February 26, 2018 ~ So I am truly enjoying this new-to-me simple (aka: frugal) lifestyle and I also enjoy sharing my thoughts, ideas and actions with you guys. I'll be completely honest, in the past saving money wasn't really something that was in my vocabulary. I wanted to travel the United States, make memories and enjoy life. Now that Brandon and I have seen all 50 states over the past several years we have made many memories and enjoyed life but it also meant that we always were on the go and never (or hardly ever) would sit still. I wouldn't change that fast paced and crazy lifestyle for anything however I suppose as we grow up and become adults things in life change. I am ready to be home and just enjoy making memories locally. (Don't get me wrong - we will still visit places throughout the years but not near like we had been previously)
To me saving is more important than ever as the reality of retirement is closer than it once was. Don't get me wrong... my husband and I are 42 (well, he's 42 and for the next 6 months I will be known as his "younger" 41 year old wife)... we still have several years to work but just before we turned 40 we set a "Retirement Goal" of 50. Now before y'all start getting all "Have they lost their mind" on us please remember that this is only a goal. Perhaps in reality we don't retire until we are 55, 60 or even 65 but if you don't set a goal for yourself then how do you ever work towards something? It's just getting the idea of retirement in your thought process and saving up as much as we can so we can afford to retire.
Setting goals can be a bit overwhelming, scary and even difficult but with determination, hard work and keeping a daily reminder of your goals you can accomplish anything you set your mind to. I am a visual person. I will tell you this anytime we are going to work on a project or brainstorm because I need to see the big picture. From that point I like to work backwards to find out what I need to do right now in order to reach the goal or deadline. It's just how my brain works.
In my previous blog post I talked about decluttering my home and living with less which I felt really was the pivotal piece that inspired this change. The next step to my frugal living journey would be to curb the spending. This would come in many directions but these few are huge ones for me.
Eating Out!
This was a major one for us. For nearly the past 10 years (give or take) we have just about ate out for lunch and dinner every single day. Obviously there were times when we ate at my parents house, my sisters house and friends houses but 90% of the time it was going out to eat. Now realize that we are just two people that do not have children and I know it sounds crazy but it was cheaper for us to go out and eat rather than cooking at home - at least this was my old mentality.
At the beginning of this year I put the brakes on us going out to eat and decided that I was going to start cooking at home. Yes my family laughed at this idea because I was not someone who would cook. After about 6 weeks of seeing that I was now cooking lunch and dinner at home every day and even inviting my family and friends over for home cooked meals I have heard "I would have never believed it if I hadn't seen it / tasted it for myself"! (Seriously, they don't know me by now that when I set my mind to something then I go all out and prove everyone wrong!)
This has actually been an easy transition for me and although I do struggle from time to time to come up with something different to cook ..... it's harder than you think because I am a super picky eater and if I don't like it then sugars, I ain't cookin' it! I stick to my basic beef, pork and chicken and have managed to come up with easy recipes that have most of the basic things in my refrigerator and pantry. (Many thanks to Pintrest and Google) I have several "new go-to" recipes and some that I won't make again - I do have to admit although they weren't horrible it won't be something I fix.
Something else we never did was eat leftovers. Yep, like never! Learning to cook without a lot of waste can be hard. I have purchased I have a Food Saver so that I can vacuum pack and freeze meats that are smaller portions and much easier not to waste... I love that little machine! I have also learned that leftovers are all in how you save them and how you re-heat them. You want there to be enough juice on green beans for example that when you re-heat them on the stove they aren't dried out or you need to add water or anything else to them. (I'm sure many of you already know this but it's somewhat a new concept to me) Also another key piece to leftovers is to warm up the meats slowly in the oven. Re-heating in the microwave, to me, makes a funny taste and then makes the meat nearly rubberized - YUCK!
Now don't get me wrong... not every meal is a gourmet meal by no means but I know what I am cooking is better for us and we aren't over eating meals. I guess the best part is being able to cook for our family and friends while enjoying a meal without all the noises. Honestly I don't miss eating out!
(In the last 55 days we have ate out maybe 5-6 times tops.)
Let me just give you an idea of what this has saved us....
Lunch would run anywhere from $10 - $50 (if we bought lunch for others)
Dinner would run anywhere from $20 - $60 and could go up if we bought dinner for someone else
Let's just say on average we spent $40 per day for lunch and dinner for both of us
Over the past 10 years let's say we ate out 90% of the time which would be 3,285 days
$40 x 3,285 = $131,400 spent on eating out at minimum... GAH!
{insert picking myself up off the floor}
Remember me telling you that I am a visual person? Well, actually seeing these numbers knowing that many times we spent a lot more than the average but also eating at family and friends houses is crazy to think we've spent that kind of money on food while eating out!
I would expect that with my new method of a frugal lifestyle we could cut that by more than half in 10 years and have healthier options which is ultimately better for our bodies. How do I expect to do that? Well here's my visual piece....
52 weeks in a year x 10 years = 520 weeks
I have been spending on average about $125 per week on groceries
*Realizing this is an approximate average*
$125 x 520 = $65,000
I am certain with sharpening my shopping skills I can drop this number as well but it will take time to figure out coupons, double coupons, etc.
Grocery and Shopping Lists!
I have always been a bulk shopper meaning that every time I needed to go to Walmart or Target I would buy 6-8 laundry detergents, 8 dish soaps, 24 bath soaps.... you get the point. My family and friends give me crap about how my closets look like Walmart shelves but honestly, I did this because I hate shopping for stuff like that but hate running out of basic supplies even more because then you were forced to go to the store for that item and come back out with 50+ items! I know y'all are shaking your head agreeing with me on this one... it's like once you cross the threshold of a store your list sudden gets tossed in the trash and it's a dang free for all!
NO MORE!
I have made lists for things I need to do each week at my office and sticking to those lists aren't hard so why is it so difficult to stick to a list when going to the store? So, I have a list next to my refrigerator and the moment I use up the last bit of something I add it to my shopping list. I have found that doing this has helped me to not buy things I do not need and use up the things I already have before replacing it. By sticking to this method I feel like I don't overspend or impulse spend nearly as much - Now if you think I never by something that isn't on my shopping list you are so wrong sugar.... I do!
I feel like I am being more structured, a better shopper and learning to be frugal in my financial habits. I also have been grocery shopping on the weekends with my sister which I love because I get to spend time with her but also because our goal is to get in and out of the store - no dilly dallying around! We make our Sam's Club run (I've never really paid attention to price tags - clearly because we ate out more than bought groceries) which I was very surprised at the savings of items we use often, then run over to Hy-Vee to get our groceries. I have always said that I would never run to 3-4 different stores to get things I needed but in reality when you know you can save a large amount of money then it sudden makes sense and becomes worth it. (I mean Sam's Club is next door to Hy-Vee so it's not like you are running from one side of town to the other)
In the past it seemed like I was forever in a store of some sort but now I feel like this scheduled shopping has helped me so much. Plus it's one more thing I don't have to do in my busy schedule of life is spend time trying to remember what I walked into the store for in the first place!
Zero Spend Days!
Wait... What?!?! How do you expect me to live not spending every day? Yes, I freaked out at first when I thought about zero spend days but now I love marking down in my calendar every single day that I didn't spend any money from our personal accounts! Actually, it's became a fun game to me and when I have a spend day - grocery days and paying bill days but I try to do these on the same day so it only counts as one spend day per week - then I hate writing what I spent on my calendar but it's the reality of what we actually spend from month to month.
Gift Cards = Zero Spend Days!
Say what?!? Yep I made a rule that I can totally live with! We all get gift cards for holidays, birthdays, returning items to a store with no receipt or sometimes just randomly in the mail from a friend. (My friends know I love Starbucks and always pay for a beverage for the person behind me in the drive through each time I go... randomly someone will give me a gift card which I will upload to my smart phone app and use it to pay it forward)
The gift cards have been previously paid for either by your self or others right... so there is no exchange of money taking place therefore when you use them it still counts as a zero spend day, unless of course you spend more than the gift card has on it. Brilliant idea!
I have a random collection of gift cards from food places to gas stations to local shops and more that I keep with me at all times. When I am thinking about something I really need I look at the gift cards to see if I can get those items at a place I have a gift card to. Food gift cards... I know we will want to grab something quick sometime or maybe have a date night and I have 7-8 different gift cards to choose from ranging from $25-50 each. I had taken a few items back that I didn't have a receipt for and have a small handful of gift cards to craft shops. When paired with coupons you really get more for your money and stretch it a little further.
Now before y'all try changing the population in Tightwad, Missouri (yes it truly is a real town) just know that I am 100% still human and will enjoy a normal life. I needed to put a financial plan in place and this seemed 2018 seemed like the perfect year to start! I just want to be aware of what we are spending and where it's going while putting money back to continue growing our emergency funds, savings accounts and retirement accounts while moving towards a retirement goal.
Now if you are already doing these things to save money monthly and even yearly - great job! Sorry that I am just now figuring this out and thinking about our future. If you aren't doing these things I would just encourage you to just take a look at these things and see where you might be able to shave a little off your monthly expenses and knock out any debt you may have. I can tell you that in the last 55 days I have learned what I truly need vs. what I want, where my money is truly going and how to shut down the areas that you don't really need while getting rid of things around your house that are stuck in a storage unit to never be seen again... Y'all get rid of the clutter and simplify your life! Take baby steps and I promise it will make you feel better!
Saving for Retirement!
So the final piece to all of this, for me, is to put more into our IRA's each year. Through our business we have a 3% employer match and my goal this year is to bump up the amount we personally put in our IRA's with each paycheck to watch our retirement funds grow! I would like to bump it up to a total of 15% going in each paycheck including the 3% employer match. Baby steps right?
I decorated the following big box and we took to the party store and had them put the appropriate color balloons inside based on what was sealed in the envelope! 
