Money Saving Sistas

(My sister and I a few months ago being silly taking pictures with the computer camera)

My sister and I were on the phone the other night talking about random things as we usually do and the topic of saving money came up. She is in her first week of her job as an R.N. and I was telling her that she is going to be floored when she gets her first paycheck ($21 an hour is amazing), because it's just awesome. She was saying how, even though she'll be making a lot of money, she won't really spend it on much. She has like a $300 a month rent, no car payment, no debt whatsoever, she never goes shopping for clothes or anything unnecessary like a new pair of shoes (hint hint Steph, those moccasins I got you 3 years ago are NASTY please go buy some new shoes! :) ).  So she'll be saving a TON of money every month.  My sister and I think a lot a like and we talked about how we feel guilty when we do spend money on anything for ourselves. It just feels better to put it in the bank in the savings account. I'd rather it just be there than spend it on something. It's hard for me to spend money on something unless I've really thought about it and tried to find the cheapest deal. Justin has no problem spending money, if he has any extra cash from b-days or christmas it just burns a hole in his pocket. I, on the other hand, have a hidden stash that continues to just get bigger. I have to hide it so Justin won't "borrow" any. ha ha! 

Then we started talking about the things that we do that are frugal and overall trying to live healthier lives through what we eat and what we use to clean & bathe with. In an effort to try to use more natural products and foods with less preservatives, processing, and pesticides in them, the cost is higher. So there is a balance I am trying to find on what is worth paying a little more money for and in what ways can I skimp in other areas so I can buy/cook things that overall are better for our health. 

Here are a few things that I do to save some pennies around our house:

1. Wash out my plastic baggies and reuse them (I put them in the freezer so they don't get mildewed from being wet)

2. Make my own cleaning products & laundry detergent - Click here for the link to the powdered detergent recipe I use

3. Buy direct from farms for local produce and then freeze or can it

4. Breastfeeding Josiah for 1 year - that saves a TON of money, not to mention the health benefits for he and I

5. Clip coupons

6. Stay home most of the time to save on gas

7. Order things online and go through Ebates - you get cash back on tons of stores (I will be using this for my Christmas shopping that I have already started)

8. Grow my own herbs

9. A failed attempt at a garden (there's always next year!)

10. Making most meals, snacks, & desserts from scratch- this website has some wonderful recipes on making most everything from scratch- Hillbilly Housewife

11. Trying to incorporate more beans into our weekly meals to cut down on the cost of buying meat. 

12. Cut Justin's hair- I have done it since we were first married so if you add up average haircut = $10, times a haircut every 6 weeks, times 5 years...that's saving a lot of money

13. And trying to learn new ways to save money every day...so if you have any ideas or things you do, I'd love to hear them!

And, here's a picture of the cutest baby in the world  :)