Lets do tips to help save money!

[EliteTempleton]

Check out hillbillyhousewife & FrugalSquirrels for many tips on this subject.

Check out GasBuddy to find the lowest gas price in your area before you fill up.

I buy bird seed in bulk at a local store and mix in corn from the feed store(plus some I grow myself) for chicken scratch, rather than actually buying scratch, it's cheaper, atleast around here. Next year I am going to grow some sunflower's to supplement as well.

Buy a book of forever stamps every time you make a trip to the post office, next time they raise the rates, you will have a nice inflation hedge. Who care's if you have an entire drawer full, do you plan to quit sending out mail anytime soon?

This is the time of year to find reel mowers on clearance, next summer your lawn mowing bill will be $0. No oil or gas fee's!

Buy a programmable thermostat, it will pay for itself.

Make your own soap(just Google it).

You might be able to change you car insurance rates considerably with a few adjustments.

Get paid for your trash! You can save up all those throw away cans and take them to a metal recycle center as desired. We save nearly all of the tin cans and then get paid for them, it's not alot, but it's something, if you have lots of aluminum though that will pay for a trip to the movies. Like the Sobe cans and such without a deposit. You'd be amazed how fast it adds up(the pile of metal that is), I also toss in bent nails, broken screws, etc. You can even go so far as to take the screws and other metal out of things that have quit working, like fans, printers, etc - it just depends on your motivation level(for instance some cans I just throw away, it's not always worth cleaning them). I only separate the copper and aluminum(worth more), the rest I don't bother and just scrap as iron. Just don't scrap things that could be useful, you will be sorry one day if you do this.

 

[EliteTempleton]

Cancel magazine subscriptions for the ones you don't have time to read, etc. When you do this you can ask for a refund and get some or all of you $ back.

 

[sunnydee]

Things I have done to cut down on my budget:
Cancel newspaper subscription - read at work or online.
Cancel cabel television - kids don't need to watch it anyways!
Car pool - I have joined the carpool at work.
Family Christmas - we each draw one name and only buy for that one family member.
Bartering System - I cut a family's hair for free (style for dances, etc) and her husband does odd jobs around house that I can't do (electricity/plumbing/etc.)
And last but not least - I took in a roomate! Charge by the month, have a contract just as if she was renting her own place. Thankfully I have known this person all my life and is a great friend of mine in need. She works a different shift than me so she also helps me with the kids and the animals!

 

[kodiakchicken]

Quote:
Yeah, I remember as a kid buying a ton of alfalfa for $60.00. It's absolutely insane in Alaska and just past that on the island. Of course, everything is not only trucked in but then barged over. A bale of timothy hay is $24.00. That's why I haven't gotten a goat. The straw for the rabbit, duck and chicken pens is enough.

I can't understand how people keep horses here. They have to feed year round and their feed bills run in the $1000's

Being on an Alaskan Island makes it difficult to live cheaply. We don't get super warm weather, so gardens are tough. We're a small town, so mass transit doesn't exist. We don't get $$ for recycling, the city actually subsidizes it (because we have to pay to ship it off island to a recycling center). Raising animals for eggs and meat is healthier for us, but not cheaper due to feed costs. There are only so many things you can barter for with a limited population, although we do make the best of it. We don't get coupons in our newspaper and the ones online are often for things we don't need or our two grocery stores don't carry. Shopping online is good, particularly since all we have for a clothing store is Wal-mart, but some places (JCP) still treat Alaska as if it were a foreign country and either won't ship to us or charge more for shipping that the item ordered.

I'm not complaining, I'm just pointing out the challenges. I really look for outside the box ideas. Those ideas that people who live in completely isolated areas with similar situations use.

Of course, the bonus to living here is almost unlimited fresh salmon and halibut, not having to run the a/c because it never gets hot enough, no long commutes (our entire road system is only 80 miles), and beautiful scenery!

 

[Birch Run Farm]

Kodiak,

Wow, it almost sounds like you live in Vermont!

Beautiful place but exceptionally expensive. Yeah, I can relate though we do not have nearly as good fishing and hunting as you have.

The costs here are due to our local government structure, Vermont is the most liberal state in the nation (has been for a long, long time) and by the most expensive place to live overall. My property taxes are $4000 per year so far for an average sized home (2000 sqft with 17.5 acres of steep mountain slope forest). I think more states are going to feel the pinch I do in the future. I know I cannot afford to retire here.

Hang in there and be frugal!

I'll have an interesting cost saver topic tomorrow, got to finish my experiment tonight. I am eating it NOW.

 

[kodiakchicken]

Quote:
Whew! At least we don't pay those kind of property taxes - insane!!!!

And yep, I imagine there are a lot of places with costs similar to ours. Many of the classic "money-savers" just don't work in those areas.

 

[Rosalind]

We keep the house at 50-60. Yes, seriously, without the woodstove running it's about 50 degrees at night. Put a sweater on, put a down comforter on the bed, wear a robe. You really do just get used to it after a while. There's a space heater in the bathroom.

Fish, hunt, grow a garden. Make your own soap--mine costs about $1/bar till all is said and done. Also laundry detergent, shampoo. Vintage clothes, yes. And learn to sew so that clothes can be repaired.

Word of caution on clothes, though: Be sure, if you're not buying vintage, that you're still getting decent quality stuff. I used to not be able to afford decent shoes, so I got the cheapie Payless and factory seconds kind. I found I ran through at least three pairs of shoes per year, often more like four. Now I pay a lot more for shoes but they are good quality ones that last several years. You pay less annually for good shoes that last than for crummy shoes that always need replacing, and your feet feel better too.

Birch Run Farm: I live in a spendy bedroom town just west of Boston. Believe me when I say, we are paying more than $4k in property taxes on 2 acres w/ 2500 sq. ft. and the cost of living is not for the faint of heart. On the plus side, just by selling your house you can retire to almost anywhere else in the world.

Most important money thing I ever did learn, though--you can't be whatever you want to be when you grow up. Being a unicorn-tamer/astronaut/tennis player/ballerina/elf-princess really does not pay the bills. Be pragmatic about picking a career and try out lots of different things before choosing a job or an education for sure, and realize that out of necessity it will probably change several times before you die. Pick up as many skills outside your field as you can for this reason. When you get locked into one or two closely-related fields, realize that eventually, those fields might go the way of the dodo bird, and have a plan for what to do in that event.

 

[Daycare Mom]

I think everything that I can think of has been mentioned.
Don't forget to dust off your crockpot, they don't cost much to run and can make almost anything moist and tender.

Also, don't forget how far you can stretch a pot of soup and a box of saltines. I make soup at least once a week in the colder months, we have it for dinner and then warm up leftovers all week long.

 

[Ol'FashionHen]

Well Hot Dog Ya'll have some good ideas

.
I do too much to post, take me a while

.
I do a lot of the same things ya'll do. I can't wait to check out the
hillbilly housewife and other sites. I live in the hillbilly capital
of the world

. Thanks Ya'll

 

[BettyR]

Quote:
I used hay...I don't know if straw and hay are the same but hay here ranges in price from $3.00 to $4.00 a bale.