Just curious who else is living super frugal

[houseofknauss]

For anyone with a good internet connection that wants to work online, this is a legit company that pays by the hour:

leapforce

They don't hire in every state or country, and you have to pass three exams to get hired, but it works for a lot of people that want to work a few hours here and there.

.....just seems to fit in with the frugal group since it's nuthin' you're gonna get rich on, but it does help pay the bills.

I think you also have to have a reasonably update version of windows and be using a PC

omg, I was just trying to find something I could do at home after being unemployed for the 1st time in 25 years(it has been a nice 2 1/2 month break) but..... got to pay bills I will check it out. also need to post a little story. see next post.

 

[houseofknauss]

9 months ago I went in for rotator cuff surgery -same day surgery in and out-- ended back up in the emergency room 5 days later with bi-lateral PE's--for those who don't know what that is---blood clots in both lungs. scared to death I was and lucky to be alive and typing this now. I have been thru what seems like a zillion tests, and still have one more to go (stress test) - I have spent more time at the hospital in the past 9 months than I have in my entire life. I still don't feel good on some days--it was a lot on my body to go thru and the doctors say they don't know if my body would tolerate more clots.
I am at heart a prepper and have a stockpile of food and ammo and we could survive for several months if necessary of the grid. I went back to work and worked for 6 more months at my high stress job as a manager in retail. I came to realize some things that I had forgetten....

MY FAMILY and my HEALTH needed to come first and I was spending way too much time at work. ( I quit my job, the best thing I have ever done in my life) I feel so much better and healthier now with the stress just detoxing out of my body. My whole family right down to my grandkids like me a lot better with no stress.(except my mother in law but that is just a given)

Living Frugal is something that is a smart thing to do and I coupon shop with the best of them--( I get anywhere from 30 to 80 bucks off coupon shopping when I go)-----But I have learned that sometimes you might not have tomorrow to live and do things, ---So for all you out there that are reasonable and frugal---if you want to do something, buy something for yourself, spend time with your family etc---DONT WAIT FOR SOMEDAY, do it now while you can enjoy it. You cant enjoy it if your dead. Trust that when you do the right things and trust in your faith, that you will get thru no matter what.

with that in mind, I have 3 mortgages, 3 houses(2 rentals that something is always going wrong) 1 daughter(24) I gave birth to who has 2 children(beautiful grandkids!), 1 step daughter(14) still in school and one unofficial unadopted son (23)who we raised for 3 years till he graduated and is now in his 4th year of college.--I am 44 and want to enjoy life and my kids and we are gonna bite the bullet and get an inground pool--why you say? I can't enjoy the pool if I die--so darn it, we are doing it

Enjoy life everyone---I was given a scary wakeup call to realize where my priorities were.

dawn
chicken and duck lady

 

[suncatcher]

Lovely story, thanks for sharing!!!!!!

 

[MoonShadows]

Quote:

Let us know what you find out, houseofknauss. Right now, we are in our "busy season" with our jams, butters, etc. But after Christmas, our business dies for about 3-4 months. I plan on looking into Leapforce soon.

 

[suncatcher]

Glad to hear it will die down for some people, we will be busy til next spring!!! Renovating, it is never ending, just when you can see the light, something else comes up!! lol

 

[write2caroline]

In 2008 my company downsized and all of us received walking papers. We had been working towards being self sufficient when we had a horrible delay in selling our home in New York and moved to Florida.
My husband and I decided we needed to seriously live with in our means. Sometimes it is very difficult. Often there is more month than money.

It started with finding our real budget. Really looking at all of the receipts and finding where the money is going. We paid off the credit cards when we finally sold our house but did not have enough to purchase a new one and the economy was horrible. We did decide to put the kids in private school which meant more scraping and cutting back.

Eventually we were able to get some land and a manufactured home. The mortgage was nearly 700 less than the rent we paid.

We put money aside for vehicle maintenance because we owned our cars but old cars need fixing.
I stopped going out for coffee and lunch and learn to brown bag - cloth bag actually.
When I grocery shop I try to think in terms of multiple meals - for instance getting a pork loin and cutting it into smaller pork roasts and chops myself.
We tried to grow a garden but I failed both times - not giving up - composting building up good dirt.
I learned to like generic and look for deals. I shop the outside aisles of a store. I coupon a lot. We did invest in a chest freezer - I went to a sears dent and scratch place but my husband wanted to compare prices and when we went to the sears store, the same unscratched model was less money - go figure - just because it is a discount place remember to know your prices because not all deals are deals.
Christmas shopping was a huge challenge at first. We make gifts all year long and send them at Christmas. Before, we charged stuff and it took a year to pay off the charges on the visa.

I decided to raise chickens in 2008 because I was afraid the economy got worse I wanted to be able to feed my family. Chickens are excellent foragers - If it got to the point I could not afford feed, we live on 5 acres so there is plenty of grass and bugs for them to forage.

We use the library instead of renting movies.

We have not had a vacation in years but we find fun places to go here and have a stay cation instead. I grew up in San Francisco and never went to angel island or alcatraz or any of the tourist places. So, now I won't squander a fun thing to see if we can see it.

I don't regret living Frugal or Thrifty and investing in the things I think are more important -( That private school is so worth it to us. Maybe not all private schools are for everyone but I fully recognize the benefit of my kids attending the school. ) I don't care if I don't have a fancy house or a fancy car. I don't miss Nordstrom's much. I am not stylish but I live in Jacksonville so I kind of don't care.

Life is so much better. It brought the family closer together. My kids appreciate everything. It is a win win way to live.

Caroline

 

[write2caroline]

Hmm.... let me try this again ...

Water, in California is a politically charged subject – and that is understated! We have a well, which leaves us uninvolved with the political manipulations of this subject, but that could change in a heartbeat. Our expense comes from getting the water from the well to a holding tank. We are using a gasoline generator to accomplish this, and it irks me to no end to listen to that thing once a week – and to pay for the gas to run it. Our plan is to replace the generator with a solar pump. We are trying to learn as much as we can about this subject – does anyone out there have experience in this subject?

I studied physics at San Jose State and my professor made it a project one time to build a solar collector that could run a well pump - I think we were actually building stuff for him. I did not work on that project but my friends in another class were. The problem was finding a way to generate the amps to run the pump. They ended up building a collector that went to a lithium battery that could run the pump. It was so long ago but it is more than possible. We have a well on our property and when we lose power we lose water so I am right there with you wanting a solar powered pump for that well!

Caroline

 

[houseofknauss]

In 2008 my company downsized and all of us received walking papers. We had been working towards being self sufficient when we had a horrible delay in selling our home in New York and moved to Florida.
My husband and I decided we needed to seriously live with in our means. Sometimes it is very difficult. Often there is more month than money.

It started with finding our real budget. Really looking at all of the receipts and finding where the money is going. We paid off the credit cards when we finally sold our house but did not have enough to purchase a new one and the economy was horrible. We did decide to put the kids in private school which meant more scraping and cutting back.

Eventually we were able to get some land and a manufactured home. The mortgage was nearly 700 less than the rent we paid.

We put money aside for vehicle maintenance because we owned our cars but old cars need fixing.
I stopped going out for coffee and lunch and learn to brown bag - cloth bag actually.
When I grocery shop I try to think in terms of multiple meals - for instance getting a pork loin and cutting it into smaller pork roasts and chops myself.
We tried to grow a garden but I failed both times - not giving up - composting building up good dirt.
I learned to like generic and look for deals. I shop the outside aisles of a store. I coupon a lot. We did invest in a chest freezer - I went to a sears dent and scratch place but my husband wanted to compare prices and when we went to the sears store, the same unscratched model was less money - go figure - just because it is a discount place remember to know your prices because not all deals are deals.
Christmas shopping was a huge challenge at first. We make gifts all year long and send them at Christmas. Before, we charged stuff and it took a year to pay off the charges on the visa.

I decided to raise chickens in 2008 because I was afraid the economy got worse I wanted to be able to feed my family. Chickens are excellent foragers - If it got to the point I could not afford feed, we live on 5 acres so there is plenty of grass and bugs for them to forage.

We use the library instead of renting movies.

We have not had a vacation in years but we find fun places to go here and have a stay cation instead. I grew up in San Francisco and never went to angel island or alcatraz or any of the tourist places. So, now I won't squander a fun thing to see if we can see it.

I don't regret living Frugal or Thrifty and investing in the things I think are more important -( That private school is so worth it to us. Maybe not all private schools are for everyone but I fully recognize the benefit of my kids attending the school. ) I don't care if I don't have a fancy house or a fancy car. I don't miss Nordstrom's much. I am not stylish but I live in Jacksonville so I kind of don't care.

Life is so much better. It brought the family closer together. My kids appreciate everything. It is a win win way to live.

Caroline

great story caroline! everyone has things that are important to them and don't want to miss out on in life. I think our family has managed to see a lot of stuff in New York state trying to vacation cheaply and locally!!!
dawn

 

[suncatcher]

Quote: X2! I love stay cations!

 

[kuntrygirl]

It's been a while since the last post, so I thought that I would revive it with a pic of some of my frugal buying this week. I scored all of this for $5.02. 11 cups of Oikos yogurt ($0.25 each) and a box of 8 cup of Yoplait yogurt ($2.00 for the box of 8). I have been enjoying smoothies all week with the bags of bananas that my co-worker gave me that she didn't want because they had "split" a bit. Her loss my gain.