What are we doing to be more frugal?

I asked this on my frugal living email list, but I wanted to ask it here. What are we doing to be more frugal in these tough times? What are we able to give up, and what are we pinch back to make ends meet?

I know for us a 40% rise in gas prices and a 35% rise in food costs have really put the k'bosh on many things we like to do, because we really just can't afford them. I'd rather eat! LOL

Hubby and I have been carpooling every day to work; we work slightly different schedules but only about a mile from each other so that was a no-brainer. I'm shopping around for the best prices on milk, our biggest expense with three kids. I am also looking for cheap meat prices, and buy bread ONLY at the bread store. I have one grocery store that generally has better prices on staples that we buy every month (salad dressing, peanut butter, cheese, eggs, catsup, cereal, pastas) so I shop there almost exclusively. I also shop loss leaders constantly, if it isn't on sale then I don't buy it, for the most part. I rely heavily on our monthly Angel Food Boxes (www.angelfoodministries.com) to supplement our pantry/freezer.

There are certainly things we could do better, and it is going to be a VERY tight month in August as I have to pay to repair our van (which will cost around $1000) and there won't be much left over for groceries. Fortunately, there are two other people in the house working and they can buy groceries for a few weeks, and put gas in the cars.

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Permalink Reply by Capricorn on July 23, 2008 at 11:16pm: Almost six months ago we hacked the cable from expanded basic (75 channels) down to plain basic (17 channels). This reduced our cable bill by FORTY dollars. And we don't miss it a bit.

We kept basic cable because it is the lowest grade cable needed to keep our high speed cable internet connection. In our area the cable internet is the fastest available option, even faster than the DSL offered here.

We don't miss the cable. We didn't watch it that often to begin with. My partner and I are college students, and when we're not doing school related things, we're doing pagan related things and reading for pleasure. Books trump TV at our place.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Saffire on July 24, 2008 at 9:29am: I combine car trips. I don't start up my car unless I have more than one destination and I can combine trips and not waste gas. Other than that, nothing I've not already been doing. Been searching for the best deals - I found non-hormone milk that's local and cheaper per gallon than the organic stuff, not to mention fresher and the packaging is easier to recycle. I try to make a menu each week and create a shopping list that I stick to. I also use coupons that my mom gives me (one Sunday circular - she goes through them, I get what's left and I pass onto my eldest niece what's left after that - we all have different needs, brands we buy and such and it works out well and not bad for the price of one Sunday paper)... we don't eat meat so don't have to worry about that expense. I've been wanting to shop our seasonal local farmer's market but I've had plans every Saturday during their hours (10am to 1pm) and haven't had the chance to check out their prices, but want to.

Been borrowing more books (and ordering through ILL and OCLC) through the library. Unless I actually NEED a book for reference (like the book I need for a rune class I'm taking) I'll borrow it, read it and return it - no cost at all.

I'm drawing up a blank on other things we do that others don't already. LOL... Oh, I keep an eye out in all areas I travel for gas prices and fill up (even if I'm not near empty) when I find the best ones. These days you never know when the price will uptick, even within the same day.

We've redone our cell plans which has saved us a bundle each month. We shop thrift stores, 2nd hand shops (even for our magickal stuff - we have a friend who 'raids' early morning flea markets for things like cauldrons and has incredible luck with it), consignment stores and look for sales. For our trip to Sirius we needed a camp table and chairs. I found one 50% and it's soooo sturdy - should last us for years! Thing is we didn't know it was on sale... it wasn't even marked, so don't be afraid to ask about prices, sales and such. Not everything is physicall marked. Swaps... freecycle... our local Pagan discussion group is a great place where I've taken things I no longer needed and others have done the same... barter too... when we were at Sirius there were plenty of merchants who would have had no problem bartering for items.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by The Lady Raven on July 25, 2008 at 10:17am: In my household my fiance and I go shopping once a week. When we are out shopping we make sure we get everything we need. Groceries and supplies from Staples. We also only have one car. We are very fortunate that we do not have kids to take care of, it keeps the budget low. Also we do not have a dish. I live in the middle of nowhere, so there is no cable either. I have lived without any type of TV for 7 months and my fiance has lived 4 years without it. We do have DSL, which is a blessing. I can not deal with dial-up. I am very fortuante that I am able to go to college and receive grant money. The nice thing about recieving grant money is that what ever is left over I get. My last grant check was $2100. Believe me it was spent before I had it in had. I put some into savings, payed the credit card, bought my fiance a birthday gift, and went to Costco. We have also bought a new wood stove and we cut all of our own wood. I am also growing a veggie garden. I also shop for my own clothing at thrift stores. I have also started making my own candles and incense. This fall I will be making my own soaps, massage oils, bath oils, and all that girly stuff.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Capricorn on July 25, 2008 at 8:07pm: We've had good luck with soapmaking. Last batch we made was hot process. Hot process takes alot of mindful attention, but other than that it is not that much more difficult than cold process.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by The Lady Raven on July 26, 2008 at 11:27am: I make candles, and you have to be somewhat mindful once the wax melts. I am looking forward to buying the deluxe starter kit from the website that I acquire my supplies to make incense and candles. I will be using the hot process.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Capricorn on July 26, 2008 at 11:51am: We like a base of olive, coconut, and castor oil. We actually buy the Olive Oil at SAM'S Club as its the best deal.

To buy lye, the best deal is www.camdengrey.com

They also have great deals on essential oils. We've ordered from Camden Grey and were very satisfied.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Elizabeth on July 27, 2008 at 1:24am: Well I've passed the link for the Angel Food Boxes to people I know. :) Thank you for the link.
We don't have a car- my husband's work has four cars for the 15 employees so we all carpool- even to the large grocery stores. (most of the time I take the bus there and wait for a pick up.) I use a lot of public transportation and have not used my dryer for three months.
We have more tenents in our house (college students who are getting grants & loan money!) so we can now afford to have the energy saving windows put in. Part of the back yard has been turned into a garden (something we had been working on for years- very poor soil) and there is a small crop coming from it (whatever the rabbits & chipmonks don't eat.) Other than that, not much. We have been paring down for years in order to have money for the kids college and retirement this has just made things a bit more tight.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Char on July 27, 2008 at 2:38pm: I save change and one dollar bills for all the things I want to buy, like I just saved up $200.00 for my next tattoo. There is no way I could take that money out of the household budget. I also take my lunch to work instead of going out to eat. And if I do eat out for dinner I always make sure I eat half and take the other half for lunch the next day. And of course with gas prices I only go to work and back.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Celticlass on July 28, 2008 at 6:14pm: Great suggestions!! I put coins in candle jars too.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Celticlass on July 28, 2008 at 6:13pm: I'm burniing more candles at night and less lights! Driving my focus instead of my pick up more(Though I like my pick up better),combining trips,gym,store,bank etc. Feeding my doggies cheaper dog food and hot dogs.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Cottage Wytch on July 31, 2008 at 12:01pm: We have cut down on our electricity by shutting off items not in use such as computers, coffee pots, radios, etc. We have cut down on driving. Now we only drive somewhere if we absolutely have to. We even have cut out on eating out like we used to. We still have leaps and bounds to make to live truly frugal but we are starting and I guess that is better than nothing. It helps when you are a simple Cottage Wytch...you don't really expect to live "high on the hog!" lol; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Spiralle on August 1, 2008 at 9:51am: My husband and I have planned out a 7 week cycle of meals so that we know exactly what groceries we have to buy every week. We have deliberately planned for leftovers so that getting takeout lunches will be kept to a minimum. We save money by not eating out as much, and by buying only what food we actually plan to eat in the next few days, there is less waste. Because we are on different work schedules we each take responsiblity for the shopping and the cooking - one might marinate the chicken and chop the vegetables, but then the other cooks it all up later.

For a long time now we have also been buying almost all of our clothes at Value Village (a large resale chain in Canada) and have saved a fortune - for example, the long winter coat I bought last January cost me only $12. I similar one new would have cost over $200, unless I waited until the spring sales, and then I probably wouldn't have been able to get it in my size.

The other thing I've taken to doing at Value Village is to look through the men's dress pants. Men's pants are usually better made than women's, fit me exactly the same, and no one would ever know they came from the mens department. True, I usually have to shorten them, but at $4 a pair who's complaining?; ▶ Reply to This