Frugal Friday

It's been a little while since I looked around at what I've been doing to be frugal around the house. Let me make a little list for you.

1. I'm running the dishwasher only 4-5 times a week. Sometimes we just don't have a lot of dishes except for cups. For example, on pizza night we use paper plates so I rarely have enough to run the washer.

2.When I use paper plates, we tend to reuse them if it's just crumbs on them. Of course if it is soiled at all I toss them. Rest assured I only buy paper plates that are almost free.

3. I continue to use cloth bags when shopping. I *mostly* remember to keep them in the van which helps. It burns me when I forget them. I really don't like using the plastic bags at all, what a nuisance. Although I do recycle the bags to sort my recyclables for pick up on garbage day.

4.I am currently wearing two pairs of socks and a sweatshirt on my day off. Yep, the days are getting colder, but I just don't want to turn up the heat. I think our bills will be better this Christmas as no one is home 3 days during the week. Last year we had a sitter that came to the house so I kept it programmed warmer. I also keep blankets on the couch for snuggling up which we have all been using the last couple days.

5. I have also been focused on eating out of the freezer for the next two weeks. We're buying a 1/2 grass fed beef which will be awesome. Of course the problem is my freezer is packed from deal shopping! As hard as it has been, I have forgone several deals and can finally see part of a shelf in the freezer, but I have a long way to go. Another side benefit from this is that I went shopping today and I have $48 left in my grocery budget for the month! Pretty impressive considering it is only $280 for the month. Now I can take that money and use it to buy some goodies for my family Christmas next weekend, and I won't have to take it from the budget for the next 4 weeks. I'm excited! That's a significant amount to me!

Now let me list a couple frugal goals that I have.

1. I need to post an update on my financial progress for October and November.

2. I need to finalize my December monthly meal plan. Regular readers have heard me talk about doing this and I finally started it. It honestly felt very overwhelming, but I find it is kinds fun to plan, especially as I am doing most of it from the freezer and pantry. I will finish it this weekend and post in time for Monday's edition.

I think that is enough for now. What are your frugal ideas? What are your frugal goals? Let me know by leaving a comment or emailing me. I'd like to compile them and share with everyone.

Happy weekend!