Frugal Friday

For the first time ever in my life, I am willingly attempting to spend God's money more wisely in regards to my grocery bill. I've had budgets in the past (and hated it!) due to necessity but for the last several years I have had the luxury of spending whatever I wanted to spend at the grocery store.
Last month I decided to purchase a box of dishwasher detergent instead of my usual package of drop-in action pacs. When I got home I recorded both the price of the box and the price of the pacs. Every time someone filled the detergent cup on the dishwasher, a hash mark was made to keep track of how many uses were in the box.


In the past, I've paid $4.99 for 20 pacs. The box of detergent was $4.49 and I got 40 washes from it. That's a savings of almost $50 over the course of a year....and $50 is a lot of thrift-store shopping!

I haven't purchased cookies for the kids' lunches from the store at all this year. (Although I did buy 3 boxes of girl scout cookies from the sweet little girl on our street.) I'm not sure that I'm saving any money by making my own.....I'm baking 2-3 times each week because Dr. Love & I are more likely to eat the homemade cookies. And I haven't yet tracked how much each batch of cookies costs me because I've been using up my flour, sugar & spice reserves.

I'll keep you posted :)

It's been a week since I shopped for groceries. That's amazing for me to think about. I usually shop on Monday and then end up back towards the middle of the week for something that I forgot or didn't know I was out of. I plan my menus a week at a time and then pick up an extra meal or two while in the store. Then I usually shop

This Week's Menu

Mon--Tacos
Tues--Roasted Chicken w/rice & Green Beans
Wed--Meat Loaf w/Mashed Potatoes & Corn
Thu--Breakfast
Fri--Pulled Pork Sandwiches w/California Veggies
Sat--encore presentations

A Hot Date!

Here are Dr. Love and I all dressed up and headed for the Techpoint Mira Awards Gala held at the Indiana Rooftop Ballroom in Indy. (from their website....."The Mira Awards Gala is the largest technology awards program in the state, growing in scope and attendance each year since its inception.") Dr. Love attended because several of the companies he mentors were up for awards.

The whole things was a new experience for me on two counts. This was the first work-related dinner that I have attended with my handsome hubby (although I did attend a press release a month or so ago when a gracious lady donated $3 million towards a new incubator building and even met & chatted with her!) and also my first ever "black tie optional" event.

The other "new" part was that I didn't purchase new clothes for the evening. As part of my determination to "be content with what I have" I put a lot of thought and prayer into finding something appropriate already hanging in my closet. And this is where I need to tell you that I am all about buying a new outfit!! It was very hard for me to change my thinking since event=new. But I really have been cognizent lately of God's resources and how He wants them used. I'm not at all saying that I couldn't buy a new dress if I'd needed it, but truthfully I didn't really need a dress that I'd only wear once. So, upon my dear friend Cheryl's outstanding advice, I chose the classic black skirt (leftover from my working days), black lace top, party shoes from several Christmases past and a wrap I picked up from a clearance table 2 years ago and hadn't used yet (but it was just so pretty, originally $160 marked down to $9.99!).

Now here's the best part. I felt better about how I was dressed and appeared than perhaps I ever have! I believe that God allowed those feelings due to my choice to honor Him from the beginning. And Dr. Love was pretty happy too.