How do you stretch your money?

[RedThunderBird]

avoid fast food restaurants -----

[mom-from-missouri]

Our biggies are using the clothesline, not eating out, keeping the AC at 76 and the heat at 63 & layering up, cooking from scratch, avoiding unnecesarry trips to town, not wasting food by canning and freezing, gardening & growing our own meat and fish, not using disposable products such as paper towels, napkins, plates...using cfl and led lighting, cheap entertainment at home, shopping in bulk, sewing most of the kids and my clothes & shopping thrift stores, dh takes his own lunch and we don't use disposable lunch items--they are rubbermade containers that we reuse.

[RedThunderBird]

Originally Posted by Ima saver

Very good one, snafu, never pay interest on anything. Charge only what you can pay off in full the next month, on your credit card.

a good advice which I second or third ...... you know what I mean

[Ima saver]

My husband's workers go out to lunch every day. They must spend $50 a week just on lunches. My husband packs his lunch every single day and puts it in a cooler. He saves that trip to town (he is a builder) plus all that cash every week.

[RedThunderBird]

Originally Posted by Ima saver

My husband's workers go out to lunch every day. They must spend $50 a week just on lunches. My husband packs his lunch every single day and puts it in a cooler. He saves that trip to town (he is a builder) plus all that cash every week.

and I bet that he is eating healthier that the ones who go to the fast food places ===== without a doubt

[rob62521]

Originally Posted by RedThunderBird

and I bet that he is eating healthier that the ones who go to the fast food places ===== without a doubt

And, at least he knows where his food came from and it was prepared in a clean kitchen with clean hands.

[croland]

I have to admit, since taking my lunch, I don't worry about what's in my food. It's an easy way to motivate myself to take it.

[Ima saver]

He carries a microwave with him to every job. That way, he can just heat up the leftovers from last night's dinner.

[Debtfree_me]

i live at my own, working as an accounting staff and my boarding house is just a walking distance away to office. i saved a lot because i dont have much transportation expense and aside from that i cook my food and made budget meal plan as its much easier to decide what to buy when im in the supermarket. i used the money i save from transpo and meals in buying beads accessories materials and make some fancy necklace, earrings, ID lace and more to earned extra income

[canadamom]

We just had a roof done and the guys brought a microwave to plug in outside for their lunch!

[rob62521]

Originally Posted by canadamom

We just had a roof done and the guys brought a microwave to plug in outside for their lunch!

Good thinking!

What would you do if the internet crashed for good? Would you get used to life with less communication and less "being connected" or would you be pretty bummed for the rest of your life?

This is assuming it was not fixed. Perhaps some largescale EMP attack or something that crippled it for the next 50+ years or so.

[buildmybudget]

I don't think most of us would function too well without the Internet. It means everything would move much slower and it's hard enough trying to keep up these days!

[Elizabeth.P]

I have learned to prioritize my need.. .like I use vinegar and baking soda as toilet cleaner ....We can do it in a careful, thoughtful and legitimate means such as long term savings ,solid investments .I have learned to carefully budget out my needs .... money and you by Habit changer has helped me develop a good attitude towards money.

[Ima saver]

I only use a credit card that gives cash back. I get a check for $50 at least once a month with my Chase credit card and I add it to my $20 challenge.

[rob62521]

Ima, knowing how good you are with money and careful as well, this makes sense. I use a credit card that gives me cash back as well, but you are probably like me and pay it off every month.

[gemologist]

I buy everything I can on ebay and put it on my points credit card. I watch my credit score go up, and ebay is now giving kickbacks, I have already accrued over $150 in kickbacks.

Everything in my home I purchased on Craigslist
countertops, kitchen table, assorted furnature, cabinets, flooring, carpeting,
(saved literally $10,000)

I shop at town talk (google it) I match prices at wal mart. get my fruit and veggies from fiesta, buy my clothes on ebay, use reflective coatings on my windows, turn my ac down while at work...

the list goes on... still looking for more ways to save.
I compared prices for power and saved $800/year over traditional companies.

[kenyantykoon]

i dont eat out, ever, do my own washing(i know it hurts), once in a while eat 2 meals instead of four , use the internet connection in the uni instead of using my own, dont drive and most importantly i dont have a girlfriend meaning that i dont have to buy presents in all conceivable anniversaries

[LuxLiving]

Like many of you I wash in cold water, using the smallest load setting possible for each load. I also just use 1/8 a cup of laundry soap, which really stretches it out.

When I'm out of the cheap 1) liquid laundry detergent from the dollar store, and also out of 2)powdered laundry detergent, I will just shave some off a bar of 3)Fels Naptha, which saves me an unnecessary trip to town.

I then put laundry soap on my handy SHOPPING LIST posted on the frig. That shopping list has saved me lots of dollars thru the years from not having to back track to pick stuff up that slipped my mind. What? I sometimes forget to write Laundry Soap on the list! Hence the three strikes and I'm out effort here. If I was out of all three? ehhhh, I'd use dish soap rather than make an extra trip to town. No dish soap? Surely there would be some brand of bar soap in the cabinet that I could also shave down to get me through to my next SCHEDULED shopping trip.

I think being willing to try to be somewhat inventive, or being resourceful or creative can save a lot of money over time. Necessity is the mother of invention is a good saying to keep in mind if you want to be super frugal. Don't just keep buying the big Tide bottle because Mom always did. Why do you use what you use? What's it cost you to use it? Is there a cheaper alternative? or just an alternative that's on hand that might save your bacon for the moment?

If it was just me, I'd only buy the powder detergent, but Hubster likes to use the liquid. Measuring it out helps save! I also dilute these liquid bottles by 2/3. Meaning I have another bottle on hand. I buy two at a time. I empty out a third of each bottle into an empty. Then all three are filled to the top with water and shaken each time they are used.

---
Tennis shoes. I have a new this year pair for going out in, last year's pair for wear around the house, and the year before pair for painting, yard work, boondocking, cow-pasturing, etc. This year's pair is always bought at Payless when they've got their BOGO going on, where I buy this year's dress shoes as well.

[snafu]

If you have an item that needs pre-treating so the stain doesn't set...I found shampoo to be effective. We keep a couple of those sm. hotel size shampoo bottles on the shelf in the closet. I've also used shampoo that I didn't like for hair as liquid laundry soap. It did a great job in the laundry and at least I didn't have to throw it out!