Being Frugal

 Trying to get out of my miserable state.  Crying every day isn't helping at all.

If I can't make more money then I need to be able to save as much as possible.  I came across a video on YouTube about frugal living and thought that it might help or give me some tips on saving money!

The first tip was not to eat out.  We don't eat out, the only time in the past 3 years we ate out as a family was for Hannah's birthday.  Hannah and I have eaten out a few times, when we go to see musicals we usually get some lunch but nothing expensive.  I guess for some people eating out two or three times a week is normal and that would be a good way to save money.

The next tip was to cook from scratch and not have food waste.  Most of the time we do that as well.  I will admit that the past summer we had more instant foods or obentos, it was just too hot to cook.  With the weather cooling down cooking will get easier.  Also in the cooler months making a big pot of soup or stew and having it at lunch and dinner really helps.  Also, I need to be more careful with food waste, not buying stuff to rot in the fridge, one problem that I do have!  

Another tip was to bake from scratch.  Again something I do in the cooler months.  I'm making an apple crumble at the moment.  I prefer homemade sweets,  I can control the amount of sugar, also I think that corn syrup is really unhealthy.  It's used in most cookies and cakes because it gives the product a longer shelf life.  Using sugar or honey is better in my opinion.

She went on to suggest wearing an apron when cooking or cleaning to protect your clothes.  I wear aprons if I'm dressed for teaching or going out.  My clothes are either for hanging around the house, so doesn't matter if they get soiled or for teaching/going out.  When I buy things they are for teaching/ going out but as they get tatty they get demoted to hanging around the house.  The last demotion is being cut up for cleaning rags!!  I almost never buy clothes,  I have two or three things that are really nice for going to the theater.  I need shoes, the ones I have I've had for about 5 years and have holes in them.  But I haven't seen anything I like at a price I can afford.  

Our biggest expense are the cats.  Food and cat litter add up.  David and Hannah pay for that, also Hannah pays for vet bills.

As it cools down I won't need to run air conditioners but I'm worried about the cold weather as gas is very expensive.  

Does anybody have any other ideas?

Apple crumble