Thrifty Thursday-Living on a Dime

This post was posted yesterday and then disappeared, Blogger was having some issues, so I kinda recreated it, and I'm posting it again...

"Living on a Dime" is a website/newsletter that helps you save money.

You can find them here: www.livingonadime.com

One of the things that Jill, the mother of the mother/daughter duo of Living on a Dime says is: "If you keep your kitchen clean, it will save you money." What? Why? Well, if you have a clean kitchen, it is easier to cook, and you are less likely to go out to dinner! Interesting idea, huh?

The newsletter that they send out very often will have ways you can save money on things like: using up your leftovers, what to do with extra holiday candy, has coupon offers, cheap cookbook offers, and there are recipes included in the letters. This past month, there were menu ideas and recipes for using up your Easter ham. They also sell great e-books which are pictured below:

Their newsletter frequently talks about living frugally, and what that means. I like a lot of the ideas in the newsletter, and some of the discussion is pretty convicting, especially about eating out. That is one area of our budget that is almost always in the red. Eating out really is a luxury, and we fall into the convenience trap. We makes excuses for why we should eat out, and justify the excuses- "I don't have time," or "I don't know how to cook," or "It's so much easier to eat out."

There are other things in our lives, the authors say, that we don't have time to do and find it easier to hire out to someone else. If we don't have time to take care of our yard, we'll hire someone else to come in a do it for us. If we don't have the time to paint a room, we may hire a journeyman painter(Like my younger brother!) to come and paint it for us (and probably do a better job!) We could hire a chef to cook for us, a housekeeper to clean up for us, etc., The money that gets spent eating out could be spent on a housekeeper for one month! If we were to keep track of all of the coffee dates, soft drinks, snacks at the ball field, and convenient trips to fast food, we'd be surprised how much we spend! It is a bad habit that we can easily fall into, especially if we charge it to a credit card, and go into debt for it!

The author also brings in Bible verses and stories that make the points she gives even more convicting. On this topic she discussed John 5, where the man gives an excuse to Jesus about why he can't be healed. Don't be victim to your excuses, especially in these "hard economic times!" It really is not that hard to pack a snack for the ball field, or pack a quick picnic dinner with hot dogs in boiling water in a thermos, a bag of chips, some fruit or cleaned veggies and a few hot dog buns to take with you. Your kids can help you gather the food you need if you ask and train them to help you. Cooking really is not that hard, it's just following directions to get the same desired results as the author of the recipe. One tip that Living on a Dime gives is to clean up as you cook, wash things as you can, put away the trash, and keep it simple sometimes!

The author last main point is that if you really want to get out of debt, GET UP, STOP CHARGING AND GET COOKING! I've really enjoyed their newsletters with simple recipes and great ideas on saving money and being frugal. There are lots of money saving topics that they discuss that I've found helpful. I hope you'll take time to check them out on your own, and gain some new knowledge to help you save money too!

What are some of your best money-saving tips or web sites? I'd love to hear about them!