BellaOnline Forums Money Frugal Living Reducing Expenses

I am in the process of reducing expenses since times are rough. I have already switched cell phone providers and plans. Any other ideas for utilities?

Even though it's not a utility. I cut my cable bill. We very seldom watched all the channels for the premium services. So after meeting as a family and discussing our viewing habits, we figured basic cable covered everything...Lifetime, cartoon network, disney channel, tbs, tnt. bravo.. We were all set AND saved $96 per month.

While, I know that not everyone has the ability to do this, we cut off our heat and use our wood burning stove to heat our home. While others have electric bills over $300/month, ours have been under $200.00. We make an effort to turn off lights, use smaller wattage lightbulbs in our lamps. We watch how much laundry we do and the size of the loads. We grow alot of our own food and I can and freeze it in the summer.

Definitely cutting cable. Switching phone plans. Switching cell phone plans. Here in Massachusetts we can choose amongst electrical plans.

Even better - go around your house and look at EVERY device that's plugged in. Does it need to be plugged in all the time? Many devices "suck" electricity even when they're not on. It's well worth unplugging everything unless they have to be used.

Keep your fridge full so the items retain the cold for you. Even if it's full of ice cubes or something.

Don't use the whole oven to heat foods if a toaster oven will do. Think about every way you use electricity.

Turn off lights whenever you leave a room.

My 80+ mother said something interesting today. She truly believes that we are going to hit a depression. She said, "if people don't learn to grow and can their own food, there's going to be alot of hungry people." It makes you wonder.

Do you mean for the long haul, or just to get past a cash crunch?

Stop discretionary spending. (restrict items that will be reimbursed).
Lay off any people who are being managed for performance problems (cut payroll)
Put all planned capital expenditures on hold and require 3 more levels of approval.
Put a halt to discretionary benefits.
Require employees to pay more of their health premium and deductible.
Hand out dental floss and toothbrushes and eliminate the dental insurance.

I mean just to get past the current rough times. I can't live without my cable- its my lifeline lol. So what other options do I have? I've heard of some utility re-sellers. But they seem hokey.

Kristen, It's so funny that you said mention that. I was talking to a friend the other night and we were debating the whole cable issue....and he was adament that cable will be the last thing to go for most people because as you said...can't live without the cable. It's funny because as we head toward the whole tv analog conversion, those without cable will have the most problems unless they purchase (and hopefully get reimbursed for) that box.

Another way to cut down is that some people sleep with the tv on. They can turn it off. I know that sometimes I will have every tv on in the house at the same channel if I'm home alone cleaning...first for the noise value and also so that I can move around the house and keep up with the show ...makes sense unless of course I'm downstairs for 2 hours and have 2 tv's on upstairs. I stopped doing that to.

We definitely need cable here because I work from home and it is my high speed internet connection. I could never survive doing my work on a dial-up, it would slow me down too much. But I do think in terms of "tv" that most people can deal with far fewer channels, especially since many of them can be watched on the internet now!

We cut costs by doing a movie night at home. Once every other week we go to the dollar video store and rent 5 movies. We buy some fruit, popcorn and other snack items. Instead of spending $60 for a family of 4 to sit through one movie, we've spent $20 to watch 5 movies. Plus we get to cuddle up under the blankets and get comfortable. The best part is that I don't feel cheated if I fall alseep during one of the movies.
If you can snag movies from the local library it would be even cheaper!

Dianne - that's an awesome idea especially for free movies from the library!

We cut cable tv and kept cable internet. We use an antenna for digital and analog channels. It's just me and my boyfriend so we don't need the kid channels. We just keep up with the networks so I get my soaps and our nighttime primetime tv just fine.
Also, there is way less food waste here-- all leftover veggies and meats get throw into the soup pot once a week. Overripe bananas become banana bread, etc. What we don't use right away we freeze.
I am also starting a victory garden outside.
Sheryl

That is great about recycling the food daisybun! It's amazing how much food the average household just throws away.

There's a lot of shows you can watch on your computer now!

What is a victory garden?

Jill, you are too young to know about Victory Gardens!
They are simply a veggie garden in the back yard where there was never one before. During WW11 people at home were inspired to do all sorts of things to help with the war effort, and planting a garden in your yard helped feed your family and cut down on the demand for food when gas was rationed and so many workers were in the service or in war material manufacturing. Of course they called them Victory Gardens because everything we did was geared toward victory in the war.
My Dad dug up our back yard in Brooklyn and planted an ambitious Victory Garden, and was he proud of the magnificant HUGE tomatoes he raised, along with the peppers, salad greens, carrots and kohlrabi. (Nobody had ever heard of kohlrabi before but they turned out to be edible and even tasty!)
I think of Dad's Victory Garden every time I work in my own little veggie patch.

That's nice to know about Victory Gardens Claybird, so our gardens will help both our health and budgets. It seems everyone is getting on that. The First Lady recently planted a organic garden on the South Lawn of the White House.

Other than that I'd like to add;
- Pay bills on time. Avoid late fees.
- Shop at sales, wait for sales, clip coupons. Buy only what's needed.
- Use online money management tools to track your expenses, once you've got your list of expenses, consider each one and ask yourself if there is a way to reduce it.

When I was younger, my mom and dad got divorced, we had to cut way back in our family spending. This was before you got anything unlimited. My mom got rid of her long distance phone plan and only have the local. She got rid of the cable. It was hard at first not having but we managed. We lived with out cable for 8 years until my brother was old enough and had the money to get cable. Now I am married and living on our own. We don't have cable. We have a converter box, that has allowed us to get three more channels that we never had before.
People are looking for a way to stretch a dollar and buy the best value and to have time and money left for important things like themselves and their family. Unless you have a perfect life with all the time and money you want, this might be something you would be interested in.

Find out which days your grocery store has senior rewards days or double coupon days. I save a lot on this kind of stuff.
Also, most food banks don't just give out free food -- some have value boxes the public can buy. We get about $100 worth of groceries this way -- for $20! And I've heard some will take food stamps if you have those.
Sheryl

Claybird that is truly cool about your dad's victory garden. How neat!

I need to think about maybe growing some tomatoes in my RV. Not much room but i can put them in the shower when we travel and take them outside when we camp? Trying to come up with some ideas...

That is neat also about the first lady planting an organic garden at the White House. I am so in love with those two. :-)

I have not had cable in a while. You can pretty much download any TV show off the internet for free, so we just do that.

Living in an RV also makes one frugal...you can only carry so much on the road. Just a suggestion for people who find the idea appealing! :-)

Jilly - it might be challenging to manage tomatoes right now - I imagine you are trying to simplify! I would suggest instead growing a few of your favorite herbs in a window. Fresh herbs smell wonderful! They add *awesome* flavors to pretty much any food you make. So they enhance your world all the time, and are tiny and easy!

I don't mean to discourage you from growing tomatoes, but they take up a fair amount of space and I think the few tomatoes you get from them might not be worth all the hassle when you're already dealing with so much!

Hmmm. Too true, Lisa on the tomatoes.

Okay, herbs. Great idea!!! Maybe rosemary, thyme and basil. Although i never have luck with basil. But those three are herbs I use and they would scent the RV nicely. maybe lemon thyme.

This is a great topic! Good ideas all around! For my own part, I have to cut expenses everywhere. Sometimes it really bums me out because I can't buy the things I want to, but every little penny helps! In the interest of full disclosure, I am living paycheck to paycheck, so I've turned scrimping into a science. Here are a few things I do (also eco-friendly): *Air dry laundry. I have quarter wash machines in my apartment, so not only am I saving money, but the electricity isn't being used to run the dryer. The two racks I bought have long since paid for themselves and I'm going to ask my neighbor if I can use her clothesline. *Take advantage of thrift shops 90% of my clothes come from thrift shops because I just can't afford to buy new anything unless it's on clearance. Many shops are non-profit, so you know the money is going to something positive, another good thing. It is amazing what you can find! *Unplug! Someone already mentioned it, but I keep hearing, too, about how much energy is getting sucked from appliances that stay plugged in. I've heard that power strips do a great job, too, so I've gotten into the habit of turning that off when I'm not using whatever is connected to it and keeping things unplugged that I don't use with frequency. *For me, I have to buy groceries that are on sale or off brand. You can look for manager's specials, too. It's not my favorite option, because I would rather dreamily gaze over the organic selection, but I can't even afford to step into Trader Joe's anymore, so I just don't go. I hate not being able to eat the wholesome foods I know are better for me but cruise your store ads and you can still find good deals on the basics like bread, milk, and eggs. My mom plants a big garden every summer, though, so I take full advantage of that. I don't have anywhere to grow food, but I can buy some small herbs and grow those. My basil was out of control last year! *I don't make any unneccessary trips. Gas is going up, up, up, so I save all of my driving errands for when I'm already out or do it coming home from work. On my days off, my car stays put and I ride my bike into town if I need something. *Libraries! I re-discovered the library concept a few years ago! You can check out a book and not have to worry about having spent your money on it if you didn't like it. You can check out movies or CDs or books on tape/CD (great for driving long distances)and as long as you get everything turned in on time, it doesn't cost a dime! Also, I can't afford regular internet service, and libraries are a great computer resource, too. Last, but not least, (and this will not work for everyone) I don't even own a TV. I knew I couldn't afford any sort of cable, so the last time I moved, I left my TV behind. If my internet works, I can watch a lot online. Occasionally, I'll buy a season of something on DVD and that will get me through my cravings (I watch on my laptop), but I've found I just don't need it. *Household cleaners I don't have a whole cupboard full of cleaners. I try to keep it simple and as soon as I use up what I have, I'm going to try and go simpler. I've always used bleach for a lot of things (toilets, sinks, showers - a little bit with water in a spray bottle goes a long way). You can use vinegar and lemon juice for a lot of cleaning, too. Granted, I'm single and childless, so these things are probably easier for me to pull off. But it's a lot of little things that help. It just try to keep things simple. I'm grateful to my landlords who have let me split my rent this month (I've been staying ahead), so every pay period is an exercise in planning. I hope I can get out of it someday. I'm going to need an oil change soon and my tires are going to be three years old, so I know that's not far off, either. I have no idea where the money will come from for stuff like that, but all I can do is keep working!

Learn how to do basic maintenance on your car. I bought the plugs and wires at an auto supply and did it myself. Saved myself $200. But you need the right tool to get the plugs out. It's not that difficult. You can replace your air filter in about a minute. Mechanics really take advantage of a woman alone.

We're growing basil right now and they're growing very well - so give it another try! They seem to just need sunlight and not much else that's special.

Navigaar is right on target with learning to take care of your car! It's fairly easy to learn the basics, and can save you a TON of money. Plus it's very rewarding to think you can handle emergencies if you have to!

I've been really glad to see that one result of the current economic downturn is the increase in people buying at places like Goodwill or generally trying to live a more frugal lifestyle. I read that Goodwill is one business that is expanding in these hard times.

Maybe people will discover the joys of cooking at home, clipping coupons and reusing and recycling things! I think it's great.

IF you can afford it (wish I could), consider buying a few cases of MREs- They're great for emergencies, if the power goes out- you've got a meal all ready to eat!

Costco has cases of freeze dried meals too which would be great for emergencies.

Great ideas in the thread for saving money.

I read that with so many people learning to live on less, many are seeking more fulfilling and satisfying jobs too. They've learned they don't need to make the big bucks and they can be happier in the process.

Yeah, i am giving serious consideration to making a plan b for money. I think I need to figure out exactly what I need to live on, then decide the easiest way to make that amount each month.

Green goodness Stew: In crockpot- 1 pkg split peas,1 cup water or homemade broth, 1 pkg. frozen frenchcut greenbeans, 2 cans lima beans, pureed: cook on high 3 hours, add 1 finely diced onion, cook 1 hour more, add 1/2 tsp. smoke flavoring a pinch or two of cumin. Serve with a spoonful of fatfree plain yogurt. If you like the stew thicker, a handful of rolled oats can be added last hour of cooking.

Hi Jilly,

A remember when I was an engineer (which was unfulfilling for me) and I made lots of money every month. I was living on the mode where you have to make more money to do what you want in life. I have no idea where all that money went! Now I live on much less and still enjoy a similar quality of life. I'm much more careful and creative but it's kinda fun. Now I save money by being aware of it instead of making more. Funny how when you are watching, budgeting, and saving (or paying off debt) with discipline, you really don't need that much. I think the first step is to be aware of your relationship to money!

Jilly- I was told by a nurse a long time ago that Corn derivatives is a major ingredient in Tums, rolaids and other gas- heartburn medications, so he told me to eat corn chips and sip water whenever I had an upset stomach. And a box of Jiffy Cornmeal muffin mix is about 33 cents- or 3 for a dollar in my area.

I definitely agree that you can have a high quality of life on low money if you have the right mindset. I too used to be a high paid database developer and the stress was just too much for me. I quit it all and started working from home. I am SO much happier now. It's all about budgeting.

If you eat at home, growing your own veggies, cooking your own meals, wearing "comfy clothes" (sweats etc) then you can really cut expenses down to a minimum and be content. Really, for me, as long as I have a laptop and an internet connection I'm quite happy Well and my hula hoop!!

OK so money saving ideas. Find sunny windows and grow things in them. Seeds are cheap! The amount of yummy food you get is amazing!

Cindy, that is a neat idea about corn! I never thought of it as medicinal. lol.

I did find a HUGE can of corn at the super walmart for $3.45 and picked that up. So I have a ton of corn if needed. There was also a huge can of beans....plus I have a lot of dried beans I picked up cheaply for my crockpot. Dried beans are always affordable.

I also grabbed a case of Ramen. Not the healthiest food, but at least warm and filling. I also grabbed some of the Jiffy cornbread mixes.

I gave up working full-time to spend more time with my family - even though it meant stretching one income to where two had been for years. We still travel and play hard, but have learned to live frugally in order to do what is really important to us.

I guess these lessons have become ingrained in my daughter's psyche. She told everyone she wouldn't spend more than $50 for a grad dress. Although grad's not until next spring, she recently found the dress at a local thrift store - full length sage green gown with burgundy waist and glass beading on the bodice. It fits as if it was made just for her. The drycleaner raved about the quality, saying it was a $400-500 gown - and high-fived my daughter when she saw the thrift store tag of $30!

Cheers,
Megan

Can anyone tell which is the best Turkey TV Dinner available? My husband and I are on a very tight budget-only $100 SNAP food credit, so this what we'll be having for Thanksgiving dinner.
Swanson hungry Man has large sized portions, but the fat and salt is astronomical.

I am excited to have a plan, now, at least a start of one. I will have this great rent to own singlewide on a 1/4 acre lot in a riparian area in central AZ. I will be able to do several things to save money:

- Apply for the low income electric program in AZ
- Apply for food stamps
- Go to the various food banks
- Start to grow my garden!
- plant a crabapple tree
- buy large bags of dried beans and use my crockpot more often (i'd like to keep it in constant rotation)
- look into wildcrafting (gathering wild foods)
- look into making a solar oven out in the backyard
- make my own wine from something local (I need to look into some recipes)

It will have to be a winter garden, but i can easily make cold frames and get things started. I want to grow a sturdier heirloom variety of tomatoes, sturdier twiggy herbs like rosemary and oregano, zuchinni, winter squashes.

Leafy veggies like lettuce will have to wait until spring. I won't be getting snow but there will be nights around freezing for a few months at 3,000 feet.

Anyone have suggestions for sturdy winter crops?

Yes: Parsnips and Carrots are possible, since you live in a warmer climate ( Check online or your local garden centers for best varieties)Parsnips get a bad rap because grocery stores sell the huge, tasteless monstrocities- at a high price, at that.
Harvested early, they're delicious.

I think cabbage is one, but I'm not sure.

Also, consider keeping indoor plants like wheat grass, oatgrass or catnip for your pets' wellbeing. That way, they won't bother your hanging strawberry plants.

I'm always a fan of herb gardens, herbs add such delightful flavors to meals and often you only need a tiny sprinkle of them to help out!