I think I am a pretty frugal person—sometimes to others dismay. I don't know anybody in our circle of friends and family who practices frugality to the extent that I do and have done for many years. I am sure that there people even more frugal than I, but they come far and few. It is difficult to be this way at times and other times I enjoy never being content to always think of new ways to save money.

I love to focus on using food from the freezer and pantry. I make a game out of it and see just how low I can keep our grocery bill. It is a great way to kick start the spending plan for each week or month and give us some extra to put into savings. We have a lot of food to use up and it doesn't make sense to buy more until I can see some empty space.

We are focusing on keeping our energy bills lower this year. When we have guests, we don't like to freeze them out of the house because we do want them to enjoy their visit and come back. But after they are gone, we cut way back on the thermostat. We are dressing in warm layers, using heated slippers or a heating pad for our feet, wrapping up in snuggly blankets, or using ceiling fans when hot.

In the evening is when we change the thermostat. In the summer we turn it up when we are not home and in the winter we turn it down when we are not home. We warm the house for a few hours in the evening, and by the time we get up in the morning, we shut go back and change it like before—these savings REALLY add up—or down in that case!

After the holidays this year, I resolved to tighten our gift budget for the next year. We have approximately 25 people that we give birthday and Christmas presents to, and this year our expenditures were quite high in this area. My goal is to make this next year a theme of gift giving from the heart.

I have made my lists, and have started to make many of my gifts. I have also found items in our home that I can "regift" that would be special to the recipients. I am working at giving gifts people will enjoy, but plan to do it on a budget that is about 12% of the budget we spent last year.

I hope some of the ideas mentioned will at least inspire you to think of new ways to increase your savings in the future months and years to come…every little penny counts!
 

have the courage to question & challenge the status quo... refuse to accept "traditional" thinking and answers as fact....
~Kimlee