Again I have to apologize for not writing new posts in a couple of weeks. Life has been pretty busy lately. I was substitute teaching at my son’s school almost on a full-time basis. My son was having some trouble with me being at school so I had to stop. While I’m a little sad, I must say I’m glad to be back at home again. I was tired after working all day that we were eating out more or eating more convenience food. I also was doing all my housework on the weekends so I didn’t really get to enjoy being with my family. It’s nice to be able to do my work during the week while my two guys aren’t home.

I also have quit doing paid posting on my blog. I am going to be cutting my other two blogs soon. I will have just this one again so I do plan on focusing on it more. I just didn’t have much time to work on it while I was working daily. I think for now it’s better I’m at home. I will say that working in a school is one of the best ways to work if you have school age children. I do plan on volunteering more at his school. This way I can set my hours, and I really enjoy having time to get the shopping done by myself. No more hearing mom can I have this or that? I can get into the store, grab what I need, and get out!

My plans for this blog include more posts about saving money, cooking more from scratch, some reviews on different products and such, plus so much more! I also have more daily frugal living tips to share. I am happy that I won’t be doing anymore posts which don’t have anything to do with my blog. That’s one of the pitfalls of doing paid posts for certain companies. You don’t always have a choice of what you want to write. I don’t advocate several of the topics that I was required to write about like diet pills and electronics. Instead I’m considering a couple of carefully selected ads that would complement my blog.

Today’s thrifty tip is think about leveling your utility bills. It makes budgeting easier for me since I have an average of what my bill will be from month to month. I have to run our A/C often during the summer which spikes our electric bill. It was harder for us to come up with $200-250 for one month during the summer. Instead we pay an average of $100 per month. We use less electricity in the winter months since we our heater runs on natural gas. During the summer months my bill can go up to $110-120, and during the winter as cheap as $80. I budget $100 per month so in the months when it’s cheaper, I have extra for the more expensive summer months. I also have my natural gas bill leveled. I average $50 a month on that bill. I just level my water bill myself since they don’t offer that service. I average $40 per month on the water and it includes trash service. It just makes my life easier, and bill paying more predictable.

Lately I’ve been thinking about adding some performance parts to my car. I would really like to put a spoiler on the back. I already have a sporty looking car so I think a spoiler would just add to that look. I wouldn’t need to add my engine since it’s a turbocharge. It gives me lots of power especially when I need to pass on the highway.

Today’s thrifty living tip is declutter. Clutter makes your life unorganized, looks messy, and makes your life expensive. What I mean is if you can’t find that certain widget you know you own, then you waste time finding it. You might also buy another widget since you can’t find it. This happened to me last year at Thanksgiving. I couldn’t find a pastry cutter so I bought another one at the store for $5. I later found one that I couldn’t find so I now own two. I actually plan to use the one I already have, and have stored the other one in a place that I can now find it if I need it one day.

This happens very often to people. It’s money wasted as well as time. I try to declutter at least once a year. You can either sell or your stuff online like ebay, Craigslist, an ad in your local paper, or at a yard sale. I also like donating some of the clutter to my local church and women’s shelter. I usually don’t have enough stuff to justify a yard sale so I prefer to just give most of it away. This way I can help others in need.

It seems that home decor as the same stylish trends that you see in fashion. What was fashionable twenty years ago always comes back in some form either on the runway or in the decorator store. I have noticed, on many of the home decorating shows, that French Country farm sinks and faucets are all the rage. I find it even more amusing how big of a price tag comes with a style that is already in my kitchen when I moved in.