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Rural Living Do you have any great ideas for young couples who have children and don't live in the city? Everything we need is at least a 10-minute drive away? How do we keep from spending all our time getting the things that we need to live? Planning is Key As for rural living, planning is key. When I lived in South Texas, it was 35 miles to the nearest "civilization," and another 10 miles to the nearest military base. Traffic was light, but I hated spending all that time just getting there! I made a list, and stocked the pantry with our needs for two weeks (our complete needs) to avoid those little "oops" trips between paydays. If an "oops" came up, we either made do without it or substituted something else. I made a note on the grocery shopping list to get twice as many of that particular item to avoid more "oopses" in the future. When I got good at the two-week cycle, I extended it out to a one-month cycle. You also need to plan your route. I made sure I didn't backtrack or zigzag my way through shopping stops. I made a list of where I had to go, looked at a map, and planned a route that took me in a large circle with the furthest stop distance being the middle of my "circle" route. Everything on one side of the road got put on one direction of the route, and everything on the other side got put on the homebound side of the trip. As a result of all this planning, I had a well-stocked (perhaps even overstocked) pantry, and used little gas to get all the shopping done. It took time, however, due to the distances between stops, and the fact that Corpus Christi is very spread out. Nevertheless, I took the truck, made the stops, and got it all done once. Some may even say to add meal planning to this scheme, but I have never planned a meal that far in advance in my life. I cannot fathom making menus ahead. I bought whatever was truly on sale (sometimes whether we needed it or not), I bought what we needed, and I used a sensible route to get them all. If you divide your meats and frozen veggies before adding them to your freezer, you really don't have to plan a meal way ahead. You can do it the night before, or even that morning. If you pre-cook your rice, barley, and/or beans, you can have a complete meal that only needs thawing and re-heating. Carpool with Neighbors To reduce trips, this is what helps us:
Find Local Sources We also live "out in the boondocks" and we love it. We have 140 acres. There are only seven houses on our road. The nearest store is about seven minutes away and it's a family-owned convenience store. To save money, we buy our milk from a local farmer, our produce from the local auction barn (10 minutes away) or from the Amish (also 10 minutes away). Whenever we go shopping, we buy enough to last a month. Then, if we need something like bread, we go to the convenience store. The beauty of rural living is that there are no shopping centers around, you can see the stars and you can hear yourself think without the noise of traffic. Our nearest shopping center is 20 minutes away. Do I mind? Never! And I hope and pray that it stays like this at least until I die, and I'm only 55. Make It an Adventure! A ten minute drive is a blessing! We drive 15-30 to get to any place for shopping. Of course, the obvious solution is to combine trips. Make sure you never just run out for one thing. Plan your trip so that you can get bread at the day old bread store, pick up the sales at the grocery store, and stop at the bank and the post office on the way (or wherever your errands take you). I enjoy my errands because I take a child or two with me and it gives me the opportunity to catch up on what's going on in their life, or I pop a book-on-tape in the cassette player in the car and the trip goes by way too fast. Some of my favorite times with my kids have been in the car when you can talk with less distractions. I even think of topics ahead of time, especially if they are the one word answering type of teenagers. Make it an adventure, not a chore! Learn to Substitute
Living 20 minutes from the closest grocery store with four children, a husband, and disabled in-laws for 12 years has taught me that these three suggestions are truly lifesavers at times! Grow and Make What You Can How well I know Sheryl's problem! I grew up in a city, but we moved to my husband's hometown when our first son was 2. I was so used to the city conveniences. I about went into shock when I tried to grocery shop on a Sunday evening and found the grocer was closed! After 5+ years living rurally, I am loving it. It does take some adjustment. The following tips are good frugal tips that will work for anyone, but are especially good for rural life. All of these can help you avoid trips to the store.
With time, you'll find that you don't need those city conveniences. There are a lot of bonuses to rural living, so dig in and enjoy it! Make a Day of It! We live pretty far from anywhere. This is how I keep from feeling like I am running all over all the time. I plan one day a week to do errands. I use the Internet to look at the weekly flyers of the major grocery stores or have my husband stop on his way home from work, just to run in and get the flyers. Then, I plan my shopping list the day before. Right now at McDonalds, happy meals are 99 cents on Wednesdays. So unless someone has an appointment that must be kept on another day, we go to McDonalds for lunch, and the kids (1 and 3 years) spend some time playing on the playground. Another option for this is a picnic lunch. I bring a cooler with two-liter bottles of water frozen into ice to keep freezer items and meat cool from earlier shopping trips. Our library system has their catalog online, and from my home computer, I can request a big stack of books and have it waiting for me. If the kids aren't tired, we usually spend some time browsing in the children's area. I make sure to stock up on necessary items so there are no last minute trips to the store, and in a pinch, I can have my husband pick something up on his way home from work. Doing this, instead of making 3 or 4 not-so-quick trips into town, I can get it all done at once, and have a fun outing. Use Your Freezer I raised my kids in a rural area and only shopped "in town" twice a month. We did have a local mom & pop store where I bought filler items, but I tried to keep that to the absolute minimum. I mixed regular milk with powdered milk and water (1/2 of each) and made 2 gallons of milk out of one. My kids never knew the difference and it's just as nutritious. I got a group of women together once a week. While our kids played, we visited and baked bread. At the end of the day, everyone had homemade bread to take home and the kids had a great time. I bought a huge deep freezer and kept it filled, so that we rarely ran out of anything. It held all my garden produce! We did go to a local library once a week six miles away, as it was a savings in entertainment. We never had cable. When you feel the impulse to jump in the car and shop, try looking in your own cupboards first and making do or changing the menu to suit what you have. Needless to say, we were a one-income family and I was a stay-at-home mom. Sometimes economizing means a richer, more creative and fulfilling life! Do you have a time or money saving idea that wasn't included in this article? Please send it to tips @stretcher.com. We get the best ideas from our readers! Other Articles to Stretch Your Day and Your Dollar Why I Like Vinegar Invasion of the Little Ants Doggie Don't Shoestring Solutions to Organization Problems
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