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Frugal living - money saving tips

33K views 239 replies 33 participants last post by  Horseychick87 
#1 ·
Last winter proved very hard on the wallet due to it's length and severity. My usual winter plowing bill jumped from $200 to $600. We also had to deal with the usual increases in home heating, gasoline, etc. Many of us have had a cool wet summer which means a reduction in available hay which results in sometimes large increases. I've been in contact with SouthernTrails and the mods will make this a sticky whereby people can post ideas on how to shave our costs as the meteorologists are telling us we are in for another winter like last.
I will start it off. If good clean oat straw is available, one flake per horse per day provides needed roughage and will stretch the hay. No more than one flake per day should be fed. As soon as oats are being harvested, that is the time to pick up the straw. It is often cheaper if you can pick up off the field.
 
#2 ·
We partner with a neighbor and each of us puts up a piece of livestock , which we then trade off. This year I did 2 steer and the neighbor a couple of pigs. We will trade off the meats. I have Amish, that I am friendly with and I give them my horses that are clean meat, but need to be disposed off, they sell the meat to the dog show people and they give me fresh chicken (human grade) for us. This has worked great. My average meat price is about 2.00 per lb. You cant get close to that in the stores for good pork or beef and the horse's normally cost to have disposed of, so my chicken is free.
We also put up a garden and will trade off veggies.
 
#3 ·
Slowfeeder hay nets, save me about 30% hay.
I make my own nets out of baling twine, so I can vary the hole size and the amount it carries.
We compost our manure and use it in our veggie garden, the flower beds. Some of it we trade for eggs.
Since I'm soaking hay for my IR horse, the soaking water is watering my peach trees and rose bushes and garden
 
#5 ·
Planning ahead is a money saver.

Buy all your hay during the haying season instead of trying to buy it in the middle of winter.

Buy your own propane tank as this will allow you to shop for prices and it's less per gallon if you own your own. Then reserve what you need for winter and lock in the price. With ours paying within 10 days also gives you a 10% discount.

Sticking with heating costs, dress for winter and turn down the thermostat! I can't tell you how many people I know that keep their homes warm enough so they can still wear shorts and T-shirts and then come to my house in those same clothes and complain about being cold. My nephew and I have ongoing arguments about this. LOL

In lieu of raising your own food, stock up when it's on sale. Buy the family packs of meat. With hamburger I buy a bunch when it's on sale and make up hamburger patties, meat loaf and/or meat balls, brown some of it and then package well and throw it in the freezer. With other meats I'll divide, rewrap and then freeze.

I can't trust hubby with a checkbook so a credit card is a necessary evil, however, it gets paid off every month. About a year ago we switched to a grocery store cc which not only gives you gas discounts but also sends you store checks every quarter for accumulated points. I find that much more useful than one that gives you points on things you either don't use (travel points are useless to us, horses at home = very few & far between vacations) or don't use much of.

Back when I pretty much didn't have a dollar to spare I still always managed an emergency fund by saving my change (I still have that habit. lol). You'd be surprised at how it can add up. I always broke a dollar and at the end of the day I'd throw it in my change basket. It paid for many an unexpected vehicle repair or vet visit.
 
#6 ·
This year, when the temps are consistently below freezing I plan on emptying the freezer and putting the contents in the unheated porch. This will save some on electricity. We also get a reduced rate after 7 pm so any baking and running the dryer will be done then. My grandmother's oven was always full when it was on. To take advantage of sale items, especially fresh, I'm dehydrating what I'm not able to eat fresh. This takes up little storage space and lasts for months.
 
#8 ·
We only heat the house to about 60 degrees and use sweaters and blankets. Spare bedroom gets shut up and the vents closed. After using the oven we leave the door open so as the oven cools it warms the kitchen.
To avoid a tank heater I built a passive solar tank box.
We wash laundry in full loads only and with cold water instead of hot. Quick showers to save hot water (surprisingly easy for me, hard for DH).
 
#14 ·
I invested in a good pair of barber shears so I could cut my husband's hair. I've got good enough now that I can cut my own hair further adding to the savings.

We have very plain, but serviceable, cell phones that are purchased at a fraction of the cost of the new do-everything cells. We also buy our minutes for the cell phones rather than using a plan. My husband's monthly cell cost is about $5; mine is $10.
 
#21 ·
For those on a septic system. Most folks have a dishwasher and the highly alkaline soaps upset the balance in the septic tank resulting in having to have it pumped out every few years. My dishes are still washed by hand, and my system has never had to be pumped out. This means the hot water tank can be on a lower setting which dominoes into lower electricity costs.
 
#24 ·
Like others, I trade and barter with neighboring farms for nearly all our extra meat and can’t tell you last time I bought any from the store beyond some lunch meats or turkey dogs. Only because I‘m too lazy to make turkey dogs.
I also have two veggie gardens that I eat, can, dry, and freeze everything from as well as a small orchard I planted when I first moved in. It was not a good apple year, but the wet summer has brought a bounty of squashes and pumpkins, so I have been busy putting up those and saving the seeds to make granola with during the winter. Pumpkin butter will soon follow.

Like Boots, I don’t grocery very often and stock up when I do. Not only saves money on groceries, but saves money on gas. Although now I get to borrow a family member’s hybrid/99 miles to the gallon car sometimes. It’s awesome) But, when I go to town I do multiple things and errands.

For times when I have had to stretch hay for the horses and livestock because of no pasture, hay shortage, drought, ....whatever… I will mow and dry the grass and non pasture field clippings. (My place is all natural with no chemicals, plus I know what grows here) When needed, I’ll add the well dried clippings in small amounts.
I did make my own slow feeder round bale net. But it was a few years ago and now it’s coming apart, and I do use smaller slow feed hay bags on the rare occasions I feed flaked hay.

I have well water, so no water bill beyond the pump, but sometimes things freeze. I’m lucky that there is a natural spring that runs year round not far from here, and I have a large tank to put in the back of my truck to get water. It came from the juice plant and I picked it up from auction super cheap. It’s a lifesaver during times of drought or frozen pipes.

I line dry when the weather permits, and I have an older deluxe coleman cook stove that is never tucked too far away. Also have a solar shower and a generator too.
(Can you tell the power goes out here..a lot?? :lol:)
 
#25 ·
.

Frugal living..... get out of those 2 year Contracts with the money hungry Cell Phone Companies.

Cricket Wireless is 100% ATT Towers and Service, as low as 35.00 a month, no taxes, no contracts for unlimited Talk, Text and Data.

If you prefer 100% Verizon Towers and Service, use Straight Talk, as low as 41.23 includes Taxes, no Contract for Unlimited Data, Talks and Text.

Both have extra discounts for additional Family or Friends on the same Bill, and you can bring you same phone for a 5.00 fee and keep your same phone number for free......

.
 
#26 ·
Just had a tip pop up on my FB news feed about using bubble wrap as window insulation. They cut the bubble wrap to the size of the window, sprayed a film of water on the glass panes and set the bubble wrap up to it.

Granted, that won't keep a stiff wind from blowing around the frame, but this would give a bit more insulation factor to plain glass.
 
#27 ·
I'm excited about this thread!

We live so frugally now, but so much is becoming more expensive that I'm more interested in how to MAKE more money! Lol!!

We heat with wood, so no cost there, our electric bill goes down in the winter.

I budget (or WAS) about $300 a month in groceries. I grow/raise/hunt what we don't buy. It's all free range and saved seeds (or seeds on sale) so really it costs nothing but time for most of our food.
And it's healthier!

Thrift shops for clothes, why pay even sale price at the stores when a decent blouse costs $3 at helping hands?

Bargain Outfitters has some awesome deals in their clearance section. I love that site. Already bought Christmas, 20 presents for only around $250. Not too shabby!
(Our family is HUGE, and they all insist on giving gifts :(

This year I'm also making beeswax melts for gifts, they smell heavenly!
 
#30 ·
For the horses, I feed round bales, with a feeder and a net. I am experimenting with openings to keep the pony from eating 24/7 like a giant hog. Hay is bought in one fell swoop every fall. I also have a solar heated water trough that we made last year, that keeps the tank heater from working nearly as much, dropped our heating bill by around $100 a month. I also have a solar fence charger. I'm not a tack hoarder either, everything I buy is something that is absolutely needed, not just because it's pretty.

Now as for my personal expenses, I live in an apartment and only pay electricity (thankfully with the drafts in my apartment the heat is not electric!) so I turn off lights and keep things unplugged when not in use. I also have candles in all the rooms, so if I'm just going in/out cleaning and such I don't have to turn on a light, usually the light is on only if I am in the room for an extended period of time.

My cell phone is going on 4 years old, it's an iPhone 4S as I have need of a smartphone in my opinion and experience. I'm not on a contract and I keep the bill as low as possible.

Food is a big one for me. I'm single and meals for one can get both monotonous and expensive. So, I tend to make big batches of food that I know I like and freeze them into 2-3 serving packages. I make both a great lentil soup and a veggie chili which are super cheap. I turned 1 ham into enough meals to literally feed me for a month with minimal other ingredients. Also, shop that "almost bad" meat section, either freeze immediately or turn into soup/stew and freeze that too. There are hunters in my family as well and I help them clean out their freezers in the fall before hunting season.

I don't own a TV, so no cable, although I do have Amazon Prime (free shipping saves me a ton for my dog's meds/supplements) so I can stream free movies on my old as dirt laptop if I so choose. However, my primary entertainment is books or the free kindle books I have on it already or that I find in various newsletters.

The one place I don't even try to skimp is with my old dog's supplements, food, and meds. He gets what is best for him.

ETA - I do have internet as I find it to be a necessity, however I searched for the cheapest provider I could find.
 
#31 · (Edited by Moderator)
I love the suggestion about the thermostat. Go through your horse work clothes and separate the very grubbiest and holiest for wintertime mucking. I have 7 degrees of clothing from the very nicest (Holiday singing & fancy parties/weddings) to the stuff I wear to muck out after the chickens.
I have winter clothes that I wear in side to do what I'm doing now, and winter clothes that never go outside in the winter, but I use for house cleaning. You stay warm by wearing layers to put on and take off when necessary. Get your SOCKS together. We sweat in our socks with any kind of heat, so you should change your socks many times a day during the winter. The worst thing to happen to you is to get sick, so this will keep you warm and healthy, as well as a very cool and healthier house.
Instead of putting sweaty, but not really dirty socks or layers in the dryer, find a place to hang them to dry. During the whole year, I hang my outdoor chore socks on the water pipes by the back door in the basement to dry until I need them again. Even with this year's humidity my dehumidifier dries them overnight. I also hang my damp sneakers on the hand holds that the previous owner put on the wall down the 5 1/2 basement steps. Actually I wear sneakers to feed my animals with through almost the whole year. I get them used and cheap and I totally wear them out. Right now I am rotating between 3 pairs. I don't throw them away until they either split or the sole cracks.
Use or buy the cheapest sweatpants for winter feeding. You can put a pair of long underwear pants AND another pair of pants underneath them, if necessary.
When you layer, go north, then south, etc. That is, your tuck your bottom shirt layer into your pants, the pants go over the next shirt layers goes over, then the pants go under. Layering correctly doesn't allow for any gaps that allow drafts.
If you have Cartharts, save the jacket and overalls for feeding in the the coldest weather.
Start checking your windows NOW. It isn't too early to fill cracks and put some caulking around them. I have three windows that need to be fixed before the end of next month. Spend the money to check our your furnace right now. A repair in the middle of the winter is pricey and if you have to wait too long and it's very cold, you will also be paying for pipes that have burst.
Assemble and wash and dry your warmest blankets. Strip down and change completely for bed. Use the lightest and warmest blankets. Down comforters are the very warmest, then wool, then cotton. Hats also keep your warmer than none.
If you are a coffee drinker, consider using your coffeemaker for a runthrough, instead of making more. You may think I'm daft, but I'm beYOND frugel and downright cheap! Stick deodorants will last for months and months if you don't throw them away until you've used every little bit. I keep the almost-gones in my dresser drawer and use a q-tip to push the pieces out. I use that on Saturday when I just having shopping to do. I also cut open toothpaste tubes and use every last bit.
I buy practically everything for myself and for my business on clearance or on super sale. In the USA, grocery stores and others realize that the first full week of month is when most people are paid, so they are flush with money. They wait until the last two weeks to really put things on sale bc most people don't have the money to buy, then. Also, if you are really frugel for Christmas, you can buy in January when most people don't spend bc they are heavy in Christmas debt.
LEARN TO SEW
Many people leave things unworn just bc they have lost a button, or a hem needs repair. Just go online and you can learn how to properly sew on a button and how to do a tailer stitch. Also, repeair your play socks, instead of throwing them away. Use your grain bags in the barn for garbage bags INSTEAD of plastic bags and save a bundle.
 
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