I've been thinking about this subject for some time. At Stake Conference today there was a lot of counsel about being financially responsible and being wise with our resources. I guess that has always been a popular Gospel principle for discussion while we've lived in BYU married student housing, but lately while looking at our expenses, taking note of our financial situation in the coming years, hearing our friends' discussion about it, and realizing how undisciplined we've been about spending, I made a command decision that I want to take a more active role in living this principle and find more ways to save and be self-reliant. And I'm excited about it!
Aside from creating a more strict budget and working harder to stick to it, I have a few ideas for how to rely less on buying and more on our own resources:
1. Making homemade laundry detergent. Thanks for the recipe Momma Shannon! After the initial purchase of the ingredients, the overall cost comes to about $.03 per load. It cleans just as well, you can add essential oils to make it smell nice, and it lasts you more than twice as long as regular detergent. I'll cook up the concoction this week and let you know how it goes.
2. Making my own homemade bread. I found this great recipe online and baked 3 delicious honey wheat loaves today. I plan to make this a weekly thing so we can enjoy homemade, all-natural bread for less than $1 per loaf.
3. I've started going crazy on coupon sites. I was surprised to see how many printable coupons were available for things I already buy!
4. We're usually pretty good about it, but I've really enjoyed making up lists of cheap or free date ideas. Here's a good one, though I can't remember which blog I found it on. There are so many interesting things to do and see if you take the time to look, and I've found that some of the best dates we've had together (picnicking in Rock Canyon Park, having a sleepover and Netflix Instant Queue movie in the living room, hiking up to the hot springs, visiting the Carl Bloch Exhibit, etc.) didn't cost us a dime.
I have to say, I've always gotten sort of a high from getting a deal, and the idea of pinching pennies does the same for me. Is that weird? In the long run, drastic changes are hard to maintain (whether watching your weight, your money, or any habits), but I know that it's the little changes that make a difference over time. Here's to a new way of life!
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I feel the same way about penny pinching! I LOVE making budgets and sticking to them! Good job on taking financial control! Sterling and I have been reading "Total Money Makeover" by Dave Ramsey, and one of our favorite suggestions of his is using cash to pay for as much as possible, instead of debit (and especially NOT credit cards). Because it's tangible, it makes you really think before buying things. We just started using cash for groceries, and we give ourselves an "allowance" each paycheck in cash, which we can spend any way we like, but we don't get any more money to use than we've allotted. It's actually working really well! Anyway, those are my two cents on the subject! Way to go, fiscal gal!
ReplyDeleteP.S. I would love love love to get the recipe to make homemade laundry detergent. I've always been a little apprehensive about the prospect, but if you like it, I bet I will, too. Also, can I get your bread recipe??
ReplyDeleteLove you!
Good idea! That would REALLY cut down on the grocery bill if we took cash and left our debit cards at home - we would have no choice but to spend what we budget for. Also, I've heard a lot about that book, I'll have to read it. I'll post the recipe for the laundry detergent sometime this week once I make it. As for the bread recipe, there's a link in the post: the word "bread".
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