yeah, spend lots of money on parties at least every few weeks. Money was just a thing that sometimes we had and sometimes we didn't, but we never let anyone know.

Fast forward to my military training, where I was making money hand over fist and had no bills. This ended up hindering me because I felt that I could open a credit card or two because I knew I had guaranteed money coming in. Getting activated after 9/11 didn't help any more: (with the encouragement of my Dad) I went out and got a brand new car with a ridiculous monthly car payment. That, along with eating breakfast, lunch and dinner out EVERY DAY , shopping EVERY WEEK, and still using credit cards did me in. I was 20, with no family of my own, and making about $2000. a month. I was toast.

Then my husband entered the picture. At the time, we had been together for a few years, and he had just proposed. After the proposal, he talked finances. He was lucky enough to grow up in a household where they all had steady, hefty paychecks, but no debt. Cars were paid with cash, gifts were paid with cash and splurges were only on holidays and birthdays. He encouraged me to appreciate the idea of saving. With that encouragement (and a wedding tab to pay eventually), I watched every penny, even when he would forget to do so. I searched for frugal tips online, always worked more than one job, and started to learn to cook at home. Once we were blessed with our son, I went into overdrive; using coupons, studying drug store rebate programs, and putting the money I saved from bargain shopping in my own savings account. After a year of that, I decided to place the money in an account that will hopefully be used to pay outright for our first house.

I am so grateful to be so frugal at a young age. Not only does it give us time to plan out every part of our retirement, it also gives us the vision to see where we need to hold back and where we have the slack to do and purchase things that "kids our age" would attain. Having a dedication to frugality, at any age, can produce wonderful results.

It Pays To Be Nice!

DH and I love turkey. However, we will not be able to eat one at Thanksgiving because we would not be able to eat all the leftovers before we close on this house. So we had decided to cook a steak on the grill that day. However DH really loves turkey and especially loves my homemade turkey soup. So I went to one of the grocery stores today and found a turkey for $ .40 a lb. that is small enough that we will be able to eat it all. I am thawing it as I write this and will probably cook it on Tuesday. I also had to pick up a box of stuffing and some potatoes. Since we have cranberry sauce in the pantry and veggies in the freezer we are set for a nice early Thanksgiving dinner. We are down to very little meat so this will take care of a week or so.

However as I was going out the door, DH asked me to also get some Boars Head cold cuts. He loves their ham, cheese and chicken breast. So I went to the deli to get those. The store was quite crowded so I had to take a number and wait a bit which was no problem. But the woman who waited on me was so slow doing my order that six other people who had numbers behind me, got their orders done and were well on their way before she had cut and bagged mine. I have never in my life waited so long for a few cold cuts. I was getting pretty annoyed; however I was nice and bit my tongue.

The lines to check out in this store were unbelievable. Our winter visitors must have all descended on the valley yesterday and were all in the store today. This is a Sunday morning when most people in my neck of the woods are in church. Just about every checkout was open and every line had at least 6-7 people in it. I perused the lines and cashiers and picked the line whose cashier I know to be very fast and efficient. It was finally my turn to check out and the cashier apologized to me for the wait. I told her the wait in the line was nothing compared to how long it took to get my cold cuts at deli. But I said it very quietly so no other customer could hear. She asked who the deli person was and told me they are working with her. Then she immediately comped me for all of the deli cold cuts. I was shocked! I never expected them to do that. So DH got his $26.+ worth of cold cuts for free. It sure does pay to complain but with a smile and very quietly!

Abigail's Mommy: An Inspiration To Us All!

Abigail's Mommy, whose blog is here:

http://abigails-mommy.blogspot.com/

has been an inspiration to me for a long time! She and her family have had a tough road since her DH lost his job 6 months ago. Since they have always lived frugally, they have no debt except for their mortgage and a small car loan. I asked her if she would tell you her story so that she can inspire all of you as she has inspired me. Please feel free to leave any questions you might have for her on this post and I am sure that she will be glad to answer them. Here is her story in her words:

Precious asked me if I could write a post on how we survive on our income. I was a stay at home Mom until DH lost his job 6 months ago. The only job that I could find was a part-time one. My hours vary week to week. Hopefully, my hours will pick up before Christmas. Our bills(mortgage) are high for our income because DH made 4 times what he now gets in unemployment. Hopefully, he will find something soon. Things could be a lot worse.

This is our budget:

Income:

DH's Unemployment $ 1516 (This the highest you can get in Maine.)

My Part- Time Job: $ 600. (This is low end.)

Total Take Home $ 2116.

Monthly Payments:

Mortgage $ 1007. ( including escrow)

HOA Fees $ 225. ( includes heat, water and plowing)

Utilities $ 100.

Internet, Cable, Telephone $80. ( We could cut the TV but it wouldn't be much cheaper.)

Auto Insurance $ 57. ( both full coverage)

Life Insurance $ 35. ( for both of us)

Groceries & Household $ 300. ( I could cut down if I had to but I am trying to build my stockpile back up.)

Auto Fuel $ 100.

Car Loan $ 190. ( Our truck is paid off.)

Total Monthly Payments $ 2094.

Leftover Monthly Income $ 22.

As you can see there are quite a lot of things missing from our budget. Right now, we are in survival mode. We could try and sell our home but I don't think we could sell it for what we paid for it. We would hate to do that when we can pay our mortgage. Even if it is very tight!

We used up our savings because we had to wait 10.5 weeks to start receiving DH's unemployment. I also couldn't find a job until I started working in September.

Any extra income from rebates, opening paid e-mails, doing surveys, plowing, gifts, etc. are put into savings to cover the following things which I have listed in order of importance to us.

Missing Items from Our Budget:

Medical Co-Pays

Vehicle Registrations/Tabs

Clothing and Shoes ( Grandparents help with Abigail's clothing.)

Vehicle Repair and Maintenance

Gifts for Abigail ( I also cover this with point sites.)

House Repairs and Maintenance

Roth IRA Savings ( This is less important right now because we are 27 and 28.)

College Savings ( This will not happen until retirement is maxed out.)

Eating Out and Entertainment

This is why it is SO IMPORTANT to live below your means. So when an emergency happens, you can keep what is really important!

Good Price on Turkeys at Walmart

Tiffany whose blog is here:

http://livingonabudgettheeasyway.blogspot.com/2009/11/walmart-deal.html

just sent me a note in comments that Walmart has a great price on turkeys. Check her blog for the info! Thanks Tiffany for sharing this.

My Ideas For a Frugal Holiday Season

Here is a wonderful guest post by Lucky who has a blog here:


http://cookingluck.blogspot.com/. Thanks so much Lucky for the time and effort you put into this for all of us to enjoy.


Thanksgiving is right around the corner and Christmas is soon after that. I love the holidays and go crazy over them, but we've worked so hard to be frugal all year that I don't want to see it ruined. Here are a few things that I am doing this year to keep things simple and inexpensive.


Decorations:


Have you seen the latest Pottery Barn catalog? Natural is in this year which means you'll be very fashionable if you do the frugal thing and collect leaves, acorns and pinecones from your yard for decorations. I did my whole mantle for Thanksgiving using leaves, acorns, and pinecones that I collected on a Sunday afternoon walk with my husband and son.



Don't throw away those Halloween pumpkins either! They make great Thanksgiving centerpieces.



Entertaining:




We love to have a Christmas party every year, but the food can get pricey. Add in beverages and forget about it. We got around this, last year, by having a milk and cookies open house. The menu? Milk and cookies, coffee and tea. It was a huge hit, and fun for me because I got to make a ton of different types of cookies. We've already had people ask us when it's going to be this year!



Stock up now! Flour and sugar start going on sale right after Halloween. Also that 1/2 price Halloween candy is a great substitute for chocolate chips in cookies.



Be Prepared:



I spent some time studying my Thanksgiving menu and writing a detailed shopping list. That way as things go on sale throughout the month I can pick them up and store them away. I'm going to do the same thing for Christmas in a few weeks.



Gifts:



The bright side to this bad economy is that a lot of people seem to be scaling back on what they give and expect to receive. My side of the family is doing a swap for the adults, and we're all paring back on what the kids get. I also limit what I buy for my own son. I bought him two gifts, both from etsy.com ( a toddler sized apron and a toddler sized tool belt).



One more thing on gifts - don't fall into the trap of thinking that you can save money by making things for family and friends. In a lot of cases, it is more expensive by the time you buy all of your supplies, packaging, etc. Before you invest a bunch of money in supplies, make a list and a budget - these calculations may tell you that you'd be better off getting some nice boxes of chocolate and calling it a day!


Happy Holidays to All!


Lucky

How I Shop For Clothing!

Lyn over at Essential Thrift asked me today in an e-mail... How do I save on clothing and shoes? I wrote her back but decided I would also write about my methods here. You will see very few posts from me over the next few weeks as we prepare for this move. So I decided I would post my thoughts tonight.

First let me tell you that we are not the type of people who have to buy the latest fads or the in styles for the season. We like classic clothing, preferably 100% cotton that wear like iron. We prefer solid colors to mix and match, rather than patterns, prints, etc.

I check the thrift and consignment stores here every few weeks. In all the time I have lived here, the only piece of clothing that I found at a thrift store that I loved and that fit was a Pendleton Blazer. I have never found anything for DH. I have found really nice children's clothing for my grandaughter at Once Upon A Child. But basically, I do not do well here at thrift shops. Maybe in New York, it will be better.

I bulk buy our clothing when there is a really great sale. If socks or underwear are on sale B1G1F and the prices are really phenomenal, I will buy a couple dozen pair of socks or underwear for DH or I. It is even better if I can find a coupon or have a giftcard that I have gotten free somehow. When I find tops or shorts clearanced at 80-90% off, I will buy a dozen. A few years ago, Catherines had $30. shorts for me clearanced at $3.00 a pair. I bought 15 pair. When bathing suits would go on sale for $6.99 I would buy 3. When jeans are on sale for 50% or less or when they have a deal like the Sears Levis deal, I will buy in bulk or however many I need to do the deal. DH likes Eddie Bauer clothing and Dockers clothing so I watch for major sales there and I always use a coupon when I can find one. I will buy clothing for us at LL Bean when they have great sales and free shipping. I peruse stores like Ross Dress for Less frequently and try to shop on Senior Citizen day to get an additional 10% off.

Basically I stockpile clothing just like I stockpile food... at rock bottom prices. I will put it away until we need it. I love name brand clothing but I am not willing to pay exhorbitant prices for it. I want my clothing to be sturdy and well made so that it lasts through many washings. I had a spree over the summer of buying tops that I needed. I bought lots at rock bottom prices. I shopped Ross, JC Penney's Outlet, Catherines, and Bealls. I won't have to buy any summer tops for years.

Moving to New York, both DH and I are in desperate need of winter clothes. We each have an old jacket that we kept in case we visited N.Y. in the winter. I somehow managed to keep my sneaker boots from when I lived in New York before. DH needs boots and we both need gloves and scarves before we make our cross country trip. I will either buy them online on sale with a coupon code or at Burlington Coat Factory which is about the only place out here that carries winter clothes. We each have a couple of sweaters. But when we get to New York, our jeans, Docker slacks, tops, sweaters, sweatshirts and jackets will suffice until I find clothing on sale at the end of the season or after Christmas when prices go rock bottom. I refuse to pay full price. I have been accumulating some free giftcards at major stores to put toward those purchases. I will not run out and buy just because we need them and pay any price. If it is not under 50% retail or more, it is not for me.

DH and I wear sneakers most of the time. We buy them at the Reebok Outlet with coupons on a B1G1F sale. We will buy as many as 3 pair if we find a great sale. We also keep an eye out at Famous Footwear on their B1G1F sales. Today only, 6pm.com had their men's Rockport shoes on sale for $19.95 a pair. This is a steal for these shoes. I always bought them for DH when he was working and he needs a pair every once in a while. We also take really good care of our dressier shoes. It is not unusual for us to get a a pair of shoes that we love, resoled over and over again. Neither one of us wear shoes in the house. This not only saves wear and tear on our shoes but on our flooring and carpeting too.

So going shopping just to shop and end up buying things that we don't need is not what we do. I actually hate clothes shopping. I buy in bulk and then shop from our stockpile! When the stockpile is huge, it means I don't have to shop for a couple of years and that suits me just fine. Now it is a different story when I shop for my grandaughter and expected soon grandchild. I love to shop for them but always hunt out the best bargains. After all, grandmas are meant to spoil their grandchildren! It's their job!

Please leave a comment and share with all of us how you save when you buy clothing.

Guest Posts?

Those of you who read the comments on my blog will see on the prior post that Lyn wrote a very nice opinion on why she is frugal. I have asked her to write a guest post on how she makes ends meet. I am hoping she will because we could all benefit by her experiences. If you don't read the comments on the posts, you are missing out on a lot. Many people have taught me many things through leaving their opinions on comments and I value every one of them.

For the next couple of weeks, we will be extremely busy with details of our move. Most of you have my e-mail address. I would love for any one of you to write a guest post on frugality or anything related to frugality, such as how you keep your Christmas shopping budget low, how you stay out of debt, how you are paying off your debt, how you save around your home, etc. Send your post to my e-mail and I will post them. This is your chance to share what you do and help all of us benefit from it. Thanks in advance for your help!

Do I Ever Regret Being Frugal?

I have been asked this question so many times over my lifetime. Do I ever regret being frugal? As hard as I try to come up with a time that I did regret it, I can't!



DH and I have always had a nice standard of living. But our standard may be different from others standards. We don't eat out one to three times a week. When we do eat out, we spend more than the average amount that most people spend eating at a chain restaurant. We would rather go to an upscale restaurant, like this one:http://www.flemingssteakhouse.com/menu/ a couple of times a year and treat ourselves than go to the nearest chain or greasy spoon once or more a week. In between nice luxurious dinners out, we do like fast food once in a while. But we do not make a habit of any of it. DH and I like our cooking better than the food that you can get at most restaurants.



We very rarely go out to a movie. We don't like the noise or people talking on their cellphones. We like to watch our movies in the comfort of our own home where we can make our own snacks. When a movie comes out that I think we might like, I add it to our list of movies to rent when they come out on DVD.



We have traveled over the years on vacations but mostly to visit family which is more important to us than anything. Now that we are older, we really hate all of the protocol that we have to go through at airports, etc. Traveling is a chore, not a joy! Thank heavens we are moving to be near family so that we don't have to do the airport thing again. It is definitely not our idea of fun!




We don't buy new cars every few years just because. That is the biggest waste of money there is!



Do you see a pattern here? We hate to waste money on things that are disposable and not important to us. We spend our money on expensive home furnishings and things that we surround ourselves with on a daily basis. We spend more time in our home than anywhere else so it should be luxurious and at the same time comfortable. We like spending time with each other whether it be chatting, reading, cooking together, playing cards or board games, exercising, etc.



Because we have been frugal, we live very comfortably with no debt. That is the best way to live; it is so freeing knowing that you owe no one.


We have always been savers and are very careful with our money. This brand new house that we are building is a perfect example of why we have been careful with our money. We are retired almost a decade now but yet we CAN AFFORD to pay cash for this new home. If we had not been frugal, we would not be able to move cross country again to be near our children and grandchildren. We would not be able to pay cash for the van lines to move us, for hotels, for the cross country drive, storage for three months with the movers and a luxury 2 bedroom, 2 bath apartment for three months. There are a lot of expenses involved besides paying for the new home with a move like this. DH and I never thought in our wildest dreams that we would be moving again or building a new home again. If we had not been careful with our money, we would not have been able to make this choice and that, to us, would have been devastating. I can't even imagine someone having to make that choice. To want to be able to move, whether it be for family or for your retirement home, and not be able to afford it would be crushing to me!


So when someone asks if I ever regret being frugal, I would have to give a resounding NO! Frugality is not about being cheap; frugality is about having the money and freedom to do what you want, when you want! It makes me very HAPPY! I hope that all of you are frugal and building towards your dreams! It is so much fun!