What are your frugal and sustainable tips and tricks?

[LizzzyJo]

I just found this thread! Just about everything I do has been covered already!

I haven't read through all the posts yet, but wanted to mention a couple ideas I haven't seen yet.

Styrofoam can be broken into chunks and used at the bottom of landscape plants. Both in pots and in the ground to add a drainage layer. I loved packing peanuts for that but never see them anymore...so now I break up sheet styrofoam for it.

I scatter pond buckets through out my garden. I can grow water loving edibles in them and when I only have a few plants that need water, I can scoop some from them without turning on the hose. Saves a tiny bit of water ands pretty to boot. I grow Minari in mine and watercress. My Minari kinda took over though.

Pots from store bought plants can usually be donated to plant businesses. Here I donate them to a place called Desert Survivers. They reuse them.

Lots of great ideas on here...I'm looking forward to reading through all the posts.

Where I need to do better is gasoline. Everything is a 30 - 45 minute drive from our house. Hubby and my eldest both drive that far daily for work...so an hour to an hour an a half driving to and fro on weekdays. Kinda horrible.

I love the water plant idea! I've never had any. Do you know of any that would survive a cold winter?

 

[Sally PB]

Where I need to do better is gasoline. Everything is a 30 - 45 minute drive from our house. Hubby and my eldest both drive that far daily for work...so an hour to an hour an a half driving to and fro on weekdays. Kinda horrible.

Hubby and I did that commute for way too long. But we worked at the same place for most of those years, so it was a little better. Car pooling with coworkers was never a possibility, as we're way out there in the boonies.

We're still 30 minutes away from just about everything. With gas costing what it does, that sure cuts down on the "oh, I forgot xyz at the store, so I'm going to go get it." Nope. Unless it's critical, it waits until the next trip to town.

I plan to go to the store once a week. There are some weeks I go twice, but the second time is a "go on my way to/from somewhere else." Consolidating trips sure helps.

Now that we're both retired, we drive a LOT less. Even factoring in a drive to Maine and a separate drive to North Carolina.

Where we live, 4 wheel drive is a necessity. We have a Jeep Wrangler Unlimited, and if it won't go through the snow out there, we stay home. We have a more economical car for the non-snow months.

 

[LizzzyJo]

Hubby and I did that commute for way too long. But we worked at the same place for most of those years, so it was a little better. Car pooling with coworkers was never a possibility, as we're way out there in the boonies.

We're still 30 minutes away from just about everything. With gas costing what it does, that sure cuts down on the "oh, I forgot xyz at the store, so I'm going to go get it." Nope. Unless it's critical, it waits until the next trip to town.

I plan to go to the store once a week. There are some weeks I go twice, but the second time is a "go on my way to/from somewhere else." Consolidating trips sure helps.

Now that we're both retired, we drive a LOT less. Even factoring in a drive to Maine and a separate drive to North Carolina.

Where we live, 4 wheel drive is a necessity. We have a Jeep Wrangler Unlimited, and if it won't go through the snow out there, we stay home. We have a more economical car for the non-snow months.

This is really similar to us as well! Again, I'm from a city, so my husband had to pretty much teach me to plan out trips "to town" and coordinate with stores, etc. Sometimes it is just not worth it. But being out here did make covid a lot better with not having to deal with people! Then again I still mourn for the lack of delivery chinese food...

 

[Sally PB]

But being out here did make covid a lot better with not having to deal with people!

When I had my physical in June 2020, the PA asked me three or four times how I was feeling/adjusting/coping with the covid situation. I finally told her, We have 25 acres to roam around with our dog. We call/text with friends/family often. We. Are. Fine.

We are the luckiest people I know.

 

[gtaus]

Where we live, 4 wheel drive is a necessity. We have a Jeep Wrangler Unlimited, and if it won't go through the snow out there, we stay home. We have a more economical car for the non-snow months.

I wonder if anyone has done the economics of having additional vehicles per family. For example, Dear Wife typically drives the newer car in the family, but I have one old pickup (13 mpg) and an older Camry (26 mpg). Both my older cars are paid for, minimal insurance ($10/month each), and I don't really drive much anymore. I only drive my pickup when I load up cargo, or have to tow a trailer, etc... Otherwise, I drive the Camry.

I like the idea of someday getting an electric vehicle for our commutes back and forth from town. That's only about 30 miles round trip. Should be able to charge the car overnight with even a slow charger at that rate. Hoping that EV's come down in price because they are too expensive for my budget. I like the idea of not having to buy gas when I only get 13 mpg with the old pickup, but, the pickup is paid for and it's hard to imagine any real savings on any newer car that even gets 3X or 4X the mileage.

Dear Wife asks me why I don't get a newer vehicle, but I guess I really don't care to pay more money for transportation which my current pickup or Camry does just fine. It's just not the best looking vehicle on the lot anymore. But I can live with that. And, to be honest, I'm at an age where I really don't care what people think of my vehicles. To me, it's not a status symbol but I know for many people it is.

 

[ChicksnMore]

I love the water plant idea! I've never had any. Do you know of any that would survive a cold winter?

Both watercress and Minari prefer colder weather. Here I have to work a bit to find that shade/sun balance that lets them survive our heat. There's another one I want to try called water spinach. Not sure how it'll do where I am but know it likes cold as well.

Hubby and I did that commute for way too long. But we worked at the same place for most of those years, so it was a little better. Car pooling with coworkers was never a possibility, as we're way out there in the boonies.

We're still 30 minutes away from just about everything. With gas costing what it does, that sure cuts down on the "oh, I forgot xyz at the store, so I'm going to go get it." Nope. Unless it's critical, it waits until the next trip to town.

I plan to go to the store once a week. There are some weeks I go twice, but the second time is a "go on my way to/from somewhere else." Consolidating trips sure helps.

Now that we're both retired, we drive a LOT less. Even factoring in a drive to Maine and a separate drive to North Carolina.

Where we live, 4 wheel drive is a necessity. We have a Jeep Wrangler Unlimited, and if it won't go through the snow out there, we stay home. We have a more economical car for the non-snow months.

Yep... no quick runs for anything and everything is planned out. My youngest is taking driving lessons right now because I'm too chicken to teach her to drive in town. Our in town speed limits are 40 - 45 with a ten mph ticket free buffer, so people tend to go 50 - 55 or higher whenever traffic allows. The driving school has a passenger side over ride, so hopefully my kid won't get killed just learning how to drive.

Anyways...I drop her off, then run in town errands for 1 1/2 - 2 hours til she's done. When I'm out of errands I sit in their parking lot and read. I'm getting a lot of good reading time in

I'm looking forward to hubby retiring.

 

[LizzzyJo]

Both watercress and Minari prefer colder weather. Here I have to work a bit to find that shade/sun balance that lets them survive our heat. There's another one I want to try called water spinach. Not sure how it'll do where I am but know it likes cold as well.

Yep... no quick runs for anything and everything is planned out. My youngest is taking driving lessons right now because I'm too chicken to teach her to drive in town. Our in town speed limits are 40 - 45 with a ten mph ticket free buffer, so people tend to go 50 - 55 or higher whenever traffic allows. The driving school has a passenger side over ride, so hopefully my kid won't get killed just learning how to drive.

Anyways...I drop her off, then run in town errands for 1 1/2 - 2 hours til she's done. When I'm out of errands I sit in their parking lot and read. I'm getting a lot of good reading time in

I'm looking forward to hubby retiring.

Cool - thanks!

 

[Sally PB]

I really don't care to pay more money for transportation which my current pickup or Camry does just fine. It's just not the best looking vehicle on the lot anymore. But I can live with that. And, to be honest, I'm at an age where I really don't care what people think of my vehicles.

The Jeep works as "the only thing that we can drive to get out of here" and can work as a truck when pulling a trailer. It'll also go "out in the field" on our property to haul wood. Gas mileage?

We buy used cars. Between the two of us, we've bought brand new cars twice in our combined lifetimes. We drive them till they die, or are too old to be trustworthy for a long trip. Usually we get over 10 years or more out of them. The Jeep is 15 and counting.

We don't care what people think of our cars, either.

One of the best frugal tips I ever heard was, "Don't buy stuff you don't need to impress people you don't like." (clean version) The Joneses? They don't live out here. We don't worry about keeping up with them.

 

[Matejka]

I just found this thread! Just about everything I do has been covered already!

I haven't read through all the posts yet, but wanted to mention a couple ideas I haven't seen yet.

Styrofoam can be broken into chunks and used at the bottom of landscape plants. Both in pots and in the ground to add a drainage layer. I loved packing peanuts for that but never see them anymore...so now I break up sheet styrofoam for it.

I scatter pond buckets through out my garden. I can grow water loving edibles in them and when I only have a few plants that need water, I can scoop some from them without turning on the hose. Saves a tiny bit of water ands pretty to boot. I grow Minari in mine and watercress. My Minari kinda took over though.

Pots from store bought plants can usually be donated to plant businesses. Here I donate them to a place called Desert Survivers. They reuse them.

Lots of great ideas on here...I'm looking forward to reading through all the posts.

Where I need to do better is gasoline. Everything is a 30 - 45 minute drive from our house. Hubby and my eldest both drive that far daily for work...so an hour to an hour an a half driving to and fro on weekdays. Kinda horrible.

I combine my trips, after work I pick up groceries, chicken feed, mower gas, etc.... during lunch, I pay bills, shop, etc....
I try to never go to town for 1 thing.

 

[gtaus]

You can bargain the price at a Thrift Store!

Our local church Thrift Store is only open one day a week. I usually make it a point to stop by there and see what's available. You have to go every week because they don't have any kind of stock items and you only get to see what was donated in the past few weeks from others.

Most of the time, I don't have a problem with the price they ask for something. And sometimes I'm willing to pay a little extra (from expected used pricing) for something in really good condition knowing that the proceeds from the store go to help local charities.

Today, however, I was looking at a set of 4 heavy duty hinges that were marked for $3.00 for the set. I know those hinges have been there for weeks, unsold. So, I got one of the guys who works at the store, showed him the hinges, and told him that they had been sitting in the store since "last year" and nobody is buying them at $3.00 for the set. Anyway, I offered to buy the set for $1.00 if they marked it down. Which they were happy to do because he knew that those hinges had been taking up room on the shelf for too long.

Google picture of what they look like...

Frankly, I was only willing to pay $1.00 for the set because I don't currently have a project in mind for them. However, I know they were probably worth much more. Now these hinges were used, and the paint was flaking off in parts. But they would make excellent hinges for an outdoor project, or gate, or something like that. If I want, I can brush them down and repaint them with some black spray paint. They would look as good as new.

On my way home, I stopped at Home Depot to check out what's on sale. While there, I checked out to see home much those hinges would cost if new. The closest match I could find was $7.27 per hinge, and those were a little bit smaller than the used set of 4 that I bought. So, I figured I scored about $30 worth of hinges for only $1.00.

I don't often bargain for a lower price on Thrift Store items, but sometimes I do and I have almost always found that the store is willing to mark down an item rather then to let it sit in the store for weeks unsold. Depending on how much stuff they have coming in, unsold items are either put outside in their "free" pile or just dumped into the trash bins for disposal. All their items in the store are donations, so any sell is better than no sell, and it is all profit to them.

Anyway, the Thrift Store has more room to bargain on a price than most commercial stores, and if you really feel like it's worth your time to make a counter offer, you might get a better deal. It costs you nothing to ask.