How frugal are you when it comes to cutting costs?

**homesteadmamma** · 11-20-2002, 08:49 AM

Dh has been without work since Oct. 31st and there is no signs of another job as of yet. As I looked at our budget, I seen where there were a few "leaks" and have now changed those and I'm continuing to look to see where I can cut more corners. Right now, it probably is to our advantage that dh isn't working. We aren't using our van for mileage or wear and tear, were not using any gas per se and we not paying any income taxes!!

Here is where I found some leaks so far:

- I changed our van insurances from business to pleasure and saved $10.00 a month.
- We cut out our disability, life insurances and extended warranty on our van and saved $6,000.00 or $70.00 per month. Some of you might say thats risky, and yes it is, but we will cross that bridge when we come to it if we do. Right now, we don't want to have to touch our savings or RRSP's if we don't have too.
- I'm changing our cell phone plan and will save $5.00 per month. If I could, I'd not have one right now, but our contract was for 18 months.
- I'm looking at how I can save our internet plan.

So just doing that has cut our budget down by $85.00 per month.

Now, there are a few more I'm doing but they won't show up for awhile.

- when getting gas for our van, were only now purchasing gas at Shell where we can get Air Mile points. With those, I'm using them for long distance during the day if we have to make any calls. We can get 65 minutes of long distance with 50 air mile rewards. That should save another $30 or so.
- absolutely nothing comes in the house unless for free or purchased on sale.
- By not using our van for travelling to work, we will be saving roughly $75.00 per week!!
- I've cut down the thermostat once again to another degree. With our upstairs insulated now, it doesn't cut on near as much and so if were cold, were adding on more clothes. Again, we won't see the difference with insulating upstairs for a number of months because we have no heat bills until January of this year. I'll post what we save here.
- Anything we can do in town I'll do rather than travelling to the closest city. Again, I'll save gas money. It costs us about $25.00 each time we go to the closest city just for gas.
- I had ordered a gift for ds#1 and dd, but found it at a different place and I had a rain check for the both gifts because they didn't have it had store #1. I had put them away on lay-a-way at store #2, but store #1 called and they now have them in. I'm saving $115.00 by cancelling lay-a-way (no charge) and purchasing it at store #1, plus I get air miles there.

These are only a few I can think of right now. I'll add more later. Its too early in the morning to be thinking.

How frugal are you really and can you cut even more corners in order to save. How about sharing.

**AandAmom** · 11-20-2002, 08:59 AM

You are doing so great CJ! What an inspiration you are

**captclearance** · 11-20-2002, 09:03 AM

I am pretty cheap....
I don't turn the thermostat up above 68, 64 at night...
I buy all my groceries on sale (well 99%) loss leaders and lots of them....
I take advantage of freebies.....
I will fix what I have before buying a new one if I can......
I trade or barter for some things now...
I shop at yard sales and thrift stores for clothes and housewares...
I check all the bills and watch what the cashier rings up, I don't get overcharged for ANYTHING !!!!!!!
I have energy efficient appliances, and keep the water heater blanketed and on 120 degrees f.....
I reuse containers for leftovers or crafting.......
and I am not having anymore children...LOL
There are more, but it's early......

**MJsLady** · 11-20-2002, 10:42 AM

There are lots of places I could cut
We did get rid of the telephone, we now use a prepaid cell phone. It has free caller id and voice mail. You only need to put on $16 worth of minutes every 2 mos ($8 per month), and since all my friends are on line I do not use a phone anyway

I do most of my cooking from scratch, when i do buy convienence foods, I get them onsale, near free. (like cake mixes. betty crocker on clearance for 2 for .99)
I could cut our cable, but then dh wants to buy, rent or (shudder) go to the movies. The $100 per month for cable includes internet and is much cheaper than the other alternative. (not to mention saving my sanity by not constantly telling dh we can't...... etc.)
We are dropping our worse than useless dental coverage, and that will save us $12 per week, which we are putting straight into dhs 401k
there are others but I smell my cake is done and my dryer beeped and I have to leave in 10 mins for work. If I think of more later I will add them

**Mom23boys** · 11-20-2002, 07:22 PM

I am sure we could cut more corners around here too. We could make our auto insurance deductible more than $200.00 if we had too. We could cut out satelite tv, but DH would die.

I only buy items on sale or with a coupon. We do not buy any unneccessary items. I do not like to waste money!

**justjenn** · 11-21-2002, 04:33 AM

Good Thread! Inspires me to cut corners even more. Lately, I haven't been sticking to frugality as much as I could, but I still try.

*I keep the heat off until I just can't take it anymore.

*Upgraded to Premium calling plan on our phone bill, because we were spending a lot calling our families (in another county).
*I buy all generic/store brands
*I use coupons for brands I am loyal to, combining them with sales
*We no longer have a cell phone

That's all I can think of.

**Patchworkgirl** · 11-21-2002, 05:04 AM

I have one thing to add to the list- take a look at your local telephone bill. I just did this last month and trimmed over $10.00 a month from my bill by cutting out stuff I was being charged for that I didn't even realize I had- such as redial- it continues to redial a busy phone and alerts you when the other party was free. This was costing us $5.35 a month, and no one here ever used it. Another feature that was called star 69, you can punch in those numbers when you get a hang up call, or can't get to the phone on time and have missed a call- it gives you the number of the last incoming call. That saved me another $5.35 a month. These are features that I never knew we had, so therefore never used. It was painless to cut them out.

**CAGmomof2** · 11-21-2002, 07:37 PM

Thank you all for posting these tips I know I can gleam alot of information from them.

**homesteadmamma** · 11-21-2002, 08:10 PM

It really is interesting how much you can cut when you really need too.

I was making coleslaw last night and thinking its much cheaper than garden salad although I prefer garden salad. I saved approximately $2.50 and we were able to have coleslaw for a couple of meals.

I had to purchase some b/p pills and when purchasing them in larger quantities, I saved. I'm trying to get as many as I can while we are still on the drug plan from the job that dh had but know longer does. It runs out Feb. 14th. I'm also filling out the forms the same day, rather than waiting for weeks.

We've learned to turn off all lights when not using them and now that I'm not using the computer during the day until after 4 p.m. or so, were turning off the computer also.

Dh is heating his workshop, but is now keeping it at 60 degrees and no higher. He is also reusing his tea bags (what a frugal guy this man is).

Keep looking at areas where there are holes and begin to fill them up anyway you can. Its amazing what were actually living on!!

**COUNTRYBUMPKIN** · 11-22-2002, 06:37 AM

We are heating the most lived in part of our home with free fire wood.

When not heating with wood, keep the temp no higher than 64.

Making all homemade cleaning products now.

Buying fewer clothes than ever.

combining the weekly trips into one day

Curves three times a week but combine with dd's school activities and visiting my grandma.

Think before we buy....need or want

cut dryer sheets into halfs

hang clothes after tumbling 7 minutes

use less detergent in washer and dishwasher/works just as well

do rebates from Walgreens/Riteaid and menards. We get tons of needs for free this way.

Make 2 or three meals out of a roast,chicken, pork loin etc.......

When ground beef is marked down on Monday mornings, I buy it all and section and freeze it.

I buy 2nds on apples from our country orchard here for homemade applesauce and can it. I made 2 doz quart jars for 5.00 this year.

Use the local library faithfully or swap books with friends and neighbors

Barter. My neighbor is our dentist and I am cleaning his home now once a month for free cleanings for our family. He wins and I do too

**mustang80** · 11-22-2002, 09:23 AM

These are some of the things I did when I got laid off last year.

Cancelled the newspaper-I can read it for free online! Savings:$15.00 per month

Returned the cable converter box-we weren't using it and they were charging us for rental-savings $2.50 per month

Got rid of ATT for our long distance-they were service charging me up the you know what. Went to lowermybills.com and switched carriers. We don't make many long distance calls, so ATT charged us for NOT using them enough-now we have OPEX-Savings: $6.00 per month or more

Shopping yard sales for baby needs (I was pregnant at the time). Got all the necessary items (playpen, high chair, tub ring, clothes, receiving blankets, etc., etc., ) for a song! I also shop them for any other needs, also for stuff to sell on ebay.

Turning off the computer monitor when not in use.

Switched my main lamps to compact flourescent bulbs. A 15 watt bulb does the job of a 75-100 watt regular bulb.

Shop clearance racks for DD's and purchase ahead of time. I bought the baby a bunch of stuff cheap back in February that she is wearing right now. I got $250.00 worth of baby clothes for $40.00. Then I will consign them.

Consign kids clothes to make a few extra dollars. Can also sell them on ebay.

Use coupons until you're blue in the face. Not just for groceries, but for eating out, special sales at other stores, etc. Carry them with you in the car if you can, then you'll always be prepared.

I also reuse my teabags

I can usually get at least 2 sometimes 3 cups from the same bag!

There are others, but I have to think of them-lol. You're doing great CJ, don't give up! The other ladies here have posted some great ideas, some of them which I already do, also.

roflmao · 11-22-2002, 08:49 PM

These are all great tips ladies, I have been saving the most money in the kitchen, I dont' buy anything if it is not on sale and I have a pretty good pantry to support that. I went to the store today and the lady was amazed cause no matter how much I buy I always save at least 50% of my total bill.
I buy extra when I can and right now if I had to stop buying nothing but milk and fresh foods I could last at least 3 or 4 months.
I also keep my thermostat down, if you are cold put a coat on

thanks
Ladies

**Lori Biever-Launder** · 11-23-2002, 11:18 PM

I found a way to save more on my phone bill tha tmight help you guys. I got a plan from AT&T for my long distance. it's .35 a for the first minute and .07 a minute after that BUT I DO NOT USE IT!!! It has no monthly fee and I just have it for emergencies (if someone needs to make a call and doesn't have a calling card). I use my calling card for Costco (575 minutes for 19.95 and it's rechargeable!) instead! This has saved us about 12.00 per month! Yippee!

**PrairieRose** · 11-23-2002, 11:43 PM

We have cellphones because we live in the sticks and dh has a business that requires them. We have the plan that allows us to make long distance calls for free, after 8 and all weekend long. We've gone from spending over $100/month (3 college kids at the time, long ways from home) to nothing. We now use our cellphones and computer only. It has saved us about a truckload of one hundred dollar bills. It's wonderful. Only works if you already have a cell phone out of necessity AND can get the evenings and weekends plan.

We also turn out all lights when not needed (sort of a beginnners-frugal tip I know but makes a big difference). After having used the oven for cooking I turn it off and open the door during the winter months to let the heat out into the house. Helps a *little* not a huge amount.

We think about every, little thing. Went to the ballgames tonight and took my own drink. It was here at home, they don't mind if you do that cuz we end up "supporting" them in other ways. It's amazing when your mind starts working in these types of circles how many things you can find to cut down on/out isn't it?

**merky1** · 11-24-2002, 02:33 PM

Hi, I just wanted to add I just did this I have a house morgage and I pay the insurance and prop. taxes in escrow every month, earlier this year I changed insurance comp. and I pay less for my house insurance , I had the morgage company do a escrow update and it lowered my monthly payment by 27.00 and I will receive a overpayment in the next 30 days for a 181.00 check those morgage payments you might find you have extra money in there . Lisa