Economy bad... How do you save money?

[rainplace]

I only saw one person say this:

Plan meals
Make grocery list
Only buy from list

When it's out, it's out till next time.

 

[KDbeads]

I posted this first paragraph over in the recipe section but think it will help here too:

Mondays are always a good day at my local grocery place. It's a little dinky hole in the wall store and the prices are through the roof..... But on Mondays there is a TON of reduced produce and meats. For $35 today I bought 10 pounds of tomatoes, 10 pounds of limes, 10 pounds of avocados, 15 pounds top grade/hormone free lean ground beef (the expensive stuff!), 3 pounds of breakfast steaks, 1 pounds of pork loin, 3 pounds of sliced all beef bologna, a 2 pound pack of corn tortillas and a gallon of milk. I go twice a month right after paycheck comes in and stock up on what I can. This week was really good! A ton more meat than usual, especially the top grade ground beef. I usually get the ground beef for the dog food I make but this time I think we'll eat this! (I'm picky about my ground meats, can't help it)

I make a list for the non meat items and stick to it, usually have to shop at Walmart though, since it's the cheapest place around. I carry a calculator with me to the store and ensure I'm on budget while shopping, helps eliminate impulse buys. Since starting this I've saved on average $30 each grocery trip. Coupons are collected for items that I buy that are name brand, and I collect coupons on items where it makes the name brand cheaper than the generic. Usually cash in $20 worth of coupons a month.

Thermostat is set to 80 for AC and 63 for heat, fans running all cooling months.

I don't normally buy storage containers for food..... I save sour cream, yogurt, butter, etc type containers and use/wash them until they fall apart.

All clothing except socks and undies are bought second hand.

If we need something for the house thrift stores are our first stop. Bought all my cabinet hardware like this and instead of paying $5 or more for each hinge I paid 50 cents each on really nice designer type hardware. And with 26 hinges ..... saved a lot of money.

If it's free it's for me....... have a 2 year old free dishwasher waiting for me to build a cabinet for it and find additional plumbing fixtures to hook it up. 3 year old free stove/oven is sitting in my kitchen right now. Laid my hands on some gorgeous iron and copper curtain rods along with expensive white canvas curtains. Once I can get the dye to color them it will all be installed. My cost... what ever the dye is if I can't find it for free. Have half a garden full of construction site scrap and pallets, all free, that will be used for building a shed once we get enough pallets and for raised beds for the garden next year. Hubby picked up a wooden screen door frame today at the landfill that will be the door for my latest chicken run... free.

 

[fordmommy]

This was a post from a about a month ago. It has A LOT of good ideas in it. I also responded in here. Hope you like it.


https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=254247

 

[Wildsky]

Quote:

If you're a girl you can buy some cheapo wash cloths from walmart or some place like that and use those for #1. Save a ton of $$ just don't flush em, put them in a little bucket or something and throw in the wash.

 

[TammyTX]

I forgot (until I got cleaning the toilet) that I use vinegar for a lot of my cleaning. I buy it by the gallon and it works wonders on hard water deposits.

.....I ain't givin' up my dishwasher !! I EARNED that !

 

[HarlansHollowFarms]

Just got done scrubbing the bathrooms, I only use vinagar and baking soda works wonders and is cheap!
Aslo, use vinagar in the rinse cycle as a deoderizer and fabric softener.

 

[NurseNettie]

I can't agree more!! I bought one last year when we bought our house. When we started butchering our turkeys last month, it hit me---- Why not CAN our meat, instead of freezing it? We've got some in the freezer, but for each one in the freezer, another has been canned/ souped+ canned, etc.

Quote:
Amen to that! Ace had them on sale this past weekend.

 

[Big C]

as a (continuing) student of business somewhat saw this coming so we started preparing almost 2 years ago. Everyone thought I was crazy, but...

Bought more steers and heifers to raise for beef. We sell the extra to family members for what we have in them, usually 1.80-2.00 per lb for any cut. Raised organically on our farm.
Increasing our flocks yet again, we sell all the eggs we can produce.
Increasing our flocks in Feb to raise for point of lay hens to sell and replace some older producing hens.
Increased our garden size to almost an acre, canned/froze everything we did not eat fresh. Large fall and winter garden full of lettuce, greens. peas, onions, carrots, etc...
Paid off all bank notes except one. Only use credit cards in an emergency and then pay the entire purchase when we get the bill.
Changed our business model at our garden center/farm store to reflect the times so we now sell more of what we produce than we did before.

 

[Scoop]

I wear long underwear allllllllll winter long!

 

[Scoop]

Quote:
When I tell people I'm stocking up on rice their eyes always glaze over...