Seriously, is there ever any way to get ahead?

[kuntrygirl]

Quote:
Yup. I agree.

 

[Olive Hill]

I don't think Harlan was trying to cut you down, Deb. I think more than anything it's just a misunderstanding. This happens often here. Someone starts a post that seems serious to begin with, they seem to want advice but it quickly turns into a "pat my head and tell me I'm okay" kind of thing. Which is totally FINE if that's what someone wants, except that it's hardly ever clear which it is supposed to be so then people who are really trying to help in a serious way get all the flak for doing so because they're "mean" -- even though honestly, some of the best help I've ever given or received has been of the "mean", straight up, no holds barred, variety. LOL! I've been in that position a couple times and I can tell you right now I never ever reply to specifically be "mean" to anyone. If I'm not sure what people want -- real help or just to commiserate -- lots of times I won't reply at all to be safe. But then there are those threads where it seems a sure thing they want help... until you give it and it's not what people like to hear and then all H-E-L-L breaks loose. It's frustrating on both sides, just one of those limitations to communicating via the internet though, I suppose.

I thought you were asking for cold, hard how-tos until I read through to the last couple pages of the thread, too, so I can see where Harlan may have thought that. I almost quoted and responded earlier in the thread, without reading all the way through, and would have been in the same boat as her so... just being honest and trying to shed some light on what was probably meant harmlessly and to really, genuinely help you. I hope I don't offend.

 

[Carols Clucks]

Instead of the paper towels, I bought the costco yellow micro fiber car towels when they had a $5 off coupon. For $10 I have about 50 of those yellow towels. Easy to just run a wash load with them when they are all used.



One thing that many have touched on, is it really does make a difference on how you were raised and grew up with as normal when making life style changes to match the economy. Like one friend, who ins in construction. He already lost his own company due to the economy (plumbing) and only gets a couple of days work each week. They have a massive lawn. Now personally, I would probably let part of it die off or grow long (they have horses that I am sure would love to come help lower that long grass every now and then) and find a cheap push mower to do the balance.

But to save $$ they bought a riding lawn mower and cancelled the lawn service...... I think it will take a few years for that deal to even out

 

[MysticScorpio82]

Quote:
I would love to have that as a reference. I'm always looking for new ways to save money and cut back. I wish that there was a little book to reference with all of these cost saving methods so everyone could use as a reference. I will try to copy and paste everyone's idea and use as a handbook to reference. A lot of great ideas being discussed.

Another little thing that I do (most people may think that it's yucky) is that I use my tea bag at least 3 times before throwing it away. The 3rd cup of tea is just as good as the first. I get a lot of tea bags from family, friends and co-workers who buy "new flavored" tea bags and wind up not liking them. So, they know that I like to re-cycle, so they will bring me a box of tea bags with only 1 tea bag missing from the box and I will use it. Tastes good to me.

Co-workers are friends will bring me bags of fresh lemons from their trees and I squeeze a nice pitcher of lemonde for the first go round. For the 2nd and 3rd go round with those same lemons, I get a glass of water or a large pitcher of water and let the used lemon rinds soak in the water for a couple of days. On that last day, I make a nice potion of more lemonade. YUMMY!

Oh, certainly! http://www.budget101.com/ hehe

I do love the information and ideas on this page. My only complaint is they made their google ads too big and it's hard to read some of the recipes because of it (it's like 3 words per row) Lol, but there is alot of good stuff in there. I use it hand in hand with our sister site : http://www.sufficientself.com/forum/

Thank you for the hint about tea bags! I do drink tea at night (I want something hot to drink, but coffee is not a good option if I want to sleep hehe) so this will help cut back on how often I need to get tea!

 

[kuntrygirl]

Quote:
I'm glad you posted this. I got 10 brand new micro fiber car towels on Craigslist months ago that someone was giving away FREE and never used them. I was going to use them as rags for cleaning but then I realized that I already have too many rags and they were too good to use as cleaning rags. I can definitely use them in place of paper towels. Thanks for the tip.

 

[Olive Hill]

Quote:
I'm glad you posted this. I got 10 brand new micro fiber car towels on Craigslist months ago that someone was giving away FREE and never used them. I was going to use them as rags for cleaning but then I realized that I already have too many rags and they were too good to use as cleaning rags. I can definitely use them in place of paper towels. Thanks for the tip.

And they're super absorbant for those big wet messes -- which we seem to have a LOT of around here!

 

[Katy]

Quote:

 

[Sir Birdaholic]

Money saving tips:

Save on kleenex, & paper towels - use your sleeve

Save on T.P. - corn cobs

Save on laundry soap - shower in your clothes.

Just a few money saving ideas

 

[PaulaJoAnne]

Quote:

 

[AngieChick]

I cut waaaay down on my groceries by just cutting out snacks. Now, I make soft pretzels and we always have apples and pears around if the kids get munchy in between meals. Little kids do well with 5 small meals a day instead of 3 bigger ones. We used to have little "snack trays" already made up with chunks of cheese, apples, peanut butter on crackers, and raisins. They were all healthy snacks and the peanut butter and cheese had staying power versus the higher carb packaged snacks (which are very expensive, anyway). My kids seem to be surviving fine without the snacks and it really cut down on the grocery bill.

I can see why keeping the washer and dryer is a good idea, especially since they are almost paid off. Keep an eye on Freecycle for a fridge, you may luck out. I gave away a pretty nice one a few years ago through freecycle.

My sister ended up opening a checking account just for her husband. He has a certain amount of coffee money in it, and that's all. He kept overdrawing their checking account and it was driving her crazy. With separate accounts she always knows where the main household one stands. She took away his debit card to the main checking account. He's a great guy, but horrible with money.

I think that at this point surviving through the recession is the best that many can expect. It looks like my cousin and her husband may be moving in with us at some point in the next few months. They have a few options, so I'm not sure what they will decide. They have been unemployed for 2 years in a high unemployment area (a few hours away from us) and their benefits have run out. Sometimes people who don't live in those areas don't understand just how challenging it is to find employment. There are some things that are out of our control, and we can just do the best we can.