Trying to figure this all out...

[alotofgooddeals]

Trying to be as frugal as possible in hopes of someday being able to accomplish my dreams of living off the grid...

I would like to compile a list of things that people are doing to save money... even if it is just pennies those are actually the ones I need because I know the obvious but its the little ones that could accomplish alot.

1. Use a hand held can opener instead of an electric one because it declutters and simplifies and even though it probably only cost .01 to open up a can it all adds up in the end.

Someone care to add on...

Thanks!

[mombottoo]

I use coupons, buy only when something is on-sale unless it can't be avoided, check at thrift stores & the like for items I may need/want before going to a "new" retail store, keep thermostat turned to 68 degrees, use CFL light bulbs where ever I can, plan all of my errands around each other, I change the oil in my car regularly & check the inflation of the tires, do only full loads of laundry, turn off lights when I leave a room, I take advantage of rewards cards for my local stores & gas stations and pay everything I can online.

Things I don't do: buy hot beverages at gas stations or rent movies.

[alotofgooddeals]

Can these bought at a regular store and how much more are they than CFL. This is one of those expenses i really need to cut down...
I am really thinking about this really hard lately because i don't want to work forever....I had thought about getting a refridge that no longer worked but was whole and putting it outside next to the house and using it..enabling me to unplug my refridge inside. It would be okay for a few months of the year however not quite sure dh would jump on board with that one and no sure it would quite work... anyone done something similar

[Contrary Housewife]

LED bulbs are more expensive up front but they use significantly less electric and can supposedly last for a decade or more.

Most of my money saving comes from ... saving my money. We have the cheapest phone and cable plan, no mobile contract. We don't buy a lot of clothes, I don't shop for entertainment. DH is a geek but he doesn't buy every latest techie toy that comes out. We eat wholesome home cooked meals and manage fine without flavored sports water, nutrition bars and 100 calorie snack packs. I buy soap, not "body wash" and skip the organic cotton balls. We live without hair spray, gel, age defying wrinkle creams, hair coloring, tooth whiteners, nail vitamins, foot creams and the plethora of other cosmetics out there. We simply do without a lot of unnecessary stuff in our lives. I know this is not obvious to a lot of folks, because they are buying buying buying.

[mel112503]

The way I have seriously cut back on my spending is to make as many homemade versions of things that I buy at the grocery store as I can. For example, I make "miracle whip" that tastes just like store bought, I have numerous mixes I make up and store in my pantry, I make my own laundry soup and fabric softener. You know those both are SO expensive! I also make my own all purpose cleaners and window/glass spray cleaner. I learned how to sew and now can fix and mend things instead of buying new ones, also I have made home decorating things that make my house pretty and gives me a sense of pride as well. I hope that helped even just a little bit...

[ladytoysdream]

Scratch cooking and baking.

Paying bills on time...so no late fees.
Paying some bills once a year to stay away from those monthly fees. In our case, our fire insurance, and our vehicle insurance.

Less trips to town for shopping. Saves money and gas.
Use a shopping list and stick to it. Look for bargains and sales before you run out something.

Keep a daily written log going to track expenses, so you can see a pattern and know what needs to be fixed.
I track our electric , our gas money, and now groceries again.

Put the word out to friends and family what you need. My last need was a toaster when our's quit. My son had a extra one he gave us. One of the cousin's wants to get a cow butchered. She does not have the money to pay the processing bill. If someone pays that bill, she is willing to give them half the beef. As soon as she tells me what the fees are, we may be able to do this. Hubby is already smiling thinking about steaks.

Put a garden in this summer....can and or freeze the extras.

[alotofgooddeals]

Yes... it does help....

I would like your miracle whip recipe...Thank you...

The way I have seriously cut back on my spending is to make as many homemade versions of things that I buy at the grocery store as I can. For example, I make "miracle whip" that tastes just like store bought, I have numerous mixes I make up and store in my pantry, I make my own laundry soup and fabric softener. You know those both are SO expensive! I also make my own all purpose cleaners and window/glass spray cleaner. I learned how to sew and now can fix and mend things instead of buying new ones, also I have made home decorating things that make my house pretty and gives me a sense of pride as well. I hope that helped even just a little bit...

[alotofgooddeals]

I would love to buy half a cow to put in the freezer as I am finding if i have meat in the freezer its not very hard to put a meal together without having to go to the store...

Also the canning and freezing is a great idea and I need to do more of it....

Scratch cooking and baking.

Paying bills on time...so no late fees.
Paying some bills once a year to stay away from those monthly fees. In our case, our fire insurance, and our vehicle insurance.

Less trips to town for shopping. Saves money and gas.
Use a shopping list and stick to it. Look for bargains and sales before you run out something.

Keep a daily written log going to track expenses, so you can see a pattern and know what needs to be fixed.
I track our electric , our gas money, and now groceries again.

Put the word out to friends and family what you need. My last need was a toaster when our's quit. My son had a extra one he gave us. One of the cousin's wants to get a cow butchered. She does not have the money to pay the processing bill. If someone pays that bill, she is willing to give them half the beef. As soon as she tells me what the fees are, we may be able to do this. Hubby is already smiling thinking about steaks.

Put a garden in this summer....can and or freeze the extras.

[amieg]

I would love to have the Miracle Whip recipe as well! My husband goes through the stuff like it's water! lol!

[pollypurebred39]

Food prices will just about kill any budget, but I stick with a few tried and true shopping rules that I rarely break.

1) I only buy meat that's $1 or less a pound. Yes, some weeks that means just chicken legs, or sometimes pork. I just use lots of good recipes to prevent boredom.

Here's a list of my families favorites, this list I compiled awhile back so I'm never wondering just what to do with chicken. There's no way I'll hear the words, aww Chicken Again! when I stick with this list.

A) Honey and garlic baked chicken legs served with rice & vegetable

B) Chicken and dumplings served with homemade biscuits & applesauce

C) Chicken croquettes- a really simple recipe that is just a thick white sauce, finely minced chicken, soft bread crumbs to thicken, seasoned well with salt and pepper. Form into patties or croquette shapes and then roll in seasoned dried bread crumbs. Shallow fry. Serve with mashed potatoes and homemade creamed peas.

D) Chicken fried rice and stir fried vegetables

E) Chicken noodle or rice soup with homemade bread

F) Baked oregano chicken (just chicken sprinkled with oregano, salt & pepper and baked) Served with pasta & sauce. Homemade garlic bread

G) Seasoned salt baked chicken legs (just chicken generously sprinkled with seasoned salt and baked till crispy) Served with homemade scalloped potatoes- also simple just layer in a buttered casserole sliced potatoes, and a medium white sauce, season well with salt and pepper and bake.

H) Sunday supper-Fried chicken, mashed potatoes, country gravy, biscuits, salad and a wacky cake.

I) Italian style soup, greens (any kind-left over salad or spinach is fine) chicken pieces, lots of garlic, any pasta. Serve over crusty bread that you've put in a soup bowl and drizzled with olive oil. Before serving sprinkle with grated cheese.

J) Plain baked chicken and roasted vegetables along side, like potatoes and carrots.

K) Chicken pot pie a PA Dutch favorite. Recipe can be found in recipes here on FV under PA Dutch recipes

L) Chicken pie- just a well seasoned gravy or white sauce with chicken pieces, any leftover vegetables, lots of potatoes and onions in a pie pan with a top and bottom pie crust. If you wish you can serve this with mashed potatoes and biscuits. My family wishes LOL!

My family loves Mexican, I often make these with flan or lime jello

M) Chicken and bean burittos & rice

N) Chicken & Lentil tacos, with rice and beans

O) Chicken & rice enchiladas served with beans

P) Chicken empandas served with rice and beans

Q) Chicken cacciatore served with fried polenta. Yummy!!!

R) Cranberry chicken, so simple yet so good. Bake chicken legs in a casserole till nice and crispy. Put chicken legs on a platter of boiled rice. Melt cranberry sauce in microvewave stirring every 30 seconds till it's melted and bubbling hot, then pour over top of chicken legs and rice. Can add orange slices to the hot cranberry if you wish.

S) Grilled chiken legs, grill baked potatoes. Even in the Winter this is fun!

T) Oven barb-b-qued chicken legs, oven baked potatoes

U) Stuffed chicken legs. Make a small cut separating the thigh part of the chicken leg from the bone. Fill with well seasoned stuffing. Bake untill chicken legs are nice and crispy, then cover with a well seasoned white sauce and bake for 15 more minutes.

V) Chicken A la King served over toast points and salad.

W) Poultry seasoned fried chicken (from an old friend) Cover chicken pieces well in poultry seasoning then drop in hot fat, frying till done. Serve with red beans and rice.

X) Chicken corn noodle soup. Best with homemade noodles, still good with store bought. Biscuits & applesauce.

Y) Chicken Paprikash over spatzel. Beyond Yummy!!!!

Z) Pineapple chicken. Shallow fry chicken pieces (no breading) In a separate skillet stir fry green peppers & onions, when tender add a can of pinneapple chunks with juice, some soy sauce, and just a touch of vinegar. Heat through then thicken with cornstarch. On each platter put a bed od rice, then a chicken leg, then cover with pinneapple mixture. Very Good!




2) I shop a wholesale produce market or the farmers market right before closing. The farmers do not want to take back produce so cabbge that was selling for $1.50 a head suddenly become 3 for $1.50. I buy as much produce, like 50lb. bags of potatoes (very cheap in bulk) as my family will eat with out spoilage.

3) I keep a plastic ice cream container in fridge and save every scrap of leftovers, no matter if it's salad, mashed potatoes, gravy, leftover stuffing, just a spoonful of corn or carrots. It all goes in. When full I pull out and make soup, or a meat pie. it never fails to be good, in fact most of the time it's fabulous. I just add chicken, or cubed potatoes or rice, whatever I have on hand really, some seasoning and let simmer till the flavors marry. If for a meat pie I'll thicken before putting in pie shells.

4) I shop food salvage stores

5) I stock up on food that is a good price. Better for me to pay 33 cents a can for cranberry sauce and add it to our meals year round, then pay more for another side dish. Same thing for cereal, my oldest will only eat sugar cereal so I buy it when they have it 5 boxes for $10 and then I'll use coupons for those cereals and often times will walk away paying only a few cents a box.

[alotofgooddeals]

i need to do that.... that would save lots of money...

today we had a little bit of bacon and ham left over from breakfast... actually the ham was from last nights supper...had some julienned carrots and shredded purple cabbage and some onions and peppers that were already cooked for this morning breakfast... I took all of it and threw it into a pan and it actually was good... it taste like the stuff you would stuff egg rolls with... I ate my fill... and then put it into a plastic ziplock bag and will put it into a soup tomorrow...so the ham was used for 4 meals... etc....

[joyofsix]

All those above hints plus

I cut everything 1/2 and 1/2 with water~shampoo, dish soap, juice, etc

I give my family their hair cuts.

We wear clothes twice (or more) it they are unsoiled and fresh smelling.

The library~~~ This saves us tons by giving us loads of entertainment ie. programs, magazines, dvds, cd, and oh yes, books.

Reusable containers not baggies.

Cloth napkins, cleaning clothes, re-usable water bottles.

I mend clothes, socks, etc. I iron and starch dh's work clothes to get more years out of them. If it's beyond repair I try to find another use.

I spend a little to maintain the cars, house, etc to avoid a more costly repair later.

[pollypurebred39]

Mending is a fabulous way to save money. And the library is one of my favorite places too!

[pollypurebred39]

alotofgooddeals, your eggroll dish sounds yummy!

[rowdy35]

being organized and a planner saves money.

for instance:

stocking up on the foods and items you need when they are on sale.

taking lunch to work

doing p.t. jobs to make money: Bartend, cater weddings, mow lawns, baby sit, elder care, cooking meals for busy folks

bake your own bread and snacks

make your own sauces rather than buying canned stuff or bottled stuff

buy meat on sale, package into individual portions and freeze

use your crockpot

make your own croutons and bread crumbs for breading

do your own yard work, rather than hiring lawn service

make your own laundry detergent

make your own tv dinners

accept hand me downs and stuff that other people don't want. freecycle what you don't want or need.

barter your services with other people

save electricity and water as much as possible

don't be wasteful

reuse, recycle and reduce waste

grocery bags become trash liners, veggie bags become lunch bags