Frugality

I just got back from Roche Bros. They have such great loss leaders and are so close, that it very often makes sense for me to shop there. This year turkeys have been on sale for .49 /lb and they also had cranberry sauce for .88. I went and stocked up on various things. After coupons and sales the total was 77.46. I had saved 69.66, not too bad. The freezers are ridiculously full and I really don't need to shop again except for fresh items for the next several months.

It's a nice feeling having all that food for the winter. I feel like a good squirrel mom. The economy is so bad right now. Even though it hasn't affected us yet, it is a frightening thing. There are so many businesses crashing. Now the auto industry is gasping for air and it could mean so really tough times for a lot of people. The unfortunate thing is that we really need to take our lumps at this time. This country has lived on bad credit and overinflated lifestyles for way too long. If it doesn't happen now, it will be soon. There are only so many bandaids the government can put on things before the whole thing collapses anyway. Then we still have to pay it all back with higher taxes. I just want to get our debt paid off as soon as possible and not have to worry about that.

We have been much better about limiting the restaurant meals. We went out last night for the first time in over a week and only spent $25 for the 4 of us. I can't feel too badly about that. Someone gave us a $75 gift certificate to a Japanese place near my parents. They have buy one get one meals on Monday and Tuesday so we're taking my parents out for a very nice meal that shouldn't cost us anything except possibly part of the tip.

Along the same lines, I've been diligent about meal planning lately. It helps to know ahead of time what we'll have. That way I can't really make any excuses. A friend suggested saving the menus to look back on for ideas. Great idea! We'll be having lots of turkey. I've already made 2 this year and still have 5 in the freezer. Yeah, we really like turkey. That will be interspersed with all the beef I have from the 1/2 cow we bought this year. There are also quite a few veggies from my garden this summer to eat up.

It feels good to me to save money for the family. R works so hard, that I feel like I need to work just as hard to stretch the money he makes. While talking to some friends the other night, I realized how well I really was doing. I was talking about things that I do and they were thrilled to hear about it. Everyone is trying to stretch a buck these days. I'm always so thrilled to talk about the things I do. I sometimes forget that not too many people cook from scratch, bake from scratch, knit, sew, garden and can the produce. I'm very lucky to have grown up with a mother who did all these things. I didn't appreciate it at the time, but I sure do now.