Frugal Living

I have tons of tips-here are mine: Money Saving Ideas I have lots of ideas that can help...cause I know I have to live frugle too. Energy saving light bulbs throughout the house saves alot of money, making your own baby food and wipes and cloth diapers (I don't do the cloth diapers though), using cold water for washing clothes, soft water saves on detergents and shampoos and such, New windows help with heating and cooling bills-also recaulking helps, insulating outlets and switches in the walls helps too, refilling ink cartrides yourself instead of buying new ones, combining life insurance-homeowners' insurance and auto insurance to get multi-discounts, checking with phone company for a lower speed of DSL (we saved $15 by doing this and don't see much of a difference in the speed), taking long distance off your phone bill and using a phone card (saves us well over $15 a month-put the phone card number on speed dial and just memorize the pin or write it on the side of the phone-put clear tape over the pin if you write it on phone to make it stay), Save gas $ by getting a Tornadoe installed in your car (it's about $30-40 and you can put it in yourself, it makes the airflow better for your fuel and you get like a free tank of gas every 8 tanks or so by increasing your miles/gallon-my husband knows more about it), get an air filter that you rinse off and don't have to keep buying new paper ones for your car, on highway use AC instead of windows down-creates drag, hang dry your clothes outside instead of using the dryer -in winter use racks close to heating vents (I am forced to do this since our wiring is bad and won't let the dryer work), Make your own spaghetti sauce from pureed tomatoes and add seasonings, make your own bread, make your own bath paints for kids instead of buying it (cornstarch, foodcoloring and baby Magic), do your family's hair cuts-if you can, share big rentals of tools with nieghbors or family (like a yard roller), buy and use a FoodSaver to reseal foods and save fresh foods longer or freeze foods, have your own red raspberry patch-get the starts from someone who has a patch already, pay bills online with your bank instead of mailing them, shop generic brands (it's the same products) or even shop at Aldis if you have one, use coupons on the smaller sized products that way you get it for closer to nothing-especially if it's something you don't normally buy anyways, get rechargable batteries with charger-2 sets!-saves us lots! (tip on those batteries, you have to take them out of the outlet soon after the light goes off cause then it drains them), you can use used fabric softner sheets to wash dishes or as diaper liners in cloth diapers, for kids character underwear buy a big pack of white ones and find pictures online, print to iron on paper and cut them out and iron onto underwear-then they can have their spongebob, superman, and Blue's Clues all in one pack of cheaper underwear (when you iron those, take the paper off after it cools then the ink will stay on the fabric more-I just did this last night), also make custom shirts for yourself with cute logos you see-make sure you flip words though), WIC program, Link Card if you qualify, All Kids health insurance if you qualify-rebate program if you already pay for your health insurance through work, if you have a public aid medical card get discounts on phone service with it, Some Cell phone companies give Law enforcement discounts, or Military, or Teacher discounts. buy Culver's kids meals and save the "scoop" coupon for a treat for another day (like those days you are just so broke but you still want to be a cool mom), going to parks for fun is always free.99! I read that if you eat peanut butter before you go out to eat (or to someones house so you don't look like a pig) you won't eat as much-that will save you money and fatness...next thing I know you'll all be smelling like peanut butter when you come over. Get a good supply of stain removing items to keep clothes nice and for hand-me downs or to sell on ebay (yup-I do that), get a Camelback (it's a backpack with a bladder in it) and fill with water for hot days at the fair or on the waterfront or whatever kind of events where they charge you like $50 for a cold ounce of water.I make my own BBQ sauce, it's better then the store's anyways. Ketchup, Brown sugar and mesquite liquid smoke (thanks shannon)-it's way good for grilling. Someone told me you can make breakfast toasters with the infamous sandwhich grillers, you can put scrambled eggs in it with sausage or whatever. You can freeze them and then just toast them when you want one for breakfast on the go.

We have Energy saving light bulbs throughout the house, which saves money on electricity. Water saving showerhead cuts down on water usage. Shop at the end of the day when the supermarkets are reducing the price on items. Buy on special and freeze the extra. Milk and bread can both be frozen as can so many other things. Cook larger portions and freeze half for a meal another day. Hand wash small items & save on electricity plus use cold water for washing machine. Hang washing on line instead of using dryer. Writing shopping lists on back of used envelopes and only shop from list. Cooking meals rather than eating out or using pre-packaged meals. Walk or ride a bike for short distances instead of driving the car. Use discount vouchers where possible. Grow your own herbs and this can be done anywhere, even in pots, so you don't need a garden for this one. Get the children to make cards for birthdays, Christmas etc. They can paint on plain paper and use this for wrapping presents. Alternatively you can use hankies, doilies, tea towels for wrapping presents and they serve a dual purpose of being part of the present plus you are saving on wrapping paper.

I make my sons baby food myself, that is so much cheaper than buying tins of food! I buy seconds nappies from a shop! Drive with your car windows up and dont use the air con to save on petrol. Do your shopping later in the day, that is usually when stores mark down the price of meat, and vegetables. Write a shopping list and only buy the things on that list. Instead of spending money on cleaning products use things like bicarb and vinegar to clean- there are plenty of recipes for cheap and safe cleaners using these ingredients on the net. Put money into an account you can't touch, every week. Us it as your emergency fund. (And no its not an emergency if you have nothing to wear for that party!) I've got zillions of others...

1. I use up any leftovers we have...almost nothing goes to waste, I use it in another meal. 2. I reuse plastic bags in our trash containers and garbage, so I never have to buy special bags for these. 3. I use and stock up on things when they are cheap when I can afford to. 4. I allow us to run out of stuff that isn't essential to have on hand and that I couldn't afford to stock up on. 5. I use less laundry detergent than the bottle says to use. 6. I pour 2 oz. of liquid fabric softener in a spray bottle and fill the rest of the way with water. I spritz an old cloth with the mixture and wa-la, cheap fabric sheets. It works great. 9. I have been using crumpled newspaper to clean my windows. It's a little messy, but not near as bad as I thought it would be. My windows look much better than with paper towels. 10. I open my windows and turn the ceiling fans on early in the mornings. It saves us a ton on electricity. 11. I keep a running list of what is in the freezer. That way nothing gets lost in there. :) 12. Make several mixes for snacks(brownies, cookies,...) ahead of time. It will save time and money. 13. Keep a list of leftovers on the fridge so that food isn't wasted due to forgetting about it. 14. Also I plan to make one shelf where all leftovers go. It should make them easier to spot.

I always have to be careful that I am not being penny wise but pound poor. It used to be that I wouldn't buy anything over $10. without checking all the stores that carry that sort of thing, to see which was cheaper. Of course, in many instances, (prices for gas was much cheaper then), I probably ran more gas out of the vehicle than I actually saved. Now I probably am erring on the side of not shopping around enough. What saves me the most these days is my subscription to Refund Cents (link is in my profile). I have been a member for over 10 years and wouldn't dream of letting my membership laspe. It is really cheap to try and you can see parts of the website for free. I believe online access for 3 months is only $4. Many people literally post there about buying hundreds of dollars worth of stuff for almost nothing. This is with coupons and such mostly although rebates and other incentives are sometimes used. I need to get back to personal frugality though. My biggest hope is that I will get better at saying no to the kids, lol.

Make all your own mixes. You will never purchase a commercial mix again. Homemade mixes are not only frugal but they do not have preservatives or MSG in them. I have posted alot of recipes for homemade mixes on mylot. They are so easy to make and will save you a bundle. Always cook from scratch. Those commercially prepared foods like mac and cheese, speghetti, lasgana and others are killing your paycheck. Do not purchase commercial drain openers. Make your own and use it weekly. You will never have a clogged drain again, saving alot of money and agervation. Join clubmom. purchase gift certificates when you plan on shopping as stores. You will get points posted immediatley and your gift cards arrive in less than a week usually. If you are going to be purchasing a large applieance or just about anything, this will save you alot. Trade in those points for more gift certificates. They often fun free shipping on gift cards.

I wait till i have a full load of clothes, I hang clothes out to dry on the line,instead of using a stove or oven we use a electric skillet and a toaster oven.make bigger meals for left overs the next day. only turn the lights on when needed.don't turn the t.v. on till evening. Only have the heat on if it gets below 40-45 etc..

i think budgeting never works and its waste of time for planning the situation.

Very good I like that idea. You can save money by not going out to eat, wait for items to go on sale, cut back on using utilities.

Wow! There are some great tips here!! I would like to add these: Call your electric company and ask if they have more than one rate for residential customers. Ask about getting an audit done so that you can switch to a lower rate. NEVER get a credit card from one of those offers you get in the mail, they have astronomical interest rates. Wash the lint filter from your dryer at least every month to keep it working at peak efficiency. It will use less power to dry a load of clothes. Use your appliances like the washer, dryer, dish washer during off-peak hours. That would be after 10:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. Buy store brand or generics at the grocery store. They are usually just as good as the higher priced name brands. Bathe your dog yourself rather than paying a groomer to do it. Do the bulk of your grocery shopping the LAST week of the month. prices are lower then.

I'm lucky that I like to sleep in a cool room at night. In the winter it gets very cold here, but I turn of the heat overnight and have just a small space heater on low in my room. Last year it saved me about $70/month in heating costs.

That sounds like a really great idea !! i usually just don't eat anymore than once maybe twice a day.

If I gave up chocolate I would save a mint But as I don't particularly like mints and without chocolate I would be a bear or a wolfie with a sore head It would be too drastic... But literally if I stopped buying chocolate I would be quids in....

well, I think the best way will be to increase yoiur earnings rather than cutting yoiur costs...

I just don't spend on things that are not necessary.

Brilliant idea

Good one...

i like it!!

When you're shopping for packaged food items, always look at the items on the bottom shelf. Stores strategically place the most expensive items at eye level because they make more profit on them. They have products that are equally tasty but cheaper where it isn't so easy to find them.

Before you buy something, stop and think if you REALLY want it or need it. Sometimes we buy things we don't even want very much, just on an impulse. Also, think about whether it's going to be a hassle to take care of this new thing you are buying. Sometimes owning things is more trouble than it's worth.