Thursday, December 22, 2011

A few more ways we save

I am well aware that the things my family does to save is really not anything new, as there really is only so many ways to save. Many of these ideas have been shared in books or online over the years. But, these are the things WE do and have done over the past several years which falls in our comfort zone of how extreme we are willing to go in our savings and living within our means.

So with  no further ado, here are a few more things we do in our savings that I have thought of since the last post on Ways we Save!

1.) Wash laundry out by hand or make own laundry soap (While I no longer do this, I HAVE done it and then hung up on line outside or hangers on the shower curtain! got to hard on my back though so no longer do it and also decided it was not worth the time spent to do it for 5 people!)

2.) Unplug the Computer from Wall at night- ( not a large savings, only saves 2 kilowatts a month but hey it does save!)

3.) Drink WATER- we drink a lot of water here, no kool-aid, pop or other flavored drinks however in summer there is one I will buy on occasion- a mango flavored tropico drink that comes in gallon jugs oh and break down for root beer float items for 100 degree days! LOL ever spend a summer in a trailer with no air conditioning or shade?)

4.) Keep hair short and do our own hair cuts- ( just started keeping mine short but it does save on shampoo and conditioner!)

5.) Buy everything USED- not much I buy brand new other than underwear, swim suits and shoes ( shoes is only because me and my girls have a large size not commonly found at garage sales!)

6.) Buy LITTLE meat- we use small portions of meat for meals usually for meals such as in stir frys, casseroles and such, very seldom have meat as part of main course like for country fried chicken or something!

7.) Eat at home mostly and do not go to town very often- We hardly ever eat out and when we do, it is the most exciting thing to do for the kids! We also plan our trips so we are not having to go to town that often to save on gas.

8.) Use dial-up Internet= Yup it sucks and slow but only 10 bucks a month, however I would love to get high speed eventually!

9.) Not too quick to replace items- I just replaced my slippers after the soles were flapping so bad I was tripping all over the house and it started to become a real danger to walk in them! LOL) So we do not replace something that may not be working perfectly until it becomes a total break down or falling off. When my coffee pot quick working I went a week of boiling water and ladling it through the coffee filter on my pot to get a pot of coffee!)

10.) Find another way!- For example we bought wine without knowing it had corks instead of screw top and we had no wine bottle opener. Hubby simply screwed a screw in the cork and used pliers to pull out the cork- worked great no need to ever buy a cork bottle opener!

11.) Make up our own fun- make up our own games and fun, some which we play again and again because they turned out so fun. My 10 year old came up with a car game she named confused and we play that one quite a bit when we go places!

12.) Price Compare EVERYTHING- While hubby is horrid and will jump the guns on purchases sometimes, I price compare EVERYTHING to get the best price. Sometimes however depending on what we are wanting to purchase, I will spend a little more to get a good QUALITY item. Sometimes Cheap is NOT the best buy and quality really needs to be taken into consideration.

13.) Non-Consumer Mentality- This means I am blessed and happy with what I have and I feel no need to keep purchasing things to add to that. Do not get me wrong there are a few things I do want such as our own house, a tent, and such BUT it is limited to my not wanting to spend on STUFF. My wants and needs are very conscious decisions. No matter what we ever end up making in any given year for income, I believe one can live quite well on around $20,000 a year and have a low impact lifestyle. Consumerism adds to the environmental problems of waste and pollution in huge ways. By consuming less and recycling items ( buying at garage sales and such) we are being much more kind to the environment with much less impact.

No comments:

Post a Comment