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Note to readers: Please be aware that someone has created an Always Frugal hub page. Please note that hub is not endorsed by or affiliated in any way with this web site. Food Budget Tips - form the UC Berkeley Parents forum How long could you go without spending any money? Read how someone in England has gotten by without spending any cash in 14 months. Frugal Tip - Many appliances use electricity even when turned off. The Lawrence Berkeley National Lab has a list of the watts used for by products in stand by mode. You can save money on electricity costs by actually unplugging, and not just turning off, many electrical products.

Household Budget Tips

One of my main hobbies has always been to collect books on budgeting, investing and saving money. My hobby has allowed me to be able to be a stay at home mom for almost twenty years, despite living in one of the most expensive areas of the country. I hope you enjoy the frugal living tips I've collected over the years.

Featured Articles:

• Making a Budget - an important step in getting finances under control.
  
  
• Find a budget worksheet here.
  
  
• Ways to Make Extra Money - Creative ways to make some extra cash when money is tight and you don't have a regular job.
  
  
• Tips for Frugal Living - suggestions on how to save money on food, travel, entertainment, health care and general shopping.
  
  
• Saving Money on Groceries - watching the pennies each day can add up to real savings over time.
  
  
• Living on One Income - Can you cut back enough to manage it? Financial questions to ask yourself before you take the plunge.

My Current Project is to have a zero waste home like the Johnson family in this Sunset magazine article. I do not think I will ever get to the point where we truly have zero waste, but we certainly have a lot of room for improvement from where we stand today. Lately I have been thinking hard about just how many disposable products we buy each month that there really is no need to buy. We just buy them because we are so used to advertising that we think using disposable paper towels, tissues and pens is the normal thing to do. While it might be the common way of doing things in the U.S., it is far from being frugal and it creates extra waste for landfills.

Here is my list of alternatives to disposable items and consumer goods. I really like the idea of helping the environment and saving money at the same time.

I have to admit I personally haven't quite got the hang of reading books on Kindle yet. As a family we still save money though because I gave my Kindle reader to one of my kids and he uses it regularly. He gets many classic, out of copyright eBooks for free on Amazon.

In past years I used to probably go over the top with gifts for the kids. They are older now and mainly want money, so it makes it easier to have a minimalist Christmas. For this holiday season our kids are each getting money as their main gift, plus one recyclable paper gift bag / stocking substitute each filled with things like ear buds, candy, cookies, movie gift certificates, clothing items, etc.

My frugal husband will be happy with a box of chocolates from a warehouse store and a used book on local bike trails I bought at a library book sale for $1. For people outside the immediate family we are either giving gift certificates or personalized gift baskets filled with consumable items bought at a warehouse or outlet store.

"Tis the riches of the mind only that makes a man rich and happy." - Proverb