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What frugal things do you struggle with?


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So, a lot of the time I just blog about the frugal stuff that’s going on in my life, which works out pretty well because there’s lots of frugal material to blog about!

And hopefully that stuff is helpful to you.

But every now and then, I like to ask what you all need help with in the realm of frugality, and that’s what I’m doing today.

So, what topics would be most helpful for me to cover? Do you have a hard time cooking at home? Keeping your grocery bill down? Being content with less? Spending mindfully? Reducing utility bills? Having fun on a budget? Something else entirely?

Let me know in the comments!

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EngineerMom

Tuesday 14th of January 2014

Honestly, the thing I struggle with the most is feeling content living an a pretty restricted budget in the middle of a city that seems to run on Starbucks coffee and high-end grocery stores.

I've found ways to work around and through this (having $40/month in "fun" money has helped a lot!), and being honest and upfront with people about being unable to afford what to them is practically pocket change. But it is discouraging sometimes to have to turn down invitations from well-meaning people who don't realize that paying $20/person for a one-time event is way outside our budget.

Amanda

Wednesday 15th of January 2014

We had this conversation as a family this evening. We are saving for a deposit for a house. We have 3/4 saved, and want to save the rest by mid-May. Our kids were invited to the pool tomorrow. With inevitable snacks etc we estimate it will cost about $50-60 for a trip to the pool for a few hours. The friends who invited us own their home outright - $60 is nothing to them. We have chosen not to go, & my husband will take them to the beach instead. But we sat down and had a frank discussion about why - it's not that we can't do it, it's that we choose not to in order to achieve a difficult shared goal.

Jan Elizabeth

Monday 16th of December 2013

Hi Kristen,

I'm a little late joining the party, but wanted to say, first of all, how much I enjoy and appreciate your blog. Thank you for your thoughtful and considered work! It's made a big difference to me. I wondered if you had any suggestions for debt repayment and budgeting? I'm trying to recover from a pretty scary situation, financially. Also, I love all your articles on contentment, making Christmas more frugal and meaningful, repurposing things and child rearing. I also really love your recipe posts. You are awesome!

Anna C

Tuesday 5th of November 2013

Kristen, I really enjoy reading your blog. I love how you inspire others to be content to live within ones means. I am trying to follow the mentality of "make do or do without" in my day to day life.

I was hoping you could address the subject of how you personally use or do not use discount programs. How do you use coupons? All the time? Rarely? What about store loyalty programs, those little cards that every store hands out. Do you use discounts like Groupon or other online discount sites, like fatwallet.com? How about sites like swagbuck or Ibotta? Thanks you,

Lihan Tseng

Saturday 28th of September 2013

Hi, I am struggling with clutter in my little 300 sq feet apartment in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. I have lived with my boyfriend for 2 years. We have too much pantry items. (Indian dried seeds like cumin seeds, fennel seeds. Some bagged up in clear supermarket plastic bags. Some in a jar that is too small for the-whole-already-packaged bag) I can't remember what I have at home. And I don't have the appropriate size of spice jars (most of them are too small for the amount I have. So I end up with 2 things (1)Fennel seeds in the jar (2)Fennel seed in it's original plastic packaging bag). We are very frugal and we shop at the Dollarama most of the time.

Should I go all the way out to buy 10 new Dollarama jars that are bigger. or Should I try to give the extra away on free-cycle.com

I don't like having 1 spice jar and 1 plastic bag of the same thing. I have an open spice shelf (Bought from Canadian Tire, was designed to be used as a "media shelf" for CDs and DVDs). And I don't like it visually messy!

ps: I go to the Indian grocery store for Indian spices and seeds. All because it's generally cheaper to buy Indian spices in it's own Ethnic (Indian) grocery store than to buy from a Canadian bulkbarn.

Thanks Kristin. Lihan Tseng

WilliamB

Monday 13th of January 2014

If you were in the US, I'd suggest thrift shops, Craigslist, or Freecycle, or the local papers' (plural) classifieds for free or cheap containers. Maybe the Canadian equivalents would work for you...

L Cota

Thursday 26th of September 2013

So, I am 3 month pregnant right now and while I have high hopes of having a frugal pregnancy/birth and nursery, I do feel like there is not a lot of guidance for staying frugal and natural.

While it make have been a few years since your last babe, are there some things that you managed to do when they were wee ones that you are particularly proud of or you realize now ended up saving lots of money on?

My big ones are breastfeeding, cloth diapering, buying a food processor to make my own baby food and buying used nursery furniture if I can find them in good shape. Other than that, I dunno what else I can do. Your advice or opinions would be welcome.

Susan

Thursday 26th of September 2013

try to borrow strollers, cribs and high chairs from friends who are between pregnancies or have finished having kids (but haven't given away their baby stuff yet.) That way you won't have to spend any money at all on the big items.

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