Thursday Thirteen: Frugality

Thirteen Ways To Be Frugal! Get freebies from companies from online forms! However, you need to be frugal with your TIME, as well - limit yourself to a certain amount of time per day or week. All those tiny little freebies aren't worth it if you spend an hour a day looking for them. Also limit yourself to items that you know you will use, or that you have a particular person in mind that you can give it to - clutter isn't frugal, either. "Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without!" Don't take a shopping partner with you unless they are just as committed to frugality are you are. It's hard to say no to your spouse when they want something, and friends can influence you to make unwise decisions even if they don't mean to. Try a little before committing to a lot - when you find a new product, try a small version of it first, even if the cost-per-unit is on the high side. Getting stuck with a gallon of something isn't frugal if it turns out that it's totally unusable because it makes someone sick, or you just hate it so badly that you literally can't stand to use it and have to get rid of it. Use online shopping comparison tools like Froogle or Shopping.com. Use cash only. Hit the clearance spots and stock up when you find a really good deal. Buy birthday and holiday gifts throughout the year as you find good deals. However, be sure to limit yourself to only buying with a particular person in mind, not just a "oh, SOMEBODY will just love this!" kind of purchase. The exception would be perhaps 2-3 "anybody" gifts to have on hand for unexpected guest, new friends that your children make, etc. Check out deals boards like on MyCoupons, SlickDeals, Families.com, DealOfDay, etc., read consistently for a few weeks, and learn from the masters. Get coupon inserts from friends and family members so that you don't have to buy lots of papers. Barring that, get coupons from online trading (many of the above-mentioned boards also have trading sections) or from clipping services that charge a small amount per coupon for their time and effort. It still comes out cheaper than buy whole papers, you only get what you need, and you don't have the clutter of all those extra newspapers! Carry a calculator in your purse or with your shopping stuff so that you can figure up prices if needed. Join your local Freecycle group and ask around for items to be given instead of purchased. Be nice, don't just be a taker - be a giver in the group, too!


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The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

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Thursday Thirteen

Thirteen Things about Harry's Room I'm cleaning out Harry's room this week. Things I've found, or done, by the numbers: Garbage bags full of garbage: 3 1/2 SO FAR Lego bricks that were on the floor when they should be in the box in the living room: at least 100. Unidentifiable objects: at least 30 Screws on the floor from all the electronic and computer things he's taken apart: innumerable Pieces of furniture removed: 1 child-size recliner Pieces of old desk thrown in the garbage: 2 Floppies found scattered around: at least 20 SO FAR Number of MY music CD cases, EMPTY, found in his room instead of the CD tower where they belong: 3 Number of computer keyboards in various stages of usability: at least 5 Number of sheets on his bed where they belong: ZERO Number of flat sheets lying on the floor: 1 Number of walkable square feet on the floor: Um. Maybe 6! Number of Christmas lights in his room: Don't even get me started. Just don't. Links to other Thursday Thirteens! 1. (leave your link in comments, I’ll add you here!)


Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!


The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

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Thursday Thirteen

Thirteen Things about DEMETER 1. I once spent more than 2 years reading everything I could get my hands on about Greco-Roman mythology, all because I was fascinated that my real name is related to one of the goddessess. (Not that I believe in that stuff.) 2. I can not only roll my tongue in a "U" shape, I can also fold it in half front-to-back and make a cloverleaf shape, too. 3. I've lived in my current home for 12 1/2 years, which is the longest I've lived in any one place in my life. 4. I played flute and piccolo in school, and I still own my flute. However, I sold my piccolo a few years ago when we needed the money. 5. I have never had cable/satellite TV in my whole life. 6. I knew that I would homeschool my future children back when I was a Senior in high school. 7. I cannot ride a bike - the one bike I had as a child got crushed before I really learned to ride well, and there was no money to replace it. 8. I can't skate, either - roller or ice. 9. I love to read, and will read cereal boxes or sugar packets if I'm desperate enough. 10. I have watched two movies made when I was younger, in the town I lived in at the time. One was a TV movie with Johnny Cash and Andy Griffith, and the other was the big screen movie "Tank" with James Garner and Shirley Jones. 11. I'm good at almost anything I turn my hand to, whether it's crafting, writing, music, etc. - but I've never been great at any of it. Jack of all trades, master of none, that's me in a nutshell. 12. If money were no option, I would be a hopeless gadget junkie. I love technology! 13. I cannot go to bed before 10:30, maybe 10 if I'm REALLY tired. If I try to go to bed too soon, I end up tossing and turning, then just get up and piddle around reading or playing on the computer, and stay waaaaaay past 10:30 because I can't sleep. Links to other Thursday Thirteens! 1. (leave your link in comments, I’ll add you here!)


Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!


The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

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Thursday Thirteen: 13 Things I Look Forward To About Moving

Last week's post was a bit of a downer, so this week is upbeat and positive!

1. I look forward to my husband getting to be home more because he's not having to make a long commute every day. He might even get to come home for lunch because we'll be living so close to his office!
2. More space at home! The new place won't be a lot bigger, but a little bit. And every bit helps.
3. We're moving to a beautiful part of the state that's not so citi-fied like where we're at now.
4. We'll be living in a college town, and I'm hoping that will present lots of opportunities for us for field trips, etc. since we homeschool.
5. A chance to make new friends!
6. Good water pressure! You cannot imagine what it's like to live for 12 1/2 years with bad water pressure. And no dishwasher. I'm going to have a dishwasher, too!
7. Hopefully, a bigger church family. We're still not entirely sure where we'll end up, but it will probably be the larger of the two we're looking at. I hope so, because I want lots of opportunities for all of us to grow in the Lord with good Christian friends.
8. A garden tub - the master bath has this lovely, DEEP tub in it that will be perfect for soaking when I'm tired or sore.
9. Less crime - our current neighborhood is getting downright scary. Our new neighborhood has lots of patrols (some police actually live there, too) and pretty much zero crime.
10. Living closer to my home state - we'll actually be only about 1/2 hour away from the border, I can "go home" any time I want.
11. Two bathtubs (one tub only, one tub/shower) + one shower = faster bath and bed times. Hopefully.
12. A real room for Hermione, even if it is small. Her current room is really just a re-purposed space with no actual door.
13. Even cooling and heating - we currently have a floor furnace for heat and window units for air. Which means that large parts of the house are either freezing or burning up most of the year. We'll finally have central heat and air!

Don't forget to check out all the other Thursday Thirteen posts, and don't forget to scroll down a few posts to enter the giveaway for Box Tops For Education that I'm giving away this week!

Thursday Thirteen: A Very Moving Post

Thirteen Things I Dread About Moving:

1. All this paperwork!
2. Changing utilities, and trying to time everything so nothing gets cut off too soon here and too late there.
3. PACKING!
4. Trying to change our address on SOOOOO many things.
5. Needing something that's already been packed - I just know it's going to happen.
6. Trying to move my cantankerous old cat who hates to ride in her cage. And she probably will be very miffed about being moved to a new place, too.
7. The actual physical move, all that back and forth, toting boxes and things. URGH.
8. Being without my internet for even in a day.
9. The unexpected costs; I hope there aren't too many!
10. Having to leave all my friends here.
11. Having to try and make it through our farewell party without collapsing into a blubbering heap of gooey wetness.
12. Having to learn a whole new city.
13. Dealing with all the little "transfers" that will crop up over the next year or so - car tags, voting registration, library cards, etc.

For more Thursday Thirteens, go HERE.

And don't forget to sign up for my giveaway this week!