New Year, New Goals

I am feeling the energy of a new year. I love the list making and goal setting anyway, but the fact so many others join me in doing this at this time of year is fun. I have yet to pick my "word of the year" as nothing is jumping out at me. I will get back to you on that one.

One of my goals is to stick, really stick, to our family budget. We do a pretty good job of it already, but I am using the "cash in the envelope" method. So far so good. I take out the cash needed for groceries and stick it in the grocery envelope. My weekly allowance envelope has cash I can use for more non-essential items like going out to lunch, art supplies, etc. I love seeing money left over in the envelope at the end of each week! There's something about seeing the cash versus using a debit card or credit card that makes it more real. It hurts a little more to hand over the cash, so you think twice about buying something you don't really need.

Since I'm trying to save money, I've found all kinds of interesting, some more work than they are worth, ideas for saving money on household cleaning products, cheap meals, etc. I am taking some to heart and others are pretty cumbersome that I will leave for another lovely soul to use, like shaving a bar of ivory soap to make your own laundry detergent. Maybe someday, but not with 3 kids under 7.

My first switch in the laundry department is to use distilled white vinegar in our wash machine instead of fabric softener. It works great! You don't smell the vinegar on the clothes and you get rid of the static clean and soften your clothing. The dryer sheets have left our house. I made my husband a believer after a few successful loads of wash.

What do you do to save your family money?