photo © 2010 J. Enokson | more info (via: Wylio)
When I first started Family Friendly Frugality, I knew I wanted to approach frugal living from a very relaxed and welcoming mindset. I wanted to create a blog about frugal living that didn’t leave people feeling overwhelmed or less than when they walked away.
The main complaint I hear about saving money nowadays is that it is too darn overwhelming to know where to begin. If you have $20,000 in credit card debt, is clipping a few coupons realistically going to make much of an impact to your bottom line? If you are drowning in student loans and house payments, is living within your means even possible?
The answer to all of the above is yes. While the small things you do might not add up to financial freedom, they do make a big difference. Some of them will chip away at your debt or create more wiggle room in a tight budget. Some of them will simply give you more confidence and a self esteem boost, proving to yourself that you can save money!
So I am starting a Make a Change Monday series where I will simply give you one task to work on for the week. You might already be doing it…so you get to skip that week! If not though, try it out and see if it makes a difference! I’ll keep them small manageable changes that don’t require a lot of effort or learning the drugstore game 
.
This week’s Make A Change Task:
I can’t even remember where I initially heard about this, but it’s a great idea. All those memos that make their way home from school? Use the backs of them for taking notes, writing grocery lists, or scrap paper for the kids.
When you think of how much paper we waste every single year by printing on just one side, it kind of makes you want to weep for the trees just a bit! Make use of every bit of paper space by not allowing a page to even touch the trash/recycling bin unless every square inch of it has served a purpose!
Try to designate a spot for all the scrap paper in your house so you can still stay organized, and consider stamping or making an X on the used side of paper so everyone knows it is scrap paper and not something important. You know, so you are all on the same page (pun intended).
This way you are thrifty AND green 😉
What do you do to conserve paper?
Previous Make a Change Monday Tasks.
My friend Angela, who is the queen of being frugal, shares printable coupons with me, especially during those 2 months when we didn’t have ink. I noticed that she uses scrap paper to print her Qs. Now that we have ink again I’ve been doing the same. It just took a little thought to be sure which way to turn the paper. If I am printing just one Q at a time, but want 2 copies, I’ll also rotate the page and use it to print the 2nd Q. No issues at the stores so far. Just be sure you’re not reusing pages with personal information- I printed the vinegar Qs on the back of tax papers. 2 wasted prints.
Our 3 yr old loves to practice cutting. I let him cut his coloring pages after he’s finished. He actually has fun trying to determine which part of the picture each chunk was. 🙂
We’ve been doing the same with Noah learning to cut! We give him scrap paper and he has a ball.
I’ve done the coupon thing a few times (printing on scratch paper), but I do get a bit nervous. I’ve never had a problem though, so I should stop being scared!
Great tip! I also reuse the extra paper from printing coupons. We also use some rubber stamps and ink to decorate some “pretty paper” to use for writing notes, grocery lists, etc.
Janet @ KY Klips Blog
My mom got me started on this when I was about 5 (MANY years ago). We would keep a stack of it next to the phone to use to take messages on.
In fact, she still has the pile there to this day. Also, any colored papers you have, even if they have wording on them, with a bit of creativity you can make some cute scrap booking pages, after all, that’s where scrap booking came from!
I hate tossing the papers if I print just one coupon on them, so I’ve started keeping a stack of them right next to my desk and my kids use them to color or “write” letters to the grandparents. =)