How are you frugal?

[ustasmom]

I'd love to read what others do to be frugal. I do lots of things, but there is always room for improvement.

[turnipmama]

no cable tv - it's pricey and we tend to veg out too much with it anyway.

we re-use EVERYTHING - for example, we never buy saran wrap but use plastic grocery bags instead. Instead of buying tupperware I use old butter tubs and yogurt containers.

we joined a discount club and have cut our grocery bill in half. This means buying a lot in bulk and eating leftovers a lot but it sure saves money.

cut back on social drinking - alcohol is expensive (fun, but expensive!)

no gourmet coffee- we buy regular coffee in bulk. No fancy flavors, esspressos or lattes all the time like we used too.

we rarely eat out except for special occasions, and then we still go cheap with coupons or lower priced places like chinese or sandwhiches.

use our local library rather than going to bookstores.

use less laundry detergent and dishwasher soap then called for. you can use half as much and still get everything just as clean.

cook a lot from scratch, including homemade bread and tortillas and cookies.

[gargirl]

We cut out most junk foods and eat real food like fresh fruits and nuts and stuff for snacks. What junk food we have, cookies etc, I usually make from scratch, we do get ice cream for the kids sometimes though and some soda. I bake biscuits a lot to go with dinner as they are cheap homemade and I can make them with whole wheat flour that way. We eat vegan, so we aren't buying meat or dairy etc. In some ways this saves money but it balances out some as a few of the substitutes are rather expensive, but we eat less junk and feel healthier and have more energy... which is hard to quantify.

I always look for bargains that are really bargains, like an excellent price on well-made clothing, second hand books and household items in great shape, etc. We haven't paid for cable in 7 years. We drive the car as little as possible and get a low-milage discount on our insurance as well as saving on gas. We play board games and RPGs rather than go to the movies or out to dinner. We host a lot of pot-luck parties so it isn't all on us all the time.

We are video gamers, which can be expensive... so we trade in games we are done with/didn't like and get credit toward new ones. I read tons of reviews both by professional game reviewers and random gamers before picking out a game. Also amazon.com has sales once in a while buy 2 get one free video games which helps some and the shipping is free. Oh, and I always wait till I need to order at least $25 worth of stuff on amazon so I get the free shipping and shop at other online stores that offer free or reasonable shipping. You gotta factor in the shipping, sometimes it kills the "bargain" price!

So, obviously, we are not on the knife edge at this point with our finances. When we were really broke we borrowed and traded video games with friends or bought used games as cheaply as possible. We did not spend on games when we needed to put our money towards bills or food or some such. We have stacks of board and video games to keep us busy already.

[holidaymama]

I like this thread! I will have to think a little bit...sometimes it feels like we are more frivoulus then frugal, but thankfully our bank account shows otherwise!

1. We make homeade baby wipes.

2. We do go out to eat once a week, but our favorite place feeds all four of us for between $14-19

3. If we "order" pizza it is from Papa Murphys where you bake your own...so good!

4. We drive old paid for cars (both cars have around 145-180,000 miles on them)

5. We live and are going to buy a house that does not financially strap us...one that is very small for today's standards.

6. I make almost everything homeade...yes it can be done even when you work full time!

7. I buy all clothes off the clearance rack or 2nd hand

8. We don't really drink...my husband buys maybe one case of beer a month for himself...I just don't really like alcohol.

9. We bring our lunch to school and work EVERY day.

10. We have a strict budget and keep to it...everything is accounted for.

I am sure there are more, but 10 seems like a good place to stop!

[HydeParkB]

One of our major forms of entertainment is probably the internet - reading blogs, watching TV (just started watching Heroes), finding new recipes. We don't have cable/sattelite and don't watch TV when DD is awake.

I get movies and books from the library and online swap sites. I am in night school, and always try to get textbooks from the library. They let grad students keep books all semester long!

We hardly ever eat or drink out, including coffee.

I shop 2nd hand for my and DD's clothes, books, housewares.

We make our own convenience foods when possible and freeze leftovers from favorite meals for later. I've found that we had a bad tendency to eat out or order out after a long, trying day. And if I'm going to spend the money to eat out, I think, "It might as well be something I really like." So, we wind up spending at least $20 on the good Chinese or pizza place, instead of $12 for something I'm not excited about. So, it helps to have a favorite in the freezer - like lasanga or fennel pork roast - instead of a boring 'make do' meal.

I also make sure I understand the benefits at work and try to take advantage of them as appropriate - like the fitness center and tuition reimbursement.

We aren't really 'budgeting' right now, but I try to watch all the bills and understand where our money is going. For example, when I saw our electric bill was unusually high last month, I tried to be very deliberate about lowering it.

Also, we have 'productive' hobbies - gardening, knitting, pottery. Although we aren't making any money off of these (yet), they feed us and make nice gifts.

[January---]

How we are frugal...

1. We moved over an hour away to a less expensive area.
2. DH got a new job that actually pays better.
3. When choosing a new apartment, we chose the one with all utilities paid.
4. We do not have cable.
5. We applied for the coupon for the tv converter box for when tv goes all digital.
6. We have dial up internet and bare bones phone.
7. We have pre-paid cell phones that are cheap.
8. I bake all our bread products.
9. We do not eat fast food.
10. Scratch cooking.
11. We're using a gift card from Christmas to go out to dinner for our wedding anniversary.
12. We only buy what clothes we actually need and accept gifts and hand me downs.
13. We pack a cooler for road trips and scout out deals for vacations.
14. We belong to a discount club store.
15. I memorize the prices of things at different stores that we buy regularly to always get the best deal and buy things on sale.
16. We paid off all our debts and are living debt free, so not paying interest.
17. We put our rent on our credit card every month to make points and then pay it off in full.
18. We budget with cash and save for large purchases.
19. We try to line dry clothes when possible.
20. We wait a long time in between hair cuts.
21. We buy Christmas stuff at 90% off at the end of the season.
22. We save the soap from hotels we've stayed at and use it at home.
23. We moved closer to where we like to camp so we save on fuel.
24. We plan trips to Trader Joe's around when we're visiting family.
25. We watch videos we own at home instead of going to the theater or renting.
26. We drink water.
27. We don't buy bottled water.
28. I make homemade pizza and waffles and popcorn.
29. We reuse towels a lot before washing.
30. We try to maintain focus on our goals to live frugally and not squander money on useless trinkets.

[elizabeth rose]

shop at Aldis and Trader Joes instead of the big grocery store

make our own pizza

no cable tv

buy clothes at goodwill the last sat. of every month when they have their half price sale

turn off lights religiously!

drink water tea or milk

very rarely go see a movie, and then of course see a matinee, and bring own snack

visit library regularly

use library for videos/dvds instead of netflix or local video store

do local rec tae kwon do and basketball leaugue for kids vs. the expensive privately owned options

don't eat out

take own snacks/ water when we go anywhere, so we're not trapped into the I'm starving bit from the kids after we've been out for a while, leading to the fast food trap!

[Kristy555]

We use our local library.

I shop and plan my meals around what is on sale in the weekly grocery flyer.

I stopped getting Netflix, cancelled another membership at a kid's club, raised the deductible on our health insurance for a lower premium.

I get freebies and samples in the mail everyday. I filled my husband, daughter, and son's Christmas stocking this year with nothing but freebies in them. It was a blast!

I use our local library for books, magazines, VHS tapes, and DVDs, and storytime for preschoolers. They even have a program in the summer for my teenanger too.

I try to make most of my meals from scratch.

We have stopped stopping at the convenience store each day for a quick something which added up very quickly.

Kristy
Mom to Rebecca (13) and David (3)

[mum4boys]

Originally Posted by turnipmama

we re-use EVERYTHING - for example, we never buy saran wrap but use plastic grocery bags instead. Instead of buying tupperware I use old butter tubs and yogurt containers.

Not sure if you realize this or not but plastic grocery bags are not food quality bags so if you are storing food in the bag in which you eat it is not safe.

[phatchristy]

We aim to live beneath our means.

1. Stay in our house, regardless of whether we could afford a larger one.
2. 15 yr mortgage.
3. Do our own lawn/home maintenance for the most part.
4. Rarely go out to eat.
5. Cook lots of healthy foods from scratch.
6. Coupons when possible.
7. Shop on clearance and on sale.
8. Have energy efficient bulbs, reinsulated the home.
9. Adjust thermostat for best savings.
10. No expensive vacations (hey, we live in FL...where do you go when you live here anyhow ).
11. Use credit cards for 2% back, never carry a balance, paid off every month.
12. We don't buy many *extras*, make lunches, no movies, outside entertainment (we get our money's worth out of our internet service ).

[iamama]

We make our own biodiesel from waste veggie oil our cost for fuel is around 1.00 per gallon. My dh has a huge truck with a huge tank (for work) so this saves us sometimes 250.00 a month. Plus we have 3 other families in our grease coop. And it is environmently friendly...not to mention that damn war in Iraq....

[SugarAndSun]

Originally Posted by iamama

We make our own biodiesel from waste veggie oil our cost for fuel is around 1.00 per gallon. My dh has a huge truck with a huge tank (for work) so this saves us sometimes 250.00 a month. Plus we have 3 other families in our grease coop. And it is environmently friendly...not to mention that damn war in Iraq....

I really want to do this. Where did you find the best info on it? How much did it actually cost you to convert your truck and buy the stuff to clean the grease?

[Amys1st]

USe cloth to clean, dry etc. Takes weeks sometimes to go thru a roll of paper towels

Cloth diaper dd2 and cloth wipes<--Kissaluvs outlet 50 wipes for $24. Paid for itself within a month and they are wonderful

breastfeed- duh

made own baby food for both girls as babies

grow our own veggie garden

line dry clothes and laundry. Smells wonderful too!

scratch cook in kitchen. dont buy processed stuff

drive two paid for cars (from this decade too!)

walk everywhere. We recently moved to a very walk friendly neighborhood

buy a side or split it of beef each year. If meat eaters

feed the freezer meals for days you cannot cook

pay cash at grocery (just started, wow what a difference)

buy in coops, wholesale buying clubs

craigslist, ebay, and freecycle my 3 best friends.

second stores

join in on pantry challenge. Get great recipes too. I just got 2 recipes that are wonderful.

great thread!

[holidaymama]

For those of you talking about the biodisel: My husbands uncle is looking into this for investment purposes...he wants to try to get a contract with the local fast food restraunts to get their oil when they are done with it.

We don't drive diesel, but what an awesome way to reuse and recycle!! Go all of you who are taking what America is wasting and turning it into something we need!

[phatchristy]

Originally Posted by Amys1st

USe cloth to clean, dry etc. Takes weeks sometimes to go thru a roll of paper towels

Cloth diaper dd2 and cloth wipes<--Kissaluvs outlet 50 wipes for $24. Paid for itself within a month and they are wonderful

breastfeed- duh

made own baby food for both girls as babies

grow our own veggie garden

Awesome things...somehow I thought of most of them as a lifestyle, not being frugal...but you're right...they just happen to be frugal as well... Add those to my list too...

[ustasmom]

I think that frugality is a lifestyle actually. I am working on decluttering, organizing and simplifying and some things aren't as frugal as in the past, but it is simplier and less cluttersome.

We use cloth diapers. My little one has never worn a sposie.

We use family cloth and kitchen wipes. I only buy tp for company as I have teens and I think that their heads might explode if I didn't.

I try my hardest to only use my Chico bags or string bags. Not that it is frugal for me, but at least it is saving somebody money.

While I can and often times do, I bake bread and make our yogurt. This admittedly goes in spurts as to what else I have going at the time. I have a Bosch so I can do 6 batches at one time and I have a grain mill.

And we buy a half a cow each year. Yes, we eat meat.

I make our own handsoap from bar soap. It is much more gentle on the hands plus it is pretty cheap. You get 24 ounces for the price of one bar of soap.

Dh travels half the time and I used to have him bring me home the soaps, shampoos, etc from hotels. I just told him to stop (unless it is a European hotel) as the plastic yet wasteful bottles were cluttering up our lives.

I buy quality clothing, often times organic. I want something to last through a couple of kids and then through resale, so I shop prudently for nice brands. I've also tried to think minimalistically here. Does dh really need 24 pairs of underwear? No, not if I stay on top of the laundry. So I invested in really nice albeit expensive undershirts and underwear from Lands End. You have to love any company who will guarantee underwear.

We homeschool. While expensive at times, probably cheaper in the long run aside from the fact that my children will graduate high school with their Associate's degree.

We have changed all our lightbulbs over to energy efficient ones. We have a wood furnace so we almost only ever use wood. We only use rechargeable batteries.

If I donate, I get a receipt for taxes. Last year I donated over $11,000 of items (thrift store value). That was a lot of decluttering.

We don't allow soda or gum to our children. We finally had to break down and give permission for soft drinks when our children turn 16. Most youth activities nowadays don't even offer water as a beverage. And thankfully, they just don't like it so they don't even end up drinking soda at that point. My 21 year old still hasn't tasted Coke. It has saved on the dental bills as I have eight children and we had one cavity in 21 years.

I'm sure there are more things. I'll add them when I think of them.

Of course, we do things that don't save us money, too. I have two in college. We don't want them having student loans. So that is a big chunk to pay each month. And they need cell phones. So, our cell plan is pretty expensive with 5 lines on it.

[carfreemama]

We lived in a housing co-op for 10 years. The housing charges were around $650 for a 2-bedroom unit, utilities included. We saved $50,000 in less than 5 years and then, last year, deliberately bought a house right on a major bus route and did not buy a car. We were able to buy a house in a really nice, walkable, kid-friendly neighbourhood that we never could have afforded with car payments.

No cable TV

Bought a flour mill and buy wheatberries to grind myself. Saves about
$0.75/kg on flour.

No cell phones.

Host clothing swaps with friends every season. Most of my clothes come from these or from flea markets or other second-hand.

Look for high-end stuff second-hand (Le Creuset dishes, for example).

Use the 'mason-jar' budgeting system and are incredibly faithful to it.

Keep up with routine pet-care and grooming and feed high-quality food to dog and cat. We have had NO illnesses with them in all the years we have had them and hence, no expensive vet bills. Same goes for the human family members.

Make sure there is room in our budget for unapologetic pleasure, so we don't rebel against our own frugality!

Host potlucks instead of going out for supper. We like socializing with dd around, anyway.

Buy a museum pass and visit all the cool exhibits with dd for a fraction of one-time costs.

Buy susbscriptions to favourite magazines instead of buying them at newsstands.

Take the train to visit relatives, instead of flying.

Until recently, I worked evenings and weekends to avoid paying for childcare (although now dd is in preschool part-time).

[aiccerb]

Wow great thread! Dont have anything new to add...but great ideas mamas

[Smokering]

Hmm.

1. We don't drink alcohol or soft drink, buy chips or packaged snacks
2. We don't own a car (yet). We just moved so close to DH's work that he can walk most days, and his motorbike costs very little to fill up with petrol.
3. DH also gets free bus tickets through his work (I do not, sadly!).
4. We borrow DVDs off a friend with a HUGE DVD collection, for entertainment.
5. I never buy beauty products (I win 'em online!)
6. I bake our bread and make most of our food from scratch (not pasta and home-ground flour, sadly, but spaghetti sauce, baking, stuff like that)
7. I make lunch for DH nearly every day, to take to work (usually dinner leftovers)
8. We have the cheapest phone system with no answering machine or anything fancy
9. We don't have a TV
10. We recently cut down from two computers to one, which saves power
11. If we go out for a meal (rare), we almost always share, and sometimes drink water instead of ordering 'proper' drinks
12. We don't eat a lot of meat
13. We pretty much don't buy clothes... mostly 'cause we're lazy and/or hate clothes shopping, but I guess it's frugal! I currently own *one* pair of shoes. DH needs some new underwear, though...
14. I wash my hair with water and/or various random food products (honey and milk last night, left it sooo soft and shiny!), which saves a bunch on the expensive salon shampoos, serums and conditioners I was using. If my hair needs a trim, DH does it. I'm working on getting him to let me cut his hair, and his last $15 haircut was so bad he just might agree! DH just uses water on his hair too, and has noticed it thickening up since he stopped using shampoo.
15. We don't have a dryer, so line drying is a no-brainer!

[Pepperdove]

1. I am the turning out lights police. I turn out lights in other people's houses!
2. CD (from a service, but I am sloowly moving towards washing my own)
3. I stay out of Target altogether, unless I have MIL with me, since she likes to buy the kids stuff.
4. Groceries from TJ's and Garden Fresh ( a local chain with great prices and the most fantastic produce department!!!)
5. We don't drink soda or buy cookies (we do eat cookies, though. Too many delicious homemade cookies. mmm)
6. Go to the library instead of the bookstore
7. DH just started carpooling with a friend and his car hasn't left the garage in over a week!
8. DH returned a Xmas gift (foosball table) to bankroll a new nice pair of hiking boots. There was enough left over for Crocs for me, too!
9. We try not to eat out. It always breaks the bank when we slip up.
10. Make my own coffee insttead of driving thru Starbucks. I love Starbucks waaay too much. TJ's whole bean coffee is excellent, and the fair trade shade srown stuff is cheaper than the evil kind other places!
11. We don't go to movies, but that's more b/c we have 2 kids under 3 and when exactly would we go to a movie? Saves us 10+ per ticket, though.
12. Cook from scratch a lot. We are vegetarians, too, which is not a frugality measure, but works out that way when it comes time to check out at the grocery store.
13. I wash my hair roughly once a week, although I do use mainstream products. We are dirty hippies here.