Living frugal and being prepared!!

You've got that right. I live in Southern Missouri and we get ice storms. One winter we went 5 days with no power and the next year 3 days. Both times, was glad that we had good on hand because even the stores didn't have power.

SomeCowgirl - yes it is hard to do sometimes if your mind is not in the right spot. I learned how to be frugal simply out of necessity - I had to raise 2 kids nad a unually unemployed husband on not much more than minimum wage. I learned cause I had to. Now as a grand mother, I do it simply as that is the way I know so I do it and am able to make ends meet. INcome isn't much more than it was before, but I still am frugal. Don't call it frugal...call it making ends meet if that helps you deal with it all and make it work. I have a blog in my profile called Coffee Break Whatever Save Money where I have written all the ways that I personally had to do just to live and now they are (to me) ways to save money - I wasn't able to save any, just make ends meet. Now, I can use them to save money. Take a look and thing is - once I started writting it all down to share with others, I noticed that I was rather surprised at how much a person thinks they need and really don't and how much a person is used to spending, and doesnt' even realize they are spending the money or even wasting it! My motto is "save a little to save alot". If you look at it daily and say "oh, good grief, it's only a buck", well, yeah a buck won't make you or break you,but you add that buck on a daily basis and at the end of the month you have $30 bucks - that can make a difference. I saved one month - $7.36 just from cleaning out my husbands pockets before I washed his pants! SOunds stupid and mindless but that was enough to stretch my food budget for one more meal! I would take this kind of "found" money and put it in a jar and use it for when the kids had a fund raiser or something they wanted to buy from school - Troll book club and things like that. It really helps you if you look, individually, at what you spend your money on - that Starbucks cup of coffee every morning at $3.75 (and that is the cheapest version - most are more) for 365 days a year is $1368.75 a year! But when you look at it as "only $3.75 a day, big deal" no it doesn't strick you as an issue, but nearly $1400 a year! That's a vacation next summer - christmas and birthdays for the full year and then some - one months rent or 2 car payments... things like that. Look at it that way and you will really quickly see how to restructure the income you have and how you accolate it and you can start saving. Good luck and I hope you find the income you need. I am still searching but since I "know the ropes" I can at least make ends meet!

I appreciate everything you have said and I will definitely be looking at your blog. I know that my old self, you've struck home on several times. I used to eat out atleast three times a week, I would say that's the only way I have time to get something in my stomach... However, I know that I could have sufficed with a potluck dinner.

It does not cost a lot to stockpile, Like lets use this for an example, Last week I went to a local grocery store and they had sugar on sale for $1.49 a 5 pound bag. I bought 4 of them and it really did not take too much out of my grocery budget and I now have 3 bags of sugar put back in my stockpile. You have to just think like that. Or I love it when I get stuff buy one get one free and I stick the free one in my stockpile. Or search online for free coupons for free items and throw that stuff in the stockpile. I had a few great freebie coupons last week too. Free creamer and free always pads.

I just remembered something else too, I sign up for freebies online and when I get them in the mail I throw them in a big rubbermade tote that I have put back in with the stockpile. It is full of anything and everything. Soaps, shampoos, toothpaste , cleaner, tide, wipees, diapers, anything!!!!

You are right, if you buy it little by little it won't cost too much all at once. That is a great idea on the freebies. I get them all the time too and now will start to save them.

It really came in handy when we had a wind storm come through Indiana ( it was a catagory 1 hurricane) and our electric was out for almost 3 days and I still had to be able to wash cloth diapers!!!! My neighbors were giving me dirty looks when they seen me hanging clothes out to dry. They were wondering how I was doing laundry!!!

Lots of hugs to you!! My hubby just went back to work and it is hard when no money is coming in. I will have you in my prayers that he will be back to work soon at even as better job than he had before!!!!