I really enjoyed Sharon’s newsletter this month . . . I think I’ll post it on here so you can read it too . . .
“A Tip: How I Save Money by Saving Money
(How we are saving money for our mission trip to California and Mexico this summer)
Since our marriage, I have mostly been a stay-at-home. That means that I only earn occasional income.
I tell Steve, “You work hard to make money and I work hard to save it.” Of course, that doesn’t mean that I don’t earn any money or that Steve doesn’t save. But I have the time at home to perform thrifty activities.
When I do something that saves our family money, such as sewing in a new zipper instead of buying a new coat, I figure out the money I possibly saved. Usually I round it down to a lower price. For example, for the coat zipper I sewed in, I counted the savings as $10, although I know that we could pay at least $20or more for another coat.
As an example, on December 6, in my day timer I wrote,
$20 savings (I bought a used answering machine for $1.50)
$20 savings (Steve thought we could buy insurance on our camera from the store for $20, but the salesman said that Canon would still refund us. Without the insurance I would need to mail in the camera. I told Steve as we stood there in the store with the high pressure salesman hovering over us, “I don’t mind mailing it in.” Steve was fine with that, so I saved ourselves $20. We’ll see how much work it will be if the camera goes kaput.
$10 savings (I sewed a zipper in Steve’s coat instead of getting another used one.)
What I do then is put the money I saved into a special savings account that we don’t usually touch and designate it for whatever I am trying to save for.
This is a hobby for me. It is so fun to think that when I work hard to save money, I can actually “see” my savings.”
– Sharon Schnupp Kuepfer
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