FRUGAL FRIDAY TIP SAVE MONEY USE THE LIBRARY

One of the best ways to save money is to use your local library. Rather than buying a book new you can go to your local library and sign it out. Besides books they also have movies for you to rent.
We were involved in a reading group and borrowed the book.

Now a new book has been chosen so hubby and I will go to the library tomorrow to take out the new book. It is also the book that the city wide reading group has chosen to read. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot.


And if you are into genealogy like or have been thinking about starting to do research, check out the research section they have. I am like a kid in a candy store.

So much can be found at your local library and as long as you return them on time there is no cost to you.

Thanks for stopping by for a Frugal Friday tip.. Grace

FOOD PRICES ARE RISING ... FIGHT BACK

FOOD PRICES ARE RISING.... The news is in the air in the newspaper and on the TV .. grocery prices are rising, the cost of eating out at restaurants will rise or have already.

Eating will cost us more of our hard earned dollars. How are we going to keep our food budget intact. Now is the time to get ready for the food budget battle.

1. Getcoupons organized if in a mess like mine.

I go back and forth between the coupon binder and the clipless method. Having the binder is more work I agree. Keeping it up with clipping coupons every Sunday is work, but I have come to the realization AGAIN that if I do not have my coupons with me I miss out on deals.

At this time I am once again redoing my binder with coupons and throwing out coupon ads that I am not interested in. Have you noticed all those ads for jewelry and cute little dog statues. They are adorable but I do not need any more STUFF.

The garbage bags are filling up with scraps of paper and the recycle bin is filling up with old coupons I no longer need or want. My grocery store does take expired coupons up to 3 months old but after that into the trash it goes. This week this is my goal, between now and Sunday I want it organized.

2. Making our weekly menus is a must. I love doing this and so does hubby. We have never tried so many new recipes as we have in the last weeks. I make it a goal to try at least one new recipe every week. This week it was a different recipe for Macaroni and Cheese. It was so good is now a keeper. Why would you buy a box of Mac and Cheese when you can make your own. It probably will cost more than $1, but the taste is worth it and I know what is in it. Yes it has Velvetta but I like to cook with Velvetta and there is a coupon out there to cut my cost. At this moment hubby is cooking his pea soup. It is friday, we will go do some grocery shopping and treat ourselves to lunch which includes clam chowder. Tonights dinner will be a bowl of pea soup.

3. Watch the price of groceries and make a price book. I am currantly working on making my price book of items we buy the most. Stock up when the price is down so there is enough to last for 6 to 10 weeks when prices are higher.

It is frugal friday .. what are you doing to be frugal? I will be sharing this Life At Mom

thanks for stopping by.. lets keep saving together ... and please remember

Never under estimate the value of a small amount of money.... Grace

Frugal Friday Keeping $10.00 In My Wallet By Not Falling For Traps At The Grocery Store

Friday already ... hard to believe the days just fly by. It is time for Frugal Friday. What did I do this week or even today to show that I can be smart with my money by being frugal?

Today I saved $10.00 by not falling into the food trap at Cub Foods. There was a deal today buy 10 items for $10.00.

If you look at the list of items you will find many items listed that I have seen this price or even cheaper. So why buy them today when they may be cheaper next week.

None of these items were on my menu for next week and I did not really need them, so no reason to pull out $10.00 from my wallet.

So today I know that I saved/ did not spend $10.00 at the grocery store unnecessarily.

What have you done this week to be frugal or to save money?

I am posting this at Frugal Friday at Life At Mom check out others frugal ideas there.

Frugal Friday Saving Money Eating At Home

Friday is already here. I love Friday because it is the day I add another weeks money to my purse and hubby's wallet. Thursday night I spend time in the kitchen seeing what I may need to get at the grocery store and start thinking about what is on the menu for next week.

Friday's we go out to lunch for clam chowder so that is another reason I love Friday's. We have cut the budget so tight that it is Friday's for lunch and then Sunday morning for egg burritos at McDonald's.

I would rather go some where else for breakfast BUT we can eat the burritos , greasy hash browns, drink senior coffee for less than $6.00 and read our newspaper.

Every Sunday I pay for the Minneapolis newspaper because it has better coupons and articles, but as I sit at McDonald's people are reading the Duluth paper and some of them leave there paper for others to read.

I get to read the Duluth paper and mainly I hope that they have left the coupon inserts for me.

We love to eat out and that is where we can over spend money. There were times that we would go out to eat 4 or more times a week. We have really cut that bracket of our budget. Once we get the hospital bills paid we will add an extra $25.00 back to entertainment budget just for the fun of going out.

Until then if I want Mexican I know that I have a fantastic recipe for beef and green chili enchiladas that is just as good as any out there.

I love barbecue beef sandwiches. We would go to this little gas station/country store for barbecue sandwich's while living in Richmond Texas. I use to love their sandwiches. There is a bottled barbecue sauce at the grocery store that is fantastic. I want to see if I can create one at home that is as good. It is a honey barbecue sauce. Until then I will by it at the store.. I have been out there searching for recipes and printed them so will be giving them a try.

I have ate at many Italian restaurants and I have never had Spaghetti as good as my own meat sauce and the Cheesy Lasagna soup I made recently for the first time is fantastic. Maybe some of these restaurants should search and try out some of our recipes.

So until I can afford to add to our entertainment budget I will continue to hunt for great recipes to try at home from all of you.

Recipes I found just today that I want to try are
Ultimate Chicken Fajitas from siggyspice and
Barbecue sauce from countrycook

Where do you think you have to work to be for frugal or are you so tight that you think you need to loosen up a bit. I can fall under these two examples often. I am posting this at Frugal Friday at Life As Mom check out others frugal ideas there.
thanks for stopping by.. lets keep saving together.. and please remember
Never under estimate the value of a small amount of money.. Grace