sewnbug

We do most of what everyone else has said, but we also shut our electric hot water heater off at night. We just flip the breaker to it. Sometimes we forget to turn it back on the next day and we have never ran out of hot water even then. By doing that and using my dryer only when we need something dry right away, we save about $20 s month on our electric bill alone.

oleganny

We shop mostly dollar store and thrift stores & in the spring/summer the yard sales. We did use coupons until the save a lot opened near us. Now it is cheaper to shop there than to use coupons. There is also a mennonite store near us where we buy oatmeal, flour, sugar, etc in bulk. We garden & preserve the yield, keep a few chickens for the eggs. DD is an excellelent "scratch" cook & baker so we seldom buy convenience food. We don't eat a lot of meat. In fact, DD just last week made 3 meals (with leftovers, from 4 chicken breast she got on sale for .98 #. They were very larg bone in breasts. She took off the rib meat from 3 of them & fried them. DSIL ate one, DD & I split one they were so large. We ate the other one for lunch the next day along with the leftover veggies from the meal. She boiled th last one & the ribs from the other 3 with onion, celery, parsley, & shredded carrot, then made some noodles & we had a big pot of chicken & noodles. We had leftovers from those too. A small chuck roast will make pot roast & leftovers make beef stew. A pork tenderloin will provide not only loin chops but a loin roast. We have antenna tv. We use cloth napkins instead of paper, seldom use a paper towel & when we do, we reuse if at all possible. I shop sales only for yarn & fabric & it has to be an excellent sale. The only non-frugal craft item I buy is good sock yarn & even that I buy on sale. I make almost all the socks we wear & they have to feel good on our feet, but they last forever, so I think the cost evens out. Basically, if we can make it, we don't buy it. We don't use credit cards & since the stores have to pay the cc companies for taking the card, we always ask for a discount when paying cash. You would be surprised how many times we get it. I've recently heard that some stores are going to be passing that cost on to the consumer so that little "savings" may go away. Even though we don't use a cc, if I do shop at any of those stores I will be sure to write a check instead of paying cash, since checks are inconvenient now for most businesses.

TanyaL

Last summer we decided we had to pare our bills down the lowest we could. We put our Direct TV to the lowest rate offered. We're in the country and no cable is offered and we're so far out that an antenna doesn't work. We made our land line telephone local calls only. We had to keep it to get DSL for the internet service and we aren't ready to give up internet. We have the cheapest cell phone service we found. We sold our truck and brought a newer sedan. The payments were over $100 less, the gas is 12 MPG more and the insurance is the same. That savings on gasoline is BIG! We cut up 2 credit cards - one from Sears and one from Lowes. Then we looked at our grocery bill. We started eating more soup - always made with fresh or fresh frozen ingredients. Great money saver, lots of vegies, lower cost per serving, great variety. Usually at least 2 non meat suppers a week. One trip to town per week. Bulk buying at Sam's. Then the new year hit and our change in health insurance cost reflected the cost of coming Obama Care. We have been hit hard!!!!!!!!!!! Our Medicare supplement which is part of our government retirement benefit package is going from great coverage to not even so terribly good and costing us more! There went everything we had saved last summer.

QultingaddictUK

I never have my hot water tank on as I have a electric shower and a dishwasher, which saves me a lot of money on electric and water consumption.

I keep my bread in the freezer so I just take out a slice or two at a time, I buy bags of fresh vegetables and prepare a bag at a time, I cook them until "il dente" put in ice cold water and lay them on a tea towel in the freezer, so they are "free flow". No waste and taste so much nicer than shop frozen vegetables. My slow cooker is out on top of the cooker as I always have sustaining home made soup, stews and casseroles on the go, which are then portioned out and frozen.

If my small freezer gets low I pop a scrunched up paper filled cardboard box at the bottom as freezing air is very expensive.

I wear comfortable cotton nightdresses when indoors as it saves getting threads on my good clothes. Not very soiled items like towels sheets etc. are put on a rinse only wash in the machine, and I always use the lowest setting possible on other items, but do use a good store own brand washing gel.

I never ever throw any food out, all is used up or frozen to use another day, and my shopping is extremely price orientated, fortunately for me we have 3 really good discount stores under a mile from where I live so I save a heap on petrol.

I live quite well on my pension because of this and thanks to the Internet I can get my quilting needs from the USA as even with postage costs I can save between 30 - 50% on the prices here in the UK!

I don't have a Credit card but do have a cash Debit card, I do all my shopping with this I NEVER draw out cash to go shopping, why? Well to use cash you have to estimate how much you will need so for example you withdraw £50 cash and your shopping comes to £43.99 you then have £6.01 pence lying around, use your Cash card and you have £6.01 more in your bank account! My husband always said "pennies make pounds" and I have found this to be so true.

quilt queen

These are all good tips that we all can gain from..it all adds up..thanks for the tips...keep them coming..one things I do is us rags instead of paper towels...and wash them..wash once a week..there are only two of us..make alot of soups, stews, don't put convenience foods..and during the garden season, which is longer than most places, I get vegs from local farmers and do alot of canning...jellies and pickles..besides saving money; I love the idea of knowing what is in the tomato sauce I'm using ..

francie yuhas

Ontheriver; I suggest you call the county extension office and get in touch with a master gardener to advise you about growing your own grub. Some times it's a simple thing that could help you...good luck

AUQuilter

I have always been frugal and thrifty regardless of income. I think it has a lot to do with my grandparents growing up during the depression and with starting our married life during the rise of superinflation in the late 70s. I hang laundry, especially jeans and towels, on drying racks for several hours prior to drying them. They dry in about a third of the time and in the winter time, we can use the humidity. I buy beans, rice, sugar, flour and oatmeal in bigger sizes and vacuum seal them in Mason jars. I buy only what is on sale and in season at the grocery store. It takes a while to be able to stock up so you can do this. I use coupons when I can on the sale items and I enjoy Dollar Tree, too. We plan out trips to the store as gas is so expensive. Hard to believe that it only cost a little over $2 to fill up a car when I was in high school and it is almost $60 today. I also use microfiber cloths instead of swiffer type- got them at WalMart in the automotive section- I think a dozen was $10- a whole lot less than over in the cleaning section. And they come in 3 flourescent colors so DH knows he is to use only the lime green ones in garage. I buy fabric online mostly, a little at LQS, some thrift store fabric finds and Craigslist has been good, too. You have to do a little planning but it only takes a little time to get started. Then it becomes a habit. DH travels and often needs a travel size toothpaste. At WM and other places, the travel size (.85 oz) costs about a $1. Recently found a 1.9 oz size of Colgate Total at Dollar Tree- meets the airline travel size and is a nice size tube-almost 2.5 times the amount for the same price. One more thing - I make my own glass cleaner and DH says it is the best-got recipe online. Here it is: one cup Water + one cup Rubbing Alcohol + 1 Tbsp White Vinegar. Smells great and works even better!

kellen46

you can use baking soda for many many things...for instance, did you know you can wash your hair with it. Mix one tablespoon of baking soda in a cup of water and pour it over your wet hair, massage it in and rinse it out. you will not believe this works until you try it, but it will get your hair squeaky clean. also it can be used as tooth paste and mixed one to one with cornstarch as bath powder or underarm deodorant. You can use it as a scouring powder on sinks and counter tops. Also I mix a two to one water/bleach solution in a spray bottle for counter tops, vinegar and water for glass and shiny surfaces. All these things can be found cheaply at the dollar store. The upside is if you are chemically sensitive as I am it will not trigger your allergies. I hate the "perfumy" smell they put in cleaning products. If you use the dollar store wisely you can find most all your non food needs there. I also live out in the country so only go to town once a week, as such my gas tank goes a long way. I find lots of usable good fabrics for quilting at the thrift shop as well as other things I might need around the house. Look inside those safety envelopes that bills and such are sent in, the paper is kind of pretty and can be reused for cards and collage projects. There are so many ways to find what you need cheaply or for free. I like being thrifty and recycling, and reusing as much as I can.

Caswews

Coupons ! Sales at the stores -kroger is running a mega sale right now to stock up on 10 items and the cost is reduced. Sprouts has hamburger (85% lean) for 1.99 a lb for 3 or more pounds. Also Olive Oil buy one get one free @ Sprouts. Grow your own food, working in the garden reducing stress and high blood pressure till you get that weed root that just won't come out !LOL

twinsmom

wow these are all great ideas. for someone retiring within the next four months, i will using some of them.