I’ve posted this one before – but it seemed very appropriate right now – so here are a few things to ponder…and please comment if you have something to add!
1. Fix-It. Don’t throw out your old VCR, DVD player, washer or whatever it is that just broke. Fix it. I recently saved our VCR (we still like videotapes) by simply removing the top and cleaning the insides with a Q-Tip and some rubbing alcohol. Not to mention the fact that no one seems to sell just the VCR anymore. I’ve replaced belts on old dryers and handles on old axes. Stop throwing away stuff just because it’s broken! Now, we did get rid of an old microwave that stopped working, but I didn’t buy a new one – we got along just fine for three years without one. Then, I came along a perfectly good one, for free, that someone was giving away.
2. Don’t go out. I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again. The best way to save $50 on any given weekend is to not go anywhere! Just stay home. Make up a good lunch for yourself. Watch TV. Take a walk. Don’t leave the house and you won’t spend any money! It’s one of the best tips I ever learned.
3. Do all of your errands at once. You will save gas and time for the rest of the week by hitting all of your errands during the same trip. Plan out your route and go in the most efficient way as possible. You’ll save gas and time in your week. You’ll also spend less because you’ll be sick of wandering around stores and will want to just get what you need and get out. Less browsing that way!
4. Cancel your cable TV. I know, I know, what? Am I insane? No. I don’t have cable – or a dish – and when people come to me and say, “I don’t have any money. I’m broke at the end of the month.” It’s the first thing I ask about. If you are broke – or in debt – and you are still watching cable, you are not doing everything you can to save money. The same is true for high-speed Internet access. We have a dial-up connection that costs $12.95 a month. And if I need high-speed, I can get it for free at the local library. I can even bring my own laptop and use their connection. Cable TV is a luxury – not a necessity.
5. Make something. Anything. You can save yourself almost any amount of money by making something for yourself. I needed mittens for my then two-year-old. Going to a place to buy just mittens where we live entails at least a one-hour round trip to even a discount store or thrift store. Plus getting everyone in the car, going to the store – for one pair of mittens. It wasn’t the cost of the mittens, but the fact that they were going to cost me a lot of gas, plus the time I’d lose. What did I do? I knit a quick pair. It took me all of an hour – less time than it would have taken me to get everyone in the car, drive to the store and back. I got to sit in my cozy house during my toddler’s naptime and knit. It was less stressful and since I already had a bunch of yarn, way cheaper! And the mittens turned out to be much more durable than any pair I have purchased! So you don’t want to knit? Make those new shelves out of the scrap boards in your basement, or tie an easy quilt out a couple of old sheets, the possibilities are endless – and you’ll feel all the smarter for doing it yourself!
6. Ask yourself the “question.” Do I really need this? When I go shopping with friends, particularly around the holidays, I find myself (and my friends) frequently picking up cute little knick-knacks. “This is so adorable,” we say. But where my friends might throw the item into their cart, I stop and ask myself: “What am I going to do with this when I get home?” Is it just another little thing that I’ll put on a shelf and have to dust (if and when I ever dust anything?) Is there any function for it? Will I get any lasting enjoyment out of this cheap piece of whatever? 99.9 percent of the time, the item goes back on the shelf.
7. Use what you have. I ran out of cleaner for the bathroom one afternoon a long time ago. Rather than head to the store, I decided to see if there was anything I currently had that would clean my bathroom. I had some baking soda and vinegar in my pantry. I seemed to remember hearing that those items could be used as cleaners. I experimented a little and soon had a clean bathroom and newfound knowledge. Spend a little time looking through the things you already own before heading off to buy a new whatchamacallit. You’d be surprised at how many things you can transform into something else.
8. Cash is King. My husband always says this and frankly sometimes it drives me batty! But he’s right. Shop with cash only. Not your credit card, debit card or checkbook. Those items make it too easy to go over your pre-set spending limit. Sure, you say you won’t go over, but you will. Inevitably there will be something extra you forgot – or just have to have. Don’t do it. withdraw a certain amount of cash before you grocery shop and take along a calculator. Usually, I leave my wallet at home and just take my drivers license with me. If I don’t have it in my pocket – I can’t spend it. I may only come home with a dollar – but at least I know it’s not my last dollar!
9. Trade for it. I once bartered an old car for my wood for the winter.
10. Don’t always buy the cheapest thing. What? But what about being frugal? I buy myself one new pair of shoes – my everyday shoes – about every five years. I buy really good, brand-name $100 clogs that I love and that are very comfortable. And I wear them until they die. I’d rather do that then buy a cheap pair of uncomfortable shoes every six months – or less. I like them, they look good, and I wear them almost everywhere. I also have a pair of snowboots (Sorels, $80) that I’ve had for 13 years and a pair of garden clogs that I splurged on for those wet mornings out in the garden – and mud season.
Cooking Accomplished! has been a great find for myself and several of my friends. The concept is simple; you go online, pick the entrees you want and the date you want to assemble them. The difference between Cooking Accomplished! and several other businesses like this in Portland, is quality! The owner is a trained chef. They have a commercial kitchen where all the ingredients are prepped by Shelley and her staff. Many of my friends, prior to joining me for meal assembly sessions at Cooking Accomplished!, admitted to serving and eating frozen or pre-cooked meals several times a week and to dining out two or three times a week. We decided since we are worried about nutritional value and using quality local ingredients we would research meal assembly as a solution to reducing time spent shopping and preparing dinners with the goal of eating healthier. The only assemble-your-own meal company that we found in Portland, that had great selections, high quality local ingredients and prepped all their food in-house is CookingAccomplished! in Lake Oswego. Since I started preparing meals at CookingAccomplished! I’ve also signed up for a couple of great cooking classes. My son attended a kids class as well and he can’t wait until the next one. Shelley has done a fantastic job of creating a quality experience!
Great ideas. For those with small children, Cloth Diapers offers a substantial savings. We haved saved quite a bit and most agree that savings can be from $500 to $2,000 depending on how many children you Cloth Diaper
~Beth
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Great post. I wanted to comment on #4 and #6. I had cable growing up. I have been married almost 15 years and have never paid for cable. Luckily we live in an area where rabbit ears work (for the most part). If your area has Verizon DSL you might want to consider that in the future. We pay about $18 per month.
Nik naks and stuffed animals definitely multiply. My house would not be big enough to hold them all. Luckily I started resisting the urge to buy the nik naks years and years ago. Stuffed animals are another story.
Cloth diapers can save a lot of money and waste, however, a much greener/more frugal alternative for some families is Elimination Communication used in conjunction with cloth diapers. As is known in many traditional societies, babies are born knowing when they need to eliminate and if we pay attention to their signals and timing it’s actually quite easy to hold them over a potty or other receptacle when they need to eliminate.
I have used this method successfully with both of my girls and have actually heard that “EC” is easier and more effective with boys than with girls. My older daughter was out of diapers completely and reliably at 13 months old and was using hardly any diapers from about 4 months onward.
Check out http://www.diaperfreebaby.org for more information.
Not only does EC prevent excess diaper waste from ending up in landfills, it also saves water. I didn’t need to wash many extra loads of laundry at all because we went through so few diapers every week. My daughters were also out of diapers completely in about less than half the time it usually takes to toilet train children in our society.
The best part about this method is that it is completely non-coercive! There are no rewards and no punishments. It is basically a child-led method with the parent assisting the child until he/she is old enough to do it him/herself. My children grew up using the potty as a normal everyday part of their lives. There was no reason to make a big fuss about it at all. There were no power struggles. It’s also such a wonderful thing to see the intrinsically pleased look on a 5 month old’s face as she eliminates into the potty!
~Betsy
I bartered five hours of slinging 40 pound hay bales for our winter hay supply. Latest bartering has also been eggs for baked goods, cleaning the martial arts dojo for lessons, and barn chores for child care.
Also…. I find overwhelmingly that when I turn off the TV, I feel better about the world and our finances.
We had horrible floods in WI this summer. Caused horrible damage. But for the first time since I was a child, my parent’s marsh filled up again and we paddled with the kids in a tea-dark pond, round and round, the blood red and sunrise yellow leaves forming a dazzling collage.
The floods were both a disaster and a blessing. I see this economic downturn the same way.
Oh yeah… we have also taken to going to farm auctions at closing time. You’d be surprised at the amount of things people end up not taking home. We just got a two row chicken layer (where they nest and lay and the eggs roll down) that was abandoned. For 5$. Also, our neighbor got FOUR BEEF CALVES for $50 each. The seller wanted $175 apiece at the auction, but when he didn’t get his reserve, he just left the calves there anyway! Weird.
The nieghbor’s daughter, who has been riding with a vet, dehorned and castrated them for free under the vet’s tutelage. So yes, I agree, bartering is coming back full swing, and it makes me so happy.
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