Boot Camp Week 1 Thoughts

 

I started last weekend with Laine's Letters, which I enjoy a great deal.  Lots of good tips there, not to mention just all-around good Christian inspiration.  So many of the letters I tried to view are now corrupted files on that website, so it was eating up time sorting through to find those that are still readable.

I moved on about mid-week to A Cultivated Nest.  Manuela has been blogging for years.  Over the past few years her method of imparting information has somewhat changed but you can go way back to 2008 in her archives.  That's where I ended up this past week.  I'd like to share some of my thoughts on bits I culled from there.

1. Change your mentality.  One day last week I was just itching to go to the store, but I had several really good reasons for NOT going.  My mentality, however, was that I not only NEEDED to go, but that I was ''missing out" if I didn't do that shopping.  This is where I found this advice timely.

I stopped and thought about (a) what I had on hand (b)why shopping at that moment was not the best idea (c)the time I truly had at my disposal compared to the time I knew I would need to process foods, etc.     Last I realized that we had plenty, and I didn't need to go shopping at all.  I wasn't missing out on sales.  I was, instead, planning to make good use of what I already had.

2.  Keep an eye on your bank account.  At one point in my life I was obsessed with checking our bank account.  I went cold turkey and refused to check it more than once a month, until that obsession eventually died.  But here of late, I try to check my balance, what checks are in or out, etc., at least once or twice a week.  I want to be quick to catch any discrepancies and also to keep myself aware of why I shouldn't be shopping unnecessarily.  

3.  Live within your means. No, this is not a revelation.  It's a good reminder though and one that it's worthwhile to repeat and repeat again.  I'll lay odds that most people, me included, often forget this.  We'll quickly say, "Oh it's just $5 more than I earned this month but it's okay..."  There's another old saying that suits this one, "Small leaks can sink a ship."

4.  Shop with cash.  For years this was the only way I shopped.  And then, we started being charged for NOT using the debit card each month and the next thing I knew we were using the debit card all of the time.  I think for groceries I really should begin to shop with cash once more.  There's nothing quite like a depleted envelop of money to remind me that I have a budget to follow.

5.  It take effort.  It's not easy to stick to a budget.  Personally, I need constant reminders of that fact alone.  It also takes effort to continually look for ways to save, to learn new skills, to keep making the effort to produce through old skills...I've always said that saving money is HARD work and it is!  Which leads into the next point...

6.  I can always do better/more.  I'll divide this one into two separate statements: I can always do better.  I fall off the wagon with my eating plan, with trying to build new habits, with saving money.  Gone are the days when I'd literally spend until I had nothing left and then spend months trying to catch up once more, but I even small failures are stumbles that we need to take a moment and recover from.  If I overspend a bit, then I try to get right back on my budget, the same way I try not to continue to overindulge.  An occasional slip isn't going to kill the budget but letting yourself get completely off course can do some damage.

I can always do more.  I'll say this is one area to be cautious in.  There are lots of ways I can do more.  But I really have to stop and assess what season of life I'm in, how much time I have, what my physical abilities are, etc.  But here's the deal, I can do more.  That's why I've decided to learn to make pasta and to focus on learning to grow food on a small scale.  I can study my cookbooks for canning recipes and figure out what I can preserve of each season's offerings.  

7.  Learn new skills.  See above.  Learning to make pasta, learning how to grow food, learning preservation methods...These are the skills I'm focusing on right now.  In recent years I've learned to successfully make curtains and slipcovers, to compost, to bake bread and yogurt.  It all adds up to a substantial savings for my household because I know I can do those things when the need for them arises.

8.  Weigh bagged produce.  I forgot this one...Yet, I knew this one very well once upon a time and I've failed to use it in the past several years.  Good reminder!

9.  Make my own.  Yogurt, salad dressing, mayonnaise (I haven't even worked on this one, but it's still a handy skill when mayo isn't on sale.), cold brew coffee.  But it's not just food...What about greeting cards and envelopes?  Or artwork? Or clothes?

10.  Use less.  I do practice this one nearly every day.  I am always asking myself, "How much is enough?" about toothpaste, hair gel, face cleanser, lotion, dish soap.  I've learned that often if we're mindful of usage, even if we only follow recommended amounts, we're substantially getting more for our money.  

Katie mentioned not too long ago that the guys in her household were using way too much laundry detergent.  "They fill up the cup every single time!"  I told her, "Get nail polish and mark that level on the cup so they KNOW how much to use.  Once they get that visual your detergent will last longer." 

Let me just add here that if you're using pods of detergents, you're probably using too much for the average load, too.  You'll save money by switching to powder or liquid and measuring it out.  1 tablespoon of dishwasher powder is all that's necessary for a fully loaded dishwasher.  We use a liquid laundry detergent because it dissolves best in our soft water, but seriously, a FULLY loaded machine needs barely 2 or 3 tablespoons, which is at that almost invisible mark on the detergent cup.  That's why I mark it with either a sharpie or a bright nail polish.  

11.  What disposable items can I stop using or reduce?  Over the past several years I have eliminated zippered storage bags to the point that I typically do not buy more than 2 boxes each year.  Did I stop using plastic bags entirely?  No.  But I did find a cheaper, far less expensive option.  Yes, I still wash zippered baggies to stretch the usage of those, but when I'm storing meats, I use plastic bags that come on rolls like those in the produce and meat departments at the grocery.  

At one point, we barely went through six rolls of paper towels in a year's time.  Now we're using more like a dozen.  I'd like to reduce that down once again.  When I did it years ago, I kept a basket of folded towels and clothes on the counter where they were in view and kept the paper towels under the cabinet where they were out of sight and mostly out of mind.  There are other options, like homemade 'paper' towels, etc.

And we use paper plates for two meals out of three each day.  I have plenty of dishes and we could easily eliminate these.  I got into the habit of using them big time when I was keeping Caleb...Oddly enough I didn't use them for him but for us.  I always gave Caleb a child-sized plastic plate.  

12.  Do a Quarterly evaluation of your budget.  I am sharing this one simply because it's something I already do.  In a 3-month period changes occur.  A bill increases or gets paid off.  We take on a payment or we make a new savings goal.   If you are reassessing your budget every three months you can make the needed adjustments and be aware of exactly how much less or more money you need in that season and you can adjust the budget accordingly if your money is finite each month.  That's one thing that we have learned since retirement!  There is no overtime or holiday pay.  It's one salary all year long and if payments increase, we need to be sure we're budgeting our funds accordingly.

Thos are the things I noted this past week as I read through tips and hints on saving money.  

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