Being the owner of 7 pets and a former animal rescuer and shelter volunteer, it is well known amongst most of my friends and colleagues that I like my furry creatures.However that doesn't stop some of them from doing things about animals or saying things about animals that makes me lose my mind, pull out my hair, or bite my tongue until it bleeds.Let me give you some examples. This might give you a clue on what not to say to an animal lover.

1.) A picture of a dead deer that someone hunted hanging over their desk is not awesome to me. A picture of a dead deer that your sister sent you with a funny sign over it is still not funny.

2.) Telling me how you are getting your cat declawed even though I gave you 800 other options to do instead is not a wise move. If you are going to do it anyway, just don’t tell me you did it. And don’t tell me not to judge you if you do it anyway. You tell me, I will judge.

3.) #2 also applies to buying from a pet store or add in the paper instead of a shelter, getting your dogs ears or tail cropped, giving it up to a shelter cause it peed on your rug, or putting it to sleep because you don’t want to spend the money to get it medical attention. If you don’t want to hear a peep out of me, never tell me it happened.

4.) Start off a sentence with “I know you love animals, but…” is never a good again. Again “Silence is Golden”.

5.) Don’t come to me or send me info on an animal you found that you need to find a home for and threaten me with “if I don’t find a home for it in 5 days, I am taking it to the shelter”. Emotional blackmail does not make you my friend.

6.) Don’t tell me animal horror stories, or a bad report you saw on the news. I see plenty of them myself. In that case, misery doesn’t want any more company.

What you should do

1.) Treat my love of pets with respect. You don’t have to feel the same way or understand why I do. But respect my opinion.

2.) Feel free to come to me for suggestions on helping you with finding a pet in a shelter or rescue.

3.) Ask me advice on dealing with pets behavior. I’m not an expert, but with 7 cats I got a pretty good handle on what they do. If I don’t know the answer, I will find it out from someone for you.

4.) Know that getting a pet is a responsibility you should honor for the rest of its life. It is not a “starter child”

5.) Adopting one from a shelter or rescue does require some paperwork, some money and some checking into your background. Don’t expect the shelter or rescue to bend over backwards for you and just give you a pet if you say Boo and hand them money. They want to find the best home for the animal they have been taking care of for weeks or months. You have to prove you are a good owner and have a good home. If you are not approve, don't bad mouth shelters and rescues in general. You may have just not been the right fit for that dog, that shelter or that rescue. There are others.

I clean my carpets every three months. With six pets I think its actually not that strict a schedule. I love my carpet cleaner and don't regret one bit the money I paid for her a few years ago. But about 6 months ago the valve on the tank that holds the cleaner broke and the cleaner would just pour right out. I was so heartbroken, I figured it was too old to replace it and I would eventually have to get a new one, which I just couldn't spend the money on right now. My poor carpets are looking a bit dingy and really need a cleaning, since they are way past their normal scheduled cleaning. I was all set to borrow my mom's horrible cleaner or rent one from the store this weekend.

But I got motivated today and decided to see if I could find the part. And guess what, I did. I found it on Amazon, through a great company. I ordered two of the part, just in the case the same part on the water tank eventually broke. It cost me a total of $13.98 for two of the valves. So much better than $200 for a new one. Me and my carpet cleaner can continue with our long term relationship. And I will have nice clean carpets for a long time.

A frugal saving indeed.

**Forgot to note, the cleaner pictured above is not the exact one I have. Mine is about a few models older than the one pictured. But its the same brand, similar features, but blue in color. Just in case you wanted to know.

I have posted about all the changes I have made recently to be more frugal and less wasteful in our lives. But what about the things I still need to improve upon?

1.) Grocery budget. Yes, I have been using the coupons and checking out the deals. But I still don't go with a budget to the store. I just list the sales I want to partake in, plus a few items I have to get and what the amount is, it is. So now I have made it my goal to only spend $50 a week on groceries. Before this frugalness I would spend, for two adults, $120-$150 a week. Yikes!! And we never got alot with it cause we just bought what we wanted, or we would just waste it, or go out to dinner. So at $50 a week and a fridge, freezer, and basement full of food, and planning out our meals based upon what we have on stock, it will save us over $4000 a year in food. I know I can do it for $50, as alot of my shopping excursions have been in between the $40 - $70 range.

2.) Recipes using what we have on stock. I just started this the other day. I see what meats we have in the freezer, and then I go online and try to find a recipe with that meat and other ingredients we have on stock. The other day we had taco salad, and then I had the leftovers for two days while the husband was working. Tonight it is a turkey meatloaf wrapped in bacon. I pre-made it last night and we will cook it tonight. It took a whopping 5-10 minutes to prepare and easy to cook tonight. Perfect for a 2 person working household.

3.) Coffee. I am not an excessive coffee drinker. I have a cup like 2 times a week. I also don't like fancy coffee, my favorite being diner coffee. Diner's make the best, most simple and great tasting coffee to me. Most days at work I don't drink it at all. I like to just drink ice water, better for you and keeps my pants fitting. But this week I was dragging. Guess getting up at 4:30am every morning is catching up with me. So I needed a pick me up and I absolutely hate the coffee here at work. I started bringing in my own instant coffee and making it myself, but that isn't too good. Time for me to start brewing my own at home, fill up an insulated mug and bring it to work. I spent $3.90 on coffee this week. I know, not alot but still I could have made it for free at home. I just have to find a brand that is cheap but taste as good as the diner stuff. Any suggestions?

4.) Christmas shopping. This one causing alot of stress this year, so I am doing my best to shave down the spending without getting crucified for my choices. My brothers, my parents and I have done the pollyanna thing for the last two years and set a price limit. So that saves quite a bit. I don't participate in the work pollyanna anymore either. My mother in law said she would be thrilled if I gave her some of my free CVS stuff as gifts. So be careful what you ask for, she and my sister in law are getting a huge basket of my free things. My husband and I are the problems. We used to spend $600 a piece on each other (yes, that much). We don't have kids, so we spoiled each other, and sometimes that was on credit cards (hence my debt I am paying off). Well the cards are shredded now and after much debate I have gotten him to agree on getting each other much less. We are even thinking about a couple gift for the two of us.

5.) Pet food. I think I have said on here before that the one thing I am having a hard time getting really cheap is pet food. The dog is no problem, she is little, she is my only dog, she doesn't eat alot and the food I do get her is not bad in price and lasts a long time. So I have a nice stock for her. As for the cats, I have 6 of them. So that 3.5lb bag of cat dry food I get for $1.50, while a bargain, lasts about 5 minutes in our house. I am going to do a little price comparison this weekend and try buying their food in larger sizes still using coupons so that I don't have to run every week to get them more. Remember time is just valuable if not more than money.

What aspects of your frugal life do you need to work on?