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.