AshleyR

We feed our dogs Purina Dog chow and give them cheap dog treats. The cats get the more expensive food, because one of them throws up a lot more if he eats the Cat Chow.

sew cornie

I make my own cleaners, laundry soap, and cosmetics (shampoo/conditioner, facial cleanser, masks, scrubs, etc.). Not only is it far less expensive, I know EXACTLY what the ingredients are and can pronounce them all. LOL. I've also found that my skin is in much better condition with my homemade cosmetics and my children and I are having far fewer asthma problems than when I used store-bought cleaners. We are thriving by de-chemicalizing our products but that's a topic for another thread, I suppose.

With the multiple severe food allergies that we contend with, many grocery items must be brand specific for us. I don't use many coupons because most of the allergy-safe foods don't have them (or only rarely so) and the rest of the food I buy is non-packaged - fresh produce, meat, grains, etc. By making nearly all of our food from scratch, it's not only been a necessity to meet our food restrictions, but it's been less expensive and healthier for us. I use Costco for paper products, milk, and cereals.

There are a couple of restaurants in our area that offer a "children eat free" night once per week. We only eat out once or twice per month but do so on one of the freebie nights.

Library, library, library - for books, music, DVDs, quilt magazines, etc.

Our family enjoys the simple entertainment activities: bike rides, board games, reading together, jigsaw puzzles, etc.

sew cornie

I make mine by combining 1 cup borax, 1 cup washing soda, and 1 bar (grated) of Fels-Naptha soap. Only takes 1 Tbsp. per load in my HE washer.

Auntie Sherry

This is a bit silly, but I can't stop doing it. For years I have been buying flat sheets for fabric. Some sheets come in beautiful colors and the ones I buy dry almost wrinkle free. Years ago I had a second hand sheet and towel shop nearby, but it closed. I am new to quilting and I want to make some end table type covers. Not fancy ones I just want to practice cutting and sewing 1/4 inch seams. In fact I just ordered some flat sheets for $4 a piece. That's equivalent to 4 yards of fabric each. I almost used my quilt stash, but I just can't til I practice

Quilt-Till-U-Wilt

I cook mainly from scratch. Packaged foods are a lot more expensive and are not good for you. I buy chicken breasts with the bones. Fillet them and use the bones to make chicken noodle soup. We like rice so I'm trying to gather recipes to make rice mixes that can be added to your rice when ready to cook. The boxed are expensive and full of sodium. I make a lot of casseroles with leftovers. I mase my own french fries in the taoster oven. Five lbs. of potatoes are cheaper then the frozen fries and don't have all the additives. You can eat good and not spend a lot.

Stitchnripper

I do this too but use Zote laundry soap. I grate it in the food processor and then whirl up the rest of the ingredients to make a fine powder. My question is, do you think the Fels Naptha would grate in the food processor?

sew cornie

Good question . . . I don't know but would guess it might. I've used a little hand grater in the past. I just recently got a food processor and have only used it a couple of times so far for food, but not yet for soap. I'll have to give it a try, although I won't need to make more laundry soap for a while yet.

barny

I also cook from scratch. We don't like to eat out at all. If you could see what they do sometimes in the kitchen, you wouldn't . I'm[sorry to say] a starch lover, potatoes, rice macaroni, pizza, cornbread and beans. Sauerkraut. I bake everything sweet that we eat. You can cut bounce [if you use them] into 3 pieces each. All you're doing is cut the static down. Use borax in your wash water and cut down on Tide or whatever. I also have a foodsaver and that keeps meats etc a whole lot longer. Buy on sale in big pkgs and freeze. I grind my own beef. Actually if you grate your own cheese you'll get more than buying in a pack. I buy a pork loin and cut my own chops from the middle and put the ends in the pressure cooker and make pulled pork for sandwiches. the list goes on and on doesn't it?

TanyaL

We decided that our F150 Ford pickup was just not economical enough with gas prices the way they are and our medicine prescription costs zooming up each month with more and more prescriptions for my husband. So we sold our truck and we are getting a sedan, probably a 2011 model from CarMax. The car payments will be less, the insurance will be less and the gas mileage will be better. That will help. We need to do something about the homeowner's insurance. It went up this year and is now higher than our car payment. I have gone back to buying meat in bulk and grinding our own ground beef- cook everything from scratch, make our laundry soap, watch our utilities closely. We've given up going to movies and seldom eat out. Rarely buy clothes. We're retired and really don't miss the things we're doing without. I feel sorry for young families trying to rear children on tight budgets today. Been there, done that.

Ccorazone

My daughter, her two children and I share a home. We split the house payment, she pays the utilities, I buy the groceries and do the cooking since I am retired. She works a full time job, plus comes home to her on-line business. When I shop, I shop at the warehouse stores, Aldi's, and go to the chain store market to get the "managers specials" on meats. I look for buy 10 for $10.00, buy one get one. But seldom use coupons. They seldom have things I use anyway. My daughter works for a major drug store chain and has the opportunity to get the discontinued or clearance items with her employe discount. We live in the south where is is hot in the summer and mild in the winter so we adjust the heat and cooling to a temperture we can live with. Usually 80 in the summer and 65 in the winter.