Reuse/Reduce

My favorite section in Living Simply magazine is about taking odd things, stuff you might even throw out, and finding a new purpose for it. I particularly like the suggestion of using an old tissue box to store plastic bags. Containers designed specifically for that purpose cost ten dollars or more. For a couple of bucks, you can have your tissues and use the box too. This keeps the box out of the landfill and plastic bags organized.

Someone else's Trash...

Trash to treasure is one of my favorite concepts, especially when it's someone else's trash. I love cleaning up something I found on the side of the road and turning it into something the person who got rid of would probably want back. My mom is better at this though. She took a table that my brother was getting rid of and sanded it, filled in holes made by his dog's teeth, and painted it. It looks like she bought it new at the store. She also refinished a broken rocking chair and sold it at her garage sale. When it comes to finding treasures in the trash, I've come across a computer desk (better than the one I bought new) and a shelf for Rylee's bedroom. I thought I saw a treasure today, but it was just a beat up shoe rack. They can't all be good finds. Sometimes another person's trash is...just trash.

The Coupon Craze

Everyone keeps telling me there are television shows about people who are practically coupon professionals. My co-worker informed me that there was a couple who paid $6 for a $1,000 grocery bill. I have used coupons my entire life, and I don't see how this is possible. But I'm thinking it's time to take my couponing to a whole new level. If there are others out there who can do that, I could at least cut my grocery bill in half. Some of these "professionals" devote as many as three hours a night to couponing. I don't have that much time, so I'll start small by tracking sales, utilizing my store coupons, requesting manufacturers' coupons so I can use them in addition to the store coupons, and going to coupon websites to get more coupons. My brother and his wife recently started a coupon "hobby" where they purchase coupons. While I have a difficult time paying for something to save me money, depending on the deal, it could save money in the long run.

Trash to Charity

When I bought a new and larger mattress, which resulted in new and larger sheets, I had to decide what to do with the old ones. Old comforters and sheets don't fetch a big ticket price at a garage sale, so I decided to transform my comforter into a cat bed. Since there will be plenty of materials left over (as long as the first one turns out), I thought I'd make extras for the new no-kill shelter. Every year we raise money to purchase supplies for animal shelters. I think the cat beds will go great with our regular donations.

Old to New

Redesigning something old is certainly not a new concept, but there are plenty of fresh ideas out there. Last weekend I went to a friend's new home. She gave us a tour of her house, and the last room on the tour was her daughter's room. Despite the brand-new, store bought furniture, desk, and canopy, I noticed a unique shelf hanging above her desk. I noticed it had two nobs on the top like a drawer. She explained to me it had been a drawer. Her mother makes them. She even sells them. It was a very practical trash-to-treasure idea. And it looked great!

Don't Buy/Borrow

My co-worker complained that she wanted to do more with her kids, but that it was too expensive to take them to movies or buy them things. I suggested she go to the library and borrow books and movies. I go to the library almost every week. I don't think I've rented a movie, bought a book or game in several months, not when I can borrow them. Books and movies are free--unless you get a late fee, which I do sometimes. As far as video games, I never have to purchase those as long as my fiance works at GameStop, where he gets to borrow them for free, not to mention our friends who are generous about loaning games they haven't played in awhile. Speaking of borrowing, it's a good idea to borrow halloween costumes and dresses for formal occasions whenever possible. Why buy something you only get to use once. Rylee looked really cute in a leapard costume a co-worker of mine made for her grandaughter, and I'm sure she was happy to get some extra use out of something she spent so much time making. Math is not my strong point, but I figure I save hundreds of dollars a year borrowing instead of purchasing.

The Frugal Queen

Oprah once dedicated a segment of her show to a woman she thought was one of the most frugal moms in America. This woman got ketchup from restaurants and reused fabric softener sheets. My mother, with her superior wisdom, pointed out several errors that disqualify this woman from her title as frugal mom: If she is so cheap, why is she going to fast-food restaurants? Why does she dry her clothes when she could use a drying rack or hang them on a line? And when she does dry clothes, why does she use a fabric softener sheet? If she is truly cheap, on the rare occasion she does throw clothes in the dryer, she should throw an old towel and tennis ball in the dryer instead of fabric softener sheets. Take away the crown, we have a new Queen. My mother has done everything to save money from cutting her own hair, washing Zip Lock bags (generic of course), to reusing water in the washing machine. Because of her frugal finesse, she was able to support five people, two dogs, and too many cats on roughly 20,000 dollars annual. She was also able to remodel her home, and her second home, and her third home (not to mention she purchased all of her homes with cash). As frugal princess, I can only hope to become as frugal as my mother and earn my own crown one day. Of course, my mother has been reading forums and blogs on Frugal Village, and she says there is a woman who takes leftovers off of her family's plates and combines them all to make casseroles and soups--even my mom wouldn't go that far! So, perhaps that woman is truly the Frugal Queen. I guess this is one time when it's ok to be second best.