Are you doing anything new to save money?

[Korwynne]

I'm not sure our gardens stood much of a chance between having record lows and late frosts followed shortly by record highs and no rain.

[Storm]

Originally Posted by SketchyRecipe

I'm buying cheaper box wine and trying to stay within 5 miles of home.

are the boxes made of post consumer recycled cardboard?
I drink boone's when I want to save a few bucks and still get my drink on. It's an american classic.

[Kbsmama]

OH, and we canceled netflix and are using the library and our cable for entertainment.

I need more ideas. I feel like I'm tapped.

[Claire Berry]

Originally Posted by marjen

Yeah I always wash my dishes that way. You know, my parents had mini cutting boards when I was growing up. They were about 8" long and 4" wide (approx) and were thin wooden boards. We used them for "plates" when we had sandwiches. Then you just brushed the crumbs into the dog dish and stacked them up for next time. We all had our own coloured mug (like a camping mug) and drank out of the same mug all day. We never had juice, and not much milk (most of us are allergic to dairy) so we drank water all day long. We never had cereal etc for breakfast. We had soft boiled eggs, fresh bread from the bakery (or, more often than not, hard German rye bread) with homemade jam or local honey, and tea. If it was a special occasion my Mom would have made cake and we'd have that for breakfast. We never had snack food. If you were hungry, you'd eat something out of the garden or some fruit from the trees (or winter time, popcorn, or applesauce etc) and dinner was always meat (often time obtained via trapping or hunting), potatoes (home grown) and salad (also home grown). We went to town once per week (sometimes once every two weeks) to get whatever groceries they needed, more propane for our mini fridge and BBQ, gas for the generator, do laundry (which we then hung up outside), go to the library, and if I was VERY lucky, we'd go swimming and have an ince cream cone. I had VERY few toys (lego, a dollhouse, and two dolls) but spent most of my time helping work the land or playing in the forests. It was a VERY special way to spend many years. We homesteaded for ten years. Prior to that we lived on a sailboat for years and sailed around until they were bored of that. Even homesteading, in the thick of winter, we'd escape to the south for a few months or so. People thought we were rich, but we were NOT. My parents built and grew everything they could themselves, bartered for much of the rest, and picked up part time jobs here and there if they were short. We wore used clothes and never had a lot of anything but always enough. I was homeschooled, for the most part, and never felt deprived. We travelled most of the world. My mother felt that the easiest way to not live the consumerist lifestyle was to ignore it existed. And we met TONS of people living the same way.

Your life is inspirational.

[mamabear]

Finally feeling like I can say we're doing some things to save money.

We have enough kale and chard in the garden not to have to buy any at all until past first frost. I just keep cutting outer leaves and they keep going.

We also have enough romaine and salad bowl lettuce to feed an army.

We picked about 16 lb of strawberries and froze them. I wish it had been more, but my family came for a visit and picking days were cut short.

We've reduced the grocery budget by cutting way down on meat for dh and myself. The kids eat what they eat and we are eating beans, quinoa and rice. I'm limiting what remains of my prepared foods to once a month: low-carb tortillas, tlc granola bars, and a bit of cheese. Everything else we buy is staples: quick oats, rice, quinoa, dried beans, a few canned beans for convenience, bananas and apples. Mostly this is where I'm saving money; we are eating yet more simply and from the garden than ever before. I didn't think there was room to cut here, but there is. If we want to have a celebratory meal, we'll pick up stuff for it, but otherwise we're not stocking anything expensive in the pantry.

Gas: we combine trips, always. Dh uses his motorcycle for quick runs to town for food, which has saved us a ton (a trip to our closest general store is $4 in the car, but pennies on the motorcycle). We basically eat out of the pantry if we're needing to shop but aren't going anywhere near the grocery store for a while. Or pick up small refills at the general store or food co-op and avoid the supermarket. I'd say we're down to *maybe* 1x/month trip to the supermarket. We pay a bit more for stuff at the local stores but not enough to justify the gas.

Anything besides food and necessary supplements, comes out of my biz account or is earned some other way. I am trying very hard to stick with this plan so that we can pay off a card balance by early August. So far it is working really well.

[Marina]

Originally Posted by mamabear

(a trip to our closest general store is $4 in the car, but pennies on the motorcycle).

for real? What kind of gas mileage do you get? A trip to the store is 20 miles for me, each way, so a trip costs $8. No way I can be more rural than you! You must get awesome gas mileage. My van used to get 22, but lately it's getting 20.3. Not sure what's wrong. Oh wait, yeah, I think I did figure it out. We've had to leave the windows rolled down because the AC pump is broken and if we turn on the AC it floods the floor board w/standing water. :P

[Marina]

We got dairy goats.

Right now only one is producing, so we get half gallon a day. (it's been a long time since she freshened and she's an old mama) Come spring, we'll hopefully have kids to sell if all goes well, and more milk.

We can breed them w/a registered buck (ours are registered with *s) for free. Feed is right now running $16 a month, worm resistance is a problem in our area so we're feeding black sunflower seed as a natural wormer and we can do fecal tests free w/the state. Not sure how to factor in how often we'll need to treat, but they were only treated once last year. We'll just have to practice good pasture management.

Let's just say they cost $20 a month for half gallon a day. A gallon is $4.99 on sale for organic. Can we call it $5? 15 X 5 = $75 We'll definitely double that come spring, so $150 which gives us a milk savings of $130 a month if I did the math right.

Registered goat kids (even boys) go easily for $50 each here and Pie has always had 2-5 kids at a time, with no issues. If we sell kids, I'll just consider that a bonus and add it to the vet fund.

We love Pie and Abby so much already. I don't know how we lived without goats! lol

[ThirtySomething]

I've cut down driving a lot. I drive approximately 10 minutes Mon, Wed, and Friday. I take one other 40 minute total trip once per week.

I'm grocery shopping every two weeks.

I could cut out my Mon,Wed, Frid driving if my younger boys would just learn to ride a bike.

The boys also all need new bikes. *sigh*. I only have one that would fit any of them right now.

We installed a programmable thermostat, and are replacing nearly all of our single-paned windows asap. We've been doing them one or two at a time, but we have decided just to lay out the cash now and be done. We are also replacing our front door which is old and leaky.

[Bikil]

More stuff we've done:
installed dark curtains on our windows to keep the house cooler

I was able to get a 4 day work week most weeks.

Two days a week I take light rail to work. It takes about a gallon of gas to get to work & back. Light rail costs $4 round trip which is less than 1 gallon of gas (plus saving on wear & tear on the car)

We have a CSA & have been using every bit of it. My husband is a SAHD so spends all day Sunday making big pots & pans of things we can eat all week & that I can take for lunches.

I always take a lunch to work. It seems like everyone there eats out, but I bring my little lunch in my cooler bag!

We turned the AC up to 76.

We turn out computers & electronics off when not in use.

We make sure we have @ least 3 errands bundled together before we use the car & plan our route to save as much gas as we can.

That's some of what we're doing, & it feels good!

[Kbsmama]

We turned off our air! This is day four with no air, and it's not bad. It has reached 80+ here during the day, but it's dropping into the low 60's at night, so about the time the house gets unbearable, it's cooling off again. We've also been going outside after dinner, when the house seems to be at its hottest, and so I've done more things outside. I will admit, we are A/C loving people, so this is a change. The funny thing is, I think it's triggered something in me that makes me feel like it's "really" summer. It sounds goofy. So often in the past few years, I've felt like I just go through the seasons with no real recognition of which one it is--if not for the Christmas decorations (or Halloween, or whatever) it could just as well be June as December. Pathetic, I know, but it feels really good.

I have started some broccoli and basil. I planted a small row (6-8 seeds) of snap peas in our little garden. It's not much, but hopefully they will do well. Our tomatoes are looking a little better. I will also plant some spinach and lettuce here shortly, maybe some radishes and carrots. So, a fall planting with seeds I already had.

I'm also going to order some walking onions and garlic, I think, to plant in October.


We did a big grocery trip last weekend. I have planned meals, and I think we may just manage to be done with grocery shopping this month. I pick up milk today. This is the last time I pick up until August 29, so I will also be stopping by an orchard near there to see what they have to offer, and pick up some honey and maple syrup. We will likely spend more $$$ on some fruit and veggies in the next month, but, other than that, I think we're set, and well within budget. I'll also stop at the bread store today for a few things (also in the same area). I'll also need to pick up TP, q-tips, some new tweezers (mine disappeared), and distilled water for my kombucha. I have to return some stuff so I'll get those then.

I've also been hanging laundry. I haven't done that in a long time, and I used to only do dipes anyway, but I've hung 6 loads of laundry this week.

Our electric bill tripled last month, so that was a bit of a wake-up call. It does most years, but we're trying harder to stay on budget right now, and I'm not working until September, so we're feeling it.

Sorry to go on...doing a lot of thinking aloud!