Tips & Tricks to Saving Your Wallet & Your Stomach

  Sometimes, I just can't help myself. I see that bag of Oreo cookies on the shelf & I grab it. It's almost $3.00 for a pack of chocolate sandwich cookies that will last - at most - 2 days in our house. It's okay to splurge every now & then... here's how you can afford to do that.

    In the Kitchen
  I've done away with many kitchen "gadgets." Of course, it's a little ridiculous to unplug my refrigerator & oven/stove as often as they are used. I have, however, started taking note of other appliances that drain energy just a little bit at the time. I keep my coffee pot & toaster unplugged until I need to use them. This isn't hard to do, since the cords aren't very long in the first place. A few months ago, Ronny offered to buy me an electric can opener. "NO!" I practically shouted in the middle of WalMart. I laughed at myself & then explained why. An electric can opener saves you less than one minute per can opened, but is an item that either a) remains plugged in all of the time, therefore wasting money or b) requires batteries, therefore wasting money. If my hand-held can opener saves me even $1 per month, I think it's worth it. That's almost half of what I pay for my Oreo cookies! Trust me, I know how psycho I sound right now, but this is also PRACTICE for saving money & cutting back.
  If I can mix pudding, cake batter, & things of the sort by hand instead of using my hand-held mixer, I usually do. There are some occasions when I'm in a hurry & need the extra time or I'm too tired to move my arm that many times (pregnancy takes a lot out of a girl), & so I fall back on my mixer. Thankfully, that isn't too often. I save just that much more electricity & then I don't have the trouble of cleaning two beaters instead of one whisk or wrapping the cord & putting the hand-held mixer away.
  Aside from that, I don't even OWN a dish washer, so there is no wasted water/electricity when doing the kitchen clean-up routine. Ronny & I wash dishes by hand, taking turns & sometimes making that a chore for our children (who are both within two years of the age of 5 - so, no...you're 12 year old is not too young to learn) to run some water, add some dish soap, & remove the food from his/her dishes. I don't allow the kids to wash when I've used raw meat or eggs. I am very much aware of kitchen sanitation & cleanliness, am teaching them, but I really don't want to experience having a sick child because she put her fingers into her mouth after handling a dish that held or came into contact with raw chicken. If you're worried about your children breaking something, let them wash plastic plates/bowls/cups, utensils (NOT KNIVES or anything you deem too sharp or harmful to little hands), mixing bowls, cooled pots/pans, & measuring cups/spoons. My daughter is the youngest of my two children & she occasionally washes some of the glass/ceramic/stainless steel dishes. She hasn't broken any yet, because I've made her aware of the dangers of it. She is very careful. My son is two years older than she, but washes only plastic items. (In my experience, boys tend to be more aggressive.) Washing our dishes by hand is teaching our children the importance of cleaning up behind themselves. When there is a sink full of dishes, they know it's because someone didn't do their share of the work. Sometimes, I expect them to do most of the dishes. The participate in this about three times per month. The rest of the time, dishes are done by Ronny or myself. As our children grow, I will give them more responsibility in this area. This isn't only a lesson in cleanliness; it's a lesson in self-discipline.

    In the Store
  Those Oreo cookies are only one of my weaknesses & the generic brands just don't taste as good. That's okay. There are so many other items that taste great in the generic/store brands that I don't mind purchasing them. Store brands aren't always cheaper, though. If you coupon (which is becoming more & more popular in the USA), you'll find that you can save BIG BUCKS with just a little effort. It'll do you some good to sit down one night a week & take a look at the grocery store SALE papers, too. I receive three separate sales papers each week. I make three lists (sometimes on one piece of paper) & categorize the cheapest brands/items under the store where it's being offered. Afterward, I make a list of all the staple items that were not covered in the sales papers (like milk, bread, eggs, cheese, margarine, sugar - these are always the first six items on my list if they haven't been spotted in the sales paper). After shopping at one store, I keep my receipt. Anything that was not on sale is added to the price list I keep at home. My staple items don't drop in price very much or very often, so I want to know which store has what & for how much. Milk, eggs, & cheese are cheaper at one, whereas bread, sugar, & rice are cheaper at another. This saves about $5 everytime I go shopping. So check this out... by saving $1 (or more) on electricity because I unplugged my appliances & used manual helpers & $5 because I tracked down the cheapest prices on my staples, I can now afford either 2 packages of my cookies OR 12 boxes of macaroni & cheese (generic brand, which tastes just as good) at one of these stores. It pays to shop around.

  My challenge to you is to figure out a few ways you can save money each month. Make this a habit & you'll find that you can afford MORE for your money. It may not be everything you want, but it will be everything you need.

Matthew 6:26
Look at the birds. They don't plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren't you far more valuable to him than they are?