September:Time To Enjoy Some Thrift
Fresh off summer travel, fall back to school expenses, and just a little over three months until the holiday season with all the added costs makes September a great time to jump start thrifty and frugal habits. I'm a bit of a broken record when I say September feels like the start of a new year and a good time for me to make some changes around the house, with our entertainment budget, and in meal planning and prep. The number one frugal and thrifty action I need to take is to get my home calmed and organized, a place of respite and retreat. When my home feels relaxing, I have less want of being elsewhere, less temptation to spend money needlessly. Starting with home cleaning and organizing being a given to top my thrifty September list, here are a few more I thought of.
- Free concerts at the river and to kick off the school year at the football field
- Apple picking followed by baking pie or crisps and having friends over for desert, coffee, and wine
- Purging and reviewing fall/winter wardrobe-shop online clearance from last year and thrift stores for needed replacement items instead of buying full price new (DD2 needs jeans and a couple sweaters, plus new tank tops)
- Borrow last years fall magazines from library for new recipes and spruce up home ideas (ideas are recycled every year anyway-no need to buy magazines)
- Fires (clearing the debris at the same time) with marshmallows
- Football, with "gambling' on numbers; throwing a $1 into the kitty is a fun way to keep those who don't care about the game part of the fun
- Girls poker and couples card nights-opportunity to use up various bottles of partial liquor and make some fun cocktails
- Church activities-I have a whole article to write on my neglectful habits and why-and why I want and need to feel more involved again
- River walks and one or two beers at brewery with board games
- (of course) Board game nights at home
- Batch soup making-corn chowder and wild rice, hearty vegetarian bean, yum!
I don't want to isolate ourselves and at the same time, need to be mean and lean this fall. I managed a couple end of summer deals for future Christmas gifts, which will be a lighter than past budget again this year. With my daughter moving back, if she wants help getting resettled, I want to be available for her. She has some odd tables that never got upcycled when she moved to Wisconsin, but now that she can use my yard and deck, she has spaced to strip and paint them fresh, adding some newness to her sparse, but classic furniture. I think it will be a good, but frugal fall.
Late Sept/early Oct. will def. not be frugal here as we are traveling then(lots of eating out). I tried to be frugal on the room accommodations however and there won't be room for much souvenirs toting home(even the edible kind)so all is not a total loss. ;-)
ReplyDeleteI need to do some deep Fall cleaning this month and getting ready to jump into eBay when we get back. I wish our good Fall weather lasted a bit longer so we'd have more of it to enjoy but the snows are known to fly here in Oct....much too early for me.
Life on the road will be a great time and the colors will be their own sort of entertainment. We brought back very little other than photos and memories and I am happy with not to have lugged so much home.
DeleteYou have some great cost effective (or no cost) ideas for fall. It seems as a nation we have gotten away from simple home entertaining and just enjoying conversation over a piece of pie and a cup of coffee. I need to take some notes from your list!
ReplyDeleteWe are gearing up for the wedding in November so I expect our fall will not be tremendously frugal.
Simple and fun. I love the idea and hope I can execute, the calmness and fun of just being with people I enjoy. Yes, I'm sure the wedding prep will stretch your financials, but again, worth the memories.
DeleteI think getting one's home calmed and organized is the best thing you can do in the interest of frugality. I've never been one for chaos--be it visual or emotional. I like my house tidy, uncluttered and quiet. We've also never been a family for a lot of comings and goings. I have always felt that I shouldn't have to leave my home to enjoy myself. My husband and kids (most of the time) are my favorite people with whom to spend time. Focusing on the home is a huge aspect of my frugality. When I feel unsettled, I look to the household first, to see what the cause may be, and address it by removing it--be it a family member's attitude, or a cluttered kitchen. I have to be frugal about where my emotional energy goes too!
ReplyDeleteI don't like chaos, but just seem to create it-need that to change. There is something about a cup of tea, a book, my cozy clean living room that makes me as content as I can be. Great point about emotional frugality-we all need to reserve our personal space.
DeleteYou have some great ideas there - I like how you combine getting together with others and using up things you already have. When I need something the first place I go to are the thrift stores - isn't is great your DD2 is open to thrifty shopping as well!
ReplyDeleteboth my girls like the hunt in thrift stores. I have perfectly good beer, wine, and liquor-time to enjoy with a few laughs.
DeleteI never used to like September for some reason but as I've gotten older I have begun to like it. It means an end to the searing summer heat but still nice temperatures, sunshine and pretty scenery. To be honest our snow only really starts towards Christmas and that is fine too. Once I retire I want to get back into having people over simply like you say (just like our board game evenings). I hated it when I was married because everything had to be "perfect" and he would run around like a raging bull not helping but just stuffing things into cupboards that didn't need to be there at all. Aah the bliss of freedom from the husband and (hopefully) soon to be freedom from work, although I will miss the company as I like my colleagues. Roll on autumn.
ReplyDeleteYour board game group is my inspiration! I love that. And, I need to not freak out with lack of perfection. It is not me, but calmer and orderly woudl be nice.
DeleteI had to deal with lack of perfection too, which is why I always preferred people to drop by impromptu - what the see is what they get - and of course "perfection" only matters to you, not them. I couldn't be arsed to cook on Saturday so just bought 3 beautiful cheeses and lovely pastries from the boulangerie! Not my style at all but everything was such fun! Damn did we make some noise roaring laughing. I wish I could figure out how to put my own videos on my blog - they are great!
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