I must admit that I am so ready for this challenge. I'm ready to be frugal with my grocery shopping. I'm ready to be creative when needed to avoid pulling out my wallet. I'm ready to teach my kids more about living on less with more joy. I'm ready!

This afternoon the kids and I made up a list of ways we can be frugal during our Spending Freeze. Here's what we came up with:

• Turn off lights when not using them or it really isn't necessary to have them on. (This will be tough for me because I like everything to be well lite.)
• Don't waste water.
• Don't leave the TV on when we aren't watching it. (This is true but I had to do a double take when Della suggested it because the TV isn't on that much. However, when it is on there is someone glued to it. Tom and i have a name for this, "Square Eyes".)
• Turn the computers off at night.
• Open windows to cool the house.
• Use curtains and blinds to our benefit to cool or keep the house warm.
• Don't buy something just because we want it. Put it on a list or make it instead. (I plan to put a blank piece of paper on our fridge for all of us to list our wants during the month. In November we'll revisit our wants.)
• Drink more water rather than other drinks we have to buy.
• Check out sale items at the grogery store. Also investigate clearance areas. (Our Kroger will put bright orange stickers on bread, bakery items, meats, OJ, eggs and fresh juices. I end up paying a small fraction of what the original price was. Ask your local grocer if they have clearance areas.)
• Don't waste food or put too much on our plates. (I'm sure our dog doesn't like this idea since she gets leftovers on everyone's plates.)
• Compile trips and errands.
• Reuse clothes when able rather than automatically throwing them in the dirty clothes hamper. (After church or trips to town our clothes really aren't dirty. So we try to hang them back up in the closet. I do pretty good at this, the kids...well, that's a different story. This is the month to work on this!)
• Recycle aluminum cans.
• Grow our own veggies and herbs.
• Don't be wasteful.
• Cook from scratch.
• Instead of eating out, pack a lunch.

Sit down with your family this week and make a list of ways everyone can pitch in and take part in a spending freeze. It serves as a pep-rally, if you will. My kids are rather excited about the challenge after our brainstorming session over lunch. Woo-hoo!