Has anyone broken down what they have saved?

**mea772** · 10-10-2007, 08:44 PM

There are so many "little" things that many of you do that, to some of us who are just now trying to be frugal, might think "does that really make a difference?"

So, my question is...has anyone broken down things that you have done to save money? (ie: unplugging things when not in use; hang drying items instead of putting them in a dryer; etc)

**latierra84** · 10-11-2007, 12:26 AM

ive never stopped and broken it down. but i do know that ive cut my grocery bill down from.... yikes something like $600 a month for two people and one very large cat to a little over $200 a month and its all from keeping myself up to date with what the weekly specials are and knowing how much is too much to pay for meat/veggies things like that.

also... my electric bill is the one that usually comes and bites me in the butt. dh and i really tried one month after several months of $150 plus bills when we were (at the time) in a single bedroom apt. we cut that bill down to $50 just by turning off extra lights and checking and double checking that things were turned off when we we're at work. its something that we have to keep on top of on a daily basis but boy am i glad that ive done it when i get the bill at the end of the month.

**itsahumanzoo** · 10-11-2007, 02:46 AM

I haven't broken down our savings. I do know that when we got kicked out of our last place DH put everything out on paper and we realized that we lost about $10,000 by moving in with those jerks. That was an eye opener.

**mea772** · 10-11-2007, 06:09 AM

Latierra, that is a huge savings!

Angela, not sure if what situation you were in but sure glad your out of it! Sounds like a lot of money was at stake! Sheesh!!!

**frugalfarmwife** · 10-11-2007, 07:02 AM

I've never really broken it down, but I know just with going with drying laundry on the line and turning things OFF I cut our summer electric bill in the house down to as low as $30.00 a month.

In the barns I make sure all lights are turned of and that hubby turns things OFF in the shop! With two electric fencers , two automatic waterers and a hubby that likes to use all his power tools we've been able to cut the summer bills down as low as $23.00 a month.

Now in winter these both go way up, the house with the furnace and the barns with the heaters for the automatic waterers.

kj

**baxjul** · 10-11-2007, 07:19 AM

I've not been very good with my elec. since running the a/c. I've figured if I cut that down, I can save $100 on my next bill. My bill was 256.00 for last month.

I'm also going to work on my hanging laundry. It costs 25 cents to run one load. I must do about 40 loads a month.

**Sara Noel** · 10-11-2007, 09:13 AM

I was a bit curious about the exact breakdown of like oatmeal vs. boxed cereal not bought on sale as far as price/servings.

Sorry didn't really answer your question, but am curious about some breakdowns of savings too.

**frugalfarmwife** · 10-11-2007, 10:04 AM

Originally Posted by baxjul

I've not been very good with my elec. since running the a/c. I've figured if I cut that down, I can save $100 on my next bill. My bill was 256.00 for last month.

I'm also going to work on my hanging laundry. It costs 25 cents to run one load. I must do about 40 loads a month.

Actually it's closer to 75 cents per load to dry laundry!! WOW, hang it out and you could save $30.00 right there a month!!:surprise:

kj

**TheRootedNomad** · 10-11-2007, 10:34 AM

Originally Posted by frugalfarmwife

Actually it's closer to 75 cents per load to dry laundry!! WOW, hang it out and you could save $30.00 right there a month!!:surprise:

kj

This is the only thing I've actually ever been able to track pretty reliably as I tried to prove a point to myself and hung everything out to dry one month. I saved $42.00 and some change. I repeated the process a few months later and it was still $40.00 and change.

**peanut** · 10-11-2007, 12:34 PM

I used to, when I was first being frugal in seriousness. I set a goal to save $1000/year on frugal activities. By the end of year five I was having a hard time finding ways to be more frugal.

I used to do detailed breakdowns. I have one on my blog under WFMW - laundry (Sept. 5, 2007 post) for hm laundry detergent over storebought. I have food breakdowns in an old scribbler somewhere. It really helped me get a handle on how big a difference the little things made. Like making my own yogurt saving me $100-200/year. Cutting meat consumption to save $200-300/yr. Baking my own bread to save ~$100/year. Things like that add up after awhile!

Jean

**frugalfarmwife** · 10-11-2007, 12:51 PM

Originally Posted by TheRootedNomad

This is the only thing I've actually ever been able to track pretty reliably as I tried to prove a point to myself and hung everything out to dry one month. I saved $42.00 and some change. I repeated the process a few months later and it was still $40.00 and change.

With that alone I could save close to $400 a year, I try to hang clothes out as much of the year as I can. Even when we don't have sun we almost ALWAYS have a good breeze, there are the occasional days that the clothes would just freeze stiff on me though, lol.

kj

**staceyy** · 10-11-2007, 07:58 PM

Switched car insurance saved $70 mo

Reduced grocery bill by $150 month

Drugstore rebates, internet freebies and travel freebies (coffee, tea, tissues, shampoo, soap and conditioner) save me about $40 mo

Reduced gas, electricity and water bills by $100 month

Reduced purchase of magazines and books by $225 mo by getting free subscriptions, buying used and using Paperback Swap

Reduced Christmas shopping from $1500 to $50 by using hotel and airline points to purchase airline tickets and merchandise, using internet freebies for stocking stuffers, baking gourmet items and giving free cellphones to family members

Saving my change equals $500 year

Doing my own hair, nails and facials equals $200 mo

Preparing my own taxes equals $300 year

Painting our own home saves us several thousand

Cleaning my own home saves me $200 month (used to pay for this)

Travel saves me at least $3000 year as I use hotel points, airline points and travel with dh as a long distance truck driver whenever I want. We've even used points to go to Hawaii absolutley free for hotel and airline.

All of these changes were necessary as I lost my high level job. I save over $1000 a month.

**staceyy** · 10-11-2007, 08:15 PM

I forgot to add that we switched to a mailorder pharmacy and save $300 a month on prescriptions.

We also save about 30 cents per gallon of gas by shopping at a certain grocery store

We save 30% on vitamins as a benefit from dh's job.

So I guess we now save close to $2000 per month. A lot of our savings are the result of what I learned here at Frugal Village. I'm very grateful to everyone.

**Bethany** · 10-11-2007, 08:40 PM

I quit getting facials, that saves about $80/month.
Cut back on dining out, that saves about $200/month.
Switched jobs to save on gas (shorter commute), that saves about a hundred dollars/month.
Switched to a tracfone, that saves 27/month.
Downgraded cable (saves 20/month.)

**mea772** · 10-12-2007, 10:03 AM

WOW!!!

You ladies really are an inspiration to me!!!

It amazes me how so many little things really do add up! I appreciate all of you replying to his it really puts things into prospective!

Hmmm...now that I have read all of this I think I will jot down ways that I would like to save. When I am done doing this, I will post it.

Oh, by the way...how do you find out how much per load you are paying to dry your clothes?