Pointers to make your FRUGAL life easier

From SAVINGADVICE website:

1. Keep a mini book of everything about your house, size of windows and how many, size of rooms, doors, everything. divided by rooms, i know if theres new carpet at a sale, ill peek in my book and know if it would fit. princess like curtains, my daughters room has one large window, i have the size in the book, ill know if its worht it, if its a good size. i dont like to buy puzzles at yard sales, never know if its missing a piece. however if its a kids puzzle, 24 pieces, i will count those and got four diff walt disney ones at a yard sale for 25 cents each. knowing the dimensions of your doorways too, will save you buying something you cant get into your house to start wtih.lol


2. Prepare a list of things you need before you head to the store (complete with totals and cash equivalent). Keep all cards and extra cash in your house so you won't overspend or get side-tracked. Marketing principles count on side-tracking (aka impulse shopping).

3. Never leave the house hungry-especially when you have children!! A quick snack (sandwich,piece of fruit) will eliminate the mistifying "come-hither" scent of cinnabon or McDonald's at the mall. I try to maintain the snack ratio to six small ones throughout the day in order to prevent the crave meltdown.)

4. Keep your house clean! Re-arranging your clutter will only make your mind jumble and cave in eventually. It takes less time to clean a house once your baubles are in order than to fix a tornado-ridden domicile. I've even instructed the children to take charge of their rooms by assigning clean-up times (4pm, 7pm and right before bed). These drills take less than five minutes and the results are overwhelming!