Just curious who else is living super frugal

[HeatherLynn]

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I buy rags at Walmart. My mom started it but they have those cheapie, rough dishrags for like 12 for $4. Anywho we use those in place of paper towels. We literally cannot do without toilet paper but we went cold turkey on the paper towels. We have used those cheapie rags for at least 6 months. They are holding up well.

 

[kuntrygirl]

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Not sure if you are subscribed to the wine makers thread but you may want to check it out. A lot of great info over there.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=175349

 

[Rathbone]

A winemakers thread??? Yahoo! This is my next big project and I was going to ask that you detail it for me. I will check out the winemakers thread. But I still hope that you will detail it. If you won lots of awards you must be doing something right and maybe will help me to skip some of the mistakes I might make.

 

[chic-a-deee]

Hi.
I have to be frugal. I receive govt payments atm while Im studying. ^^
One thing that has helped me & my 3 girls under 10yrs old, is I do all my banking & bills online.
This means I can transfer & control my money to pay bills more effectively. I've enabled my
account to pay $10 a week to communications bills, $15 a week to power. I havent received a bill
to pay yet!!!

I pay $50per week on my credit card....so no outstanding fees. I have that automatically taken out too.

I teach violin once a week at the local school for a LITTLE bit of extra cash.

I have a second hand car that I keep maintained well...so its reliable.

2nd hand clothes are fine, same with furniture. If it looks good then I'll have it.

I dont go for name brands in clothes, shoes, food, whatever.....

Here in Australia, Aldi Stores seem to be the best although Coles & Woolies are starting to drop prices now.

Many of my friends take out lay-bys for their childrens xmas gifts 6 months before hand.....Ive yet to. LOL.
Hope this helps.....its not a perfect system. I always am living from week to week. The kids school will ask
for money out of the blue so have to be ready for that too. My children do not go without anything.

 

[zzGypsy]

have recently joined the super frugal group - moved from CA to MO and gave up 75% of our income to do it... it's been a bit of a shock to the system, but the right job for me appeared and even though we weren't quite ready it was time to go. we're having to re-think all sorts of things... it's an interesting process. not so much giving up stuff we thought we "needed" but seeing how comfortable we were with spending on things that didn't really matter.

 

[HeatherLynn]

I think frugality has taken us far but recently have started just increasing the income a bit. Right now is just very tight for us. I am attempting to pay off everything we owe before march and sock away 4k in bill money before the sale of my husbands employer is finalized. Its so odd planning for unemployment but I think we have a really good plan. The problem is there is so much to pay for and save a bit of extra that its tighter than tight. This is an adventurous plan but I really think it will make us more secure.

I am also reading a book about being mortgage free. Very inspiring. That is our plan once our house sells but it gets discouraging now and then. I reread the book now and then to keep myself motivated.

 

[ChooksinChoppers]

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I am from Australia too, but live in the USA now. The whole weekly paying of bills (including rent) is unique to Aus, and reading through your reply Chicadeee, reminded me of it. Sometimes it was a PITA doing it that way but then, in the USA, when bills are paid monthly and you mostly get paid by weekly or even monthly, you have SO much more time to screw it up and not have enough $ left over!

I find it especially hard being on a fixed income and paid monthly (SSD) and I am horrible about budgeting

My house is a power hog (leaky windows and A/C needs to run too many months out of the year) and the water bill is huge because my daughter is ocd and everything gets washed twice, hour long showers and constant hand washing (15 mins) plumbing is old and got blocked 3 times this year so I had to pay for a plumber..and my car is old and leaks oil faster than I can put it in and is on it's last legs..........arrgh! On a more positive note, I am waiting to hear from the bank on a short sale, 5 acre farm, on a well (Yay).....I cant wait! and put in a request for a pressure cooker for Christmas.
signed
Dianne.....Determined to become self sufficiant

 

[HeatherLynn]

Oh and one more thing. If you can take advantage of the fresh cranberries in the store. I added some to my apples and whipped up some cran apple jam. It is literally to die for. I will enjoy a meal of home made biscuits, butter and cran apple jam today. And its sooooo cheap too. Something so enjoyable and so affordable too. Who needs that expensive gourmet catalog.

 

[ChooksinChoppers]

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Exactly!

 

[Totalcolour]

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Getting Started - the easy way!

You will need some capital outlay - for a gas bubbler (couple of bucks) and a packet of wine yeast.

For the rest, you can use what's on hand. An old plastic, 1 gallon milk jug, fresh fruit, some sugar (grapes have the right amount of sugar, fruit doesn't) some acid (use lemons or oranges) and off you go.

I will add more, after I go to the wine-making thread to see if there is an easy first time recipe there - no point in duplicating what someone else has done.

I'll keep you posted Rathbone. It really is fabulous to do yourself, rewarding and if it turns out well, you can have a really decent wine at the end of it. It practically makes itself