A mountain is climbed step by step. The most beautiful cathedral was built stone by stone.
Our daily actions–the consistent choices, bring us to where we are today.
So what’s your FAT?
Frugal
Activity
Tally
If you want to make a difference in your budget, and reach your goals, it’s the little things you do every day that make the biggest difference. And often those little things are overlooked and underappreciated.
I’m going to start recognizing it for you! So write down your FAT today and post it in your comment below. Here’s an example:
Prepared a brown bag lunch
Used cloth diapers
Used a cloth napkin
Used a homemade cleaning product
Cooked dinner from scratch
Used my Slow Cooker
Combined errends to save gas
Reused a baggie
Used the clothesline
Total: 9
When we read what other frugal activities people are doing, we are inspired, motivated and peer pressured into stepping it up. And one of you lovely ladies will be chosen Queen of frugal activities for the day. (And NO, that won’t EVER be called the FAT queen, lol.) The Queen will be recognized in a blog post and be chosen to give more words of wisdom to the rest of us–and will get a PRIZE, tba. So you have until Friday, to write down a FAT from one day in the comments–any day you choose this week. FACEBOOK coments now count. I have a lovely plug-in that will grab your facebook comments and post them right here too, yay.
I can’t wait to read about what you do that makes a difference for your family.
🙂 Fun game! Thanks Angela.
-Made breakfast from scratch
-Packed my husband’s lunch from leftovers
-Used “reusable” sandwich baggies
-Used homemade laundry detergent
-Dried clothes on the line
-Used cloth napkins
-Used homemade cleaner in the kitchen
-Turned off the air conditioner and opened the windows
-Made lunch from scratch
-Used training pants instead of pull-ups
-Mopped the floor by hand instead of using the steamer
-Kept all the lights off during the day
-Only flushed after the 2nd peepee (TMI?)
-Cleaned my own rugs instead of taking them to the cleaners
-Kept egg cartons for my “egg lady” to reuse
-Made dinner from scratch
-Made kefir instead of buying buttermilk
-Made homemade bread instead of buying bread
-Made water kefir instead of buying store drinks
-Decluttered two closets in the house for a yard sale to have extra cash
-Used hotel shampoo to make foam soap
Total = 21
Been a busy day. 🙂 Thanks for letting me play!
*I don’t flush from the evening to the next morning (bathroom in my bedroom) even when the girls go behind me. We do this just about daily. The only problem is that the girls forget to flush after they poop – drives me nuts.
*Instead of giving up on my fruit (3-lemon) and veggie (1-green pepper, 2 tomato) plants after they didn’t grow, I kept watering them and now I have 3 green peppers and 1 tomato growing. We have about 8 lemons which will be ready in a few weeks.
*I use cloth napkins as often as possible and reject them when eating out (not frugal, but a little bit frugal is better than none).
Well I used tupperware instead of bags because I have been out the last 2 weeks, made soup for my sons lunch No bread in the house, I have started cloth diapering when home to save on disposable diapers, my babysitters are against cloth! I am getting things ready for a yard sale, I also used the school lunch menu to make my onthly menu to save me time, it has breakfast and lunch which became breakfast and dinner and then all I had to add was Saturdays and Sundays! Major time saver!!
*I cleaned with cloth rags from worn out clothes
*I made granola bars from scratch
*I went to a free activity to get my kids out of the house
*I brought the homemade granola bars in a washable container
*I carpooled to said activity to save on gas
*I hung the laundry to dry on a drying rack
*I made homemade burritos for my husband to take to work for lunch
*I made dinner from scratch
*I read library books to my kids
*I took my kids to get free fudge samples while we were out
*I used baking soda to aid my laundry detergent
*We used clothe napkins after meals
*We drank water for most of our drinks (from the tap)
*I ate leftovers for lunch
*I used sunlight to see instead of turning on lights
*We didn’t eat out
*We didn’t go to the movies
*We don’t have cable
*We only have a basic land line the runs less that $40 a month
*We keep the air conditioner at 75 degrees or above (it’s still hot here)
*I used swagbucks so I can earn points toward home school supplies
*I put some stuff that didn’t have a home in the free pie safe that we got a few weeks ago
Total: 22
Do all those count?
‘I’m sure there are more that I don’t even think about because I’m in the habit, but that’s all that comes to mind in the moment!
1) packed my lunch
2) packed my kid’s lunch
3) cooked dinner in the slow cooker
4) combined errands
5) hand washed my dishes
6) turned my a/c up while I wasn’t home
7) only do laundry after get
8) returned my library books
I:
made breakfast out of salvage store purchased bagels and cream cheese .99 and .60 cents respectively a really good deal in my area.
Sorted dirty clothes into my swagbuck purchased laundry sorter from Amazon.
Milked my dairy goats.
washed my clothes in cold water and hung them to line dry.
used cloth diapers.
Filled my dishwasher completely full and ran it on the no heat dry cycle.
Traded neighboring farmer homemade chokecherry jelly for 40 pounds of freshly grown dried black and pinto beans and all the free sweet corn I want.
Gleaned five gallon buckets of pears and apples from a friend’s ancient orchard, took along a friend so she could share in my canning bounty. These will be canned into applesauce, pear sauce, apple and pear butter and chutney. Will be going back for alot more.
Made chokecherry syrup to sell at the farmers market for 5 dollar a half pint.
Spent half an hour on the phone finding the best price on a couple of semi trailer tires for my husband saved aproximately five hundred dollars by price shopping.
Drew a blood sample from a stallion to send for testing saved forty dollar vet ranch visit fee.
Moved my sprinkler every four hours to maximise water and energy usage.
Arranged to glean all the wheat I want for chicken feed for this coming winter meaning I will once again feed my chickens for free.
Cut up freecycle rhubarb for the freezer.
.set dishwasher and washing machines to run on night tariff
.made flags, bunting, cake toppers with computer graphics for sons 18th
.homebaked all meals and massive birthday cake!
.cut up unused tie to make straps for a strapless recycled dress for daughters party (saved time going to buy fabric , $ and stress!)
Great idea! I love sharing the FAT count! Maybe my husband will be able to “see” the difference the changes can make and get excited with me! 🙂
Today, I…
*Reused the bath towel from the day before on the floor to catch the water
*Packed my daughter’s lunch from leftovers and items from our local farmer’s market.
*Packed my husband’s lunch from the same
*Used our state’s frequent traveler ezpass program to save 60% on the tolls we pay for my husband to go to and from work
*Put together my outfit for work from all gently worn clothing from friends and family
*Daughter did the same for picture day today at school
*Son did the same for preschool
*Repurposed old (but good condition) t-shirts for daughter’s pjs.
*Combined errands to save time and gas
*Ate lunch at home
*Collected recyclable items at the office to send to TerraCycle (snack chip bags, candy bar wrappers)
*Collected used items to donate to the local senior center while at work
*Pre-made homemade “microwave” lunches for my husband (frozen in reusable containers – cook once, eat 4 times!), saved time, electricity, and $$
*Used all the junk mail for an arts activity with the kids including developing dexterity w/ scissors for my 3 year old, and a lesson in healthy food choices for the kids.
*Recycled paper from the office instead of shredding – made my birthday list on it (other uses: kids can draw, use for lists, do activities like tracing and writing stories, make paper airplanes, bookmarkers, etc)
*Used my debit card as credit for gas purchase and used my loyalty rewards points from my grocery store to get fuel at $0.10 per gallon off while earning 1% cash back through my PerkStreet bank account!
*Sorted items for yard sale
*Took the leftover bits of bar soap to make bathroom hand soap for the kids
*Recycled an old hand soap pump for the homemade soap.
*Used broom and dustpan to clean/sweep wood floors instead of vacuum.
*Reused water bottle from home to fill at water cooler in the office instead of purchasing soft drinks to have during the day.
*Reused office mail envelopes for sorting receipts and coupons
*Created a spreadsheet to track spending habits
*Used homemade laundry soap for laundry
*Used homemade cleaner for floors and dusting
*Recycled old t-shirts for polishing floors and furniture
*Only used lights in rooms where needed (no light in computer room unless writing on paper; only lights in room where you are; no lights on while watching t.v.)
*Unplug all extra devices when not in use (radios, phone chargers, electric razor, lap top)
*hand washed dishes and used cloth dishtowel to dry
*repurposed clothes hamper to kitchen recycle container (we recycle WAY more than we throw away – the old 13 gallon can wasn’t holding enough!)
*signed up for website “paperbackswap.com” to recycle books and get ones I want to read – earn credits towards books
*Joined to start earning Swagbucks!
*Purchased household items from online buying club – used club coupons and loyalty dollars to get free items, earned more loyalty dollars by shopping, saved on gas by not driving around to get “the best deal”, won’t have to shop for another month!
AHHH…..forgot one more! And this is my favorite………
I am saving my “1% cash back reward” from my PerkStreet account to purchase my daughter’s Christmas gift! So far I am 1/3 the way there. By the time November gets here, I will have saved enough to get her the new Nintendo 3DS – on sale of course – and all I did was pay my bills with my debit card as credit!!!!
I work night shift as a nurse and also am a busy farmer’s wife, so when I get home in the morning, I do most of my ccoking , once or twice a week. I am able to double batch and freeze items ahead of time for our busy harvesting season. I also portion individual reusable containers and stack them in the fridge so that my husband has dinners ready to heat while I am sleeping and I also have lunch packed for work. I think the biggest thing I did this week to help with frugality is to organize all of my kitchen and bathroom drawers and closets. Recently, during hurricane Irene, we were without electricity for about 8 days and I purchased batteries at a higher cost because of demand and I already had them in a drawer at home without realizing it. The same with the bathroom, I was buying extra items that I already had because my items were not organized. Seeing clearly what you have at hand and being able to take advantage of sales helps you to be frugal with time(a valuable asset) and money savings!!
*Did dishes for two meals at once. This might be called lazy, I prefer to think I’m saving electricity by only heating one sink full of water 🙂
*Ate leftovers for lunch. Even the kids.
*Used only cloth diapers.
*I’m leaving the clothes that got rained outside until the weather clears up, so they can dry on the line again instead of in the dryer. Again, sounds lazy, really just frugal.
*Having my husband stop for a few necessities from Aldi instead of using it as an excuse to take the whole family on a 100 mile round trip.
*Figuring up a new budget to see if there’s any more fat we can trim there.
*Made a wool diaper cover from a thrifted sweater instead of buying a new one (or 6!) online
*Made my husband a lunch to take to work. I do this every day but it’s nice to remind myself that those things I don’t think about any more are still doing their part.
*Paid a bill on time! Hooray for no late fees AND making the internet service pay its own way (a little bit anyway)
* I also just canceled $20 worth of unnecessary monthly bills. Woohoo!
Ate leftovers for lunch
used cloth diapers
used crock pot to make dinner for tonight
used bread machine to bake bread instead of buy
dressed kiddo in hand me down clothes
Tally=5
Wow, ladies very impressive stuff! Milking the goats was a wow factor for me! Ok, here’s mine.
Make my own milk from powered milk and evaporated milk. We call them Dairy cream and sweet milk. (hillbillyhousewife.com gave me the idea) save 300-400 a year.
Combine driving around for Sunday morning (kids were sick this week)
did church at home
learn new verse with hand motions (duggar idea) Love That Multiplies
Family went grocery shopping (including dad!)
oldest daughter cleaned front room while we were at store
Walgreen specials to be purchased for local churches’ pantry.
do my own laundry
homemade laundry detergent
homemade fabric softener
have a homemade recipe for starch
iron clothes
purchased made in the USA combs for my longer growing hair (worth the investment)
cut my boy’s hair
saved money for BIG anniversary date this month (sept)
stocked up extras from Walgreens
Keep lights off all day by opening up windows
Angie’s homemade window cleaner
” ” homemade cleaner
purchased my weakness of candy corn for 79 cents from Walgreens
hand write thank you notes
shop at Goodwill for pj’s for kids ( we get printed stuff) my daughter has the cutest coke cocoa pj bottoms I got in the men’s section.
freecycled some items for a family
said prayers for others in need or needed.
cook in my hubby’s new discounted store put together b-b-q pit. (yeah, he purchased the last one! Cash too!)
purchased my families weakness: banana to eat, made into banana pancakes, banana bread.
homemade bread
homemade nutty raisin crasin bread (new recipe)
homeschool my kids
had our own garden this year. Blackberries came in when our place of the past few years went bust!
made peach jelly ( peaches purchased from Fredricksburg)
made strawberry jelly (from our main place..you pick)
made strawberry-banana jelly
made blackberry jelly ( new idea) (from place that went bust that we picked ourselves)
WILL make apple butter this Oct.
shared home items with someones mom that moved in with them
homemade cereal
make and extra meal on Friday so Saturday can be a day of rest
husband purchased flowers for me (12.00) I asked for the florist to arrange so it would look special when I brought it home. ahhh.. memories. :o)
kids and I clean house on Sunday afternoon
hubby’s lunch for work (left overs)
reinvent leftovers one day after breakfast for dinner that night. Included from scratch desserts.
have herb garden
have pear tree
have peach trees grown (nope no fruit yet!)
have used rabbit waste for garden
we eat left overs from the night before or I reinvent them.
ash from the charcoal is used for the garden
have started a compost
and last but not least. My dear mother when she comes to visit will bring extra items from her kitchen and/or purchased extra goodies for the kids. Wow, what a treat!
oh this might not count… but we shop for Christmas during the year for clearance stuff for the kids unless my hubby wants to spurge for the kids for a new game or movie.
…and i know you ladies probably if not most purchase things after valentines, graduation, ‘ween candy, Easter candy, Christmas stuff. I am sure some of you could teach me a few things!!! There are some great post and most here are very, very impressive! Great job ladies!!!
…and ALWAYS AWARE…ALWAYS IN PRAYER