Olde Fashioned (frugal) Girl

Okay, maybe not frugal enough to make business cards from a cereal box, (however I reserve the right to change my mind!) but I do LOVE a deal.

In Vancouver I subscribed to all sorts of coupon and sample sale mailing lists; Groupon, I Love Sample Sales, Gap Sprize, amongst others. I collect Airmiles like a fiend. Because of my fiendishness, last year when money was tight at Christmas I was able to send out gift certificates for clothing and movies that otherwise we would not have been able to afford. I currently have my eye on a new espresso machine (that would retail for around $1000) since I have well-loved my current machine into a place where it no longer loves me back ;) and that doesn't help anyone make it through the day unscathed!

For all of the ways I thought moving to Rossland would save us money (having an herb garden has definitely saved me some coin) I was still worried that moving to a small town would hamper some of my frugality. My fears have been abated and I have found some great deals already in Rossland. They have a local coupon book filled with great frugal finds, everything from 2 for 1 golf rounds at Redstone to 2 for 1 lattes at the Alpine Grind, and at $20 it encourages buying local while having the potential to save a family hundreds of dollars on things we would be buying anyway.

After employing the uber frugal Menu Plan Monday method, I take my grocery list to our new grocery store, Ferraro Foods. They have a "Moo Card" and for every 10 jugs of milk we get one free. That is some cheap (as in inexpensive) milk, and being Island Farms it's not cheap (as in gross) milk either! Their Ferraro's websavers are great too.

The 11th item free seems to be a theme here in Rossland. At Tails, when we buy 10 bags we get the 11th free, and this makes getting great dog food for our beasts is a little less expensive now too!

 Happy Saving!

Olde Fashioned Girl

There is an olde fashioned girl living in me and she L-O-V-E-S lists. She also loves moderne conveniences, but there is just something about list making with a pen and paper that trumps all!

I am easily overwhelmed by tasks and what-not that pop up out of the ordinary. No matter how small. I think this is a symptom of being an olde fashioned girl. If the what-not is part of my not routine it seems magnanimous to me. I find a sort of catharsis in making a list. Lists make my life more manageable. I can see the big picture. Even if the list is 10 feet long,  it is there in black and white. I feel empowered and capable. More like myself and less like I am drowning.

Sometimes if need be, I will borrow other peoples lists. Martha Stewart has daily, weekly, monthly, and seasonal house cleaning lists that I recently printed and had laminated so I could reuse them. They hang in my laundry room. Her crazy abates my crazy, right?!

I make lists about everything. Things I would like to do as well as what needs to be done. Places I would like to go, goals, dreams and aspirations. There is a sense of satisfaction and accomplishment as I cross items off the list, be it getting bananas, more time for myself or finishing the vacuuming. The latter is done with Isla visible ;). And if I get something done that was not previously on the list, I will add it and then unabashedly cross it off!

There have been times when I felt inept. Beating myself up and wondering what I was doing with my life only to see my many achievements staring back at me from my Dream Board or from a list I wrote 12 months ago. In these moments I feel bolstered and encouraged. Having a concrete record of feats to remind myself, when I cannot see the forest for the trees, is one of the ways I love lists best.