Jazzlife

Stop using the dryer.

megs0863

I make most things from scratch especially baked goods/pizza dough (freezes well). True fast food is leftovers 2-3 minutes in the microwave (saves mileage too!).

BellaBoo

I'm blessed to not have to fret about finances but I'm still frugal. I buy the cheapest toilet paper and paper products because if I'm buying it to throw away it's going to be cheap.
I shop online and only order where I can get free shipping. No gas needed. I buy only whole foods, fresh dairy, lean meats and fish, and fruit. No snacks, sodas, or package foods. My grocery bill is 1/4 what my neighbors is and we are feeding the same amount of people. She moans all the time about food prices and still buy the boxes of cereal, chips, Little Debbies, and packaged or frozen ready made foods. I make most of our bread products. I have the Roku for my TV. (cheap, one time price of ($60) for to have movies to watch on tv. You can use netfix or any other online movie service with the Roku. The services are under $10 a month. Amazon Prime is the cheapest and you get second day shipping free for any order with the movie service. DH has premium cable on his tv for sports. With money saved I am able to buy a great deal when I see it thus saving me more money. I spend money saved from bargains for things I want like fabric and quilting supplies. I can buy a big purchase and not stress over it but I feel I justify the item by being frugal in my everyday spending. DH is not as frugal. He'll buy what he wants on sale or not. LOL
We are very generous and share what we have to give. I think that is the key to having more. I pray for abundance and health in my and my family's life.

Judy McCrary

My husband loves to deer hunt, so every winter we get a fresh supply of meat. I buy very little meat at the store.

moroni

Here is a recipe for making your own laundry soap. Tried and true by a gal whose hubbie has been out of work off and on for the past 3 years. She is very frugal and a great advocate of homemade laundry detergent and extreme couponing (she even teaches classes on them in Londonderry NH
http://www.thefamilyhomestead.com/laundrysoap.htm
This recipe makes enough for 64 loads at a penny a load.

thismomquilts

Netflix is a good source for movies - they have just raised their prices, but it makes for good source for movies and you can watch old tv shows - new but reruns... also as for bread making - LOVE it - I figured out once it costs MAYBE .33 for one loaf of homemade. And I use King Aruthur white mixed with fresh ground whole wheat - I grind it myself. Delicious and nutritious. AND I make the dough one day, refrigerate it and have about five days - sometimes seven - worth of freshly baked bread from that - I just take a bit out every day... so good. I, too, use my clothesline as much as possible, turn off all lights/fans when not in use. Coupons, homemade meals most nights - save going out to eat for special occasions... love being frugal

greenini

No cable for us, over the air. We do have a fairly high level of Internet and get the NY Times when we are home. We use the croc pot a lot, and cooking beans from dried is cheaper then canned. Also learn how to use a pressure cooker for tough meat cuts and shorter cooking times.

In winter, we use a heated mattress pad, and keep the thermostat on low. In summer, I just have to have it at 72 or I die (on antiestrogens for breast cancer, tho I get to stop this month, I'm dying to see if my 5 yr hot flash will fnally be over :wink: ).

When I worked, I set aside a day every couple of weeks and did home made spaghetti sauce (now a can at $.99 is probably about as cheap as home made unless you've got a garden and we can't), also 2 lasagna casseroles one to freeze for later, one to eat the next couple of days, chili, beef stew, whatever enough to serve for 2 meals. As long as I was chopping onions for 1 dish, I figured I might as well do it for 4 or 5. Otherwise we would wind up throwing out part of a bag of onions or what ever.

Now, if I can find a precooked chicken on sale, we get 2 full meals plus stock/soup leftovers, it's just us two. I buy frozen veggies in bags to cook just what we want, usually store brand no sauce. I can't tell the difference in most things so I get store brand butter, if money is really tight, buy it in a chunk instead of quarters and there are recipes to stretch it by adding canola oil to it and it's really not any different then soft butter.

We are very lucky in not having to penny pinch (yet), but I still like to try to keep a handle on what we spend. With us, travel is our biggest expense, but we try to do that on the cheap too. We do a lot of camping, but will find a cheap hotel room if needed like right now it's too hot so we are piled up in a Red Roof using a coupon that we get at the welcome centers. Those coupon rates are super and we've learned you can call ahead and ask if they have any rooms left at the coupon rate and I haven't yet had one refuse to answer!

Peckish

My parents use a credit card for all their household expenses, such as groceries and gas, and OF COURSE they pay it off every month. The card has a Hilton rewards program and they get to stay in hotels free. There is no way they'd ever be able to take vacations otherwise.

dljennings

and they are not good for your dryer.. the newer lint traps with the really fine mesh get clogged by the stuff in the dryersheets... in fact, when we bought our new dryer.. the salesman told us not to use them...

i also use only about 1/2 as much laundry soap & fabric softener as the directions call for, unless i am washing the "working in the yard" clothes... i work in an air conditioned office... how dirty can my work clothes really be, even after 2-3 wearings, they can't be that bad!

dljennings

[quote=LyndaK]it's true, i work for a trucking company and when it's really cold full tanks are a good thing... especially if there's an accident or white out... full tanks = heat & hazard lights...

i don't worry about it much in the summer, but in the winter, fuel whenever i get btwn 2/3 & 1/2 tank.. because you just never know... took me 4 hours to get home a night a couple years ago & the idiot light telling me i should have fueled up b4 i got on the pike came on... i was scared to death i wouldn't make it home... never again..