Suggestions for making it through hard times - add some, no whining!

[Catalina]

I canned soup this fall from all my extra veggies.
The big investment were the jars( I already had a pressure canner), but they are reusable.
My favorite organic soup is $3.99 a can! My homemade organic soup is so much cheaper and tastier too!

 

[ams3651]

we also cold water wash, eat a lot of pasta and potatoes, casseroles make a little meat stretch. My son hunts so we have venison in the freezer. Shop the sales each week and stock up on buy one get one free sales, (they are great with a coupon too) when its tight a big pot of potato soup or corn chowder costs pennies. We grow corn so its in the freezer. The larger the quantity you can afford to buy the more you save.

next year I plan to have a larger garden with potatoes and more melons as well, more corn to sell some, same with pumpkins and melons. I forgot to mention, to walk down the meat department looking for those stickers where they have it marked down. Its going to expire in a couple days but I freeze it anyway. Just got ground chicken for $1.49 a one pound package.

Use rags instead of paper towels. Made my own baby wipes and baby food. Wash the dog and the car myself.

 

[The Chicken Lady]

Join BYC's sister site, Sufficient Self.

 

[Raising Reds]

If there is one within driving distance, do some of your grocery shopping at Aldi. The prices are much lower, enough to justify a special trip if you buy large quantities. Make sure you bring a quarter and some bags or boxes to put your groceries in.

Re: having your utility bills averaged out over the year. If you have trouble preparing for the large cold weather/hot weather bills this is a good idea but watch out. There is an extra fee involved.

In case someone hasn't mentioned this yet, go to the library. They have free books and videos.

One thing I've started with my friends and family is dinner swap. I miss eating out (and not having to do the dishes!) so we invite a couple or family over one night for dinner and they reciprocate a week or two later. This gives us and them a chance to eat "out" and is more social and fun than eating in a restaurant. It is also much less expensive, even if I'm cooking for eight rather than four.

 

[cajunlizz]

Quote:
Potatoes here are more and More expensive .... during the holidays 10 pounds of potatoes were like 5.99 , like no way

I watch the sales of can goods when they are like 3 for .99 and been stocking up BIG TIME .... With this depression/recession , economy , you just never know . We won't be seeing many sales in future .

 

[JennsPeeps]

Thanks for all the great suggestions, everyone!

I'll add a few more of my own.

1. Negotiate a new rate with your phone, cable, credit card, internet & ?? companies. Call and ask if the rate you're getting is the best rate they can do. I was able to upgrade my cable service and decrease my cable/internet bill by $20 a month... just because I asked.

2. Make your own laundry detergent. It really *is* cheaper AND it's environmentally friendly. And I know that if I'm about to run out, I can make more b/c all the ingredients are in the house: Borax, Fels Naptha soap, and Washing Soda. Google the recipe to find one that fits your needs. Added bonus: people will think you're nuts.

3. Add up those little daily expenditures to see how they're really hitting your accounts. That daily coffee, bag of cookies at the grocery store, unecessary drive across town all add up to affect your bottom line. I've replaced a mocha with tea, homemade cookies for the store-bought ones, and use my work-supplied bus pass not just for my commute, but on weekends in town, too.

4. If you must have soda, get generic. I can get a 12 pack of my store brand soda for $2 whereas a single bottle in the work cafeteria is $1.50. It's a rare treat rather than a daily occurance to have soda.

5. I subscribe to www.everydaycheapskate.com to get tips for living more cheaply. Note - not all of her tips are environmentally- or waistline-friendly.

6. I keep powdered milk in my desk at work. Today I was in a rush to get out of my house but hadn't had breakfast. I grabbed some cereal and made some milk at my desk. Voila - cheap breakfast! Powdered milk doesn't go bad and is great in tea.

7. Women - get your hair cut at a cheap-o place for $15 but go to the fancy salon and get the $5 bang trim. My pricey place does bang trims for free!

To stay sane and not feel deprived, I've kept some vices. I drink an entire pot of tea all to myself. I still enjoy wine. DBF and I even go out to dinner (at a cheap Asian restaurant) every so often. I knit things for myself, not just for others. I count my blessings. I spend time with friends, even if it's just to go thrift shopping or get together for biscotti that I made. My goal for 2009 is to incur no new debt and make a significant chunk in the debt I do have.

Keep the tips coming!

 

[mrsengeseth]

Hanging laundry vs drier in the spring, summer and early autumn.

Eating alot of things I grow myself, beans, corn, carrots, etc etc. Eggs too now!

Don't buy things you can make yourself, for instance, bread crumbs. WTHeck? Three slices of toasted bread costs what? Dump in in a blender of a food processor with some seasoning you like and whiz it till it's a consistency you like. put in a zipper locking bag and toss it in the freezer till you need it. add to it as you can. A canister of the name brand or even generic run between 2 and 4 bucks here.

if you aren't in a room...turn off th lights! man my parents drilled that one in.

I know not everyone can make their own, but if you can, make your own pasta. I found it costs me more in time certainly, but less in waste and less in cost to make it myself. (and it's a good way to use up surplus eggs)

again, make your own...bread. If you can. I run my breadmaker on a dough only cycle, and then pop it into the oven when I am heating it up for dinner.

learn to mend clothing. It's easy, and it'll save you from taking it to a tailor to hem and such too.

barter when you can

buy in bulk, split with a friend

surround yourself with people who are like minded and who will help you say on track.

 

[ChevygirlBeth]

Normally I grow most of my own veggies and freeze or can them. This past year due to some circumstances beyond my control, I was unable to keep up with the garden, so I didn't get as much put up as normal. Instead I've been buying up the frozen veggies when they go on sale. My freezer is pretty well stocked up on <$.50 a bag veggies.

Now I have 3 pressure canners (2 were free and 1 was a gift... if someone needs one PM me - I can part with the smaller one) and I plan on having a large garden at the new house. I'm excited about having a spigot outside the house now... it will simplify watering the garden for me!

I hope to grow extra pumpkins and gourds this year to sell along with our beef, pork, and eggs, too.

My mom got the opportunity to go pick peaches for free from an orchard (they were going to go bad before they could sell them all). They invited the amish to go pick them and our amish neighbor asked my mom to drive his family. Mom picked 2 bushels of peaches, then she, my sister, and I all pitched in and canned them and split the results. Yum! We did the same with canning apples from my grandma's house. It worked well to share the labor!

 

[Stumpy]

Great topic.

A lot of what we do, I have always done, and that is buy at thrift stores, etc. I rarely frequent yard sales anymore. We have very little store-bought furniture. We use a credit card to get money back at the end of the year, but pay it off every month.

One of the ways I'm going to try to stretch our money this year is by not wasting any food. Have a little cheese that's getting old? Make a quiche. This goes for anything like milk, sour cream, mushrooms, ham, bacon, broccoli, onions, bell pepper, etc. We invested in another freezer this winter to take advantage of a lot of free venison and I am trying to use what's in the freezer and buy very little meat, and then when it's on sale.

Also, as someone mentioned, making things from scratch. I make a lot of our bread and all of our jelly. We like sourdough french bread and I've started making that. You can make your own croutons from it also.

When gas was so expensive, we consolidated trips and made do longer between shopping trips. Now that gas has gone down, we're trying to stick to the new habit.

We use our towels for a few times before laundering them. We hang them to dry between baths. I serge around old towel pieces to make our dish rags, and cut up old t-shirts for paint rags, etc.

You can make your own low-fat milk by buying a gallon of regular milk and halving it with water.

I love living in the country, but it would be nice to be able to take advantage of all of the freecycle and Craigslist things in the more populated areas.

I'd love to have one of those Mennonite stores nearby! You can't buy wheat anywhere around here!

Another tip about Aldi's: I was so excited the first time I went, because it's a two-hour drive away and I knew I would only be able to visit about once a year. Imagine my disappointment when I was trying to check out and they would only take CASH or debit card! I had to put everything back.

 

[Sissy]

turn lights off when not in a room, cook and bake
add chopped onions to leftover matched potatos
mix with a beaton egg. makes for delicious potato pancakes
fried in a little oil and sour cream as topping or jam.
cold water laundry wash. and cooked rice with chopped
onions and scrambles eggs. Makes for quick and tasty meals.
Shop on thursday.. when its sale day.
buy one get one free.