Tips for Frugal Living

[Recyclersteve]

I’m starting this new thread with the hopes that it can evolve into something fairly robust. I’m sure many of us have little things we do to save money that lots of our friends and neighbors have no clue about. With a name like mine (recyclersteve), you can probably imagine that I like to find ways to reduce, reuse and recycle. What tips do you have for others on this site to save money and/or reduce waste?

I’ve got a couple to start with...

1). Think before using forks and spoons. I noticed recently that we use forks a lot more than spoons. As a result, we were running out of clean forks when there were still plenty of spoons left. That caused us to use the dishwasher a lot more than necessary. One very small adjustment we made was to use spoons when we can for some items you wouldn’t normally use a spoon with. So I am eating things like mac and cheese and scrambled eggs with a spoon instead of a fork. Obviously, this isn’t recommended when you have company visiting. Conversely, I could eat ice cream with a fork to save all that water that is wasted when using a partially full dishwasher.

2). Certain things will last way beyond the expiration date on the label, and I mean way beyond. Example: aspirin. We have a container that originally had 500 tablets in it and still probably has 300 or so left. The expiration date? March, 2009, over ELEVEN years ago! I’ve also taken very old Imodium (for diarrhea) and had no issues whatsoever. Keep in mind that both of these don’t have liquids (which can evaporate) or oil (which can go bad).

When it comes to food items, that is a different matter. A great website to check for foods is stilltasty.com. There are LOTS of items on that free site.

What else can everyone think of?

[IdahoCopper]

Sometimes I buy a whole or half beef, pig, lamb, or llama, and take it to the butcher. To buy a half, you just ask the rancher if anyone else has asked to buy a half, or you find a friend to split with.

When they were starting to euthanize pigs because the supply chain broke, someone from my town sent a livestock semi to Iowa and brought back 130 pigs. All the small, local butchers were busy for a month, processing those pigs. I put a half in the freezer.

I always keep an eye out for llama. They taste good and can be had pretty cheap sometimes. Last one cost just $20 plus $100 for the butcher. It put 90 lbs of tasty meat in the freezer.

[galenrog]

The best thing for frugal living is to get out of debt. I am not saying to turn your life upside down today, but rather to concentrate on one or two debts at a time, then going on to the next one. How long it takes will vary from one family to the next.

The second best thing is to build a reserve. Many of the experts say between six months and two years of regular expenses. This can not be done in a day or even a year. Just put a little away every payday. It will accumulate. When we have an unexpected expense or a job loss, the cushion takes much of the stress away, allowing us to consider options without panic.

Along with that reserve of cash, consider also things like food, toilet paper, soap, shampoo, etc. My goal has been one year of everything, but reality always gets in the way. I do have a year supply of several things, but not nearly enough.

This can not only help out you and your family, but friends and neighbors, as well. When toilet paper and paper towels were hard to get earlier this year, we kept nearby family, and a few neighbors supplied. Except for my mother, it was more barter than giving. Traded value for value.

Learning to cook and bake. Most people know only how to heat things up, not prepare from scratch. Factory prepared foods frequently have an excess of sodium, sugar, and a host of flavorings and preservatives.

When I began learning to bake breads, using traditional methods, I found that my wife could easily eat breads made with natural leavening, with a long fermentation time. She can not tolerate factory breads that have preservatives, dough enhancers, artificial flavorings, etc. One granddaughter has been diagnosed as having a gluten intolerance. She can easily eat my sourdough breads, regardless of the whole grains the flour is from. The enriched, shelf stable flours are a problem for her, as are bakers yeasts.

Living a healthy lifestyle also contributes to frugal living. Fewer medical issues being the result.

I could go on and on, but why bother. Most of you get the idea. The important thing is to get started. There will be hiccups and roadblocks along the way. Overcoming them can be very difficult. Just do your best and plod along.

Time for more coffee.

[shinnosuke]

Don't drink anything but water.

[pitw]

Don't drink anything but water.

I do that , frick it can be boring.

If ya wanna live frugal then just don't spend money and figure out how to live poor.

[Treetop]

One Im starting to get back into at my new house is growing greens and some herbs as house plants. I used to do it and got out of the habit a few years back so I need to get new seed by now sadly. Its much easier to get into than gardening in general and if you eat those kinds of things youll save lots of money to. Plus you can always pick fresh. Oh, if you do this, soak them in some cool water before you store them. They will last longer. Of course you can just pick fresh as needed, but if you harvest a bunch at once for some reason.

Got some stuff to do, Ill think of some later.

[shinnosuke]

Don't drink anything but water.

I do that , frick it can be boring.

If ya wanna live frugal then just don't spend money and figure out how to live poor.

In your case, I think you mean melted snow. Just watch out for that lemon slushee!

[Recyclersteve]

Here is another tip RE: napkins (the kind you get at the drive-thru of a fast food restaurant, not the other kind)...

Save the extra napkins you get from places like McDonalds. I have a box about 2 feet long x 1 foot wide x 1 foot deep that is full of them. Anytime I have to wipe a surface like a floor or sink that isn’t all that clean in the first place (in other words I wouldn’t lick it), I use extra napkins from McDonalds, etc. Why waste paper towels that you pay money for on these surfaces when you can use something you got for free?!?

P.S. To clarify something I should let you know these unused napkins sit in my car for up to a week or so- often on the floor or under my car seat. So, while they haven’t been used, they aren’t clean enough for me to wipe my mouth. I then gather the napkins about once a week when I clean out my car.

[Recyclersteve]

We need to reactivate this old thread.

Something else I want to add to the mix is this. We get lots of invitations to free dinner seminars at fancy restaurants. The seminars are usually geared to those, say, age 50 or higher. They are typically about saving money on taxes, managing investments or healthcare. We went to one last night where our dinner was likely $125-150 total for the two of us, and it was absolutely delicious. Remember, you don't always have to say "yes" after a sales pitch!

Oh yeah, we have another dinner presentation at a fancy restaurant tomorrow night.

Another thing I do a lot of is picking up things by the side of the road that someone else is throwing away. If you look carefully, you will find stuff from time to time that is absolutely incredible. I saw a business just last week that had a big dumpster in the parking lot. Next to the dumpster they put an absolutely gorgeous painting that is in like new condition. We are giving it as a gift to my daughter, who will be moving into her first house in about a month. I have gotten other things that I've just taken to Goodwill.

It is STAGGERING how much stuff I've found over the years. One really notable item from a month ago was a beautiful leather recliner and ottoman from a company called Stressless. I found that a company called Copenhagen sells this brand and went with my wife to their store. We figured that our chair and ottoman (combined) originally cost $2,800-3,200. And this was in a pile of stuff with a sign that said "FREE" on it!

One other thing we do is often let the temperature in our house go up to, say, 91-94 degrees during the summertime. We set it down to 81 degrees when we are sleeping, but use fans during daytime hours. This helps reduce our electric bill.

C'mon everyone. We need to be more proactive about helping each other out. What does everyone else do to save money?

[Recyclersteve]

Here’s another tip. There are some foods which go bad pretty quickly after the expiration date. Others can last a very long time, even well past the posted expiry dates.

Check out this site:

Stilltasty.com

It has got LOTS of eye opening info on food freshness guidelines for you.

[sparechange]

Borrow tools. The rules are: return in a timely manner, and be prepared to repair or replace if you happen to have a mishap with it. Most people are willing to loan tools if you return or replace in a timely manner. Rural life dictates the necessity to borrow at times to accomplish certain tasks. If you borrow something that uses fuel, return with a full tank of fuel.

[Silver4face]

Always use cash when paying for gas. I save 5 to 10 cents a gallon, and this adds up nicely over the years. It has now been 13 years since I last used a CC to pay for gas.

[Cu Penny Hoarder]

- Don't get married.
- Don't have kids.
- Don't buy/lease new cars.
- Eat all your meals at home.
- Don't drink alcohol or smoke.
- Exercise and stay healthy.

These are main things I've done that saved me a fortune and enabled me to retire in my early 50's.

[Recyclersteve]

- Don't get married.
- Don't have kids.
- Don't buy/lease new cars.
- Eat all your meals at home.
- Don't drink alcohol or smoke.
- Exercise and stay healthy.

These are main things I've done that saved me a fortune and enabled me to retire in my early 50's.

I'll leave the part about marriage and kids for others to discuss, but I want to take issue with the meals at home situation. I get a few thousand dollars of free food each year by looking at my junk mail and signing up for free seminars (lunch and dinner) where a person wants to talk about retirement, healthcare, managing my portfolio, etc. These are often at some of the very best restaurants in our area. My wife and I went to one recently where the food we got for free (with 25% total for tax/tip) would have been well over $300. I have a number of friends who do exactly the same thing. Remember, all you have to do is listen to the presentation being made- you don't have to say yes. I keep track of the places we go so we don't go multiple times to a presentation being made by the same company where we've already attended in the past. This is one thing nice about being a bit older. I don't remember getting these invitations when I was in my 20's or 30's.

[Recyclersteve]

Just signed up for 2 more free dinner seminars. For the first time in ages, I don’t mind getting junk mail.