Cutting back...

[mommy4ever]

Inspired by another thread, I'm working on areas to cut back.

I need to cut back the power consumption. The second fridge is being unplugged and brought out to the campsite.

I need to get some more power bars. And get in the habit of turning them off.

Through the summer we camp every weekend. I'm considering doing most of my cooking for the week out there. Some done over open fire, or in the RV. That'll free up some hours at home during the week, and keep the house cool. the rest will be crock pot. On the next rainy day, I plan to bake bake bake and stock us with snacks for several months. We'll be eating stew/soup twice a week from now on, to cut back on costs. It's unbelievable the prices. Meat is becoming a luxury, but dh won't do beans, hates them hates them hates them. Did I mention he hates beans? So I'm trying to find some hearty vegetarion, bean free, onion free(allergy) that we can eat. Ideas?

I'm going to install a second clothesline in the back yard. We have 1. BOth will need new lines. I do 2 to 3 loads a day, each line holds 1 and usually dries fast.

I'm going to see about replacing some light fixtures, to some that use less bulbs or can use the CF. 2 are enclosed and can't, they flicker and use 4 bulbs!! For hallways...doh, some people.

It's only hit 20ºC here but the house has gotten as high as 26ºC. I'm going to look at different window coverings. I don't like full curtains, but if it can cut heat, and cold in the winter, I'll do it.

I'm continuously listing things for sale on local classifieds.

Dh even acknowledged this weekend, to the kids that if I wasn't working hard and doing cutbacks, and the daycare they wouldn't be in sports, wouldn't get the fun things or summers camping. HE ACKNOWLEDGED IT!!!! He always talks "i make hte money, i can spend it...blah blah blah". But he's been better and better. When people are talking at work that they are spending $1000 on groceries for 2 or 3 and we spend $300-400 for 6, we're doing good. When their cell bills are $200 and ours are literally $20. Cable packages at $150, we pay $35. Car payments $450x2, we have NONE(used, paid outright). RV payments $300/mo we have NONE(used, got in barter). Clothes...big one here, people at his work are spending $150/mo on 1 child. Mine get that in a year. Not necessarily Each either. Last year, ds got socks and underwear..lol. He didn't grow and was in school uniform. He got some for his b'day from aunts, uncles, grandparents. Not because he needed it, he got some cool stuff he LOVES. Gifts from mom and dad are 1 want, 1 need. (needs are usually clothes, but with funky twists that make them really special). Yes, we have debt, that was from trying to do it all on 1 income for 4 years. 1 income in a 3 income world. I couldn't earn anythign we were on an acreage. Now we sold that and have been doing great, making excellent progress. I'd like to see more!

FUnny how it goes with debt. It's hard to get started in paying it off, but once it starts snowballing, you look every which way for more ways to cut back!

[Jskell911]

Oh I love this idea!

Definitely need to cut off energy usage! For the first time ever we had an electric bill under $100 last month ($99.60 LOL). But I KNOW we can do better. Line drying will make this somewhat easier.

We need to cut back on food waste. We are getting much better, but again I know we can do better.

Obviously we need to cut back on gas consumption. At $3.44 a gallon, how can we not look at this seriously?

I would also like to cut back on disposables like paper products. Not sure if I can get DH and DS on board with this but I can try!

That's all I can think of right now, but I am sure there are tons more.

[mmy2grls]

I haven't tried to cut down on electricity yet. I will look at doing this now. I know we can save money.

Looks like you are on a roll mommy4ever

[CYork]

We've had a small, dorm-type fridge plugged in (and usually empty) for 8 years. Finally, it's unplugged and sitting in a closet. I wonder how much electricity we've wasted over the years on it.... Now, I'm looking for other wasteful items we can dispense with.

[Dancing Lotus]

I just had an idea to have dh lower the temp on the hot water heater.

[Hannahs mom]

I hope to find ways to cut back on the power when I'm at home this summer, but I'm wondering how much good I can do when no one is at home during the day now. I know 1 TV will probably be running most of the day - DD, but I'm ok with that. I do plan on line drying all my clothes, and I can unplug things not in use (DH freaks about this so I won't do it when he's home). I can't think of any other ways at the moment, but this is definitely on my mind. I should be saving lots in gas since I won't be driving to work. I'm going to limit myself to 1 trip to town a week. On the weeks I have to do PD (professional development) I'll just do my errands then.

If you come up with more ideas, please share.

[my4littlebuffaloes]

- have you tried cutting down on laundry? I have 4 kids that get plenty muddy and I only do 1 load a day most days. Some days 2 and some days none. Just something to think about.

[mommy4ever]

It's hard. I have lots of extra things that get grouped. I have a home daycare, so bedding is done weekly then, as well as 5 facecloths a day, bibs, etc. One a day doesn't suffice. I don't have the extra time in my day to look at each tag to see who's underwear I'm folding, who's socks, what size shirt, etc. So I give everyone a day. The kids are also older, so their items are bigger too. DD9 is a mud magnet, so she goes through 2 sets of clothes a day. No, she's not intentionally getting dirty, but she's growing so fast and uncoordinated she falls, trips, stumbles into it. Or the little meatheads at school jump on her and she falls due to that.(addressing the school). Each child usually has 2 loads, 1 darks, 1 whites+bedding load. So I don't think it's excessive.

[geckoace]

We need to cut back on food waste. We are getting much better, but again I know we can do better.

we are so bad about this, that is something we really need to work on, we have gotten the food budget pretty close to under control but then the leftovers lose their luster and i want some chick-fil-a.

[happimommi]

The biggest problem with electricity we have is a teenage DD. Her lights and stereo are always left on when she leaves her room and since her room is upstairs, I sometimes don't make it up there very soon. I wish I had a switch that would turn off the power in her room.

[mommy4ever]

My girls are bad for that. We bought them stereos with a sleep mode. They loveit. I love it! If they fall asleep or forget, it just turns off within an hour of when they started. Great for bedtime too.

[AspiringToBeFrugal]

We could save more on energy too. My question is...what kinds of power strips do you use? Just the generic kind you can buy at Wal-Mart or a special kind?

I think this (power strips) would be a better method than plugging in or unplugging stuff each time I want to use or shut off one of my electronics.

[mommy4ever]

I use basic power strips with surge protection. I'm looking at investing in a smart strip that would power off all components when the main one gets turned off, and powers lower for the main. I won't pay shippin gon them though so waiting until they are available locally.

[lilk]

Happimommi, maybe you could get one of those timer things, and plug it in to dd's stereo. With the light situation, just take her light bulbs, then she might think about not wasting things. Just my opinion.
My ds 11, kept missing the bus, so I told him if he didn't quit, he would have to pay me for gas. Somebody has been very good at catching the bus every since.

[Athena31]

Probably can do better on power and food waste. We are already doing better but we can do MORE better! LOL