Let's share money saving tips!

[AccidentalFarm]

Quote:
I have that one, too. Great ideas in there. I also have one called "cheaper and better", but I dont recall who wrote it. Oh, and btw, there is a tightwad gazette II, also.

 

[mandolinmama]

Hey AccidentalFarm,
I'd love to know who wrote Cheaper & Better so I can look in to it.
Yes there's actually at Tightwad Gazette 1, 2, & 3, but the book I have is all three books in one called the Compete Tightwad Gazette.
Funny how Amy Dacyczyn doesn't have chickens and seems to think it won't save her any money.
Myself, I love the free eggs!!!!

 

[Backyard Buddies]

I've not read Amy's books, but I'm going to make a guess here. I can buy cheapy store eggs for as little as $1.58 for 1.5 dozen. It probably costs me more than that to raise my girls for that same number of eggs, although I've never actually added it up to compare. But, my girls' eggs don't compare directly with the eggs at that price but more closely to the free range organic eggs that sell for closer to $5 a dozen (although I still argue that my girls' eggs are even better than that because they come fresh from the bird). If one is being a strict money saver, one would buy the eggs that cost just around a dollar a dozen rather than the ones that cost $5 a dozen.

But, that also assumes that we're in this strictly for the eggs and nothing more. But, as we all know, that would be an incorrect assumption.

Most of us keep our chickens for pets as well as the eggs. Now, lets compare the cost to raise a chicken vs. the cost to raise dogs or cats. I'm pretty sure that the cost to raise a dog or cat would be more than a chicken and other than love, affection, and protection, dogs and cats don't offer anything else to offset their cost, and some would argue that cat's don't even offer that - tho that's not true about my lap kitty!.

So, if one were making the argument only on the cost of eggs, they might be correct. Someone needs to get Amy some chickens and then let her decide! But then, maybe she also doesn't keep pets due to the cost of them either.

 

[justusnak]

Here is something.....I went to our local Burger King...I guess any fast food place has them, but I asked them to save me the 5 gallon Pickle buckets, with lids. They had no problem, as long as I came by to get them, they dindt want them to stack up. They are great for makeing hanging feed and waterers. Im sure there are several other things we can come up with...like soaking washables in bleach water in them....and they make great planters....just sand the outside a little, and spray paint them. Hey...free is free!!

 

[mandolinmama]

It's true, Backyard Buddies, my chickens are pets to me. I actually pay more attention to them than I do my outdoor kitty buddy. PLUS, my girls will give me eggs to cook for my family.
There are tons of folks who pay out the ying yang in vet bills for their dogs/cats and chickens are really quite cheep (no pun intended) to care for.
I just had Rodney the Rooster in here sitting on my lap while I surfed the net.
I don't know about the rest of you folks, but I can't hardly bring myself to purchase store bought eggs.
They have nothing to them for one and why purchase eggs when I get them in my back yard for free??!!!
I wish I had the heart to raise meat chickens, but I don't yet. If I did, just think of the savings!!!
For now, i'm not paying anything for owning a dog. I pay very little for chicken feed and get free eggs out of the deal.
Yes. Amy Dacyczyn would do well to have some chickens. Guess we know something that the "furgal zealot" doesn't. hee hee!!
One who is a true tight wad would have figured that one out for sure.

 

[Chickens-246]

The thing that most people over look concerning high heating/cooling costs is insulation. The majority of housing is under insulated, I was told mine had 32R, when I looked, it had 3R. Minimal is 32R in the attic (generally, 11 inches). Most people I talk to say they can afford the cost to insulate, but they can afford to pay $200+ in energy bills a month (in case of one member $500 a month), this is crazy thinking to me. Depending on weather, current insulation, etc, one can save 50% +/- on energy bills, so this pays for itself very quickly.

Shade your house with trees for summer, use deciduous trees (loses leaves in winter) so your house is heated during the winter. I planted Poplar Hybrids, mine grew 6 feet last season.

Use light colors on the outside of your house, this absorbs less heat. Think about that dark roof too.

Attic ventilation, use aluminum turbines. These need less breeze to turn.

Windows are the worst in temperature exchange. Even high efficiency windows, (double glass with nitrogen fill) are only 3R. I would like to see a manufacture use a vacuum between the glass, a vacuum transfers NO heat. Think of a vacuum thermos, the only reason it looses any heat is though the stopper and when you open it.

Put awnings above windows to block summer sun but let winter sun in.

Central heating/cooling ducts are only covered in 3R. So all the heat from the attic or under the house is coming right into the house, very inefficient. Most systems have leaks around the registers, so if you close off a room, the heat is blown into the walls. Use window a/c when possible, they only cool the room your in and are more efficient because they don't lose anything though piping. Use swamp coolers if your region has low enough humidity.

Bathroom exhaust fans, check for proper operation of the check valve. If not proper (or missing) this is a hole leading to the outside.

Of course the obvious, weather stripping.

Use tankless water heaters, heating 30-50 gallons of water 24/7 year around with not in use wastes energy. Tankless also has an endless supply of hot water.

Personally, my weather is 0-105° and my electric bill for an all electric house has never been over $50 a month, year around. I use a pellet stove in winter which cost me $138 (with tax) for the season last year, aprox $13.32 a month. I'm in the USA.

 

[buc]

Saving money is one of my favorite topics. I have a tip, work as hard as you can to keep your property taxes at their lowest.

Every year that my property taxes go up, I file for a meeting witht he County tax assesor and have them explain why my taxes went up, then I demand that they provide me 3 like properties that sold (KS. requires they provide them), I then contest the rise to the 3 person local board,.

I have been told by a person that works in the office that they have a percent of properties that they are allowed to adjust lower each year.

Over the years I have saved hundreds of dollars by understanding just because the local tax collectors want more money in property taxes, does not mean they get to reach into my wallet, well, not without a fight.javascript:insert_text('

 

[cookinmom]

I'm working my way through Complete Tightwad Gazette, which I got from the library after reading this thread, and I think Amy would figure in all the cost of housing and feeding the chickens, along with time and gas spent going to the feed store, electricity to run the heat lamp in the brooder, and all that, not to mention how much it cost per hour cleaning the coop, and would probably determine that it was not cost effective to keep chickens. She would probably say it was cheaper to buy store brand eggs at the store with the cheapest price.

Personally, my chickens provide me with entertainment, company, and something to nurture now that my kids are almost grown. They haven't even gotten to the point of laying an egg yet, and already I think the benefits outweigh any small costs associated with them.

 

[54Belair]

Well one little thing I did to cut my electric bill
I averaged 120 a month for the year.
I replaced by incadescent bulbs with the new spiral fluorescent.
That cut my average to like $80.
It was noticable for sure.
Though the cost of the bulbs was horrible.
I did it one room a pay check till they were all done

 

[Alisha in Cali]

I think Amy would figure in all the cost of housing and feeding the chickens, along with time and gas spent going to the feed store, electricity to run the heat lamp in the brooder, and all that, not to mention how much it cost per hour cleaning the coop, and would probably determine that it was not cost effective to keep chickens. She would probably say it was cheaper to buy store brand eggs at the store with the cheapest price.

Actually she does say that it is cheaper to buy eggs than it is to raise them. I agree with you though. There is more to having chickens than just the eggs and I don't think she understands that. Another thing is since my chicken free range their eggs have far more nutritional value than those pale imitations in the store. Priced by nutrition, my eggs are a value compared to store ones. I like a lot of her ideas, but she misses the mark with the chickens.