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Thrifty Thursday



Being thrifty has gone out of style I think. Things being so cheap for the most part it's just easier to replace them. Sad... and wasteful. When I was little, my mom used to tell me

“Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without.” Boyd K Packer

And boy we did! Our knees were patched our shoes had holes and were coming apart, I wore my older sister's hand-me-downs and when things were purchased, they were of good quality so they would last. 

 Being thrifty is a state of mind. It's about using money and other resources carefully and not wastefully. Think how much money you can save if you aren't a clothing "slave" to style, color, brand, etc. I mean, who can really afford to change out their entire wardrobe, season after season, year after year. I'm lucky to have been a "stay at home" mom, now retired and I could literally wear what I want day after day. I've adopted a fairly simple "jeans and t-shirt" wardrobe. I can find good used t-shirts and jeans at Goodwill or even on sale at Walmart.

 Are you wasting your money on food that you throw away each week because you didn't eat it? Are you buying a bunch of needless "stuff" that you have today and will sell or donate tomorrow? Are you in debt from trying to "Keep Up With The Joneses?" Think about where your dollar goes on a daily basis. What are you buying and why? Can you find a way to do it with less money? With NO money? 


Today I'm going to give you 5 thrifty ideas we use to save money....
  1. Unless your clothes are stinky, stained or really dirty.... wear them more than one time before you wash them. You will save on water from washing and have fuller and fewer loads of laundry to do each week. And think of this... the lint in your dryer lint trap? Yes, that is your clothes falling apart little by little. Washing less means your clothes will actually last longer.
  2. Food... look at your leftovers from the week. A bit of rice? Some mixed veggies? A couple of chicken tenders? How about your fresh veggies left at the end of the week that weren't made into salad? You could make a soup or even a casserole with leftovers making for a completely FREE dinner once a week. You may even want to think ahead while you are cooking and purposely save out a bit of food each night to make the 7th night supper.
  3. Composting.....Our leftover leftovers go to our chickens next. They get to go through and see if there is anything they would like to eat and that saves us on our chicken food bill. When they have had their fill, we scoop it up and put it into our compost bins. There it stays and rots and is turned a time or two by the chickens, eventually winding up on our gardens where we grow more food. Free fertilizer and rich compost complete with earthworms! 
  4. Once a week have a no spend day and once a year try an entire month! If you aren't really sure what that means, click on this YouTube link:  "No Spend Month". One of the hardest things my husband and I are having is what to do when you're not consuming. Doesn't that sound awful??!! But shopping takes time. You walk up and down the aisles, choose, stand in line to buy, drive from here to there and then unpack everything when you get home. What if one day you just decided to try on NOT BUYING anything? Now what do you fill your time with? You can tell from all the debt people have that there is something we've been programmed to do and that is BUYING! Human Beings LOVE Shopping and CONSUMING stuff... sometimes useful items and sometimes things just to make ourselves feel a certain way. It is really something to think about and come to terms with. 
  5. Keep an annual change jar. At the end of the day, empty the change from your pockets into the jar AND DON'T EVER REMOVE ANY OF IT for the entire year. You'd be surprised at how much money you can save over the course of the year. On average, we save approximately $150 a year doing this. This year I heard an idea to save every $5 bill you receive as change. Just put it away, out of sight, out of mind. (and don't get into that savings area for the whole year either!!) I'm going to try that one and I'll let you know.
There are literally hundreds of ways to save and be more frugal and thrifty. And Thrifty is NOT a bad thing to be. 

What kinds of advice would you give on being Thrifty? I'd love to hear your thoughts in comments below. I'll try to feature some in future Thrifty Thursday posts and thanks in advance!
Blessings.....
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