Just curious who else is living super frugal

[RyeRanch]

I come from a long line of cheapskates. It is sort of a family sport to compare who got the better deal. In a way frugality in itself is recreation for us. I fell like my overall frugality does give me the financial flexibility for the occasional splurge and also allows me to feel financially secure. Deal of the week was the REI used gear sale. My husband bought $280 hiking boots for $25 and $105 running shoes for $10. I bought $90 running shoes for $10. For shoes the REI used gear sale is hard to beat. He won that round, but it was close...

 

[Arielle]

I'm still reading back at the beginnng as I only discovered this thread today!! I thought I was the only one living frugally. Not sure I can find ways to get more frugal, but I'm hoping!!

We use chest freezers and I only buy seconds most days. Store is 2.5 miles away and the discounts foods are about75% off regular. SO I only buy those fresh foods and dairy that is in the sale bins. DH recently bough 8 10-oz pkg mushrooms. I cooked most of them and put in freezer. He took other packages to make soup at work. DH uses the full kitchen at work, uses the crockpot MIL gave us for Christmas one year. He never buys lunch.

Switched to baking soda and vinegar instead of expensive cleaning supplies. Buy largest dish liquid. DW uses less hot water than hand washing but DW is not working and no$ to fix; so I wash by hand.

Land provides all our firewood.

Need to grow better gardens.

You guys rock--I'm sure I can find more areas to save that I have overlooked!!!!

 

[Raiquee]

I have started couponing in a big way. I just bought a bunch of coupons and I'm working on a stockpile. I am set on getting hba products near free from now on. I am sick of paying $4 for DHs body wash when I can get it almost free. I just need to dedicate a bit of time to it, and as school is out right now I plan on doing a lot of this this summer. My targets:

Old spice body wash 20 bottles
Old spice deodorant 20 sticks
My body wash, I'm not brand loyal 20 bottles
Secret deodorant 20 sticks
Venus razors 20 sets
Either Pantene or garner hair products 20 of each shampoo and conditioner

I know it seems excessive, but it doesn't go bad, and we WILL use it. Once I get these targets done, then I will move on to:

Tampons/pads not brand loyal 20 packs
Kids tear free wash 20 bottles
Toothpaste not brand loyal 20 tubes
Toothbrushes 20 pack (I change my toothbrush every 6 months cause I have gingivitis)
Kids toothpaste 20 tubes
Mio water enhancers 20 packs. (DH drinks tons of water and it would be nice to change it up)

I got some good coupons for the Mio, Pantene, still looking on others. I think Walmart will be a big player as they will match prices and take competitors coupons. Wish me luck! Lol.

 

[Arielle]

Nice job!!!!


It will feel so good. You might consider planning out where you will stock pile the supplies. THey take up a lot of room.



As our children got older, we could stop buying childrens toothpaste. Mine use baking soda to brush with now. ANd so do I !

Vinegar is multi duty and better for the environment for cleaning: windows, chicken waterers.

 

[HeatherLynn]

We had a bit of shocking news that set us back a bit. Just 20k will not even get us started on the house. We had a contractor who was doing some work for my dad give us an estimate on pouring a 900 sq ft basement. 20k not including plumbing, windows, ect. Thats more than double what my parents paid just a few years ago to pour a 1500 sq ft basement. So we figure we need 30k saved up to even start. Once the basement is poured we are doing everything ourselves but its still looking a ton more expensive even building frugally. It sorta pulled me down for a couple days.

Not sure what we are going to do yet. I don't want to do a mortgage. If we could sell our house instead of renting it out we would have the cost of more than half the house. So we are not building next spring. I just could not fathom living as we have for extra years. The kids will be grown and we will have been so busy saving we will have done nothing. It knocked the wind out of me.

Anywho we decided to put a hold on savings and just wipe out all the debt we have completely over the next couple months and then hopefully we will feel like we accomplished something at least and we can go back to saving. i cannot believe 20k for such a small basement. Its really boring too, just a rectangle. I did everything I could think of to make it more affordable. I refuse to do a block foundation because I want the basement livable. So frustrated. Even building small for my big family isn't taking the price to an affordable level.

Still frugal, but not loving it right now.

 

[turney31]

 

[Arielle]

Construction is expensive. Wages have dropped but the cost is up. THe damage and repairs needed be cause of Irene are still driving up the demand for lumber, and the cost.

And fuell prices rose 9% today.

Family is the most important thing, no matter where you live!! Can you re-do where you are now , or add on?? I'm sure you have thought of all the options.

 

[HeatherLynn]

We live right now with my parents on the farm. The farm is something they planned on me taking over so its time for that. My parents need us both here. I think without my husbands help I could not keep all this going. So we need to be where the farm and my parents are. We have so much work to do just to keep things going that living even 40 minutes away just wasn't working. Right now we leased our house for 2 years and they are good about paying and not destructive. Maybe the house will sell after that or maybe we will find another renter. I have no clue. We spent our house money on this first house thinking my parents were good. My sister lives not 2 minutes away but I cannot depend on anyone to take care of my parents. Everyone has their own lives or can barely take care of themselves. So we moved out here with all the kids, who love being close to Oma and Opa anyway, and we were planning on building.

Now I guess we finish up their walk out basement with a couple bedrooms and wait till we have 40k in the bank to get us started. I don't know maybe a house here is not meant to be. Maybe we will end up elsewhere someday and we are just saving toward that. I am just down. I miss having my own home. I want to help my parents. I want to be close by, especially so they never have to see the inside of a nursing home. I promised they would not have to go into one. Right now that promise means no house. The living arrangement has my siblings thinking I have become the family slave ( I would say servant but they usually get paid). In my own home they call with a list of "chores" for me and I can very loudly tell them where to get off, In my parents home I get to go to the laundry room and curse while the dryer is running.

Oh well, at the very least frugality has put us in a position I can escape now and then without going into debt. Just cutting the waste and reevaluating our priorities has us in the best financial shape of our lives. I am still working on getting used to not having a pile of bills to pay. The pile is TINY now and doing the bills takes less than 5 minutes. Today we are taking the kids out for a fun day. My husband work gave us tickets which saved our big family $270. The drinks are packed. My husband picked up two $5 pizzas and those are in baggies and packed in the cooler along with home made treats. No McDonalds on the way there and back. The tickets were free, now I have to make sure the rest of the day stays on budget.

 

[albert w]

We live right now with my parents on the farm. The farm is something they planned on me taking over so its time for that. My parents need us both here. I think without my husbands help I could not keep all this going. So we need to be where the farm and my parents are. We have so much work to do just to keep things going that living even 40 minutes away just wasn't working. Right now we leased our house for 2 years and they are good about paying and not destructive. Maybe the house will sell after that or maybe we will find another renter. I have no clue. We spent our house money on this first house thinking my parents were good. My sister lives not 2 minutes away but I cannot depend on anyone to take care of my parents. Everyone has their own lives or can barely take care of themselves. So we moved out here with all the kids, who love being close to Oma and Opa anyway, and we were planning on building.

Now I guess we finish up their walk out basement with a couple bedrooms and wait till we have 40k in the bank to get us started. I don't know maybe a house here is not meant to be. Maybe we will end up elsewhere someday and we are just saving toward that. I am just down. I miss having my own home. I want to help my parents. I want to be close by, especially so they never have to see the inside of a nursing home. I promised they would not have to go into one. Right now that promise means no house. The living arrangement has my siblings thinking I have become the family slave ( I would say servant but they usually get paid). In my own home they call with a list of "chores" for me and I can very loudly tell them where to get off, In my parents home I get to go to the laundry room and curse while the dryer is running.

Oh well, at the very least frugality has put us in a position I can escape now and then without going into debt. Just cutting the waste and reevaluating our priorities has us in the best financial shape of our lives. I am still working on getting used to not having a pile of bills to pay. The pile is TINY now and doing the bills takes less than 5 minutes. Today we are taking the kids out for a fun day. My husband work gave us tickets which saved our big family $270. The drinks are packed. My husband picked up two $5 pizzas and those are in baggies and packed in the cooler along with home made treats. No McDonalds on the way there and back. The tickets were free, now I have to make sure the rest of the day stays on budget.

HeatherLynn, Don't depend on one quote. Quotes are generally one of the few things that are free. I know many times you "get what you pay for" but by getting multiple price estimates and checking references of the contractors who gave you the lowest quotes you may be surprised at the amount you can save. Good luck to you and your family. You're doing the right thing by helping your parents but never neglect your life with your husband and especially your kids. They grow up way too fast!

 

[Arielle]

We live right now with my parents on the farm. The farm is something they planned on me taking over so its time for that. My parents need us both here. I think without my husbands help I could not keep all this going. So we need to be where the farm and my parents are. We have so much work to do just to keep things going that living even 40 minutes away just wasn't working. Right now we leased our house for 2 years and they are good about paying and not destructive. Maybe the house will sell after that or maybe we will find another renter. I have no clue. We spent our house money on this first house thinking my parents were good. My sister lives not 2 minutes away but I cannot depend on anyone to take care of my parents. Everyone has their own lives or can barely take care of themselves. So we moved out here with all the kids, who love being close to Oma and Opa anyway, and we were planning on building.

Now I guess we finish up their walk out basement with a couple bedrooms and wait till we have 40k in the bank to get us started. I don't know maybe a house here is not meant to be. Maybe we will end up elsewhere someday and we are just saving toward that. I am just down. I miss having my own home. I want to help my parents. I want to be close by, especially so they never have to see the inside of a nursing home. I promised they would not have to go into one. Right now that promise means no house. The living arrangement has my siblings thinking I have become the family slave ( I would say servant but they usually get paid). In my own home they call with a list of "chores" for me and I can very loudly tell them where to get off, In my parents home I get to go to the laundry room and curse while the dryer is running.

Oh well, at the very least frugality has put us in a position I can escape now and then without going into debt. Just cutting the waste and reevaluating our priorities has us in the best financial shape of our lives. I am still working on getting used to not having a pile of bills to pay. The pile is TINY now and doing the bills takes less than 5 minutes. Today we are taking the kids out for a fun day. My husband work gave us tickets which saved our big family $270. The drinks are packed. My husband picked up two $5 pizzas and those are in baggies and packed in the cooler along with home made treats. No McDonalds on the way there and back. The tickets were free, now I have to make sure the rest of the day stays on budget.

I know of two families that chose the frugal way.

Daughter and SIL bought the house, grandparent moved to a basement apartment. Both had the same situation. It meant adults were always available to assist the elder. Meds to meals, etc. I know the grandchildren cherished the time with that grandparent. It meant the elder could live in their house until the end of their days.

Life is about compromises. THere is always a plus to the second choice.

Save that money. HOld it. ANother option may pop up if not this year, net year.