Just curious who else is living super frugal

[ChickInDelight]

I am financially challenged. Single mom with 3 kids at home - 2 in college. I make good money, but I have never saved a penny and likely never will.

I rent my home.

Since I work fulltime AND take care of a large home and property (and pets), I do buy prepared foods and delivery. I spend on convenience sometimes. I grocery shop almost daily. The kids don't always eat what I cook, and they can't find stuff to feed themselves if the cabinets are too full. They inherited a fear to open tupperwear from their father.

Here are some green things that I do.
- Heating appliances use tons of electric, so
- - No more clothes dryer
- - No more hair dryer
- Work at home 2 days per week
- Bike and use public transportation when feasible
- Grow herbs and a few veggies
- Buy spices (and other foods) in the Latino section of the grocer
- Shop for meat when it has just been marked down (consume immediately)
- Only heat rooms we are using while we are using them (we all work and go to school) modern quartz heaters rather than archaic heaters
- Gas for my stove comes on a Cookie Plan - pay by the month - heats kitchen nicely.

 

[ChickInDelight]

Quote:
Thank you ... grapes are on sale right now! So guess what I will hope to be doing this weekend???

Making wine?

 

[ChickInDelight]

Quote:
I buy rags at Walmart. My mom started it but they have those cheapie, rough dishrags for like 12 for $4. Anywho we use those in place of paper towels. We literally cannot do without toilet paper but we went cold turkey on the paper towels. We have used those cheapie rags for at least 6 months. They are holding up well.

Ah - yes - no paper towels at my house. Napkins are placed on the table and only taken when needed. Same with silverware.

We have plenty of old towels and clothes that become cleaning rags. If you add up the cost of paper - whew!

I contacted a home economist many years ago, and she recommended never purchase non-nutritive beverages. Also, clean with clorox, chorine cleanser, and vinegar rather than higher priced products. She also recommended cleaning the floors before carpets.

 

[BusyBlonde]

Quote:
What are some of your bad habits? Maybe we can help.

Well, I don't buy expensive designer clothes or anything. I don't buy fancy things.....I think I do very poorly when it comes to grocery shopping.

Our money is just so tight. Sometimes we end up having to put an item on the credit card. (Service on the car, broken dryer.....) and now and then we do buy something we shouldn't.

We have cell phones, and satellite dish. I can't get my husband to let go of those things no matter how hard I try.......

Is there anything I can do? I think we're financially doomed sometimes. Also we had a 20 year old daughter move back home and she had a baby......

I'd love some advice.....(Please don't tear me apart.....) Every payday, I say, I'm going to do better.....But I don't......

We all have to start somewhere, it just comes easier for some than others.

Do you eat out? Even going for fast food a couple times a week adds up fast. It's much cheaper to pack a lunch. Same with dinner - it's a lot cheaper to make dinner at home than it is to go out to eat. My DH and I only go out to dinner on very rare occasions, and it's got to be somewhere that we can't easily do at home (sushi - mmmm!) or they have to make something better than I can, which honestly is rare.

Do you have a freezer- you can buy meat in bulk, get a vacuum sealing system, and put it in portions you would cook with. I check the weekly ads for my neighborhood grocery stores, and buy almost everything on sale. If there is a great price on something we really like, I will stock up - like meat, frozen produce, canned goods. I shop at a hispanic grocery store (Compare Foods) in my area for some of the best produce I've seen locally, or at the farmer's market. I shop at deep discounters and dollar stores for things like shampoo, body wash, etc. I cook from scratch - it is very rare for me to use a mix or pre-packaged 'food'. If you keep staples that are shelf-stable, there's a lot you can do even on short notice! If you plan your meals, you can save even more money, and if you make extras, you can re-purpose the leftovers (roast chicken - chicken salad, ham dinner - ham sandwiches, etc).

Good luck - start small, if you need to. Choose something to work on, and do it until it is 'easy' for you. Then move on to the next item to tackle. You can do it! We're here to help.

 

[Pumpkinpup]

We have all but stopped eating out. I have cut back all unnecessary trips to town by trying to combine everything so I can get it all done in one or two trips per week. I'm cooking more meatless meals and trying to use more of what is already in the freezer and pantry instead of buying so many groceries. I am making a effort to keep the heat cut off durring the day and all the little extras, like phone chargers, unplugged when not in use and turning off lights. I did away with the home phone all together and Doug takes his lunch to work now. It is not easy but it is helping some to keep us afloat. The soap sales and bartering is a help as well. I am picking up little odd jobs for neighbors too and that has been a huge help!

 

[ChikeeMomma]

Another thing that I've found to help out on the grocery bill is to go to a local meat/fruit/veggie market that is open year round. We have a very small chain of them around here. They buy local veggies and fruit when in season and the rest of the year most of the produce comes from the US (exept bananas, pineapple, and avacados). I don't have to buy meat since we grow our own meat chickens and buy pork and beef from 4H. Our two chest freezers are full of meat. Their meat does seem to be a decent price. The fresh fruit and veggies are cheaper than at the grocery store. So is the milk, sour cream, and other dairy. Sometimes the cheese is a great deal, too (better than grocery store prices -- I stock up).

So I guess my point is that if I shop at the local market for the week my grocery bill runs about $30-$40. If I go to the regular grocery store, it runs about $75 for some reason. Now I do stock up on sale items like yogurt, pasta, spaghetti sauce, flour, etc when at the regular grocery --so that's probably why. I would never buy any of the regular grocery items from the market because that's where they get you! The regular grocery items are grossly priced there.

 

[BarefootMom]

I meal plan by the month. I don't always follow it to a T but I get close.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1UVkj-pN009Y0vgON09mLGnfhXo8TUcHRGzMUvhRIPQM/edit?hl=en_US

I have a lot of items on hand at all times. I can, freeze, and dehydrate. We also have our own beef and chickens in the freezer. We will never go hungry that is for sure. My total bill for this month's meals was $149 with coupons. I will have to buy certain things like milk and lunchmeats but I think I did pretty well.

I ended up making the ribs on Sunday because we were out late on Saturday and I didn't feel like putting a roast on. My car broke down and it was a long night. Not sure if the roast would have even had time to cook! lol Luckily though I had picked up an extra package of pork chops so we had pork chops, oven fried potatoes, and green beans for supper tonight.

 

[Rathbone]

Chic-mom: What you will notice is people gave you advice that is vastly different. Meaning, what works for one, doesn't work for another. So if I were you I would peruse the list of advice, and pick one thing to start on, something that you think you can successfully do. Try that one thing for a week to see if it helps. Then choose another on the list.
So if I were to give you one piece of advice that works for me I guess I would choose this: Do not go out to eat - not even one time this month. Instead, make a list of menu ideas and buy what is needed for those. And cook. You will be amazed at how much you save.
My family is way below poverty line right now, so I made a list of inexpensive meals. Spaghetti for example. I can't afford to buy any hamburger to put in it, but I try to make a complete meal. I grate a zuccini and a carrot, and chop an onion and cook till the onion is translucent. Add the spaghetti sauce. Cook the noodles and voila'. This meal is low in protein so...since my children eat a snack at 3:00 in the afternoon, I probably would have given them each a couple of hard boiled eggs.
You can do this. Baby steps will get you there.

 

[Kassaundra]

Quote:
I've been experimenting w/ making "ground meat" for sauce dishes out of eggs. I scramble and season the eggs, if I'm making it for spaghetti, italian seasonings and a splash or so of soy sauce, and worstishire. Cook on med-low heat scrambled for longer then you would as eggs you want it to be very dry and crumbly to look like ground meat. I add it to the sauce just 5 min or so before serving it. I have been experimenting adding refried beans to the raw eggs/seasoning prior to cooking, but don't have the perfect ratio yet.

 

[kuntrygirl]

I agree with all of the advice as well. I use to love to eat (addicted) to Grands Biscuits until I started making my own home made biscuits using a simple recipe. Now I don't have to spend $1.50 on a can of Grand Biscuits because my home made biscuits are Grander.