What are you doing to improve your financial situation? - Page 2

[Mylie]

Things I do..

No eating out..
Cook from scratch.
I put in a garden since I have a small yard now.
We moved into a small cottage that is less $$ in some ways..
I have cancelled everything that I can to help my budget..No internet,no cable ect..(still trying to adjust to not having internet at home)
Cash/envelope sysytem..
Make a tank of gas last a week and 1/2..In other words I go no where except work.(if I need to go to the store I do it on my way home from work)

Looking at taking some online business classes this fall..I would have to put the internet back in but I am tierd of working 2-3 jobs and having nothing.

[Siennaflower]

I will be going back to school either this fall or next spring, depending on when I'm accepted into the nursing program at my cc. Apart from that, we are:

Canceling cable (I have dragged my feet on this for years because my shows are all on cable channels and it sucks but trying to be positive, it will be motivation for me to put everything towards the bills)
dropping home phone down to basic plan, no long distance or frills
cooking from scratch (we're going GFCF so the savings won't be as significant but it will help)
no eating out (again, with GFCF it will be difficult anyhow)
using fans vs AC
using the library for books, cd's and movies
thrift shop for clothes (I can recon toddler shirts into rompers for dd2, etc)
Dh traded in his truck for a car with much better gas mileage
We will be paring down dd1's summer activities to just one

[MommaRNCCRN]

Good luck Siennaflower with nursing school...I hope the job market is good in your part of the country for nurses...there isn't really a nursing shortage right now. Lots of RN's staying in the workforce due to the economy, picking up more hours due to the economy. I'm an RN and my hospital has NO openings for new grads. Only experienced OB nurses. One of my coworkers is an instructor at one of the local college's ADN program and out of her last graduating class of 60, only 10 had jobs.

Anyhow, what I'm doing to improve my finances....I cut up ALL my credit cards..so if I don't have cash, I don't buy it.
-Dropped the minutes on my cell-phone plan
-cancel long distance on landline(we have DH's 86 yr old mother living with us so we MUST keep the land line for her incase of emergency)
-dry clothes on line in the basement
-cook from scratch
-limit activities on the weekends to those that are free--
-now we DID buy a baseball game package(to the local Detroit Tigers AA affiliate) for the three of us--for $39 each we get tickets to 7 home games, free food and drink(hamburgs,hotdogs,chicken,sausage,pop and water) during the entire game up to the last out, a free hat and all these games have fireworks following the game. We will be attending the next game in the package on Friday 6/11! A fun family night out on the cheap $6 per person per game, not including gas money and parking fees($3--brother in law pays that as he rides with us)
-reconnected with one of DH's high school classmates through facebook. She's super friendly..had us over for a picnic last week..they have a pool as well so DS swims there. DH and DS were over to her house on Friday night while I was at work to swim and have a bonfire. DS loves her 9 yr old DD.
--cutting down on caffeine consumption--I LOVE my McDonalds Iced Coffees--hard habit to break.
--Do all my banking/bill paying online to cut down on stamps
--shopping at Aldi's

Those are just a few! I love reading hints,tips and tricks to save money!

[Sol_y_Paz]

Praying.
Trying to always focus on positives, good energies, and only speak positive and uplifting as much as possible.
Looking to volunteer more.
Trying to focus on what is important and not be in a million directions.
Selling things.
Free activities for fun, like playing certain sports or going to parks.
Not shopping/buying things except verified needs.
Searching for better jobs, reading about how to get said jobs. Going out of comfort zone to accomplish that.
Planting a garden.
No more using credit cards.
Learning to spend more wisely and be mindful consumers.
Giving up cable, always in kitchen homemaking meals/food, bringing snacks/meals/drinks when not at home.

[Sharlla]

I got another job, so I work 38 hours + at one (only management get full time) and I'm a sub for the other (some weeks I don't work at all, others I'm working 4 hours) I had to do this because they cut out all the overtime at my job

[Tradd]

Cancelled iPhone and went to a prepaid Tracfone. iPhone cancellation fee is not much more than one month's iPhone bill.

Trying to eat out less (for me, eating out is Subway), taking lunch to work. I'm working tons of OT at work right now, so that's extra cash for a while, but after 12 hours days, I'm fried. So, I get some frozen dinners or easy stuff to fix. Convenience food, but it's still cheaper than getting something out.

Shorter showers.

Hanging things to dry even in my apartment, and then running them through the dryer on fluff for 10 mintues to get the crunchiness out (I HATE stiff clothes!).

[brittneyscott]

I've been off track for a while and need to get back to focusing more energy into saving money and being more aware of what we're spending/doing. We're trying to buy land and build a house now so that is going to take a lot of money we really need to be saving.

Here are some things I've done in the past and am working on doing again (really need to start keeping up with it):
Cook at home and from scratch
Cooking cheaper more basic meals (more beans and rice; less meat)
Making lunch for DH to take to work; taking food/drinks when we run errands
Line drying clothes
Using ac less and fans more
No purchases unless we need it and then 2nd hand if possible
Try to coordinate our errands to one day a week (this has been a mess lately)

I'm not sure what else. I've been going over stuff and these are just a few of the things I know we need to get to do again. Once we get moved I plan to start at least a small garden to cut some of our produce costs. Need to start buying in bulk again too. I'll be watching this thread for ideas.