The thanksGiving Series: part 6

(Doesn't the Saving Jar look wonderful? After only 5 days of mostly painless spending changes, I have managed to save $134.35! All of that is resting in the Saving Jar until the end of the month, when we see the final total and look for a way to invest it in the Kingdom of God.)

If you are just tuning it, you have landed right in the midst of the thanksGiving series. We are focusing on the "giving" part of thanksgiving this year. I'm reporting daily on my efforts to cut back on spending, while still living well, and corralling those daily savings in one place. It keeps me accountable for following through on my plan, which is essential to its success. At the end of the month, I plan to use that money to invest in the Kingdom of God in some way. 

Yesterday's savings was so big that there was no way to top it. I actually did a savings effort that was very wild, kinda hard, required help from Sam, and saved not as much as yesterday, but still a nice amount. It will take too long to write, though, so I'm saving it for tomorrow. You will not want to miss it. (Hint: there could be a little Wonder involved!)

I was filling up my Misto today and realized it is also part of my savings effort.   

In case you are not familiar with the marvelous Misto, it holds oil, you pump it up, causing pressure in the canister, then you spray the oil out wherever you want it. That is not the physics explanation. It's the mommy in the kitchen explanation. I've had my Misto for several years, so I'm counting use of the Misto as cost free. I bought a gallon of olive oil on sale a while back, got a great price, and the oil I put in the Misto today was less than 50 cents' worth. 

The Misto replaces the commercially available cooking spray. The last time I looked at the ingredients on the can, it included silicon. I can't see any reason to spray silicon on my food, so I have not bought silicon spray since I read the label. I checked the price of the name brand cooking spray and it sells for $3.48. To avoid a subtraction issue, I'm saying I saved $3.00 with my Misto! How great is that? The great thing is that, every time I fill up the Misto instead of buying cooking spray, I'm saving $3 again. I love my Misto. 

That brings the total savings in just six days to $137.35! When I think about saving that much in six days, just by making more frugal choices, I am astounded! Over the course of a year, savings at that rate could easily add up to thousands of dollars. It breaks my heart that I haven't been this frugal all my life. (It might be better said that I haven't been this faithful about stewardship, but I sure wish I had been.)

Anyway, we've all made a start, we are learning as we go, and it is making a difference! So, how are you doing with the frugalness project? Are you living well? Remember, this savings is not about ourselves.  It's about allowing us to invest in the Kingdom of God, so keep up the good work!