Just curious who else is living super frugal

[halo]

Quote:
Dave Ramsey would LOVE you!!

 

[trcarlton]

My husband and I went through bankruptcy a couple years ago, and have been only using cash since then. I have also found Dave Ramsey's books to be extremely helpful in all things financial: managing a budget, prioritizing want vs need, getting out of debt as quickly as possible, and working toward building real wealth, and really focusing on what's important instead of all the "stuff". Partly why we started raising chickens

We go shopping twice per month, which works pretty good for us since the store isn't very far away. I would like to get down to once per month grocery shopping, and getting started on freezer cooking, canning, etc. We have 2 apple and 1 plum tree here, plus eggs from the chicken, and starting a veggie garden this year. We don't buy new clothes very often, and only when they are at steep discounts - I love using the consignment stores for our kid's clothes, and I like shopping at Kohl's when they have the massive sales going on, otherwise it's Ross, or Goodwill/Value Village, and hand-me-downs from friends and family, or my personal favorite: garage sales! I have found that the more self sufficient my family is, the more connected and happy we are.

 

[Aimless Farmer]

My mother's dad died when she was 10, and she and her siblings grew up with a very smart, very frugal mom, my beloved Gramma. My mother always felt she was "deprived", and rebelled. She has not a lick of financial sense in her head, nor will she ever. Some folks will never learn from their mistakes. Her attitude, "You never know what tomorrow may bring, so be happy today" means when she comes in to money, she spends it. She could win the lottery and be poor again lickety-split, if not poorer.

I learned my share of Green-ness and frugality from my Gramma, plus my Mom's share! My love of working in the Earth and the wonder of producing your own food. The spiritual gift of food for family and friends. I wish I could sew like she did. I've tried, and don't have the attention span to sit still for that long. She never knitted or crocheted, but my friends gram did, and I always admired her work. My sister-in-law is amazing at her knitting! Those are projects for the future.

Advice for newby frugals? I think the best would be to learn to cook from scratch. Play with food, play with recipes. If you can create delicious, nourishing food from what you have on hand, what is fresh, what is abundant, you will give yourself and your family several gifts:

1. Drastically reduce your grocery bill.
2. Drastically reduce your desire for eating out. The more I cook, the better I get, but the higher my expectations at a restaurant become. Why the would I pay that much for food that isn't as good as I can make at home for 1/10th the cost? Eating out is now an adventure and a true treat, but much more expensive than it used to be, as we've become what my mother calls "Food Snobs". Why settle for anything less than 5 star when you can make 4 star at home, right? Anytime we splurge on a restaurant, I'm savoring every mouthful, wracking my brain on how to make it at home!
3. Your taste for processed foods goes out with the trash. We used to splurge and buy expensive cookies (TLC) for a treat, but the last box we bought, my devoted hubby commented that now they taste like dirt compared to the recent batches I had baked for charity bake sales. (*aaawwww*) I had to agree. Now we don't buy them. Why settle for "okay" when you can have "delicious"!
4. Best of all, when you can cook well, you make what you want the way you want it. No more compromising! Our favorite pizza I have never seen or heard of in any store or restaurant. A bonus for picky eaters and those with food allergies.
5. Food is indeed love, when you cook from the heart for others. It is good for your soul and the souls of those receiving your gifts. You honor the food, as well. It will be the end of our species if folks don't stop stuffing just any old thing in their pie holes just to fill up the empty spaces inside them.
6. Free yourself and your family from the industrial government "food" machine.

I started canning a few years ago, and wish I could do more. We'll be investing in a chest freezer soon, so that when I bake, I can quadruple batch, and freeze more. My bread tastes like the bread I had when I lived in Europe. I can't buy that taste anywhere close by, and I can't afford to stock up from the bakeries far away. But I can bake it at home, and freeze it. My bread is also a regularly requested gift from family and friends when we get together!

My last bit of advice...this from a gal with no kids of her own, but fond memories of my Gramma...keep your kids in the kitchen when you cook. Don't shoo them out. Involve them. Every kid of any age can do something. Never be too rushed to miss an opportunity to pass on the gift of feeding yourself WELL. And if you don't have your own kids, cook with someone else's kids. They may not be learning this at home.

I will climb down off my soap box now...

 

[Rathbone]

While you are climbing down - take a bow. That was lovely.

 

[Life is Good!]

The bigger question, "who is living super frugal?" is not quite accurate.....

Who ISN'T living super frugal?!

Not anyone I know of. Of course, most everyone I know understands the direction our policy-makers are heading us all towards. And we're all taking steps towards self-sufficiency to offset our 'new' living.

HINT!!! Put a not quite full of water washed-out juice container into freezer - turn into giant freezer pack. Place in fridge. Keeps fridge from running as much - even in hot weather. I have three 'juicies' - one in fridge now, one in freezer now and one getting re-frozen in freezer. For winter, we use our coolers (have four) to store most of our perishables (cheeses, meats, milk, juice, etc.) - put outside on enclosed front porch. Mother Nature keeps it cold! The veggies I keep in the fridge, just not set quite so low.

HINT!!! Whatever you can make, produce or otherwise install yourselves - DO IT! Stop being a culture of CONSUMERS and be a culture of PRODUCERS! And share with those you know (some call it barter, some call it sharing). Great to get a good haircut for Mom from a pint of maple syrup! Trees made me 12 gallons this year! I can share!

Steps we've taken? Ala Dave Ramsey.....

Removed credit cards from our lives 8 yrs ago - haven't looked back. Have debit card instead. Much, much better plan. Check balances nearly daily - caught a theif because of my vigilance (trying to pay for three tickets to Latvia on our card?!) It's so easy to check on-line and pay bills on-line. Bank offers service free of charge - let's use it! Still get paper bills from companies, don't trust 'em as far as I can throw their bill at 'em.

Only 47 more payments for home to be debt-free. How many more do you have? Figure out ANY way to get out from under that one! Re-fi; second or third job - just get rid of it!

Un-plugged as much as possible. Cell phones are flat-rate fee (1000 min for $100 lasts - a year) and because of our now low useage, they last. Got rid of land line for phone. We talk to our neighbors (not call!) or email everyone as needed. Let others have the 'smart phones' and the fees! Unplugged cable - worst 'thing' ever imho. Re-plugged old roof-top antenna, upgraded it a bit for digital - and we get enough local news to keep us out of the dark. Unplugged items or use power strips on ALL needed items so there are no more 'ghost' useages. Need to upgrade refrigerator, as ours is 15+yrs and no longer energy efficient. Using clothesline as much as possible - still object to hanging knit undies out, they're scratchy! Got battery operated clocks for bedrooms - who's in there long enough to look at 'em?! Although one son objects, as his 'ticks' loudly! Use rechargeable batteries for most everything that needs one (including the keyboard and mouse on the puter!). Using little task lighting at night and having us watch a movie via netflicks if kiddos need one (otherwise board game night!).

DH's office moved him home (cheaper for company to pay six employees internet connections than rent for office space), so using nearly no gas! Have VW diesle Beetle - 600 miles to a 15 gal tank! That's savings! We fill up just once a month. If that. Saving for next new car - ours are now 11 yrs old, hoping to go 16 or more on 'em. DH purchases needed parts and does as much of the work himself as possible (although he's stuck on my rear shocks - the 'special tool' is $200...worth it or not? Might go to mechanic for that one). Hoping to pay cash for a car outright and save some $$ that way. Yes, we'll buy new and break it in gently so it lasts. This works for us. Only on second set of cars in 25 yrs.

Using A/C as little as possible. Keep house closed during hot hours, open up for cool to let house breathe. Replaced fan motors in A/C units, now running a LOT less. Well worth the $250 and dh's Saturday to replace. Very easy to do on our units. Hoping to not use them as much as years past....kids are bigger and can handle the heat better. Me, not so much! I keep wetting down my hair to cool myself off. And wearing lightweight cotton clothes (housedresses are very forgiving in the heat). Not fashionable, but cool.

Heating house as needed - closing off rooms not used often. Layering additional blankets (kids think it's great because they can 'burrow'!) Using space heater (the parabolic kind your grandma likely had) to warm up space as needed. Kept the house at 64 degrees, cool, but with the heater the room we were in didn't feel that way.

Buying groceries as little as possible. Making our own of most everything I can. Things my land can produce - Red Maple trees - maple syrup; concord grape vines - grape jelly; rhubarb and asparagus patches - fresh fruits for table (although seasonal); red raspberry bushes and mulberry trees - fresh fruits for table and freezing; apple trees - frozen apples for year-round baking; nearby lake - all the bluegill filets I can butter and cornflake batter; local beef farmer - 1/2 a cow in our freezer with another coming in September; bartering jelly and syrup for home-grown/home ground wheat from friend of friend; using more 'natural' products - witchhazel instead of Benedryl, etc.; teaching kids to conserve and reuse where possible (there's no reason to put THAT much toothpaste on kiddo!)

'New' clothes for kids come from St. Vincent's. Myself too. DH hasn't purchased anything but shoes in years. Shoes are one place I use coupons and rewards for. Famous Footwear offers decent rewards and coupons. Decent. Not great. I also sew and repair whatever is needed.

Going to go solar and wind powered (if city approves tall enough tower to make it efficient, I kind of doubt it!). Solar will require loss of arborvitae hedge screen to neighbors - likely going to plant blueberry or more raspberry bushes instead. DH will make solar mount himself and install himself.

So much more to do and could be done! Good luck on your frugal tips!

 

[wolftracks]

I used to live frugal, but now I live broke!

 

[Rathbone]

Me too Wolftracks

 

[Suzannah]

TONS of people aren't living frugal. My brother's wife "checks in" with her phone at spas, and they go on extravangant vacations. Most people I know eat out nearly every meal; they are amazed that we don't.

My school runs a food pantry out of a local church; one of the patrons comes to the pantry in a brand-new Escalade. With after-market rims. I try not to be judgemental, but seriously? sometimes we hand out more food to one family than we buy in a week for my own.

America still throws away an astonishing amount of food and still buysbuysbuysbuys. Spending may be down, but not for all income brackets.

 

[Irish Luck]

Hi. I grocery shop about every other week to purchase staples at least in the summer. I have my chickens and a great vegetable garden. I eat an awful lot of omelets but I vary the veges so it's always new. I'm selling everything that's not nailed down.

 

[maggiemooscluckers]

My husband and I have always tried to be somewhat frugal, he more than I. He was raised by parents that went through the depression so he was used to wearing high-water pants in high school. If you know what I mean!

We have always done almost all of our own work. If we needed something built or if the car needed fixing, we just did it if we could. Three years ago when the market took it's plunge all that "being frugal" stuff took on a whole new meaning. We are both in our mid 50's and trying to find work is quite a challenge. We started our own household services business and it has really been a good thing for us. We are able to work together so we only need one car and we go to the jobs together. Clothing is not an issue because we have to wear older clothes to work in. Lots of the people that we work for will give us their clothes before sending them to Goodwill. Our closet is pretty much full due to their kindness. I don't think that there is anything in my closet that I bought. Only underwear.

I was using an on-line coupon saving site but have since all but stopped that.Coupons are great but it seemed that most of the food was junk food. Not exactly good for the waistline or the heart. Now I only use the site for toiletries, paper goods and occasional treats and freebies. We have our own chickens and turkeys so we have plenty of meat and eggs. I also have a friend that is raising her own beef cow and is selling me a 1/4 of it for $2.50 a lb. Can't find that price in any store and get it organically besides!

I have 9 raised beds in an enclosed garden (built mostly from scraps) so I am learning how to grow our own veggies in the desert. It isn't anything like growing crops in the mid-west. It's a real challenge but it can be done. I have invested in heirloom seeds for the next season so that I can quit buying seed. I hope to save enough seed from our own crops to never have to buy hybrid, GMO seed again.

We compost everything from table scraps to dog hair. We don't have much in the way of yard waste here in the desert so I have to be creative in finding the materials that go in the compost bin. I collect plant waste from the neighbors and the local florist. An of course I have lots of chicken and turkey poo. Nothing purposely goes to waste. The compost helps keep the garden growing lush and productive plants. All I have to do is make the compost. It is just too expensive to buy all the bags it would take to fill my raised boxes.

I sew a lot so I am able to mend anything that needs mending. If it can't be mended it becomes a rag for work. I hang all of our laundry outside to dry. Even though we live in the desert and the temps get to 100+ starting in June and they don't drop until late Sept, we don't run the A.C. until late July or August. Even then it is a window unit only in the bedroom. We have an evaporative cooler that we use the rest of the time. It isn't exactly the most comfortable thing to do (85 degrees inside) but we make it. We have discovered that by doing it this way our highest light bill in the summer is barely over $100. The last time we ran the a.c. all summer our bill was $275+ a month. OUCH! We also don't run the furnace in the winter. We have relatively mild winters but it can get below freezing at night. We just run a small space heater in the room that we are sitting in and put on the thick socks. My quilting hobby comes in handy here so we use my quilts while watching t.v.. Kinda cozy! Being frugal means finding new ways to stay entertained!We don't have cable but we do splurge on Netflix. Very entertaining with lots of documentaries and movies. Much cheaper than going to a movie. Especially if you go and it turns out to be a dud. Popcorn is less expensive at home in my easy chair too and no gas used in the car!

Eating out is pretty much a thing of the past. Not only is it expensive, I have found that after you have done without it for some time it really doesn't taste all that good. Way too much salt. I like to cook from scratch so that also helps. I make most of our bread including bagels, English muffins, tortillas etc. I have built two solar ovens so most of my cooking in done outside. It not only saves electricity by not turning on the oven but it keeps the heat outside instead of heating up the kitchen. I also have made a solar dehydrator. I can dry many things in it so I can also save space and electricity by not having to can or freeze all of my fruits and veggies.

Being frugal doesn't always seem to be the most fun thing to do. Especially if you aren't used to it and it was forced upon you. But, it can be the most rewarding thing if you have the right mindset. Being frugal gives me a real sense of accomplishment and it has become one of the things that I find pleasure in. I am truly proud of what I have been able to accomplish by being more frugal. It really brings peace of mind knowing that you can survive on less if you broaden your perspective on life.