Last Weeks Frugal Accomplishment's

                   

  If you read my last post, you would know that my one goal for 2014 is Less.  Included in this goal is spending less. This is hard for me, but something I really want to become better at in 2014. 
           One blog I read to get more ideas on how to be more frugal is The Prudent Homemaker.  This woman is AMAZING!!  She feeds her family of 8 on just a 100 a month. A month. 8 people.  I think she does have a  slight advantage is she can garden almost year round, but none the less she is amazing.  I love to read her blog.  It inspires me to do more, try harder. If you have a few minutes, go check it out!  Now, I have LONG way to go before I am even close to being that frugal, but she definitely gives me something to strive for. Almost every week she does a post about her latest Frugal Accomplishments.   I enjoy reading them & seeing what she is doing. I also like how some things she does, I didn't even think about it being frugal & I can go "Hey, I did that too!."  I have tried to write down frugal things I have done in the past week & I realized the more I write down, the more I want to do just so I can add it to my list. (I am kind of a dork like that.) 

          So in effort to share some of the ways I am trying to spend less this year, I thought I would join in with her. Now I don't know it will be weekly or just randomly. It will depend on our crazy life. So for now you can just take it as it comes. 

  Last Weeks Frugal Accomplishments:

• I cleaned out my freezer & saved the ice from the ice maker into a gallon ziplock added it into my freezer downstairs. I am starting to do this, so when we need massive quantities of ice for gatherings or other reasons, I don't have to buy it from the store.
  
• Sewed a button back on my 2nd son shirt.
  
•  I used leftover chicken from the Saturday before, to use on Sunday for chicken sandwiches & again for White Chicken Chili for dinner on Wednesday.
  
• Sewed  buttons back on 2 of my little dudes shirts as well.

•  I canned 14 quarts of pinto beans.
  
• Checked out books & DVD's from the library..
  
• I was able to become an affiliate for Craftsy. In getting accepted I also received a free class for up to a $50 dollar value. I choose the Beginning Serging class that was $50 dollars. I have been wanting to take this class for a long time, but never justified the expense. I was thrilled when I could now take it for free!
  
   
• Because of this class, I was finally able to figure out how to thread & actually use my serger. I have had it for almost 3 years, but barely used it because I didn't know how to thread it properly.
  
• I then used my fixed serger to fix a pair of pants. I have a long list of things I want to sew with my serger now. I am so excited.
  
• I made 10 loaves of bread & 9 hamburger buns. The bread gets cut up in slices & put in the freezer. We pull out a loaf at a time & use it. The hamburger buns were put in the freezer &  I will use them later this week for a meal.

• When I sliced up the bread, I took the ends & sliced them in small pieces. I dried them out for bread crumbs & will use them to make croutons & homemade stuffing. None of my kids or hubby will eat the ends so they would go to waste if they just were in the bag. I finally realized that cutting them up in advance was a way of using them so they are not wasted.
  
• I made homemade Granola without all the ingredients, just the ones I had on hand, instead of buying cereal. I normally don't buy cereal, but when I am pregnant I CRAVE cheerios. I buy it quite a bit when pregnant, because some days it is the only thing I can keep down. I resisted this week & made the granola instead. The granola isn't quite the same for me, but it still has been good. My kids love it & it makes a simple breakfast on the mornings I am not feeling well. 

• We worked at the ranch this week. Our trailer we slept in last year is now the cook shack, so all 6 of us camped out in this sheep camp. It was cozy & a complete adventure.
  
  
• While working  & traveling to the ranch we did eat out for a meal or two, but when we did we made it as affordable as possible. One meal was at Pizza Hut & my kids used their book-its for their personal pan pizza. So we only needed to order enough to feed my husband & I. The other time we ate at Subway & just got a couple of  their $5 dollar foot longs & split them between two people.
  
• I watched shows on CBS & Hulu.
  
• My furnace quit working while we were home & my hubby at the ranch. So he called a friend to come check it out & they were able to get it up & running. It only cost me his gas money, instead of a couple of hundred dollars for a service call.
  
• When I did go to to the store, I put items back just so I could stay in the budget I set for myself. I tried to only buy the items that were absolute necessity.

So there you have it last weeks frugal accomplishments. I have already to begin to write down this weeks & see what I can do to spend Less. What did you do this week to be frugal?

LESS

     I am sure if you have browsed around the internet for more than a minute or two you would see the trend of choosing one word as a type of New Years Resolution or statement. This year there was something about the idea  that seems to appeal to me. Maybe it was the possibility of making it simpler to actually remember my new years resolutions.

    I  remember growing up, we would almost always have a Family Home Evening about goals in January. My mom would make a cute handout for us to write our resolutions on. Most of the time they would be divided into 4 or more categories: Spiritual, Physical, Mental & Emotional. I used to love those lessons & the excitement of setting new goals, but after several months these great goals would fall by the wayside. Maybe it is my inability to focus on something very long, or that I am slightly blonde or just get easily distracted. Either way many resolutions were set, few were actually accomplished. 

   So for the sake of simplicity & hoping it will "stick" better I am chose One Word for my Goal. 

This year I want LESS.

• LESS stuff cluttering my home, so I have More time to do what we enjoy.
• LESS spending, MORE Saving.
• LESS self doubt, MORE Self belief.
• LESS discouraging words, MORE encouraging ones.
• LESS fear of failure, MORE trying new things.
• LESS time with technology, MORE time with my family
• LESS reasons why I can't, MORE  . . "I will . . ."
• LESS poor habits, MORE good ones.
• LESS time partially distracted, MORE time focused.

You get the idea. I do realize it is kind of a two worded goal, for every "less" I also have a "more" but you get the idea.  I loved this system that I read about last year ( I couldn't find here original post about it, so you get this one). So every month for the next year I am just focusing on one aspect of my less goal. One thing in my life for that month  I want less of & at the end of  the month I will share what is was & how it went. So here is a to a new year with a whole lot  LESS!

Do you have a new years resolution or goal? I would love to hear what it is.