Crash course in cheap living

[Arizoso]

Ok, I do admit that I would not have listened to this myself in the past, but here goes:

Most of the money-saving things I have to do because I'm on assistance, almost anybody can do voluntarily. It's a lot easier if you simply don't have the money to spend, of course!

Take food... if you're on food stamps, there's so much per month on that little card, and when that amount is spent, it's spent. No mas, fini, have to plan ahead and stick to the food budget. I have about $100 a month for my one-person household and I'm eating well. If I were healthy enough to grow a decent garden, I'd be wallowing in culinary riches.

If you're forced to budget your food money, you have to have a shopping list and stick to it, and you don't go shopping on a lark because you know that you see all those little goodies which only cost you and don't feed you. One thing I've learned to do is to buy what's cheapest per ounce/item, unless a certain brand matters to me. Sometimes store brands are more expensive, sometimes they aren't. If your store lists the price per ounce on the price labels, cheap shopping is easy and fast.

Next, take utilities, debt payments, household goods and everything else non-edible that you have to spend money on every month. If you have $400 to play with, you find out in a hurry what your priorities are, what you really need, what you don't really need, and how you can make do otherwise.

If there's a way to put a woodstove in your house, you can heat all winter long for minimal cost... between wood permits, cutoffs from the lumber mill, wood piles that your neighbors might want to get hauled off, and construction leftovers, you can find enough firewood to keep the house toasty for about $100 a year.
My house had only propane heat when I bought it... the $400 investment for the woodstove has saved me about $100 a month in propane for several years now.

Electricity is my luxury... All my appliances, including the water heater, washer, dryer, stove, etc., are electric. And the well pump is electric too, of course. I like my outside lights on at night, and I'm not worried if the TV is on when I'm outside mowing or some such. BUT - if my rates went up (they average $60 a month, which I can afford), I'd look for a hundred ways to save.
Being on a well rather than city water, stricter water conservation would be one of the ways. Possibly investing in a washer that uses less water, like on of those frontloaders, and always air-drying the laundry would be another.

Cooling isn't really necessary in my neck of the woods. An indoor swamp cooler works fine for most of the warmer days. 'Course, if I lived in a humid climate where it gets hot, like many of you do, things would be different. Still, you can do a lot with open/closed windows, fans, ceiling fans, shades and drapes, landscaping and good insulation.

Household items... unless you have to have the paper towels with the cute pictures on it, you can shop by price-per-sheet. The cheapest at the store where I shop also happens to be the recycled kind, so it's a double-winner in my book. Toilet tissue, female products, personal care products, all of that can be investigated for cheaper brands if you can't afford to blindly stick to your kind.
Cleaning items, hm. TV commercials tell us that we need a roomful of different cleaners and gadgets and appliances to get the job done. Imagine you didn't have TV and didn't know what you're supposed to need. The basics will do you just as well as a closetful of expensive specialties.

Talk about closets, let's talk about clothes. I spend about $40 a year on clothes and I have more than I'll ever be able to wear. There's one thrift shop in the extended area, a St. Vincent de Paul's, which is where I shop for clothes. We're talking 25-cent sweater sales, dollar-a-bag sales, good-as-new designer clothes, silk shirts, flannel shirts, pants, coats, leather, linen, velvet, anything you could think of. And this one is a tiny store... if you have access to one in a city, your selection would be even better.
I also buy fabric for sewing projects there... dresses mostly, because they offer the most material of one design and the most material for the price of an item. You get unique fabrics which, even if you could find them in a fabric store, would cost you a bundle to buy by the yard.
I also found a futon pad cover, as good as new, beautiful color to match my room, for a dollar. The blankets or comforters they have, even if they're an odd color or pattern, make nifty quilt padding. Or you can buy a deco pillow for 50 cents and make your own cover for it. Need computer supplies? Check the thrift shop. Models are updated so fast these days that you can find year-old supplies for a laughable price.

It's really all a matter of imagining (or living with the fact) that you just don't HAVE the money to spend. Making do brings out a lot of creativity that you may not even know you have. And honestly, if you have a choice between spending $20 on a run-of-the-mill K-mart sweater or spending 25 or 50 cents on a gorgeous Neiman-Marcus beaded masterpiece from the thrift store, it doesn't take much thinking to figure out which is better
Not to mention, which way you put more money into savings or towards debt reduction or whatever you NEED to have money for.

Poverty is pretty nifty, really. It's a very good teacher!

[PrairieRose]

Great tips! I agree that poverty is a great teacher. I am always telling my dk's that making that penny squeal is a talent that you'll need for the rest of your life. Thanks for sharing your tips.

[Darlene]

Nice post Arizoso.

[Arizoso]

Thanks

I forgot to mention the phone... that's another item to save on (a lot). If you make it a habit to use only prepaid phone cards for all and every long distance calls, you'll make a lot less of them because it's such a hassle to dial all those numbers.

My basic phone service is around $24 a month. A few years ago, I canceled my long-distance plan (AT&T) and just went with the phone company's plan which is a lot cheaper. Then I got a 1000 minute phone card for $30 at Walmart, and there's still 100 minutes left on it now after 3 years.

You know, when I watch TV and see those commercials for cell phone services and TV service and must-have items and whatever else seems to be normal "out there" these days, it just blows my socks off. No wonder people are mired in debt if it's considered "normal" that the family kids each have their own cell phone with corresponding family plan, and that you simply need a $50/month movie package because you don't have time to go rent a movie (because you're working too much so you can pay for the cell phone plan and the movie package?), and that a kid can ask for a $500 computer for his birthday and the parents just go, "oh, ok". We're conditioned almost 24/7 by highly trained sales people to believe that what we see on TV is what's normal and what we need to buy. Obviously, this approach works great, or else we wouldn't be a nation where personal debt is considered normal as well.

[forestdale]

great advice, Arizoso.

I totally agree with what you say about us being programmed by our TVs. I had a woman in our store yesterday who bought a $150 chess set she said she didn't play chess, she couldn't afford it, but she wanted it because it would "look good' on her coffeee table! She bought it on her credit card.

[patches]

We use the 10-10-297 Vartec plan. It only works well when you are planning on talking for a while. I can talk for an hour and the rate is so low it's almost like robbery.

For intance, I called and talked for 41 minutes and the rate was just $1.62 for the call.

However, a 1 minute call is .42 cents because of the connection charge. It doesn't pay to call somebody on it just to have them call you back.

[homesteadmamma]

Great tips!! Thanks for sharing them with us.

[forestdale]

For long distance calls to someone with a computer, try Skype. It's a free internet phone that works really well. I use it when I call my girlfirnes now, they live 1000s of miles away, we talk for hours and it doesn't cost a cent. You just have to download the software:

http://www.skype.com/

[fernykins]

They are some good ideas...... I pay about 60 a month for my telephone. that local and long distance. and since all my family live far from me and 3 of my 6 kids live all over the country. I can call them up and talk to them when ever I want ti and not worry about the cost....... I also make all my dresses since I don't like any I have seen in the stores. I do have a son and his 2 sons who live with me that thinks everything is suppose to run 24/7. Which makes me mad. .... Fern

[SHOPGIRL]

I've been using Vonage for the past year or so. It works through my cable connection. I have cable/broadband internet. I think it may work if you have dsl. (Just to clarify, this works through your normal phone line, you don't have to sit at the computer and chat on the phone.) I pay under $28 for everything. I don't have a local phone bill. So, for under $28 I get unlimited and local long distance service. I think you can also dial
Canada and Puerto Rico for no additional charge. So far, I've been pretty happy with it. It's definately a money saver. When I moved last year, the great thing was I didn't have to change my phone number or pay the $50 installation charge. You can keep your old phone number, no need to change. There is a $15 plan and a $25 plan. If you're interested, email me and I'll send you the link. Vonage rewards their customers with a free month of service for everyone they refer. Plus, when you're refered, you get a free month of service. Hope this helps.
ebayshopgirl@hotmail.com

[Michelle]

Great post Arizoso--thank you

[crdurham]

Great post, thanks for all the tips!

I never thought about buying thrift store dresses and making them into something else....what a great idea!!!

[canadian gardener]

great tips, great post, thanks!!!!