Secrets for Cutting Back on Expenses!

THE FAMILY HUDDLED IN THE LIVING ROOM

of a nice regular home you would see in any average neighborhood. A couch, toys, tv all the things most of us in america have. Two children were shivering as they tried to do their homework by candle light wrapped in a blanket. The parents were sitting there in despair. Although both parents worked, their electricity had been turned off due to non payment. Average American family in 2008?
I have heard lots of stories like this one on the news. I see the stories on blogs, "Can someone help me, we have no money for gas and I ran out of medications for my diabetes, and the landlord is demanding rent" this downturn in the United States has affected a huge amount of the population. Esp if you make under 35,000.00 a year. Esp. if you are caught in the credit card trap and the spider web of borrowing against your home. I am one of them, it came up slowly, catching us unawares, but we should have seen it coming.
However, sitting and crying about it will get us no where. As seven of nine says in the voyager series, "I shall adapt"

I was raised in a time and place where conservation, "being Green", recycled, re-use, were common place. My parents homesteaded in Alaska when I was ,like, 5 years old. My sister and I took baths in a metal tub placed near the wood stove. Hot water was heated first then added. My mother hiked to a spring to get water. We had a potatoe (tater) cellar near the spring where we kept last years crop of potatoes for winter food. One year, my mom was actually trapped in that place by a angry mother moose. Funny to tell that story now, however my mother did not think so at the time. We had a "outhouse" to use as bathroom with used sears catalogs for toilet paper. yeck!

But , I write this not to tell stories but to pass on, what many may not know today. A lot of people do know most of these tips but many may not and it just might help you to cut down, save money, save fuel, and live a little better through hard times.

I requested impute from many friends on what they do to save money as well as my mother, who is still alive. Together here is a few things to consider as we Adapt today and store up for tomorrow:

Food
Do not shop without a budget and a list of needs. Not wants, but actual needs. We all buy more than actual needs and most likely can cut our weekly grocery use by 20%.

Buy budget brands instead of popular brands.

Wait for weekly sales and plan meals around the sale items you can get

When possible, stock up on staples when on sale. Rice, beans, flour, oats.

Instead of buying paper towels, use cloth towels. even if you must cut up old sheet, rags to make them. Launder them with Clorox and reuse.

Replace beans for some meat meals. Dried mushrooms like shitake can replace meat.

Frozen can replace fresh in some things, like OJ and instead of fresh fruit you can buy frozen blackberries or day old fruit. Bananas even when a little brown spot will be lots cheaper. When it does get too brown make bread of it.

Also, if you have something like blackberries growing wild, pick them in the summer and freeze for winter. I like to go out for 20 minutes each morning and pick, then clean and freeze every day while they are on.

If you have a food dryer, you can dry apples, mint, berries, and more to put up for snacks and baking. I dry mint, sage, and lemon balm for teas by just washing them and sitting the leaves in the hot sun till dry. Bag them and they keep for months.

keep a pot of fresh herbs growing on your deck or window sill for cooking, instead of buying already prepared seasonings. If you can, GROW your own foods, whatever you can in your area. It can even be small container gardens.

It does not save money but shop early for best selection





FUEL
A interesting article stated that if you buy your gas for the car in the early morning before the heat of the day, you actually get more fuel than when it gets warm. Winter is excluded. But when fuel heats up, it gets something like lot of “air””fumes” bubbles like a aerator water savor faucet. the faucet seems to have lots of water coming out but it is half the actual water amount thus saving you water usage bills (another tip) anyway, fuel is the same and buying when cool (when it is denser )in the summer saves you money.

Keep your speeds low, around 55 on the hwy. Do not do quick take offs.

Keep your tire pressure up

Keep your auto tuned up, a poorly tuned auto will cost more in the end.

Plan your trips so your route is saving you fuel and time. Do not make unnecessary trips. Make a weekly list of things you need to buy and do. Then do them all at the same time/day. We use to have to save our trips to town to once a month. This was when I was about 13 years old and lived 65 miles from town. My mother would plan to buy all the staples to last 30 days. One trip was a main event when you only get to go once a month. But we were used to it! We can all cut down now too. We are just so used to jumping in that car and running to town for every thing. Plus, we have internet to let our fingers do the walking now!

You may find someone who you can share trips to work or to town.

walk when you can, park at one location and walk to the different stores. Just today, I drove 2.2 miles to downtown. I parked and then walked a mile around town doing errands. ( I need the exercise too) then back home. A total of 4.4 miles. Which I figured up my honda civic, 2001 gets 35-38 miles to the gallon. So apx, that is 9 cents per mile to run my car. Fuel only costs. Does not include tire wear, engine wear, etc etc. It is a eye opening to see what your vehicle gets per mile! Our old suburban, 1987, gets only 12-14 mpg. Or 32.5 cents a mile. (based on 3.90 a gallon) all figures are apx. Needless to say we do not drive the suburban except to carry something the car cannot. Most the time it just sits. We can not afford a new lower mpg second vehicle so we keep it. You might check the math, I do make mistakes but you get the picture.

ride a bike if you have one, when you can. or take the bus if you live in a big city.

buy reg. gas it works in all cars, instead of premium

Don’t let your car idle to long, turn if off.


Utilities

Use and replace all your light bulbs to energy saving ones

use heavy insulated drapes for windows in summer and winter. If you cannot afford heavy drapes, use blankets or sheets over the shades you have.

keep thermostat lower at night, off in summer,

turn on temp to “vacation” on your hot water temp. when you gone for more than a day.

turn off all lights when you are not in the room

wait for the laundry to be a full load before you wash.

you can drip dry clothes and save power from that dryer. Esp. the summer, dry out doors for a wonderful fresh smell . But you can dry indoors also.

You really do not have to flush the toilet if you just piddle a little. Learn to let it sit at night and flush in the morning. I know, you are all going yeckkkkk right now, but if you lived on a homestead or lived in a motor home for any amount of time you would KNOW what I am talking about.


Water

Save water by washing your dishes by hand. Do not run the water down the drain. Use bowl for washing water and a second lg bowl for rinsing. If you do run a dishwasher, make sure it is as full as it can be on shortest wash.

Use a cup to brush your teeth. Again to save water you fill your cup half full, dip your brush into the water to wet the brush, then brush your teeth as you normally would. Sip the water from the cup to clean your mouth, then Instead of running water to clean the brush you swish it in the cup again. Again if this is tooooo extreme for you at least turn off the water while brushing and only turn on when actually using. Dont run water down the drain.


Clothing

Shop only when you absolutely have to have something. Do not charge anything. You can repair clothes, buy on sale, or used. Sew it , repair it if you can.

shop used clothing, shop discount stores.

Pass down your outgrown clothes to those who can use it.

For clothes that can not be repaired can be cut up for rags, for home and auto etc.
Or cut up old clothes and make quilts for the beds.

YARD
You can zero scape your yard by doing rock gardens, instead of lawns. thus saving on water consumption and fuel for running a lawn tractor. Use those rock gardens for herbs, etc.

Use timers if possible to keep water use down. And water in late evening or early morning. This allows way less evaporation. My dad was a farmer for awhile in HOT eastern Oregon. Watering at night was great as the plants sit in cool and wet for longer periods and are refreshed for the hot day period.

Home in general:

Fix small things yourself if you have any handcraft abilities or “barter” with neighbors and friends.
****************************************************************************************************************************

IN CASE OF EMERGENCIES KEEP ON HAND:
Keep extra water in jugs for power outages
Keep extra dry milk, beans, rice, canned, any foods that last a long time in cans or glass for times when there may be no electricity or other hardship times.
Make sure you have a hand crank can opener!
Keep extra cans of oil for your auto, and gas line anti freeze for winter.
A old bar-b-que to cook on if you only have a electric stove inside. NEVER use it indoors! You will have to cook out side
candles,MATCHES. batteries, flashlights, battery or crank radio.
Large First Aid Kit
If you can keep extra 10 gal. of fuel for Car. Note Fuel gets old, replace every six months
****************************************************************************************************************************


NOW, here are some OTHER PEOPLES TIPS
, I asked them to list how they save money today:



Electricity: Probably the same as everyone. Turn heat down at night to 60. Only up during day when needed. ( we have electric heaters)

Fuel: Don't own a car. We live in downtown, so we use ZipCar. Probably spend $50-$100 a month on a Car. ( includes gas+insurance)

Water: Again, lucky. We are on city water - NO water bill.

Home Repairs: We rent, so the owner of the property pays for ALL problems.

Food: We use AmazonFresh, and they deliver the food right to our door. FANTASTIC service. Free delivery w/ orders over $50. ( we average $75-$100 a week on groceries)

Entertainment: Mostly at home, have a nice big TV and surround system, watch movies anime etc...

PHONE: USE SKYPE - with your computer - almost FREE phone calls to other phones, and if you get web cameras, you can video conference with other people on Skype for free as well.

ALSO - we have pre-paid cell phones with T-Mobile. $100=1000 minutes. Combined with Skype, we probably spend $300-$400 a YEAR on phones. ( both of us.)

Internet - just as important as electricity :) - $60 a month - comcast.
...............Rick Bellevue Washington................................

My electric I try to turn off all the lights when not using. And the heat when we are not going to be home – or just leave it on low in the winter.
With fuel we are limiting our runs to The Dalles to half of what we were doing before. Trying to hold back on supplies until our next trip so we can get everything at once.
Water we don’t worry about as it is a set fee for as much as we want here.
Home repairs are just not getting done. But we hope to budget in a set amount each month and work with that.
Food were on food stamps, but we buy things that are on sale and buy whole grains, etc. which seem expensive at first, but go a long long way.
Entertainment. We have no reg. free tv here so we have satellite. Basic package only except for Portland local channels for the news.
Clothing is a luxury. LOL
.....Rhonda from Oregon.........


There are many ways to save money. Here’s one that we do all the time.

We recycle all that we can. We don’t use a garbage service but instead haul it ourselves.

Clothing and other articles that are still good go to the Good Will.

Rags get used on home projects

Plastic bottles, tin cans, news papers, magazines, glass, car batteries, old appliances, car tires, and etc all get put into bends and are hauled to the recycle center

All scrap metal, cooper, etc goes to the salvage yard

Furniture is either sold at a yard sale or put at the end of the drive way for free

Wood is often used for the fireplace

We try not to buy things that can not be recycled.

We have very little that we really throw out.

..............Cindy from Central Oregon......................



It's my husband that is the penny pincher. He turns out all the lights in the rooms where their are no people using them. When
we had the 4 kids, he would be quite busy doing that. He turns down the thermostat everyday before he leaves work. He'd
rather cook than go out to dinner. And I use leftovers to make an interesting soup or casserole surprise.
Sometimes I'll make a pie crust and put in left over mashed potatoes,rice or macaroni and cheese, left over vegetables,
and any burger or meat that can be made into small bite size. And I would add cheese & sour cream to these and bake like a pie. 'Leftover Pie' or 'Leftover Casserole' or as my Mom calls it, Refrigerator Soup' These can be yummy if food is used soon.
Also, with juice, instead of adding 3 cans, I add four. It's not too watered down. We use those funny light bulbs that look like
spiral in design. Change the washers in your sink if it's leaking. I don't run the water while brushing my teeth.Just after to wash
down sink while rinsing my tooth brush off. I take 7 minute showers. I saturate my hair and lather, rinse, then condition and
while the conditioner is setting, suds up and rinse everything. Use both sides of printer paper and/or if you have old paper
not used on one side, cut it into fours and staple them together and you have a notepad. These are little ways we save money.
I even use coupons when I can.
another thing is when I was living in California growing up,
my Mom would have me and my cousin take showers together or share a bath tub of water. We would use the bath water to water plants. We would
only flush if it were brown. "If it's brown flush it down, but if it's yellow it is mellow." We ate alot of soup. That was in the late 60's or early 70's.
.............................Loretta on the coast of oregon........................

We’re trying to save money by shopping at Groceryy Outlet for most of our food. Prices there are much cheaper!

I have a high efficiency front load washer that saves water and energy. We have low-flow toilets that use less water. We use those energy efficient light bulbs.

My husband bought a motorcycle to ride around town, it saves a lot of gas (and satisfies his mid-life crisis!)

We bought a ceiling fan for the family room to circulate the heat through the house better.

If we wind up staying here after the boys graduate, we’re looking into going solar with our house.
..............Annette......on the coast of oregon............................


Electricity - Stop running the heat as often,and turn off lights and tv when not in use.

fuel - Carpooling

water consumption - Im bad at this one, cuz I do a lot of laundry, but Im sure if I limited it down more, it would save better.

home repairs - n/a yet

food - Groceries! I can spend SO much eating out its rediculous! Its still a weakness of mine, but making food at home saves tons of money!

entertainment - Going for a walk a lot of times will help fill the need to get out of the house. Netflix is a great way to save money if your a movie nut.

clothing - I shop online a lot, but Ive found a good way to resist the temptation. I just immediatly throw away any sale catalogs I recieve in the mail. If I dont know what is available to me, I wont feel the need to buy it. :)



I still have a long way to go with saving my money. I go thru phases with it, where I can be really good. But then once in awhile I just have to splurge and have fun. My biggest expense is food tho. I hate cooking so I tend to eat out waaaaaay too much. Its quick and convenient, but way spendy. I bet probably 50% of my money goes to food at times. Yikes!
.....................Sandy Portland oregon..........................................


Electricity: Change all bulbs to energy effecient bulbs. Wal-Greens has been running instant rebates on them and they end up being free!! We use our wood stove a lot during the winter, so the electric heat never comes on.

Fuel: My husband takes the VanPool to work. Saves us a "TON". I try to make all my trips to town count, by trying to do all my errands in one trip. Takes more time, but saves a lot on gas.

Water Consumption: Thank God we have a well!!! But we do limit lawn waterings, put buckets at end of down spouts, use that to water plants or garden. Stop buying bottled water. Bottle your own!!

Food: I have been only purchasing meat when they put it on the clearance sections. Meat is within a day of pull date. Use it that night or put in freezer right away. Safeway and Albertsons both have that section in their meat departments.

Grocery Outlet is a good place to find things at 50% off of regular prices. You have to be selective, but they do carry name brands as well.

I have went back to cutting out coupons out of the paper, and shop the sale ads at your closest grocery store.

I also enjoy canning. It really isn't as bad as you might think. You also know what is going into your food. Having canned foods, has sure saved us during some hard financial times. You can find jars at garage sales, thrift stores, and Wal-mart sells them for pretty cheap.

Entertainment: I bought the entertainment book for $15 on the internet for our area. (If you buy it when it first comes out it is $35). Wait a couple of months. You save about $3.50 per movie ticket. They also have many places to go out and eat for 2 for 1. Even fine dining. They also have things in there like oil changes (Save $10), etc. You get your $15 back in no time. www.entertainment.com.

We also take our bikes on bike trails (most areas are putting in bike trails where railroad tracks used to be). Nice paved trails that the whole family can use. We pack a sack lunch in a backpack and enjoy the day. Very cheap!!

Clothing: Hey, if you haven't tried finding bargains at thrift stores you've missed out. To find my kids a brand new "Hollister" shirt at the thrift store for a couple of dollars instead of $50, makes my day!! You find many clothes with new tags still on them. You also get to enjoy the thrill of the chase. Try Garage Sales too......for many things.....good form of entertainment. My kids used to fill a ziploc bag with their extra change, so they could buy things too. It's a fun way to spend a day with your family.

Most of all we just need to slow down. Enjoy what is right around you. Pitch a tent in the backyard with your kids. Have a weinie roast in your backyard. We have become a self-gratifying society, that feels they need every new toy to live. What we really need is family.......and time with them.
...........Bev............ Washington State......................

Electricity: I make sure that I don't leave lights on when I'm not in a room. For light I try to just leave the curtains open.

Water: We turn the water off while we brush our teeth, and only turn it back on to rinse. We make sure our dish washer, and washer is as full as it can get before we run it. We try and take quick showers. I only water my plants once a month. Twice in the summer.

Food: We try to only buy what we need for the week. If you have to live on spaghetti, beans, rice, romen, and mac-and-cheese for a bit, then you do that. Plus you can use coupons, or try to buy stuff that they're having promotions on, like two bags of veggies, for $5.00.

Entertainment: Cut down your Starbucks and eating out to once a week, or month, depending on your budget. We make them our special treats for the weekends. Saturdays, we go to Starbucks, and Sundays we pick somewhere, and eat out. Stay at home, and watch movies you already have, go to the park, read a book, go hiking, the beach, for a stroll through town, hop on a bus, and see where you end up, just for the sake of it, invite friends over (have everyone bring snacks or drinks to contribute) and play board games, watch a movie, or play video games.

Clothing: Learn to live with the basics. It's not going to kill you to not be the fashion queen of every season! Get stuff that will last you for 3-5 years, and will go with just about anything. White, and black, t-shits, and long sleeve shirts, black, brown, and tan skirt or trousers, jeans, and a black and white light weight sweater. Then allow yourself 1-3 nice outfits that you can intermingle with the basics if you so choose. Replace items only as needed. If you want color (I know I do) buy tops, that'll go with the bottoms you already have. You don't need 50,000 things in your closet. If you have enough clothes to last you a month before washing, then that's more than plenty.

Shoes: No, you don't NEED those goochie, high healed, you'll only ever wear them once, why the heck are you spending $300 on shoes, shoes!!! You aren't going to die if you spend less than $50 on a pair of shoes. Set your self a limit for the year, such as, 3 pair a year, or one pair per season, Summer, Fall, Winter, Spring. Sucks, but it'll save a ton.
................Michelle.........Bellevue Washington.....................

Electricity-use cold water for laundry, heat is off when away from home, turn off computer, tv, radio when not using
Fuel-try to get as many errands done at one time
Home repairs-we do them ourselves
Food-never buy something at full price unless absolutely necessary, don't go out more than maybe twice a month
Entertainment-no cable or satellite tv, rent movies from redbox (once a week) or check out from library
Clothing-wear them 'til they wear out, buy from 40% off already marked down racks, ROSS
..................................Susan.....Oregon Coast........................

Brenda Kay Salzano

______________________________
Our Web Links:

Brenda K Salzano...
Custom designed Jewelry Store :
Salzanos