Hey guys!! In this kind of economy it's wise to make tings at home to save money. What are you doing in your house to save money?? Here are some of ours: 1. In the evening after supper we turn off all the lights and light a kerosene lantern and read bedtime stories. This teaches what times were like back when they had no electricity, and it's nice and cozy for those who don't have afireplace. 2. home cooked meals every night. This used to be very difficult for us, since we would go out 3 times a week for a meal. Now, we eat at home and the meals are more filling, and tastier! 3. Map our route. When we go out to buy groceries, we do it all in one day, and we usually have several places to go. We map our route so we know the shortest way from point A to point B C D...We can effectively calculate our mileage and how much gas it will take. 4. I am learning how to sew so that I cna make blankets, and clothing. Right now I can crochet, and I am crocheting myself a hat to wear instead of buying a hat for $20+. What do you do to save money?
We also plan out where we go and when- I save things to do when I have a few places to go (gas is getting too spendy!!) 1. At home we try to unplug things being unused and yes turning off lights as much as possible. 2. Keep the heat low for the most part and even lower in the evening and bed time! 3. Make sure we only run the dishwasher when it's full- and laundry too. When sun hits here (May) we will start to hang dry our clothes. 4. I am going to attempt to sew and whatnot here soon too! Eventually hope to make mittens and hats =). Other things we do in general- shop for good sales and reduced items (esp. milk); make food at home and at times from scratch- like to make food and freeze- bean burritos, waffles, pancakes, french toast, casseroles, etc. Also make home made applesauce, pear butter, etc. Between food and oil (besides mortgage) those are our biggest expenses and so I am always looking for deals and keeping our temp low as such as we can handle!! Can't wait to hear more ideas!
In addition to most of what you mentioned (aside from kerosene--although I grew up on that!)..... * Hunting/fishing/freezing meat bought in bulk * Gardening/canning/freezing....we also get the throw away produce from a grocery store for $1 per banana box. Ask your local grocer for this kind of deal! A friend who gardens did this....she got so much canned from the "throw away" produce that she did not have to put in a garden last year. * Open southern window/door coverings to let the sun warm the house.....in summer, keep these closed to keep house cooler * Electric baseboard heaters with individual thermostats....we only keep each room as warm as necessary. It takes extra monitoring turning them up and down, but by doing this our all-electric home has only spent about $250 on January's bill. * All scraps feed the chickens or the compost heap...we don't have much waste, but what we have gets repurposed * $6 resale shop bread machine.....I now make all of our bread. I can get unbleached flour on sale for about a dollar for 5 lbs. I can get at least 3-4 2lb loaves out of it....and the crumbs and ends with the hole in it from the machine paddle goes to the chickens.
Ours are simple things and mostly to do with food Using powdered milk. Some people think it tastes funny but that's like saying coke zero tastes funny if you're used to coke. Budget brands (unless they're false economy or something else is cheaper because it's on special). Pudding is an apple, a fruit yogurt or a plain sweet biscuit. Snacks are things like fruit, cheese, yogurt, sandwiches, etc. The kids can have water, milk or milo. Adults can have water, milk, milo, tea or coffee. Homemade meals made from scratch. Smaller portions (half a chicken is enough for a meal for us but if there's a whole chicken there still won't be leftovers). Shop early to pick up marked down food and freeze for later. DH has homemade packed lunches/dinners for work. Cold wash only. Dry washing outside or on drying frames in shed or by fire if needed next day. I need to house to be a certain temp for my job so we have a thermometer and keep it a degree to two (celsius) above minimum. We're fans of putting on a warm top and pair of socks. We only have one car.
So, it sounds like you guys finally got to move out on your own again. That is great news! Hope life is going much smoother with your own space.
AZhomeschooler, it IS going well!! We are still renting though, but it's a great 4 bedroom house! I would love to dry our clothes outside since it takes 2 hours to dry our clothes in the dryer (it's old), but we don't have a back deck, or a clothes line! Any thoughts about how to do this?? Also, how do you guys freeze your food? Do you cook meals expecially for the freezer, or just freeze leftovers? This sounds like an excellent idea I would like to do for Chicken Enchiladas!! Emjay, we only have one car too. Sometimes it's a hassle, but it works! Brooke, I would love to Garden, but we rent so I think that's out of teh question. And I'm a sad individual because I don't know how to can either!! :/ I got a lot to learn aparently!!
We have a very tight budget where every cent is accounted for. If for example, if DH only spends $80 on petrol instead of the $100 that's been budgeted we put that $20 straight into savings. About once a month we do a $20 food challenge to use up what's in the fridge/freezer/pantry.
We use a lot of Emjay's ways to save, too, like cooking less quantity and snacking on real food. I make enough in a meal to feed us and let Dh have enough to pack his lunch the next day. If there is more made than that, the kids and I eat it for lunch. If we are having ham and beans or something where you make a big batch, I will immediately remove half of it to freeze for another meal at a later date. When I freeze food, it is in the raw state unless it is complete meal like I stated earlier. I would really, really encourage everyone to check with a local grocer to see about buying up the produce they are removing that day. Even if you don't can, you can freeze almost anything. I love www.pickyourown.org for tons of helpful information on how to can or freeze almost anything.
Thanks Brooke!! The website was SUPER helpful!!! Like I said, we didn't used to be the money saving type, but we realize there is a better way to live than we have been. Slowly, we are really making progress and becoming more efficient. I have realized though that I don't really know how to do ANYTHING except for baking and cooking meals. My DH thinks that I have craft ADHD and I skip from thing to think quickly, but really I just pick something, learn it, and go on to the next and cycle around to make sure I remember everything! lol
Meg, we just moved into a new rental and can't do a "real" garden. I plan to plant some tomatoes, peppers, and cucumbers in pots on our patio. I air dry many of our clothes without a clothesline. It just keeps them in better shape. For the kids, except ds15, I just hang shirts on hangers and hang on the shower rod. Bigger shirts that would get the hanger indentions, I lay over clothes baskets in the laundry room. I should get a drying rack. I just hate to spend the money. At our house in TX, I put up a retractable clothes line in the garage where the laundry area was. That worked great!
sixcloar, we are hoping to buy a big clothesline and anchor it in the backyard if the landlords will let us. Thank fully we share a wll with them since we live in a duplex. Their super nice, so I hope they don't mind. :/ Planting them in pots is a great idea, I just would hope they were big enough for trhe roots and all. I'll look into that this spring!!
When we lived in town, we used 5 gallon buckets. They were much less expensive than actual pots. Put some gravel and/or sand in the bottom of the bucket for better drainage for the soil. You might still need to stake the stalks since the roots can't spread out very far.
I do dishes in the dishwasher, never dry them when the dishwasher is done I open door and let them air dry
How We save money: 1. I make all our skirts, and shirts (new for me). I can save tons just making skirts for the girls and I. (and I love to sew so keeps my hobby going.) 2. I only cook one big meal a day, which is lunch. I always have stuff for a light dinner, cereal, sandwiches, popcorn, etc. We cook everything from scratch.. 3. we only go into town once a week, and we do everything while we are there... My husband hates shopping but goes along with me since I usually do my shopping on Sunday afternoons between church services and then use the Church's refreg. to store my stuff. We are very blessed to have been able to move out on the ranch were we don't have any housing cost. But the gas to drive to get any thing more than makes up for the no housing cost.. My dd wants to plant a little garden on the patio, but I am wondering about the cats getting into it and killing the plants.
I mix up my laundry detergent, dishwasher soap, fabric softener, and cleaning supplies. We only drink water, except myy youngest two have milk with meals. I make our own bread and started fixing breakfast every morning except Sunday then we have cold cereal. (This is HUGE for us because we really like cold cereal.) We eat oatmeal a lot for lunch. I try to keep the lights turned off when not in use or need to be in use.
I forgot we do that, too. It might take a while to really think about all the "little" things we do to save money since it just becomes a way of life.
I would think that the ingrediants to make your own bread would be much more expensive than buying the bread itself. I'll have to check that out! Also, Shelby, where do you get your patterns at? I ahve all boys and I can NEVER find any sewing patterns for them.
I think you may be right about the ingrediants except for the fact that sometimes all I need is bread and if I head to the store for bread I will more than likely come home with more that just bread. :roll: However, it doesn't take much to make a loaf.
Well my husband rigged some sort of string he had across our carport (yes everyone see =) ). But we also have a clothes rack so that we can dry inside- takes longer- but works. I forgot, we obviously fish and stock (Alaska), and pick berries, etc. Also make fireweed jelly, etc.
-Lots of yardsaling (favorite pastime). We clothe our family this way. -Gardening. Especially vegetable soup; saves time with homeschooling. -No TV, they cost a lot in electric, plus the monthly fee. -Air dry also, the children hang their clothes on hangers. I try to only have 1 load in the dryer per washing day. -Getting generic versus brand name at Wal-mart. -Buy in bulk, only on foods that you use a lot. -Drink water and milk instead of pop. A lot better for you anyway. -Our furniture is secondhand, but in good condition. Look at Craigslist before buying new. Just a few ideas
