Frugal Frugal Frugal!!!

[Reurra]

Ok, these days things are tight. Money is going out faster than its coming in.

What are some ways some of our BYCers have managed to save money?!

Share your tips!!

 

[Mattemma]

This thread will give you some ideas:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/506813/just-curious-who-else-is-living-super-frugal


Off hand the usual for me comes to mind like....bulk food buying,get a freezer,grow a garden,don't use credit cards unless you pay them off each month,get recipe ideas for low cost meals,dry cloths outside or inside on a rack,wash cloths with cold water,take shorter showers,put something in toilet tank to decrease water amount during flush,call companies and ask for better deals on cable,net,cell(or get rid of some),unplug things when not using them as they still draw electricity.

 

[Whispering Winds]

If you go to Amazon, they have books on surviving that are less than $15 and are a powerhouse of information. . .some of it I would never use, but then again, who knows.

 

[Bobbykiki]

Dave Ramsey Fiannacial Peace University!

pay cash for everthing.
Put your credit cards in a ziplock full of water in the freezer.. . This way you really have to wait and think about using it.
Pack lunch and dinner (when applicable)

 

[oldrooster]

This thread will give you some ideas:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/506813/just-curious-who-else-is-living-super-frugal


Off hand the usual for me comes to mind like....bulk food buying,get a freezer,grow a garden,don't use credit cards unless you pay them off each month,get recipe ideas for low cost meals,dry cloths outside or inside on a rack,wash cloths with cold water,take shorter showers,put something in toilet tank to decrease water amount during flush,call companies and ask for better deals on cable,net,cell(or get rid of some),unplug things when not using them as they still draw electricity.

Also combine activities in on trip, don't go to the store just to go home and then go back to town (or shopping areas if you live in town) just to go to the bank. also either run errands before/after work. Use a bus if available or carpool if possible (unfortunatly I don't live in town so the city bus line won't help me, and my job requires me to either work early morning hours while most are in bed or change departments and work odd hours like in at 6 am one day noon the next and 5 pm the day after and never the same hours on the same days so it makes it impossible to cordinate a pooling system) look into eliminateing cable or satilite if you have high speed internet and look into hulu, an antenna, or net flicks. if you like to go to sporting events or movies/plays etc, try the local highschool/college sports and plays/musicals usually they are as cheap or cheaper than mattenes at the movies, if it's college level the girls sports many times are free or cheaper then the boys and sometimes that's the same at the highschool level. The local university in my town had music recitals usually free, parking is a pain, or expensive, but I have friends whom either live or work near the bus lines leave the car behind and they carry a reusable water bottle or thermos and are out a couple of bucks for bus fare, Also some Libraries have free movie rentals, also if you wish to cut entertainment costs if you have a working vcr (or can get a cheap used one at a yard sale or thrift store) many people sell movies on tape for little or nothing, like a large box with 40-50 movies for 5 bucks at yardsales and craigs list, also auction houses some have casset tapes and vcr tapes by the box full cheap. also local radio stations sometimes have there own version of cragslist over the air, also freecycle for your area for free stuff....

 

[KKs Kandies]

everything mentioned above, no trips anywhere but work, pick up necessities on way home from work.
emergency cell phone use only
recycle everything
keep weekly spending below $50.00
no starbucks, dinners out, movies, etc.

family home grown fun, exciting times on a budget, it can be done with some imagination

 

[mrsbott]

We have been living frugally since my husband had to go on disability, I now do a frugal living blog just to share.

We don't eat out or go to movies, we cut out cable and only have one cell phone (I use a cheap home phone) we cloth diaper and grow some of our own vegetables.
We found cheaper insurance and we unplug everything to reduce phantom power costs, we also use a clothes line and natural light to save on our power bill.

 

[newfoundland]

Reduce car fuel costs by driving at the optimum recommended speed for fuel economy. Here in the UK petrol is about the equivalent of $7.50 a dollar. Diesel is even more expensive. My son recently changed his car for a very economical pre-owned diesel car that does an average of 72 miles to the gallon. His previous petrol car did 30 to the gallon. It is also much cheaper in Road Tax and insurance.

Look at what the human body needs as fuel. Basically a mixture of all the main food groups. Carbohydrates, proteins, fats, vitamins and minerals. Mainly we need vegetables and carbohydrates because they are bulky, make us feel full and are readily converted for energy. Fortunately they are also cheap. Imagine a plate of food. It should be half full of vegetables, a quarter full of carbs and a quarter full of protein..There are millions of brilliantly cheap recipes from all over the world on the internet. I think it is important to remember that the protein element of a meal should be at most only a quarter of it. Rice, pasta, polenta, cous cous, bread, potatoes with loads of veggies and a little meat, cheese, eggs, or beans is the way to go for cheap yet nourishing food.

The energy companies often offer online advice, or free literature on how to save money by for example planning cooking so that every dish for a meal is cooked in the oven and therefore only heating the oven. We, being the great tea drinkers that we are, are told to only boil sufficient water for how ever many cups, as opposed to filling the kettle to maximum and boiling it all even if we are making only one cup. That is good advice but easily forgotten I know. Make sure the washing machine is filled to it's optimum level before washing a load. My youngest daughter, when she lived at home, often did a wash that consisted of maybe two garments. I do not overload my machine, but I make sure there is more than two items in a wash. I was told by a suppliet or washing machines that most people use far too much detergent in a wash, which is wasteful and potentially damaging.

 

[Reurra]

We hang our cloths out on the line to safe energy costs. We also have plug bars to shut things down at night. We went to the store and bout some of the new LED bulbs that use a fraction of what normal bulbs use, even less than the spiral ones too!

I want to get into canning this year as well.

One thing my parents used to do was take all of us kids out fishing, we would catch a pile of trout (5 per person, there were 10 of us) then take them home, clean them and pressure sook them until they were soft like tuna. Smoked trout is SO much tastier than tuna! It sure saved on the lunch bill during summer for all of us kids!

 

[MaryMouse]

well for someone as addicted to gardening as I am living frugal isnt so bad when it comes to food. I love tomato sandwichs, anyone else? I save about 80 bucks a month not running the dryer. I coupon and buy bulk. Price shopping is moist likely my biggest hint, dont assume something is cheaper find out , you will be suprised.