Need a refresher course

[schellie69]

Hello to everyone, I have been gone from the village for almost a year now, I had surgery and it took me alot longer to heal then I thought it would, plus had a really bad time with depression (menopause) hit so I have just now gotten on my feet, thank goodness for a great ob/gyn, since my family doctor sent me to therpy instead of giving me hormones, now that my hormones are settled down and the depression is gone, i am trying to get back to my frugal ways, it is hard, my dh just took a pay cut at work, and our roommate lost his over time I down about $1100 a month this had really hurt us, but here are the things that i am doing, I have stopped buying pop for the kids, they get koolade ect here is my list of the drinks I make and how much they cost me
Tang (instead of juice has all the vitimin c ect that juice does) $1.00 a gallon
Gatorade (for kids, dh and roommate) $1.31 a gallon
Koolade 30 cents a gallon
lemonade 30 cents a gallon (also has alot of vitimin c)
Non sugar tea 12 cents a gallon
sugar tea 17 cents a gallon (this is for me and the kids)
my dh figured out that pop even the cheap stuff cost $2.50 to $3.00 a gallon
so i am saving money here I have also started using meat as a side dish and having rice pasta ect as the stuff to feel you up, I always make some kind of bread to go with the meal I can not cut out the meat I have a meat and pototoe kind of dh, and roommate,. but I can use it in stir frys and things like that. I use coupons and sales but here matching coupons with the sales is not easy it always seems what i have coupons for comes on sale after the coupon exprieres. I do got to a larger town to see a pain specilasit, and there is a store there that doubles $1.00 off coupons so i take mine and go a stock up last time i was in there I save over 48% I spent $53 and saved $48 witch was really great but i can only do this like once every three months when i am up there it would not pay to go all the way there the gas I used would eat up the savings. So i am looking for other ways to save some money I plan my menu and use what i have on hand plus match the sales, I buy marked down meat when ever I can. I am trying to put all my frugal ideas and ways back into play but since i have health problems making everything from scratch does not always work for me, i make muffins, rice kripy treats (dh takes in lunch) I also make as many things as i can but, there are days when i can't and use already made things that i have gotten on sale and with coupons so are there any ideas what I can do to cut some off my grocery bill and in other areas of my house, I have just signed up to try and get disability since i found out that my problems have no cure and this is just something i am going to have to learn to live with, I need to learn to be frugal with the limitations that i have is there anyone else that has health issues that knows some things that could help, thank you for listening and for any ideas that you might share with me,

[YankeeMom]

Welcome back Pam!!

[latierra84]

Hi Pam!
well, having a roommate certainly helps bring in some money. What about Jessi and Michelle getting part time jobs to help with a single bill or the monthly groceries? My parents were divorced and my father never wanted me working while I was in school because it was too "distracting", but when I lived with my mom (which was most of the time) I worked 35 hours a week while going to high school and more in the summer to help out with the bills. all of my check went to utilities and groceries and it really took some pressure off of my mom.

[themartins903]

Welcome Back and glad your feeling better. Sounds like you've got your game down girl. I just finished preparing for my grocery shopping tomorrow. I browse my local grocery store websites and print out the items I want and take the competitor ads to Walmart where they match the ads.

Your doing great!

[schellie69]

Hi Pam!
well, having a roommate certainly helps bring in some money. What about Jessi and Michelle getting part time jobs to help with a single bill or the monthly groceries? My parents were divorced and my father never wanted me working while I was in school because it was too "distracting", but when I lived with my mom (which was most of the time) I worked 35 hours a week while going to high school and more in the summer to help out with the bills. all of my check went to utilities and groceries and it really took some pressure off of my mom.

to answer your questions, Jessi does not live at home any longer, and michelle is disabled she gets ssi which helps, but does not cover everthing, my 15 year old does odd jobs to earn spending money, i think going to school is the most important i don't expect him to work until he is out of school or just during the summer, i am waiting to hear if i get disablity, I feel it is my job to take care of the kids until they graduate and then they can take care of themselves.

[Mom23boys]

Hello and welcome back Pam!

[AheeK]

Welcome back, Pam! Sounds like you're getting right back into your frugal groove!

[schellie69]

Thanks for the welcome backs, and the advice, but I need to know if there is anyone that has some health issues that make certain areas of being frugal hard and how do you handle those areas, I really need to tighten the budget as much as possiable but sometimes i feel like i am banging my head against a wall. I do hang up clothes when i can (when my health allows) I use a dishwasher, but after some testing and figuring figured out that with the kids doing dishes it uses less water to use the dishwasher, I am just trying to figure out in what other areas i can cut our budget, and ways to make things from scratch that i can do, any ideas, thanks for the help and thanks for listening.

[elizabethrose]

Well, I don't have any health issues , but I may have an idea or two.
Get used to drinking water, its an aquired taste, but its really much healthier for you, and cheap. Our bodies we're made to eat fruit with its fiber, not drink it down. It overloads the body with sugar. JMO Serve water in a tall glass, with lots of ice, maybe a slice of lemon to jazz it up. I keep a big jug filled in the fridge so its nice and cold, and the kids, even my 4 yr old can get to it easily.
If its too hard to hang clothes out on a line, how abt just draping them on a clothes rack. I do this often, and its just as easy as throwing them in the dryer.
some things are easier to make from scratch than others, like my peanut butter cookies I make are very simple, 1 cup of PB, half cup or so of sugar, 1 egg. Scratch doesn't have to be complicated. Popsicles I make from kool-aid, jello and sugar and hot water. This is the only tiome my kids get sugary drinks, frozen its a slower absorbtion, so it may be a way for them to get their "fix", but be better for you.
Thats all I can think of at the moment.

[elizabethrose]

Well, I don't have any health issues , but I may have an idea or two.
Get used to drinking water, its an aquired taste, but its really much healthier for you, and cheap. Our bodies we're made to eat fruit with its fiber, not drink it down. It overloads the body with sugar. JMO Serve water in a tall glass, with lots of ice, maybe a slice of lemon to jazz it up. I keep a big jug filled in the fridge so its nice and cold, and the kids, even my 4 yr old can get to it easily.
If its too hard to hang clothes out on a line, how abt just draping them on a clothes rack. I do this often, and its just as easy as throwing them in the dryer.
some things are easier to make from scratch than others, like my peanut butter cookies I make are very simple, 1 cup of PB, half cup or so of sugar, 1 egg. Scratch doesn't have to be complicated. Popsicles I make from kool-aid, jello and sugar and hot water. This is the only tiome my kids get sugary drinks, frozen its a slower absorbtion, so it may be a way for them to get their "fix", but be better for you.
Thats all I can think of at the moment.