Recently I dropped my work hours as a nurse from 35 hours a week to 8-12 hours a week on a Per Diem basis at the end of October. The reasoning behind this drastic change is due to my personal struggle with depression and anxiety. I have worked as a nurse for the last 11 years at the same organization and this change in hours is a great financial stress however it was a necessary change for my mental and physical health. I now have the time to spend at home being a mom, wife and homemaker that I did not have before. I have so many ideas and trials I want to accomplish. In the meantime I will continue to hopefully inspire others with my tips for living simple and frugal.

I last discussed how I started to build a pantry stock. This is important because it's also a way to lower your grocery budget by already having a stock on hand. If you don't have a stocked pantry that is OK too because we all have to start from somewhere. Once I had my pantry to a level I was comfortable and some may say I am obsessed with how much I have on hand because the quantity always has to be 3 of everything. I choose to have 3 of everything because I figure if I have a bottle of ketchup open in the fridge then I know I have 2 in the pantry meaning 1 to replace the 1 open and the other as a back-up. Sounds silly but it's my own obsession and you can build your pantry how you wish. Back to once I was comfortable with my pantry stock level I began to build a stock of other life necessities such as toilet paper, toothpaste, body wash/soap, paper towels, dish soap etc. I know some will say well why don't switch to cloth napkins or make your own laundry soap etc, however I am not there yet in my life but hope to be soon. My stock of other life necessities has a quantity of 3 also. With my food pantry and life necessities stock levels completed I was able to focus on more of what I call the meat and potatoes of being frugal and living simple.

My husband has been supportive of this simple frugal living path but has expressed some dislikes about it. First the hubby is a meat and potato man so trying to get a meatless meal on the supper table is difficult. On a pasta night he will always ask for a meat sauce which is defeating the purpose of a meatless supper. He by all means does not starve and eats the meatless meal but has a few comments or nose snub. I have 2 growing boys age 6 and 10 who are perfectly fine having a meatless meal so that makes 3 against 1 leaving my husband just having to suck it up and deal with it. Second my husband is not crazy about the generic brands of some of the food or products I purchase. For instance he likes oatmeal but it has to be Quaker Oats not the generic brand. He does however not have a problem with the generic oats when I bake with them...I wonder if that's just because he always has a sweet tooth! He does not know that the last 2 containers of oats I have bought were generic and I just poured them into the Quaker Oats container...shhhh don't let him in on that secret. I will eventually get caught I am sure but my excuse will be he had no problem eating the oats when he didn't know I had switched them.

Tackling a grocery budget and cut cost is hard.  I always look at the circulars in the area I live. I live in Northern New Hampshire so my selection of grocery stores locally are a Walmart Super Center, Berlin Marketplace(a Surfine product)  and Save A Lot. If you travel 45 minutes to an hour you can shop at a Shaw's or a Hannaford. We do have a local Family Dollar and a Dollar Tree that have some great deals. Being a family of 4 just our food expense is between $200 to $250 every two weeks making a total of $400 to $500 spent monthly on food. This amount does not include pantry or life necessities. I started to look for ways to cut our monthly food expense as this seemed the most easiest at the time but has proven to be a challenge. I don't use many coupons unless the coupon is for a certain product I know we like and normally buy. I don't believe in using coupons for food or items that we don't normally use or buy. Next I make a list consisting of 2 weeks of supper ideas/recipes and I will start my grocery list from here working in breakfast, lunch and snack items onto the list. Not straying from the list when shopping is the most difficult. Staying on track is key to helping keep your food budget down. I will say cooking from scratch is best and having a plan of what you are going to make is helpful so to avoid wasting money eating out or buying convenience foods that are not healthy for you. In my next post I will include my family 2 week supper ideas/recipes and what we typcally eat. I am open to comments and questions anytime. Have a happy frugal day!