31 Things- Purchase

Here is another layout completed for my 31 Things class through Big Picture Classes.

I am amazed how far this free digital kit has gone for me. I guess that is the nice thing about a themed album, that you can use the same product through out. 

Journaling:

I have always been frugal. As a kid I would save my money for something perfect. As an adult, not much has changed.

I consider myself a minimalist. I don’t buy things I don’t need, with one exception. I try to use what I have until it doesn’t work anymore. I only buy things that I have a place for.

This is the age of the debit card. I use my debit card for 90% of my purchases. Tom’s checks are deposited electronically, so we rarely take a trip to the bank. If we need cash we usually purchase something small at a store with our debit card and use the cash back option. 

I do use cash but it is done very sparingly. I rarely have cash on hand. 

Some of our purchases are done using a credit card. These are usually purchases made online. We don’t maintain a monthly balance. We are conscious to pay them off every month. 

The last way I pay for things is with a personal check. I usually use checks to pay individuals money I owe them or for bills that haven’t set up free bill pay options online.

I have become a bit of a couponer, but I will never go to the extreme for a few reasons. I will never buy things I will not use or would not buy if I didn’t have a coupon. It takes a lot of time and energy to track all of the great deals. It is too difficult to take my kids to the few stores that I do. There is no way that I am going to multiple stores a week! I do, however try to be conscious of prices of things, track things on sale, and get a good deal on those things I buy on a regular basis.

 I have a hard time stock piling things. I think it is a combination between watch ing too many episodes of Hoarders and keeping things minimal in the chance that we would move. Now that we have a permanent residence, I am still finding it hard to buy things we don’t plan to use immediately, even if they are on sale.

There are things we spend money on that others would see as a splurge. We buybrand name groceries, brand name diapers, (nicknamed “label snobs”) pay private school tuition, and when we buy a car, it is new.

My grocery shopping is done weekly. I make a list of the things I need to buy, enough for dinners for every night of the week and the basic lunch items. I stick pretty close to my list unless I see our main staples at a good price. Planning food for the week has helped to eat out less, which saves us quite a bit money not to mention trips to the grocery store. 

I don’t buy shoes. I don’t enjoy buying clothing. I have stopped buying books, CDs and movies since I use the library now. I don’t tend to buy my children lots of things above what they need. Their grandparents, aunts and uncles do a good job spoiling them. 

My spending weakness is scrapbook supplies. I have greatly curbed my habit, from purchasing all paper that catches my fancy, or that stamp set that I want to buy because of that one project I know I will do someday. I try to stay realistic and only buy supplies that I know I have photos for, and that I have time to use. I find it stressful to purge later, so not buying it in the first place is good for me. I track prices, wait for coupons or sales, and wait to be sure I am in love with it before purchasing anything.

Purchases today: Ran out of milk and getting low on bread. Missed the kids’ fish sticks on Monday- my grocery shopping day. Added a pint of ice cream for the kids and I to have for an early summer treat! Today I purchased some stamps and page protectors for this album from JoAnns online store. Took advantage of the 50% off stamps and other scrapbooking supplies as well as a coupon code for free shipping for purchase of $35. I have had my cart going all week and finally checked out today since some items were starting to sell out.