Friday, March 16, 2012

Ways I Save Money

I am a cheapskate.  Call me Ebenezer Scrooge if you like, but I like to keep my hard-earned pennies (or Brian's hard-earned pennies).  I don't mind being known as a frugal fanatic.

We are called to be good stewards of all the God has given us.  Brian and I try to be very careful with our dollars.  We routinely have budget meetings once a month, where we look at our spending in the last month, and we plan our spending for the next month.  Brian is a faithful follower and quite knowledgeable in regards to Dave Ramsey's financial instructions, and we follow his guidelines.  As a newly married couple, it's been great to get off to a healthy start.

While I'm no expert, I do have some ways that I save money.  I'm not a parent yet, and I'm sure some moms of five or six children are experts in saving money.  But, I'm thankful for this time, before we have little ones, to learn how to save money.  I will be prepared.

Here are some ways that I save:

  • When it comes to shopping in department stores, I suggest knowing a store well.  Know their sales and their coupon system, and know the general layout of the store and where they have clearance items.  Sometimes it is in the most random of locations.  I shop clearance WHENEVER possible, whether it be for apparel or for home items.  Be prepared to take your time, and look all around so you can find those hidden gems on clearance.  When I was home for Christmas, I went shopping with my mom (on my home turf, where it is most familiar!), and we found decorative pillows on clearance for $1.99 at Boscovs.  We weren't even looking for them, but what a score!  I have COUNTLESS stories like this.  I'm an expert at getting clothes on clearance, and while I've never gone thrift shopping, the prices of my purchases come pretty close.  (One thing I like to do, is wait until I have a 30% Kohl's coupon, and then see what the clearance rack has.  I usually don't get any clearance item that isn't 80 or 90% off at Kohl's.  Combine it with the coupon, and I'm good to go!)
  • This goes without saying, but clipping coupons is key.  We buy the Sunday paper at the dollar store, so we save a dollar when we buy it, and we get all the coupons, therefore, the paper pays for itself.  I then try to combine the coupons with a store sale or wherever I know I can get the cheapest price.  (For groceries, I go mainly to ShopRite in NJ, but I also get some things I know are cheaper at Walmart in PA.)  I actually live right across the street from a grocery store, but I rarely go there because they're rather pricey.
  • I plan my meals in advance and know exactly what I am cooking and what I need to purchase for the week.  It takes the guesswork out of shopping, and I don't wander the aisles wondering what to get. Because of this, I also waste very little food.  When I plan my meals, I try only to buy two meat items a week, because they are expensive, and other nights I have pasta or rice dishes.
  • I'm trying to make more of my favorite items at home.  I am proud to say I have not stepped foot into Dunkin Donuts (or any other coffee shop) since December.  I love lattes, but those couple of dollars spent each time really add up.  I now make my own lattes at home.  I don't have any fancy machine, just a stove and a microwave, so they're not quite as good, but they are good enough for me.  I also plan on making my own frappuccinos as the weather gets warmer.
  • I probably would have never tried this a year ago, but I am now cutting my own bangs.  I like my bangs, and Brian does, too, but they grow like weeds.  Earlier this week, they were completely hanging down over my eyes.  (Not a pretty sight.)  I always get nervous cutting my bangs, because they are right there on my forehead and I can't very well hide it if I butcher them.  I can't even cut wrapping paper in a straight line.  But, in the name of saving money, I do it anyway.  And you know what?  They don't come out looking too bad.  It saves me at least $5 a month.  (I can't cut the rest of my hair, though.  I wish I could and save more money.)
  • I take the time to hunt for the best deal, whatever it is, and I'm not afraid of returns!  I am the return queen, because often I buy something, only to find a better deal later.  I always keep my receipts for this reason.  I have saved quite a bit of money by doing this.  I also take the time to research items.  Perhaps an item might be cheaper, but this other item is a bit more money and is better quality, therefore my money is best spent in that direction.
  • I keep looking for more ways to save.  I am currently looking into making my own laundry detergent.  I've found a "recipe" online, and it doesn't look hard at all!  What have I got to lose?
Those are just a few of the ways I am able to save at this season of life.  I'll look into further ways when we own our own home, and of course, when we have children.  Brian does not like shopping (at all), and I think I drive him crazy as I scan the shelves and compare products to see which one is cheapest.  Even though he hates waiting there, he appreciates my taking the time to save a few dollars.

And, if I ever buy anything for myself (such as clothes) I always tell him!  I never hide it, and I think that's the worst thing when people feel like they need to hide their purchases from their spouses.  I report it to him and tell him that if he wants me to return it, I will do so.  Last month, I bought a cute dress at T.J. Maxx for $3.  He didn't make me return it.

Now, our biggest challenge is house hunting, which we'll be starting soon.  We're praying for a bargain!  We'll see what happens!

Friday, March 9, 2012

Keeping House

I'm glad I grew up in a decade before technology had the ability to take over one's life.  When I was a child, I could still use my own imagination without relying on such things as touch screens, phones that talk back, and DVDs in the backseat of the car while on road trips.  (While in the backseat of the car, cramped between my older brother and sister, I would watch the wiper blides go back and forth, and I observed the patterns of the raindrops as they streamed down the window.  I was content.)

During the simplicity of childhood, I could be easily entertained.  I remember my sister and I, along with my neighbors, playing very simple games.  We didn't need much but our imagination.  Those games usually involved pretending to be an adult in one context or another, and I think I can finally say I've truly lived all those pretend games.

We played house, we played store, we had pretend weddings, and we may have even played school. My first two jobs in high school and college, I no longer played store, I lived it.  Oh, how I disliked it! It was much better when we pretended as children.  I became a teacher, and taught for six years, one year even in Europe, and it was harder than I had ever imagined.  I got married last August :), and that was better than any pretending.  And now I'm finally keeping house.

I'm sure people think I have an easy life right now.  I don't have children yet and I am merely taking care of my husband and my home.  I would have to agree that, yes, this period is much easier than times behind me, and I can guess the years before me.  That doesn't mean this period isn't any less important.  I believe that God is letting me relax from all the years of hard work, and at the same time, preparing me for what's to come.  I am using this time to develop better domestic skills and find my worth not in what I do, but simply in who I am.

I know that people do wonder what I do, and believe it or not, I do stay quite busy.  Just as in those days we played house, and I may have swept the deck to undergo the pretense of doing chores, I have plenty of daily household tasks that take center stage.  Some are harder here simply due to our lack of appropriate major appliances.

I have a love/hate relationship with doing laundry (only here, not under normal circumstances).  Brian lived in this apartment for five years before we married, and he didn't have a washing machine.  I was almost in despair upon marriage about having to go to the dreaded laundromat every time I wanted to wash something. In fact, we did go to the laundromat a couple of weeks after our honeymoon, and yikes, the total cost was around twenty-four dollars!  We knew that was like throwing money away, so we ended up purchasing a portable washing machine.




This little guy is my best friend.  He doesn't hold much, and I have to do small loads frequently, but at least I don't have to run to the laundromat every week.  (I couldn't take it because we've got a steep staircase up to our apartment.)

Next is our dryer, which really isn't ours, but our neighbor kindly loaned it to us.  It, too, is a small, portable machine.



I only use it one day a week, and that is to dry my sheets.  I do that every Friday, and it takes almost all day to get my sheets done from start to finish.  One of the reasons I only use it one day a week is because if we do anything else while it is on, like vacuum, or even use a hair dryer or iron, the fuse blows and we have to call our poor neighbor below us to deal with the circuit breaker.  So I hang our clothes to dry on our two drying racks, but it is tricky because I can't wash too much at once, or else there's no room to hang it.



(The shower makes a great place to dry Brian's shirts.)

Now on to washing dishes.  We do, in fact, have a dishwasher, but it, too is a portable machine, and it hooks into the kitchen faucet, so I can't use the sink when the dishwasher is running.  It takes so long, about two hours start to finish, and it doesn't do the best job, so I find that most of the time, it is more simple to wash dishes by hand.



It seems as though I am forever trying to organize this place.  Our humble home is small, and it is a bit too small for two people.  Many of my things are still in boxes because there's nowhere to unpack them, and it leaves me feeling a bit unsettled.  I am constantly trying to rearrange or reorganize, only to feel like I'm not really getting anything done.  It's the worst feeling, but I have to put up with it until we get a bigger place.  Some things do get accomplished in my efforts, but not as much as I would wish.  Right now I'm attempting to reorganize my husband's clothes, so we'll see how that goes. ;)

That is just a sample of the things I do and how I manage each day.  It's not always easy, and when I go home for a visit, my mom's washing machine seems enormous in comparison to mine. These little inconveniences may be annoying at times, but I am still grateful for God's many blessings and provisions.  I am glad to no longer be playing house, but living it, with all the good and the bad.  And yes, it is harder than I imagined as a child.  How did my mom make it look so easy? Lord willing, in time, I'll make it look easy to my future children, even though you and I will know the truth.

It'll be our secret. :)

Sunday, March 4, 2012

Wedding Bands and Blog Title

I thought it would be a good thing to explain our blog title.  It comes from the Bible, of course, but it also comes straight from our wedding bands.

Brian and I picked out our wedding bands last July.  He wanted to go to the same place where he got my engagement ring.  I knew that my husband wanted matching rings, and I liked that idea, too, but as a female, I wanted to examine all my options.  I remember first thinking it would be nice to have a band with diamonds.  As the salesperson was telling us that when the ring is worn without the engagement ring, it is nice to have some diamonds on it.  I thought that might be true, for about two seconds.

There is something so lovely about a plain, simple wedding band.  A circle with no embellishments, nothing at all to catch one's eye or even provoke a compliment.  As I tried on various wedding bands, there was something about the plain band which spoke to me of what marriage really is.  I think marriage is more about the simplicity of the everyday routine than the occasional candlelight dinner or walk at sunset.  Marriage is seeing someone when they first wake up in the wee hours of the morning, without any help from cosmetics, hair products, or even a toothbrush.  Marriage is seeing the person you have chosen to cleave to in their worst moments.  We may hide our faults before others, but can we hide the yuckiest parts of our hearts from our mate?  Someone wise once told me that marriage is like looking in a mirror, for it is in that relationship that we truly see who we are.

In that moment, standing at the counter in the jewelry store, I may not have thought of all of this as clearly as I am writing it now, but I did think for a brief moment that a plain band reflected just what the marriage relationship is:  a celebration of walking through life with the one you love during life's most mundane moments as well as the grand.  It's about loving someone with all their faults and allowing yourself to show yours, without putting on airs.

So Brian got his wish that day.  Our bands are plain, but they look alike, except for size, of course. :)  Then the salesman turned to us and asked what we wanted engraved on our rings.  We both looked at each other and realized the thought hadn't occurred to us at all!  Our nice salesman said we could get back to him in a few days while we decided.

It didn't take us long.  We already had this verse on our wedding program, and we thought it would be appropriate on our rings.  After all, why get married if either party is not better off than before?  I am better because Brian has qualities that I need and vice-versa.  We are better together than we are alone.  Christ molds and shapes us individually through the example of the other.  We extend grace and forgiveness to one another continuously, much like our Savior does for us every hour.

I'll leave you with a few words from Henry Van Dyke's poem, "A Mile With Me."

And who will walk a mile with me
Along life's weary way?
A friend whose heart has eyes to see
The stars shine out o'er the darkening lea,
And the quiet rest at the end o' the day,--
A friend who knows, and dares to say,
The brave, sweet words that cheer the way
Where he walks a mile with me.

With such a comrade, such a friend,
I fain would walk till journeys end...