Penny Pinching Thread- What Are You Doing To Save More?

[Mistress]

I wanted to start a thread about different ways to save money and share some of your ideas. I shop at second hand stores for my cloths, cd's and books in addition to walking to work to save on parking and gas.

[Kuan]

I get my condiments at Wendy's and McDonald's. I bring my old used coffeecup to McDonald's and pretend I bought the coffee there. I poop in other people's toilets to save on TP and water. I don't wear underwear.

Actually no, I wear wool clothes as much as possible. I only do 2-3 loads of laundry during the winter for myself. And then I hang all my laundry to dry.

Of course I try to eat in and I hardly drive from April to November.

We grow some of our own veggies. One 10x10 plot is plenty for our family and we do worm composting.

[Mike D]

Not driving anywhere I can walk,drinking the cheaper imported beer (Hey! Frugality does have its limits!), eating lots of chicken (Blahh!) stir fries and pasta dishes, not going out on the weekends, (Hopefully I'll save enough money to pay for the divorce), putting home improvement projects on hold, doing minor projects around the house on weekends with stuff I already have on hand (Finally using up all those half full cans of paint I've had stored for 5 years) which tends to keep me home and busy. You know, the stuff my Grandpa always did.

[Kuan]

One thing you can do is cook a lot of food at once and then freeze it. I get these pork shoulders on sale for $1.69lb sometimes (that's expensive, food in MN is expensive) and smoke 120lbs at a time.

You can do the same with roasts. If you're going to have the oven on then why not just put in 2-3 roasts at once? $1.99lb pork loin is good for sandwiches and you can slice of a hunk for dinner as well.

Make your own salad dressing. It's easier than you think. Salt and pepper, splash of vinegar and some oil, and you have a salad dressing. You can also make Ranch or other popular styles easily. Recipes are out there.

It really pays to learn how to make your own bread. We make the week's bread here on Sundays. We freeze two loaves and leave two out. Thaw out a loaf when you need to and slice, toast, or if you're doing something in the oven you can toss the loaf in while the oven is heating up or cooling down and the loaf comes out like it's fresh baked.

[Crazy_Nate]

Line drying clothes does help. It's a little difficult when it starts getting humid.

The AC at home gets used as little as possible. We set it higher than typically done and if it's nice out at night, we just open the windows. Sometimes, we have to prematurely close the windows because of being in an apartment and having chain smokers for neighbors

Turn off lights when they're not being used, same as most electronics. Have leaky fixtures fixed sooner rather than later to save H2O (likewise, make sure the aerators are working well).

Combine trips to the store with other planned outings (such as the commute home from work).

We also make our own bread. I'm not sure if this is much cheaper, but we can be sure that we've got good ingredients

I also make some minor furniture myself (hardwood bookshelves, etc). It's not too difficult, but I definitely wish I had more workspace!

I also build all of my computers. It's easy!

[ah-kay]

Frequent CL for freebies. But penny pinching has its limit. You need to increase your revenue. Like extra incomes or investments.

[MTI]

I have started recycling the glass and metal from the Beluga tins.

Instead of paper or plastic, we take our own shopping bag . . . to Prada.

Try not to drive the Veyron in "special key" mode as much.

Traded in the 757 jet for a 737.

At Davost, not picking up the dinner checks anymore when going out with Bill and Melinda.

[Kuan]

Originally Posted by MTI

Try not to drive the Veyron in "special key" mode as much.

Traded in the 757 jet for a 737.

Good tips. You let go your chauffer. But bad move on the jet. The 757 gets better fuel economy.

[Rafi]

stopped seeing hookers.

[ah-kay]

Originally Posted by Rafi

stopped seeing hookers.

It may be cheaper than you think. Just talk to Tiger, Arnold or John Edwards

[Hatterasguy]

I shoot more steel cased ammo now, and buy fewer guns.

[MS Fowler]

Home veggie garden.
I already live pretty cheap

[TheDon]

Sold the cabrio,got a diesel. I don't eat out,pack a lunch, and for entertainment we try to do free things, stay in and watch movies , or do something affordable.

[Mike D]

Originally Posted by Kuan

Good tips. You let go your chauffer.

Well, I was going to mention I had released the gardening staff and most of the domestics but since all I was paying them was a bit of gruel and use of the tool shed for shelter I didn't see how I was saving much. In fact, now I actually am losing money by having to make meals for the dogs. It's probably for the best. Their sharing of the gruel with the help wasn't doing their coats any favors.

[Mike D]

Originally Posted by Rafi

stopped seeing hookers.

"Seeing" them is cheap.