We've been doing the thrifty thing for just over a month and it's going fairly well.  I've still got some "tweaking" to do on my spending habits for things such as lunches, etc. but I'm doing a lot better.  What I've learned is taking baby steps is easier for me than going cold turkey.  We did manage to reach our goal for savings for October, so that is a plus.  On the days when I just couldn't get it together enough to bring my lunch, I split whatever I ordered into three portions and then I had lunch for a couple of days too.  Almost as cheap as bringing from home.

I started working on my Christmas presents in earnest.  I'm making hand-beaded bracelets for all of the females I will be giving gifts to this year.  It's been really fun to make them and I can't wait to watch them open them up.  The first one is finished and it looks fantastic.  It's for my sister and it looks just like something she would wear.  I also came across some good ideas for people that you want to remember too.  I am making "Christmas in a Can" for them - basically it's a decorated can that is filled with cards for each day of December that have sayings, stories, scriptures, etc. on them that deal with Christ or being a better follower of Christ.  I will print out the cards and decorate the tins and have those ready. 

My hubby did very well with his goals.  He always is more disciplined than me.  So all he has to do now is stay on his path and help me stay on mine. 

We spent last Friday and Saturday cleaning out closets, the garage, etc. of stuff we no longer use/need.  Then we took it all to a local Goodwill and donated it for the next person.  I'm so glad to have the extra space.  My new perspective on life the frugal way made me just be happy to de-clutter and not feel the need to fill the space back up.  I read a nice article about how Americans have really big homes, etc. and how we could actually live in smaller spaces if we just had what we needed and used instead of all the "extras" and that really gave me some good perspective.  It made me want to just enjoy what we have and not want to go buy more stuff just for the sake of having it. 

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Well, last week we did pretty good with everything.  I managed to stick to my plan of eating out only once for lunch and then made that meal into two and saved myself the trouble of packing lunch the next day. 

As I thought, dinner was the hardest thing for me.  Because I had made up some casseroles early in the week, we were able to not eat out all week long with some cooking in between to supplement the pre-made stuff.  I also found at Wal-Mart some marinated chicken breasts that I threw on our Foreman grill one night and that was simple and easy.  I used the remaining chicken from that meal to make a delicious salad for lunch the next day for myself and my hubby.

I also saved myself the cost of dry cleaning for the week by washing in delicate mode my sweaters, etc. and then laying them out to dry and throwing them in the dryer for five minutes (on low) to get the wrinkles out.  I used the Dryel stuff on a couple of other items that didn't need to be laundered but just needed "refreshing". 

I started making my holiday presents.  I got a beautiful bracelet done for my sister.  I know she'll really like - it looks just like something she would wear.  I also came up with an inventive idea for a present for my hubby:  he loves music and he loves to hear me sing.  A friend of ours has built a recording studio in his home and I called and asked him if I could "record" an album of my hubby's favorite songs to hear me sing.  We will work on getting the music and our friend will do the background vocals for me.  I hope it will work!

I also did very well with leaving my car at home and taking the train or getting a ride with my husband.  I will admit that I miss the extra 45 minutes at home every day but I do enjoy saving the $40 for the week.

So, for last week's work that my entire family did, I think we saved about $100 or more.  We're waiting until the end of the month to see what we have left in the checking account and then will move at least $334 over from that.

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OK, my family (husband, son, myself & dog) have set a goal of saving an additional $1,000 every quarter of the year (which equates to $333.33 per month).  We started Oct. 1st of this year.  We sat down as a family and decided on a few things like the amount we thought we could do, what each of us could "give up" to reach our goal and how we were going to track our progress.

Personally I have agreed to give up the following:

Driving to work every day of the week (round trip it is about 50 miles)

Eating out for lunch (I have allowed one day a week as a treat)

My gym membership - I usually walk/run anyway and that's something I can do from home or doing my lunch hour at work

Spending un-planned for money on my hobbies of rubber stamping, beading and music.  Instead I will use what I have already or spend from my monthly allotment.

Cooking more meals at home for dinner, etc. instead of relying on take out or prepackaged dinners.

Here's how I'm doing so far:

I actually started not driving to work but taking the train/bus instead last month or car-pooling with my husband.  Either way means I add an additional 45 minutes to my day away from home but the savings are about $40 a week.  On the days I ride with my husband, we also run all our errands for the week which has saved me driving at night too.  An added bonus is the extra time spent with him, just visiting.  It's nice to spend that time together and I really have enjoyed it.

When I don't drive to work, it makes it impossible for me to go pick up something for work so I HAVE to plan ahead and bring my lunch.  That has saved me about $20 a week.  There are a few restaurants near my work and when I "treat" myself, I walk to them to pick up the food which gives me some additional exercise.

The gym membership wasn't hard to give up for me.  I actually prefer to walk outside and have added in walking to my daily breaks at work.  This adds an additional 30 minutes a day that I wasn't getting before plus one of my co-workers comes with me, so I'm making a new friend too.

I went through all of my craft/hobbie supplies and organized them.  I have more than I really need so I'm trying to get creative and use them up by making my Christmas cards this year and making jewelry for all of my female relatives for Christmas.  It's been fun to think of them and come up with what I hope they will enjoy.  I also realized that I had enough beading supplies to add some nice embellishments to some clothing I already had too.

The cooking more at home has been hard for me since I'm dead tired when I get home from work.  I'm a morning person so cooking at night is not something I enjoy.  This past weekend I spent some time on Saturday preparing casseroles, etc. that I could easily throw in the oven during the week.  I hope this works better for me.  We ate a lot of sandwiches for dinner last week and I really don't like serving that to my family.  This part will be my biggest challenge I think.

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