Frugal Friday

Cary Grant ~

 

My formula for living is quite simple.
I get up in the morning and I go to bed at night.
In between, I occupy myself as best I can.

I haven't done a Frugal Friday post in a few months mostly because I've been failing quite a bit lately in this area.  However, the purse strings have been tightened again and I'm working hard at getting us back on track.

One way I do that is to stop being lazy and start getting back into the meal making mode.  There is nothing worse than purchasing a refrigerator full of fruits and vegetables and then having them start to go bad because I'm too busy to cook.  This past week has been a good one and I've gotten back into menu planning and spending time in the kitchen.

Some ways I've saved this week are:

$ Shopping for gifts from my own personal craft store!  There is a benefit to running your own business and that's having a plethora of gifts to choose from.  I wanted to give a thank you to the ladies helping me with the retreat so I was able to use gift bags that were leftover from when I had the store last year (they are pretty black and white paisley).  I filled them with homemade jam, handcrafted soap, a mug rug and a bookmark.

$ Made my tortillas from scratch.  They are light, soft and delicious and cost a fraction of the ones you buy in the store.

$ I had to go to Joann Fabric for thread and while I was there they had their quilting fabrics on sale for 50% off.  So I bought a few to make some aprons and runners and instead of paying $7.99 a yard, I got them for $3.99 a yard.  There were also two remnants that I loved for 50% off the sale price.  One is a yard of burlap printed with fall words and I paid $2.50 for it.  That is destined to be a table runner.

$ I reopened my Etsy shop because it made no sense to have all this inventory and just have it sit.  I made three sales in a week.  Whoo-hoo!

$ I am doing very well selling my things at the local coffee shop.  I never would have thought I would do so well there but it's really been a great little place.  

I have also decided that I will continue to make things as I have the time and desire to do so.  These will be exclusively for my Etsy shop and the coffee shop in town since I am doing well there, and possibly one or two other places. 

I will be taking on a different and larger role in my ministry capacity but that will not be until the spring and in the meantime there will be a long winter to get through and this is one thing that keeps me from going stir crazy! :-)  

When the time comes and I feel like I cannot continue the business at all, then I'll make the decision to totally stop.  But in the meantime, now that things are slower in the winter months, I might as well continue to do what I enjoy but on a pared down scale.  I'll keep myself occupied the best I can.  :-)

Anyway, those are the different ways I've been frugal this week.  It's good to be back on track with saving again.