Being Frugal...

[Catlady711]

There was a similar THREAD here back in the summer full of great tips.

I posted a lengthy post there full of tips you can read if you want.

In addition to what I had originally listed there I've added a couple more ways to save since that post...

We cut the cable service back to the next to bottom analog service. We're going to cancel the service but not until I get a billing error fixed then it's only movies on youtube and the library for us. We got our converter box coupon the other day.

This one sounds gross but it really does work and the savings do add up. Don't flush the toilet every time. Even a low flow toilet uses a couple gallons of water per flush. If you have several people living in your home that adds up to a lot of gallons to flush a few pieces of thin paper and basically more water. My last water bill was $10 less from doing this. I read about it on some website I stumbled across, with the slogan "if it's yellow let it mellow, if it's brown flush it down". I don't do this at the end of the day or if we're going away because I don't want it to sit there and stink all day/night. It really doesn't make sense for me to flush a little pee and paper when hubby's right outside the door wanting in to do the same thing. One flush will suffice.

We declutter during the slower more boring winter months and pack in boxes all the usable items we no longer need or want. In the summer we have many small garage sales. The money we make goes in a jar for things like vacations, a new gadget, or whatever we both agree on using it for. We've had as much as $300 in there before from one summer of garage sales. I price my stuff dirt cheap to sell and get rid of not to make money. By doing that we sell alot more in volume! Not only that but our house is getting less cluttered all the time. Someday I'll finally have a bare shelf somewhere with not a darn thing on it! lol

I've been saving the super cheap bread baggies I use for my lunches for cleaning the cat boxes out with so I'm using less garbage bags.

I water down my dish soap so it goes further.

I'm mostly switched over from using liquid hand soap and body wash to bar soap. I bought a couple of these(mesh sponge) to put my bar soap in. One I got at Bath & Body works but they don't seem to have them anymore. The other I got at a department store and it had a regular sponge in it which I took out. I can buy a year's supply of bar soap on sale with a coupon for less than I was spending for just a couple months on liquid soap.

We ditched buying paper plates anymore, it just means hubby has to do more dishes.

We rewash the plastic silverwear and use them until they all break before buying new ones. I draw the line at washing out ziplock bags though. lol

We bought some powdered milk for cooking. Hubby & I both grew up having to drink this stuff and both swore we'd never use it ourselves, however.... I have found that if you just use it for cooking you can't tell the difference and trust me I'm very finicky about the taste of my food! The powdered stuff is cheaper and lasts alot longer so we can store it up in the pantry.

Since it's winter we bundle up alot in the house. Our house is very old and lacks insulation so it's very drafty. We have a programable thermostat that's only job is to turn the heat DOWN 4 times a day at key times we tend to leave the house in case we forget to turn it down before we leave. It's saved us a LOT on our heating bill. The heat goes down to 61 degrees at night and when we're away, and we usually run it between 65-68 when we're home, unless we have company then we'll turn it up a bit more. I'm typing this now wearing big fuzzy boot type slippers and a heavy fleece housecoat over my regular clothes. lol Our gas bill goes to about $150-$180 during the coldest month of the year then drops over about 2-3 months down to about $30 which is where it stays until the next winter.

A good way to look at anything in your budget is to think about how many hours you'd have to work to pay for whatever it is, AND add up how much it costs you per year for whatever it is.

For instance let's say you make $10 per hour on your job. Once a month you like to get a $20 pizza and a $3 movie for a family night.

$23 x 12 months = $276 per year. At that pay rate you'd have to work 27.6 hours per year just to pay for that.

Compare that to..
Movie from library = free
frozen pizza on sale = $8
Hours worked to pay for it = 9.6

Quite a savings in both time and money.

Anyways I'm on to writing another mini novel, sorry. I've gotten rather into this saving money and am really enjoying being able to take longer vacations and have money to spend on things I really need and want to do.