Advice on being thrifty, please

[coralewisjr]

SweetPea:

Dump your internet connection–that should save you up to $20 or more a month and you won’t have to worry about all the internet junk (like the junk you get on cable) that comes into your home.

Personally, I like cable. I can see movies that I don’t have to pay for, except for the cost of cable which I pay for anyway and it’s a lot cheaper than burning gas at $2.40/gallon and $10 per person at a movie theatre.

No, thanks. Have you seen the “No TV Club” thread I started in The Water Cooler? We don’t have pop-ups because we use a great browser. There are bad websites out there but we exercise our God-given free will by not going to them. DH and I are nerds and we use email to keep in touch with a lot of people. We don’t go to the movie theatre in this small town; it only has two screens anyway. We borrow DVDs from friends.

my Mother my Confidence,
Corinne

 

[Lil]

wow! this is a thrifty bunch of people! here’s my system: I buy bulk. I mean, 25 or 50 lb bags of brown rice, steel cut oats, etc. I keep “stock” in my basement. Grains, honey, canned goods, mac&cheese, paper goods, etc. Buying bulk means I can get really quality foods for a lot less than I’d pay for junk at the local market. I use a food co-op too. Sometimes I’ll split an order with a friend.
Just set aside some shelves, preferably in the basement, but in any fairly dry, cool place. and keep room in your freezer for frozen peas, corn, etc. You’ll find you are buying a lot less at the local store, just produce and meat, and you’ll go a lot less often. You’ll save as much time as you do money! We grow a lot of our own food too. keep fresh herbs growing in the kitchen if you can’t manage a garden.
So, we “go shopping” in the basement. Try it, you’ll never go back!
Lil’

 

[amantoan]

I second the freecycle.org suggestion, especially for kid’s stuff. We just got an outdoor playhouse for the kids that is basically in new condition. Similar houses go for $200 at the toy store! Some other quick tips (that hopefully were not already listed)

Learn to cut hair, or have a friend do it. Barbers are a rip off.

Prepare dinner “in bulk” and freeze the extras so you have quick meals for later.

Only flush twice a day.

Make sure one of you can do basic home repair; buy a home repair book (from a thrift store!)

If you use a lot of milk in cooking, consider using powdered milk.

Ok, I am just kidding about the flushing one.

 

[kage_ar]

Another learn to - learn to sew! Mending is a lost art - there are people I work with who cannot sew on a button. Clothes can be altered/remade - -

You can also crochet salvaged fabric strips into rugs, baskets - you can even crochet those plastic grocery store bags into useful items.

 

[vegpotter]

Here’s another suggestion–take your lunch to work. In my employee caf’ I’ll spend about $3-$4 to get a decent lunch. Not a bad price, but when you think about it, 5 days a week, 4 weeks a month, it really adds up. I’ll buy my lunch there maybe once every couple of weeks, but not too often. Usually when I cook, I make extra and then freeze portion size batches (you can buy those Ziploc storage containers really cheaply and they last a loooong time). Pull one out in the morning, nuke it at lunch and you’re set!

 

[coralewisjr]

amantoan:

I second the freecycle.org suggestion, especially for kid’s stuff. We just got an outdoor playhouse for the kids that is basically in new condition. Similar houses go for $200 at the toy store! Some other quick tips (that hopefully were not already listed)

Learn to cut hair, or have a friend do it. Barbers are a rip off.

Prepare dinner “in bulk” and freeze the extras so you have quick meals for later.

Only flush twice a day.

Make sure one of you can do basic home repair; buy a home repair book (from a thrift store!)

If you use a lot of milk in cooking, consider using powdered milk.

Ok, I am just kidding about the flushing one.

I’m so glad that you’re kidding about the once-a-day flush. I’m pregnant so that’s impossible…

my Mother my Confidence,
Corinne

 

[coralewisjr]

vegpotter:

Here’s another suggestion–take your lunch to work. In my employee caf’ I’ll spend about $3-$4 to get a decent lunch. Not a bad price, but when you think about it, 5 days a week, 4 weeks a month, it really adds up. I’ll buy my lunch there maybe once every couple of weeks, but not too often. Usually when I cook, I make extra and then freeze portion size batches (you can buy those Ziploc storage containers really cheaply and they last a loooong time). Pull one out in the morning, nuke it at lunch and you’re set!

DH (Luke -Jr) and I are unemployed so taking our lunch to work isn’t an option. (I love being home almost all day…the bathroom is right here for this pregnant woman and there’s food in the cupboards when the cravings come!) We do pack food when we go on vacations (usually to my parents’, a state away) so that we don’t need to stop at restaurants a lot…though we both like Runza (a Nebraska restaurant) so we stop there on the way to my parents’. We have plenty of leftover containers. I’m trying to learn how to cook things with the stove more than the microwave because it’s probably healthier that way. I’m smart until it comes to cooking…so please pray for DH, preborn Baby and I as I learn to cook.

my Mother my Confidence,
Corinne

 

[vegpotter]

coralewisjr:

DH (Luke -Jr) and I are unemployed so taking our lunch to work isn’t an option. (I love being home almost all day…the bathroom is right here for this pregnant woman and there’s food in the cupboards when the cravings come!) We do pack food when we go on vacations (usually to my parents’, a state away) so that we don’t need to stop at restaurants a lot…though we both like Runza (a Nebraska restaurant) so we stop there on the way to my parents’. We have plenty of leftover containers. I’m trying to learn how to cook things with the stove more than the microwave because it’s probably healthier that way. I’m smart until it comes to cooking…so please pray for DH, preborn Baby and I as I learn to cook.

my Mother my Confidence,
Corinne

Corinne, good luck! Since I’ve gone vegetarian (about 5 months now), I’ve had to rely on myself to cook. I don’t much care for the “fake” meats, so I cook from scratch most of the time. I’ve had to learn how to do it! What I did was get cookbooks from the library, even small libraries seem to have great cooking sections. That gives you a chance to try out some recipes without having to buy the book. I found three that I did want to buy, so I went the Amazon.com marketplace. I got a hardcover cookbook for $5, and $3 of that was shipping. If you don’t want to buy the books, our library makes copies for $.10 a page. You’ll find that cooking for yourself is much cheaper, too. Good luck and congratulations on the baby!!!

 

[SusanL]

allthingsfrugal.com/

They have a newsletter and lots of articles to read.

I second the post about “The Tightwad Gazette.” She has at least 3 books out. The library probably has them.

 

[coralewisjr]

vegpotter:

Corinne, good luck! Since I’ve gone vegetarian (about 5 months now), I’ve had to rely on myself to cook. I don’t much care for the “fake” meats, so I cook from scratch most of the time. I’ve had to learn how to do it! What I did was get cookbooks from the library, even small libraries seem to have great cooking sections. That gives you a chance to try out some recipes without having to buy the book. I found three that I did want to buy, so I went the Amazon.com marketplace. I got a hardcover cookbook for $5, and $3 of that was shipping. If you don’t want to buy the books, our library makes copies for $.10 a page. You’ll find that cooking for yourself is much cheaper, too. Good luck and congratulations on the baby!!!

Thank you! We have at least two cookbooks; I just need to gather the courage to ask people for help because sometimes I’m flabbergasted when I read parts of some recipes. (What is that food? I’ve never heard of that! How do I do that?) I’m getting better.

my Mother my Confidence,
Corinne