Practical ways to tighten our belts

I am so glad I put up that post yesterday. It seems like a lot of us needed it! One of of my RL friends, inspired by yesterday's post, called her credit card companies and got one of her card's rate lowered by double digits!

So here's what I'm thinking about for today: Practical ways to tighten our belts. Remember when "Y2K" was about to happen (what dorks we all were with that Y2K business) and people seemed either to go way overboard and stockpile years' worth of supplies, or do nothing? I think we could be either psyching ourselves into all kinds of belt-tightening things that are going to seriously affect our emotional lives, or else go into denial and just keep spending as if there's no tomorrow.

So I'm looking for practical ways to save money, build a little safety in, DIY, that sort of thing.

Also, please think ahead about this, which we'll post next week: More people are going to be eating from food banks. Lots of times what they end up with are food that are not high in nutrition (boxed mac 'n' cheese, anyone?), and a consistent diet of that kind of stuff is going to depress mood and cause depression, sluggishness, and weight gain. Which is exactly what people struggling to hold things together financially do NOT need.

I'm wondering if we could think of some nutritionally-good, tasty, not-too-complicated recipes that could be made out of ingredients that can be kept at a food bank. That means nothing frozen, and no fresh meat or dairy (right? It's been years since I was actually at a food bank and saw the facilities.) We're talking mostly boxed and canned, with some fresh produce that has a longer shelf life.

If you're willing to put your recipe-developer hats on and take up the challenge, I'm hoping we can be ready to post next Friday. Then we can figure out how to make these recipes useful. (printing out the recipe and donating the set of ingredients together? making some sort of mini-cookbook for food banks to distribute? something totally obvious I'm not thinking of?)

In the meantime, we're looking for practical ways to cut some expenditures that won't affect emotional quality of life too much.

Comments

[meagan]

I started my new blog right before the economy hit the fan, but I'm more and more glad I did because it's going to be harder to shop with our values if our pocketbooks are hurting.

I used to work at one of our state's largest food banks with more than 30 pantries in the bank's network. One of my former colleagues had a lot of healthy recipes using common donation items, like ramen noodles. Anything that encourages healthy donations is such a plus, but we also loved it when we would receive cake mixes and things like that. Even families facing hard times like to celebrate birthdays, you know?

IME, the recipes are out there, but small pantries in churches and the like wouldn't have the budget to print a cookbook for all of their clients. One thing pantries really need? Volunteers. This is especially timely, because I always volunteer around Yom Kippur. Most pantry volunteers are seniors and they have a lot of trouble packing and lifting the heavy bags and boxes.

I know a little too much about this, so I won't go on and on :)

[Nichole]

I'm going to place an order with Angel Food Ministries (angelfoodministries.com) next month. A box of food is $30, and it does include things like meat and fresh vegetables!

[Catherine]

@meagan, actually, I'd love it if you'd go on and on about what would help food banks and food pantries. I'm never sure if the most useful thing I can give them (after my time) is food or money. I tend to think money, because if I buy a dozen cans of tomatoes on sale this week, and give them to the pantry, and so does everyone else, then all they have to give to folks is tomatoes. Whereas if they're overflowing with tomatoes, and I give them a check, they can use that to buy tuna, or whatever. And they can buy it in bulk for less than what I'd pay at the store anyway.

Or am I completely off-base?

On topic, we are considering cutting our minimal Netflix subscription (the $5/month option) because we never use it. Don't have cable to begin with, or we'd definitely cut that. I'm doing a LOT more stocking up on non-perishables when they're on sale, which is resulting in temporarily higher grocery bills at the moment, but should pay off eventually once we have a stock built up.

Mostly we're thinking about ways we can help others who are harder-hit than us.

[hush]

Do your own manicures & pedicures. Learn to cut your family's hair. The cost for the supplies to start doing these things easily pays for itself in a week. Stop ordering drinks & dessert when going out to eat. Use the library. Shop at Goodwill & other thrift stores (that's also a green thing to do). Can't even begin to tell you how many compliments I've gotten over the years on stuff I've picked up second hand! Makes you never want to shop retail ever again.

[Alexis]

We've been considering ditching cable. We're not huge TV people and even our basic cable package seems to rack up with all the taxes and fees involved. I love Netflix and they have decent plans for under $20/month (its how I get my HBO fix without paying for HBO). I'll probably only end up saving us $45 a month, but I think its a luxury we can live without....

[cb]

We're not putting anything on the credit card this month and paying off any current balances.

[rudyinparis]

Hmm.

My thoughts right away go to food consumption. So:

For the last several months we have eaten meat about once a week.

This summer we invested in a CSA, and, while it was $400 up front, the cost came out to be about $24/week from June through October. And it encouraged us to eat more veggies. And greatly reduced our weekly grocery bill. I'm sad it's coming to an end.

I have praised it before here, and will again: I use an online meal planning service. It's $26.50 for six months. We waste less food and spend our grocery money more efficiently.

What I need to improve on: restrict my co-op purchases to meat and eggs. Period. I can get hormone-free milk at the conventional store. I've gotten lazy with this.

Get back on track with bringing lunch from home. Swallow my reluctance and make DH his lunches, even though it makes me feel like his Mom.

I think it's very important to stay realistic about what we can and will actually do. Notice Moxie stresses *practical* ideas. Now, in my social set, it has become quite de rigeur to have your own chickens. I can't throw a rock in my social circle without hitting someone clutching their own personal chicken. I'm kidding. They don't carry their chickens around. DH and I talked about this last Spring. It's kind of an appealing idea. But we nixed it as unrealistic. Primarily on the logistics and reality of getting our chickens butchered and eating them. Because if it's just for the eggs, I don't see the cost-benefit analysis quite working out. I can get organic, free-range eggs at the co-op for .22 apiece. And I don't need any more pets or living beings relying on me. But maybe chickens are an option for you.

What else?
I will continue to mull this over.

[paola]

Oh, I was just reading an article on how to save energy at home. The saving is in CO2 per year. Here goes a summary:

1. Turn off water when brushing teeth. Saving: -3kg of CO2 per person

2. Fill dish-washers before using: -45 kg of CO2

3. Keep fridge away from heat source: -150kg of CO2

4. Hang washing rather than use dryer: -240 kg of CO2

5. Seperate garbage (recyclables/compost etc): -9kg of CO2

6. Turn off standby: -67 kg of CO2

7. Use bikes for distances of less than 6 kms: -240 km of CO2

8. Smooth driving ( no brusque braking): -200 kg of CO2

9. Turning off air-con for 4 hours a day during summer: -300 kg of CO2

10: Use flow regulators in shower: -230 kg of CO2 per person.

11. Use energy efficient light bulbs instead of old fashined incandescent lighting: -250 kgs of CO2

I was pleased to see most of these things have been implemented in our home(although I do leave the internet running sometimes which is a big rap on the knuckles!!)

[CaliBoo]

One thing that's working for us is a "gift truce" with our siblings and parents. The kiddos still get gifts (but within reason) and the rest of us just enjoy the holiday/birthday.
Oh, and here in San Diego the library system has a lot of music CDs available too. No new releases, but still a lot of good stuff.

[rudyinparis]

Good ones, Paola.

Also: programmable thermostat.

Install a full flush/half flush component on your toilet.

We also invested in 6 new windows (DH put them in) recently and are hoping to see some savings there.

And we opted in on the central air downtime during off hours dealio given by our utility. Did that sentence make sense? Do you guys know what I'm talking about? You agree to let the energy company put you on low AC during off-peak hours and you get a discount on you bill. We didn't even notice, as we barely use the AC anyway.

[ada]

Its hard to tighten your belt when you don't have a good idea where your money is going.

I HIGHLY recommend www.mint.com if you are looking for a good budgeting website. It was recommended in Real Simple and is safe. I thinks its much easier to use than Quicken or other programs. Plus its free.

We've been using it for 6 months now. They put everything in this nifty pie-chart so it is *very* easy to see where your money is going. And it was NOT going where we thought it was. Turns out we were spending 2x on gas than I thought. Same for groceries. Looking at the hard numbers helped us focus our efforts.

We stared shopping at the less expensive grocery stores, cooked at home 90% of the time, and brought our own lunches for work. We cut our grocery bill in HALF. I'm so happy about that.

[Michelle]

I was just thinking about this last night. We have already started switching to the new more efficient (if funk looking) light bulbs. Our dry cleaner offers free pickup/delivery so we do that to save time/gas. We have milk delivered as well since we go through a couple gallons a week with a toddler. And I think I am going to get some of those plastic storm window things to help stop drafts. Our house is newer but I still think this might help.

[Shandra]

Recipes: will do. :)

Tips I find helpful

- Don't shop or go to the mall for recreation (this makes my quality of life better)

- When shopping, stick to the list. Avoid stores that are experts at overspending (for us this means Costco – I never find the savings add up to the waste/impulse)

- Track spending to the penny – funny how this changes behaviour

- Make movie night at home fun as a trade for movies out

- Indulge in a controlled way – plan indulgences so you don't feel blah all the time

[SarcastiCarrie]

I'm to the point where I feel like if I cut back any more, I would feel deprived somehow.

I know that sounds spoiled, but the thermostat is already set at 64 degrees. I already cook most of our food (although I do use convenience items some nights to get the meal on the table quickly). I already buy cheap meat and use the slow cooker and then re-use the meat in other recipes later.

We don't have cable TV. We used those $40 government coupons to get digital TV convertor boxes and now get 30 channels or so (major metropolitan area).

We have cell phones but have not cancelled the house phone. I'm a little paranoid about 911 access with a kid in the house.

We switched to the slower DSL plan (who knew they had that option?)?

[Oz]

Just wanted to chim in on the food bank/pantry front - through my day job (I work at a local foundation), I've heard that many of our local food banks have seen a 20-50% increase in demand over the past few months. The demand has not been matched by an increase in donations, so they're struggling to serve lots more families (some of whom were previously donors) on the same level of donations. They're worried that donations will drop in the final quarter of the year, as many nonprofits get most of their individual gifts in the holiday season.

Also, while donations of food are always, always appreciated, many food banks or pantries are able to buy more food for a dollar than we can buy at grocery stores. You might check with your local food bank or pantry to see if this is the case - it's possible that they can buy three times the food that you could buy at the store. In general, cash can go further for them than food - though any and all donations are valuable and appreciated!

[Shannon]

@Kelly, our library does those e-mail reminders automatically.

@Caliboo, the gift truce is a great idea. The only concern I have with that is that if I suggest it to my family, they'll all think we have fallen on totally hard times, rather than just that we find gift-giving utterly pointless.

Your suggestions are all better than mine. Mine are the usual stuff like coupons, buying generic, secondhand stores, blah, blah, blah.

[Cloud]

Hmmm. We're putting in an herb garden so that I can still indulge in fresh basil and cilantro for my recipes without paying $3 for the little herb packs at the grocery store.

We have big plans for other garden items (citrus! kiwifruit! a veggie garden!), but implementing them requires a lot of landscaping work from my already overworked Hubby- we'd need to terrace a slope in our backyard. So I doubt we'll do them this year. We do have an amazingly productive avocado tree. This year we gave away heaps of avocados. I've been joking that maybe next year we'll sell them.

@rudyinparis, I can safely say that no one in my circle owns a chicken. I agree with you on the cost-benefit analysis. Given the amount of milk Pumpkin drinks (and throws on the floor), I think we'd be better off getting a cow. Our neighbors might object, though.

[hedra]

Big ticket items are a good way to shift your spending strategy.

Assess your insurance - can you get as good or better for less? We were shocked at how much better it could go, frankly. Cutting a few hundred dollars off EACH insurance bill... good plan.

Check the interest rates on your cards, call or move to a low-interest card.

Leverage your taxes - if you get a big refund usually, shift your exemptions so you get more take-home - but put it in savings (auto-withdraw to something like an ING account). Look at your deductions - anything sitting around that you don't have time to sell (but can document with a digital camera) you can instead donate, if you itemize. That can add up, later.

Figure out where your addiction/emotional spending goes (if you have any). e-Bay? latte's? Social networking lunches? Bookstore? Music store? Hobby supplies? Give yourself a monthly budget rather than a weekly one.

Don't fret too much about the nickel and dime lifestyle things (the $15/year magazine can stay), but do take a good look at the groceries, electric bill, cable, phone, the things that are paid weekly or monthly. Our cable bill is ~$12/month, for example.

Talk about the finances. Stress tends to lead to not talking, not talking leads to secrecy, and secrecy tends to lead (IMHO) to bad habits not being spotted. The more the finances are an open topic (at least in your house), the more stuff stays above board, the more it remains 'safe' and the less it leaks. Be kind to each other, it helps.

See a financial advisor. That saved us more money more times... qualified is important, obviously. You'd think that shelling out $400 (less the first year if you have a Costco Exec Membership and sign on with Ameriprise) would be a lot to spend, but saving and having strategies is far more important when we have LESS than it is when we have MORE. Our guy saves us more than that per quarter, so we're cool with the cost up front. Consider scraping enough together for a good one ($300-500, typically, per year) - and remember that the first visit is free, typically, so you can bring in your info and just talk to get some ideas, and if you like, pay them for more ideas later. If you don't like, you can go see another one. Our guy is Ameriprise, but independents have their benefits as well (and some new folks at any of the companies will suck rocks - get someone with at least a few years of experience, please!). They don't have to touch your nest-egg to save you money with different tax, savings, and committed spending (insurance, mortgage, etc.) strategies.

Other practicalities:

Our local food bank has a grocery store. You don't have to be that far down to go use their store (no entry requirements at all). Fresh, frozen, and non-perishables all available at discount. Check, maybe yours does too.

Plan meals ahead. A little thought goes a long way. The services work if you don't have hoops to jump through diet-wise (we do, and I'm not counting on ANY service to keep it straight!), but you can also do it yourself. A sheet of paper with the weekly plan on it makes a big difference to the weekly shopping. that plus the circulars for two different stores (or three, whatever's close/available/accessible) means the ability to pick and choose the loss leaders for the week's plan. Or just plan around the loss-leaders for the one you've got. Just *having* a plan helps. So does eating before shopping. And eating something tasty not just food helps, too.

That's my thoughts for the day.

[SarcastiCarrie]

rudyinparis - Really? Chickens? Outside in a pen in Minnesota or something? I guess it'd be OK as long as you didn't have a rooster.

One more thing about food pantries...I read an article in the paper about a church that supports single mothers. They said that one of the things they like to get more than anything is laundry detergent.

[Shandra]

Also I think it's time to bring back the potluck dinner with friends. :)

[Matriarch]

Kelly,

Almost all public libraries let you check the due date of your books online and even more useful, renew them online. Over the years I have taken out thousands of library books. I always keep them on a bookshelf in our entrance foyer, so they don't get mixed up with our thousands of books and lost forever.

Your local public library is the best moneysaver of all. Check out their programs as well as the books, videos, dvds, cds, books on tape and cds.

[meagan]

Addressing just what people mentioned...

I'm going to get a little wonky. Bear with me :)

Food *pantries* distribute food in a community, while food *banks* distribute food to pantries. So... while a case of tomatoes might overwhelm a pantry, a bank would make good use of them. And a $ donation to a pantry might go to buy food, it won't go as far as the $ to a bank because they have the real buying power.

That being said, don't neglect your pantry! If you have the time, find the one in your neighborhood and ask them what their needs are, they'll definitely tell you. The food bank will answer that question if you call, too. One nationwide food bank is America's Second Harvest and they do peanut butter and jelly drives at schools. Maybe start one at your school, even if you don't live in a A2H city?

Okay, I'm done, but this is inspiring a longer post for me, so you can hop over to my place in an hour or two for more!

[Fiona]

1. Trade babysitting rather than hire a babysitter. We are doing this with a couple I know, and it saves lots of cash. Plus, our son already knows their house.

2. On the food bank question, I used to volunteer with my mother at our local shelter, and we routinely made lasagna. The meat was donated by local restaurants and groceries (ground beef is cheap and since it goes bad must be donated or discarded). We could make huge batches using up donated pasta, canned tomatoes, etc. And if you add lots of veg in small pieces nobody notices a change but you've increased the nutrition. We made the kind without bechamel, since that's a pain. It was pasta, meat, cheese, veg, and oil - all components of a healthy diet.

That energy list was great. I'm doing most of that, but the thing that caught my eye was the dryer. I started hanging our clothes to dry about four months ago, and had no idea how much energy that saves. And there's a cascade effect, too: without the dryer going constantly, our house is cooler so we don't need so much a/c.

[Jenny]

Instead of a total gift truce, we've agreed with siblings that gifts must be handmade (pan of brownies, etc) or used (used books, secondhand clothes, toys, etc.) We're getting creative for Christmas. It's really fun.

We bought a yogurt maker (though you don't have to) and have been making our own yogurt. The savings are incredible. Milk is so much cheaper than yogurt (especially since we buy milk at Costco -- Shandra, we have an absolute no off-list purchases rule!) and we don't have to waste the containers, which you can't recycle in our area. You can make delicious frozen yogurt with it, too.

We also have committed to eating meat once every four days. Huge difference to our grocery bill.

[Caroline]

SarcasticCarrie, the 911 issue with land lines is pretty important to me, too. I had a first aid and CPR class a while back, and the instructor drilled into us the importance of using a land line if at all possible. And we're in earthquake country, and having a real land line, not internet, not just cell, and an old-fashioned phone that doesn't need power to work is as important to me as food and water. Almost.

I hope it doesn't come across as insensitive, but I feel a slight weight lifted when it comes to the house projects in this economy. We have all sorts of small-ish projects we *should* be getting to on our house, but there's no way in hell we're spending that money now. So instead of feeling bummed about it, I feel like I can scratch some huge pain-in-the-ass things off my to-do list. And I like that.

[m]

I'm with Sarcasticarrie--we live so frugally already that tightening much more is going to cut something completely off! We don't have cable, use the library for all movies/books, don't have a car, line-dry (100% outside in summer, 50% inside in winter), use cold water to wash clothes (except for diapers), 95% of our meals are from scratch, almost never eat out, only eat meat about 2-3 times a week, goodwill for most of our clothes, thermostat set low, only use dishwasher about once a week, use dried beans not canned, etc., etc., etc. We just bought 1/4 side of cow from a local farmer (grain fed, no hormones! yay!) that will be delivered tonight. That's our beef until summer, as far as I'm concerned. It's a lot up front, but I really believe it's going to pay off. Especially if it means less trips in -30C weather with two kids under 3 with the stroller!

We're going to put up plastic on windows this winter to help with keeping the heat in and last winter we put heavy drapes between the front area and the main part of our house to keep the cold out.

[Mercysmama]

www.couponmom.com has an amazing site to save you money. You need to have the coupons from the Sunday paper (we get them from my mom & grandma as we do not subscribe to the paper).

Couponmom researches the prices and posts a weekly list for most major grocery stores in addition to Walgreens, Rite Aid, CVS, Target, etc. They do all the legwork in combining in store sales, rebates and coupons.

I've been using their site for a little over a month now and have saved over 25 bucks in just a few weeks.

[Clementine]

Clothes line. Ours still isn't up, though: location is still under discussion.

SarcastiCarrie--I also haven't cancelled our $30/month land line (can't find it for less, no kidding!). I want that security, especially since our cell phones don't always work at home.

We've been lucky to receive a lot of hand-me-down clothes for the girls from family and friends, and we supplement that with finds from thrift stores and end-of-season sales. Goodwill was my friend for clothes through pregnancy and now, since I still don't fit into my old clothes.

We found it very helpful to cook protein in large batches and freeze the extra in meal-size portions. Add a veg or two and a starch (cook extra and eat it later in the week), and the meal is done. Somehow, cooking (and cleaning up after) meat products is time-consuming for me. Yes, quality sometimes suffers (last night's reheated hamburgers), but the time saving is worth it.

How do you all handle these discussions with your partner? DH's eyes glaze over if I ask for his input. He is careful with spending money, but I feel like I'm shouldering the entire burden of financial management and concern.

[Monica]

@rudyinparis, thanks for the laugh!

"I can't throw a rock in my social circle without hitting someone clutching their own personal chicken. I'm kidding. They don't carry their chickens around."

Off the top of my head, I suggest googling "WIC recipes" for some starting points/inspiration. There are several PDF-format WIC cookbooks.

[flea]

I recommend a home energy audit. In some areas public utilities will do them for free; there are also web sites that talk about how to do your own (like this: http://apps1.eere.energy.gov/consumer/your_home/energy_audits/index.cfm/mytopic=11170) If you have a drafty house, small investments at the Home Despot can result in huge heating bill savings.

[sueinithaca]

It always cracks me up to hear "do your own manicures and pedicures" on lists of how to cut back because I have never ever had those on a list of things I could spend money on.

Here's where we've cut back
-switched from Verizon to Vonage. I hear everyone on the necessity of a landline, but was finally lured away by the $45/month savings.We'll see how it goes.
-I cut the kids hair (I usually did this before, but definitely do now)
-I've started working occasional shifts at the local children's thrift shop in trade for clothes
-I'm planning to cut off the cable this week
-we joined a Winter CSA, which has been offered for the fist time this year. I find the more involved I am in CSA's, the less likely I am to set foot in the grocery, which saves a tom of money
-I canned a LOT of fruits and vegetables this summer (hundreds of jars). I'm doing grape juice right now. Grapes are .25/pound from the farmer if I buy in bulk, and 10 pounds makes a gallon of juice, so I can make a gallon of juice for $2.50 plus the cost of two reusable half-gallon mason jars ($2 each)
-I'm really shameless about asking people if I can take home leftovers that wouldn't otherwise be used. I was working a charity dinner last weekend where the chef roasted a lamb on a spit. At the end of the night, I asked for the carcass. The next day, I made myself 2 gallons of delicious organic lamb stock. That will make a lot of soup this winter.
-and, the demoralizing one - we've always been willing to spend a lot of money on our pets to keep them well. We've had to make the tough decision to try to do what's best for our pets within a really strict budget. One of our cats was hit by a car, and I've told the vet that we cannot afford to do anything more than pain relief and nursing care, and that if she feels that the cat will not return to a reasonable quality of life within 6 months with that type of care, then we should euthanize her. Right now we're waiting 1-2 weeks to see how she improves with just nursing care (she's on plenty of painkillers so isn't uncomfortable) before we make a decision. That's been the hardest decision so far.

[stacy]

We switched to prepaid cell phones. This has saved us a ton. We didn't want to ditch the cell phones entirely, because we don't want to end up with a flat tire and no means to call AAA (for instance). But even the cheapest standard plan runs 60 bucks for two lines, with all the taxes and fees. Even with 2 phones (one for me, one for DH) prepaid costs about $20/month, tops. Plus, no contract!

An alternative is getting rid of your landline, but that doesn't work for us. My husband's family lives in Canada, and we call them far too often for it to be cost-effective on a cell phone.

These are the times I really feel the pinch of apartment living. Everybody is stocking up on everything, but I quite literally do not have the room to stock up. I can't buy the 48 pack of toilet paper even though it has the best per-unit price; it is challenge enough to find room for 4 rolls in my bathroom! I also can't line dry clothes, or make a garden, or buy any significant portion of a cow or raise chickens. Etc., etc. I'd love to know how other apartment-dwellers make this sort of thing work.

[Jennifer]

I second the library check-outs, and I recommend library story times too. They are free, educational, and fun. I have also met friends there, and you can widen your social and find more people for playdates and other free fun.

[SarcastiCarrie]

stacy - It has literally been a decade since I have been an apartment dweller (and even then, my apartments were on the larger side), but I'll give it a try.

Do you have underbed storage boxes?

Hooks for measuring spoons inside your cabinets to make more shelf space for cans/boxes of food, storage on top of your cabinets (instead of a useless, useless soffits)?

Do you have an over-the-toilet shelf for toilet paper and towels? Or a corner shelf that goes floor to ceiling?

Drawers in the bathroom are great for storing TP. Drawers in the kitchen are good for cans of stuff. If you have a basement storage unit, TP and canned goods can be stored there. I would not store boxed goods there because the paper boxes would absorb the basement dampness (although I store our cereal, boxed cake mix, pasta, and flour on shelves in our basement).

A lot of times the shelf in the closet is wasted because it's up so high. Lightweight things like TP can be stored there without risk of clocking yourself on the head. Put shelves underneath the hanging clothes in the closet.

Over-the-door organizer.

[SarcastiCarrie]

Oh, and my roommate in college didn't believe in dryers (?) so she used to lay her clothes all over the dorm room to dry them. It always smelled nice, and in the winter, there was never a low-humidity problem. I found it a teensy bit annoying, but I guess it's do-able, if you're really into that kind of thing (which I am not).

[rudyinparis]

@Sarcasticarrie, yep, outside in Minnesota. In the winter. Turns out that even a standard lightbulb in the coop throws out pretty sufficient heat. I think when it gets really, really, REALLY cold (as it does, and I'm talking in the range of 40 below)--I think a space heater may be necessary. But chickens are surprisingly hardy, I guess.

Cloud, I'd rather have a cow, too. A few years back I was all jazzed about buying a cow and a pig that would be raised on a farm and we could go visit as they grew, and then we could take the girls and watch them get slaughtered. My husband met this enthusiastic idea with a long silence and then said: We're not going to do that.

I think if someone has been raised in a way that manis and pedis are on the budget and they make the decision of their own volition to remove those items, I think that's really impressive. I think that's every bit as impressive as... I don't know--any other thing! We all improve ourselves, simplify our lives, as we can, where we can. It's all good.

[Sherry H.]

regarding finding space in an apartment: i take the door off of the closet (door on hinges that swings inward into the closet) and put up a curtain rod and curtain, that way i gain all the space where the door would open.

i also have metro shelving in the kitchen (free-standing metal racks), pin a curtain to the front of it and use it as a pantry / kitchen applicances storage area.

[Jac]

For people keeping landlines because of long distance calls, or just saving money on long distance calls check out Skype or google chat on the internet. Both are free downloadable programs. I live in Canada, my parents in the Carribean, and I skype call them every weekend saving about $25.00 a call. If you are paying for half-decent internet service, then the calls are perfectly clear. Added bonus, if you have a webcam (and they come built in on Macs) then the person you are talkiing to can see you. In this way my parents have been able to see and chat with DS despite being so far away. I swear by Skype, have had all my family members around N. America and Europe sign up, and haven't paid for a long distance call in over a year.

[Mogget]

I can't let go of the emotional side of my Netflix subscription so when we have an "economic downturn" (my husband goes through jobs quickly-we never know when he'll have one) I put our account on hold. I don't lose my queue, I can add new movies as they come out, and I can leave it on hold for about 90 days (you can extend if you need to).

I have a chest freezer (I got it new at auction for less than half price) and we buy in bulk and on sale. I have enough frozen veggies to get us through. I also cook on weekends (when I feel like it) so we have meals (or parts of meals) frozen. That keeps us from eating out so much. If you have access to a big freezer, I think it's worth the extra electricity to run it.

We buy all our kids "play" clothing at Goodwill. They have a few brand new outfits which they can wear "in public", but at home or grandma's they wear the Goodwill stuff. Since most of my husband's jobs are labor type jobs, I often get him stuff he can wear to work as well. I'm not saying that Goodwill has "bad" clothing, I just feel that I can justify letting the kids get dirty and have a good time if I know I only paid $3.00 for the whole outfit (shoes included!).

We take a picnic lunch to the local park and feed the ducks/geese for "family night" when we're tightening our belts. That way I don't feel bad if we don't finish off a loaf of bread before it drys out (we're not wasting it if we feed the ducks, right?). We have a big old blanket we keep in the car so we can sit and enjoy ourselves. My DS loves to feed the ducks.

The big stuff: like furniture, appliances, etc. we go to auction. We have a small auction house in our town that has 2 auctions a month, and when we're in the market for something big, I go to auction. I intend to get a bedroom suite when the right one gets offered (they've been going for around $500 for a 5-piece set of solid hardwood). I don't think we can beat that price anywhere. And we're supporting a local business.

I do my own mani's and my DH does my pedi's. My nails don't look as glamorous as some of my co-workers, but they're neat, and they don't cost much to upkeep.

We don't have a land line, just two cell phones. We're looking for a better plan since ours is just about to expire. It would probably be even cheaper if we didn't have cell phones, but we like the convenience, so that's what we have.

Our local library sucks (they never have the books I want, their children's section leaves a lot to be desired, and they charge for movies!!) so we don't use it much. I wish we could, because I do miss reading new books, and we just can't afford to buy the ones we want. I have been known to join a book club to get the cheap books, buy the required number of books, and then cancel the account. Usually, if you just buy the number of books to fulfill the requirement, you come out ahead of the game. Does that make me lame? I hope not.

[Clemetine]

For recipes, take a look at:

http://www.umext.maine.edu/onlinepubs/PDFpubs/4029.pdf (Saving Money with Homemade Convenience Mixes) free download

http://www.umext.maine.edu/onlinepubs/htmpubs/4050.htm (Recipe Ideas for Thrifty Families) (printable web pages)

Your local Cooperative Extension organization may have similar publications as well.

For those of you with choices about heat and hot water:

--Contact your state housing authority, county government, town office about financial assistance or weatherization assistance (materials and/or labor) available for low-income families.

--Explore on-demand hot water systems. We live in Maine, where the homes guzzle heating oil all winter. We installed an on-demand propane hot water system and now only use the furnace to for heat (baseboard hot water). (Otherwise, the furnace fires to heat hot water, which means it even runs off and on all summer.) I estimate it will pay for itself in 3 years. The propane company was offering a good financing deal: 6 months no payments, 3-year financing at 0%. I typically don't finance such things, but that will allow us to pay off what remains on a car loan while still keeping what we need in savings.

An on-demand (tankless) system (likely electric) could also be a thrifty replacement for a HW tank for a small business with limited water needs.

--Install timer on hot water heater if your family's habits are predictable enough. This would work great for an office, too.

If anyone is interested in energy conservation and weatherization web sites, let me know. It's not my area of expertise, but I've started some related work both because of the community need and as part of a coordinated effort of my publicly-sponsored employer.

[Jan]

I think the key to saving money (and I've done $20K/year for two adults with one in school) is to plan everything ahead. Everything.

Make a weekly meal plan, shop once a week, and don't buy anything you don't need for your planned meals. Make the meals even if you'd rather order a pizza or pick up chinese on the way home. If you forget to get an ingredient, do without it or substitute something. If you don't know what to substitute, ask google.

Make a weekly travel plan. Take the trips you plan, but don't run out willy nilly for other reasons. Be sure to plan some fun stuff. Grocery shop on your way home from work, or on your lunch hour (put a cooler in your trunk for perishables).

Take the time to research what sort of entertainment is free and low-cost in your area. If there's something you really love, buy a membership and then use it lots. Don't buy lots of memberships, but buy one that you'll love. Use some of your free/entertainment time to do some volunteering. Spending a morning in a soup kitchen will change your attitude about your "sacrifices" in a hurry.

Pay your savings account first. If you've got direct deposit, have a set amount put into savings before it even goes into your checking account. Increase the savings amount by $10 or $20 or $50 per paycheck and see if you even notice the difference.

Check on your tax status. You can use places like TaxAct to estimate what your tax liability for next year is going to be. If you have been overpaying, file a new W-4 and get a little more money in your paycheck now.

If you're in debt, I highly recommend the snowball. The best explanation is here:

http://www.daveramsey.com/etc/cms/index.cfm?intContentID=4055

but I'll try to do it justice in a nutshell. List all your debts and your minimum payments. Pay the minimums on all but one (he usually recommends the smallest/fastest to pay off), and pay as much toward that one as you can until it's paid off. Then you roll that payment (minimum plus whatever else you can manage) over and attack another debt the same way. I've seen people use this to pay off tens of thousands of dollars in debt. Dave Ramsey knows his stuff.

Make an emergency plan. Then make a backup plan for your emergency plan. It's hard to accomplish anything if you're paralyzed with "what if" fear.

I posted before about our gift exchange tradition in my family -- it takes the emphasis off "spend less" and puts it onto "do for those who don't have much", which could make it easier to approach (who said her family would think asking for a gift holiday meant they were in dire straits?)

Shop consignment for your kids, in sizes bigger than they're wearing now. Watch out of season clearances for the same thing.

Organize a babysitting coop; you're probably not the only one in your neighborhood/church/office who's trying to limit extra spending.

Think about getting necessities for Christmas gifts instead of frivolities. Almost ready to get rid of that crib? Give your kid a big bed for Christmas. Better yet, get the bed off craigslist, or from a yard sale. Make your Christmas gift to and from your partner a new stove or energy efficient windows or a day of clothes shopping.

The very worst thing you can do is bury your head in the sand and pretend your financial woes aren't happening. These things have a way of getting out of hand in an exponential manner. One bounced check leads to a big fee, which leads to an even lower balance, which leads to more bounced checks, late fees, "due upon receipt" notices, liens being called, and before you know it, foreclosures or evictions. I know it's embarrassing to tell the hospital that you don't have the money to pay that emergency room bill, or the power company to confess that you didn't realize home heating oil had gone up THAT much, but it WILL be better to set up payment terms than to have them after you for non-payment.

If you have things that have been turned over to collection, you have the right to be left alone. If you ask them not to contact you, they are prevented by law from doing so. (This doesn't mean the debt goes away, so this isn't an excuse to let things slide, but it means you don't have to be held hostage to a bunch of constant haranguing.)

This whole thing (frugal living? debt reduction? deliberate spending?) is something of a hobby with me. (Eh, hobby, obsession ... potayto, potahto. Heh.)

Oh, and I know Second Harvest can be amazingly efficient with funds -- I think I've heard they pay an average of ten cents on the dollar for their food -- so giving money is absolutely the way to go if you're willing to do so. They have the resourches and infrastructure to do way more with your dollar than you can.

[Cloud]

I was just going to pop in with the Skype suggestion, too. The grandparents love it because they can see Pumpkin. This is particularly nice for the grandparents in NZ, who don't get much in person time with her.

[enu]

We've always lived fairly frugally - sometimes extremely frugally - you ever play chicken with a tampon about how long it will last? But those were during spouse's grad school days - I'll never have to do that again, anyway - economic benefits of chemically-induced menopause? I'm not kidding - those feminine protection products add up!

Never had manicures/pedicures stuff like that or jewelry or clothes beyond the bare minimum to get by professionally. I don't like to shop or buy things or own things. So there's not that much fat to cut.

The one area I could really cut back on is eating out. We've had an agreement since forever that we had dinner out once a week to keep me from sticking my head in the oven instead of sticking the chicken in the oven. Even during the days of tampon-rationing we ate out - Taco Bell or a pancake breakfast at a local firehouse or something. But honestly, I don't _need_ dinner out. I just need a break. If spouse would commit to one meal a week or if younger daughter would - or one each, even better - including the purchasing, prep, cooking, table setting, clearing away and cleaning - I could easily drop the number of dinners out considerably. But take up cooking 7 days a week, week after week.... not happening. Next year after adorable-but-impossible-to-feed child goes to college I might get really serious about stuff like once-a-month cooking.

[kates]

One thing I finally did a year or so ago was sign up with my bank for overdraft protection. We would always get to the end of the month and go over like $5, then get hit with a huge fee, and it made me want to scream. The downside to overdraft protection is that (at least at my bank) it is actually a line of credit, so if you'd be tempted to treat it like a credit card, or if your credit rating is not great, it's totally not worth it. But we use it just as a backup for when we go a few bucks over, and we can pay it off instantly before any finance charges occur. I think the charge for using it is something like $5 per time, instead of the $30 or so fee we'd get before. Maybe some of you are more responsible (: but when 2 people with imperfect communication abilities are using 1 account with a finite amount of money in it, sometimes wires get crossed! This way it doesn't become something to fight over or blame each other for.

And that's another thing, incidentally. With my friends, we're trying to keep an eye on each others' relationships. Money is such a huge stress. I'm trying to be sure that no one in my circle is suffering in silence, or growing angrier and angrier with their spouse with no one to talk to about it. We're all dealing with this economy together; we can help each other shoulder the emotional burdens together as well.

[Linda]

How do the prepaid cell phones work with your phone number? Can you transfer your current number?

[Clementine]

SarcastiCarrie--We typically don't dry our clothes, but hang them inside. I think I did that in college, too, but don't actually remember. Why? My clothes always seemed to shrink disproportionately--always got shorter. I don't think we were roommates, but now, in retrospect, I can see that would be an annoying habit!

[Margot]

We bike for errands and to work as much as possible, which saves us a lot on gas. Luckily we are in a neighborhood where a lot of essentials are within walking/biking distance. The only exception is for the grocery store when we're stocking up. We've stopped eating out, and started buying in bulk when stuff is on sale. I'm also borrowing the nanny's Costco card periodically to stock up on diapers and TP.

I'm not watering the lawn--only watering some of the border plants, and I'm hanging the wash to dry on the line. We try to keep A/C use to an absolute minimum and only turn it on when the house hits 80 degrees, turning it off as soon as the temp outside drops to the temp inside the house. I bought new blinds for the south/west windows this spring and they have really helped keep our house cooler.

I have totally stopped going to the mall and even looking at catalogs in the mail. They go right into the recycle bin so I'm not tempted. Our entire extended family is doing the "gift truce" idea this year. We've agreed to do family gifts, so for instance we're giving my sister and her family a membership to their local zoo ($50 total instead of $50x4 family members for "stuff").

I've got a stack of stuff ready to sell on Craigslist, since any extra $$ counts! I encourage everyone to check out freecycle organizations in your area (freecycle.org). It's amazing what people will give away for free, and it's a great way to get rid of random weird stuff you could never sell or that Goodwill might not want.

[Cathy]

I was raised by thrifty parents - my dad was pretty proud of the time he got the electric bill down to $25 (for a 3 bedroom house, in Florida, in the summer, but OTOH, everyone else, incl. mom was off at college).

It was instilled in me to "combine trips" - I don't think I could run to the store for one thing if I had to.

DH or I end up going around turning off lights that seem to be no longer in use. (I hear my dad saying, "When not in use, turn off the juice" or "When the sun is bright, use it's light.")

Also, I plan the menus with the grocery store circular in one browser tab, the google calendar in another and a notepad doc for the list in another. Then I'll print the list and the family's agenda for the week (I have a menu calendar, plus everyone else has their own calendar). I haven't seen my grocery bill rise signigicantly (although it tends to be $70-$140 each week - some weeks are "rebuilding weeks" for a family of 5)

Take advantage of your company's FSA's to reimburse for daycare (if both are working full time) and health care costs. It's cheaper to pay for this stuff with pretax dollars. Although the trick is to underestimate the year's costs by a little bit so you don't have anything left in the accounts at the end of the year.

[Liz]

I sew skirts for my daughter. She only wants to wear dresses/skirts anyway and they are surprisingly easy to make and I'm planning to pass them along to my younger daughter (who is the hand me down child anyway, poor dear). No patterns needed - you can get them online or wing it - and you can buy cute modern all cotton fabrics online too.

[Liz]

As far as food, I'm BIG into making homemade and freezing. Waffles, bread, spaghetti sauce, egg rolls - all homemade and frozen until we use them. Healthier and still yummy. And once every couple of weeks, I'll make a homemade pizza (dough from the local pizza shop) and use up all the leftover veggies, cheese and protein we have in the fridge.