I have been frugal all my life. Thrift shop, giveaways, and garage sales have been as much a part of my life as breathing. In my early years it was out of necessity. In my later years, the same thing, but I found a new purpose and a new community of people who share the same vision. One of my mottos is "do what you can with what you have."
I have started using coupons (not extreme, but enough to see a savings of $61.00 dollars for the month of October, minus expenses) I live in a rural community and the coupon's face value is not that high, so I think I have done pretty well. I will usually buy two papers. To acquire even more coupons, I buy old magazines from the library. They newer issues cost 25 cents and the later issues cost 10 cents. When I am through with those magazines, I take them to work or trade them at the hospital or doctors office. One of the hospitals that I visit will have a cart of magazines for people to take. One person's trash is my treasure. One of the magazines that I buy is called All You. They list the total amount of all the coupons in that issue. I found a subscription to the magazine for $1.66 an issue (the store's issue is 2.49). Plus I use the subscription with another site Ebates. Another savings opportunity.
For the past 6 months, I have been renting new movies from the library. I can rent as many as five movies for three days. The library also lets me reserve movies ahead of time. I will usually get the first run movies no later than a week after their DVD release. I can wait.
I sign up for emails from all the stores that I shop at. They will usually send a sneak peak of their up coming ads so that I can match my sales with the coupons that I have on hand. I use free bill pay to pay most of my bills and pay all my bills on the day I get paid. Everything else is paid with money orders. I get my envelopes from the dollar store and I buy stamps for the month. I cannot stand overdrafts.
I find all my clothes at the thrift shop and free giveaways. I will take a plain shirt or top and use fabric paint or iron-ons (all from thrift shops and clearance racks of local crafts shops) and make it my own. The Goodwill by my house has started a new program where certain colored tags are half price. I will also purchase worn out sweaters to make new scarves, headbands, and decorative touches to my clothes.
At my house, we have a very old computer. It has gone through the mill. It takes some time to warm up. A friend of mine (he is so wonderful) gave me an older model laptop. As a matter of fact, I am typing this post on that laptop. Since I write 6 blogs, It is easier for me to type up my blogs, without waiting for my desktop to warm up, save them to my jump drive (I cannot use the internet on this laptop unless I am within 1 mile of the nearest wi-fi link) and insert them into the blogs. I use every minute that I can.
The majority of my beauty supply is from the dollar store. Anything else I need, I use coupons or make myself. For me to be truly frugal, I try to make all my products do double duty. Baby oil, Vaseline, powered milk, scrubbers, Epsom salts, makeup, powders, hair accessories, and the list goes on. One of my purchases has been a lip brush. This makeup tool extends the life of my lipstick and helps define my lips. I could not live without this tool.
Since I make all my own jewelry, I have collected beads from the craft shop, dollar stores, garage sales, and thrift shops. I also find purses, belts, scarves, hats, and shoes. All you have to do is clean your items and you are good to go.
This is my way to do what I can with what I have.
By Georgetta R. from Waterloo, IA
Do you have a frugal story to share with the ThriftyFun community? Submit your essay here: http://www.thriftyfun.com/post_myfrugallife.ldml
By
11/16/2011
I shop at thirft shops and goodwill a lot and and found out lately that Dollar stores are great for supplies also. We also check the sale papers real good. Since we found out that hubby has cancer and we need to cut back a bit. I am retired early. I just turned 61 yesterday.
By
11/14/2011
We are inspired! But let me tell you of one more deal, freebies! You can get all sorts of samples of personal care items from freebie sites. My favorites are www.freestufftimes.com & www.freakyfreddies.com but there are many others. You can also sign up for customer & membership parts of sites & then you can get trials of products & samples. I am also a member of sites like SheSpeaks & Smiley 360.com which give me items to try & blog about.
I am currently trying Torani syrups (the caramel is great in coffee) & I got a pyrex pan & coupons for PAM from the other site! Take a look at my blog at www.myfrugallife.com/blog_pamphyila.html (also a part of Thriftyfun. I am having a giveaway from Carmex, too! Good hunting.
Like ThriftyFun on Facebook
