BlogHer - meal planning - Comments

Perfect Timing

ajpassey — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 00:07:20 -0500

We just had our second child and my husband is a full-time student applying to medical school. This is just the guidance we need to make it through the next several years of a very tight budget!

Thanks for posting.

Amber

CraftingInspiration.blogspot.com

Not buying stuff is another way to use your purse for eco-good.

Diane MacEachern — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 13:01:07 -0500

Diane MacEachern www.biggreenpurse.com Diane@biggreenpurse.com

I'm a big advocate of women shifting their spending to products and services that offer the greatest environmental benefit. It's a great way to encourage manufacturers to reduce pollution and save energy. But NOT spending money can be equally powerful, as it demonstrates that women -- not companies -- are in control of their own purse strings. Honestly, I think that companies that get ahead of this curve and actually encourage women to buy less would end up being the winners in the long run!

Other frugal blogs

Daisy — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 19:35:53 -0500

The Lean, Green Family is a favorite. http://suddenlyfrugal.blogspot.com/

Daisy

Frugal blog I like:

sara_aase — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 21:00:14 -0500

I'm very new to blogging, but one frugal blog I like so far is:

http://beingfrugal.net/

http://cashonthebarrelhead.net

Check her out!

Headless Mom — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 14:33:57 -0500

Mary does have some great tips for saving $. Don't let the $200 fool you *wink* she has been preparing for this for a while and they have a garden that is absolutely BURSTING with great food-they won't be going hungry any time soon.I'm trying to learn at the foot of the master, so to speak.

I'm trying to follow suit with preparing meals from what we already have on hand and not letting leftovers go to waste. It is a great exercise!

Wow!

sara_aase — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 11:34:49 -0500

$200 for a family of 12 at the grocery store! I will have to keep following this to try and learn something!

By necessity over the last couple of years, we have cut out a lot of things we used to buy, and haven't missed them. I have found myself asking much more frequently, "Do you need this?" before buying something, a habit I used to know nothing about. Thanks for sharing and I will be checking out all of these blogs.

My family has launched its own get-real-about-money plan that I'm blogging about now here:

http://cashonthebarrelhead.net

favorite blogs

mydailydollars — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 08:44:29 -0500

Thanks for the mention!

I do agree with Jupitersinclair. . ."frugality" is much more fun when it's a choice rather than a requirement. However, I like how Owlhaven is framing it as a way to teach her children about our place in the world economy.

As for favorite frugal blogs, I really like almostfrugal.com and simplemom.com!

When I first started to

Jupitersinclair — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 08:03:27 -0500

When I first started to notice this movement a couple of years ago,I was very amused. I've lived in poverty and it became a very normal way to do things but unlike people who are willingly living an Essentials Only Life (for only a month? Try years at a time!) ,I often didn't have the money to buy even the essentials. We still fall into the category of impoverished according to US statistics but it's not noticable to me . From my experiences of HAVING to live frugally, I know the ins and outs of living this as a way of life, not an experiment. It's months at a time between trips to the store and it's usually for something like glue or a box of bandaids. It's also funny to me how different it feels between choosing this lifestyle and being forced into it. It's seen as "freeing and calming" when you choose it...but good lord, when you're living it because you have no choice,you feel desperate,oppressed,angry,hopeless and just plain defeated.

I agree, L16

madeintaiwan — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 03:11:19 -0500

Living frugally is a way of life for me and I think it's made everything taste better. Sometimes when we have so much in front of us, we don't even taste the food anymore; I think living with less has definitely made me appreciate everything we have. Owlhaven's absolutely right. In fact, even a cup of coffee is a luxury really. With websites such as http://www.kiva.org, we can loan those few dollars to help others start or expand their small businesses, and even get those few bucks back (hopefully to re-loan again!).

http://watermelonmama.wordpress.com/

I love the idea of

L16 — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 23:07:49 -0500

I love the idea of frugality. I think it is one of the most freeing and calming lifestyles to choose.

And it is something that a person can embrace as much or as little as they want, and they can get off track and always come back.

Awesome

KatelynsFood — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 18:49:38 -0500

I think it is so amazing that frugality is becoming vogue.
My Husband and I have been trying to live with out purchasing unnecessary
material goods. Though I must admit, we tend to "splurge" more on
food. I've also found that the more home made we are, the less money we spend,
and the healthier we eat. Plus, the challenge of meeting a tight budget turns
into a fun (and free) game that entertains us daily!

www.katelynsfood.blogspot.com

Thanks for pointing this out

fyreflixie — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 13:46:41 -0500

Thanks for pointing this out :) We are expecting a baby in February and I'll be doing the stay-at-home mom thing for the foreseeable future, so I know our finances are going to get more strained than my husband seems to think they will be. Anything I can do now, and then, to keep more money in our bank account and less spent in the pockets of the credit card company is welcome!

Wow

girlinthemiddle — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 12:09:53 -0500

I am heading over to check it out!
This is really something that I should consider wrapping my mind around-as I tend to be a bit of a shop-a-holic when I get stressed.

Molly

www.thegirlinthemiddle.com/blog

Amazing

Chappyswife — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 11:55:56 -0500

I have to tell you, this would be a ton of work and commitment. I applaud Owlhaven and those participating. I wish them the best. They inspire me to do a lot better with our family, and I am anxious to learn more. I will say that I won't be as extreme, probably from sheer lack of energy, but hope to find a happy medium for starters. I believe most of us could do so much better, and we need to help each other out so much more.

Great timing...

SusanCarleton — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 10:10:37 -0500

I loved this post, partly because this was our first week in our marriage without a paycheck: DH and I are both home now, and suddenly our savings doesn't look so big anymore!

Thanks to the links for some very inspiring blogs, too.

I'm now joining that frugal group from the sidelines, but my cost-cutting will be lasting much longer than a month I'm afraid. Still, it's worth it. I'm glad we can all be home together, and buying beans insteads of Ben and Jerry's will just have to be the price!

Good luck to everyone giving it a go---

Susan

stonyriverfarm.blogspot.com