Can you help?

[sarah]

I am surpised that saving money was easier to do in the city. Transportation costs seem to be much higher in the country.

[mom-from-missouri]

Originally Posted by sarah

I am surpised that saving money was easier to do in the city. Transportation costs seem to be much higher in the country.

Well, over all, its cheaper for us.

#1, no trash bill to pay-in the city it was $17 a month for barebones trash pickup--no recycling. Here, we burn the trash & take the recycables to town the first Sat of the month for scouts to use for a fundraiser.

#2 No sewer bill at $27 a month--we have a septic tank with an evaporation pond. FYI the evaporation pond is very healthy-fish even survive it it, although we don't eat them-cats and coons do.

#3 Room for a large garden--Last year I raised corn, green beans, tomatoes, radishes, lettuce, okra, lima beans, beets, brocholli, cauliflaur, turnips, potatoes (dug the rest of the potatoes yesterday when we plowed up the garden). I canned and froze a lot--greatly reduced the grocery bill.

#4 Room for fruit trees-we have peach, apple, cherry, pear. We also added some concord grapevines which should produce next year. Canned and made jelly and jams, and ate fresh.

#5 Compost all goes to the garden, or chickens and pigs.

#6 Chickens for the eggs. Excess eggs get sold.

#7 room to raise our own beef

#8 Room to board horses for people for extra income

#9 Room to raise pigs. Pigs are cheap to feed during school year as you can take an empty plastic barrell to school and they will dump in the plate scrappings. Pick it up after lunch, and leave a clean barrel with the kitchen. Since I have to go to school anyway at the end of the day to pick up the kids, its no extra trip. School is happy to do it, as it saves them on trash pickup-they call for it to be picked up when the dumpster is full, and it doesnt fill up as fast this way (small school of 100)

We save in other ways as well--only go to town when needed. You learn quickly to make do or do without. Can have a clothes line up without worrying about city codes. We don't mow the entire place--part of the huge front yard we let grow and neighbors beg to bale it for us. Saves us gas, and they give us 1/3 of the bales-which feeds the horses and cows in the winter. We ususally get 3 cuttings of hay a year. Kids have more room to play outside, yell and scream-more outdoor games of ball, teather ball and tag mean less video games and such. We also have a lot of timber, so we cut the deadstuff for our heat supplement.

All these added up more than save on the extra fuel.

[RunnerGirl78]

I've become an e-Bay junkie. I only buy from them (you can get great shirts for $0.01 plus about $3 in shipping), whether it be clothing, appliances, gifts, etc. I also sell there, too...old jewelery, rubber stamps, items at garage sales, etc. I donate all big items, but anything that's worth any value and can be shipped - it's on eBay. I've also become a smart shopper at places like Ross and Marshalls...you can pick up a pair of, say, Nine West shoes there for about $8 and sell them on eBay for $20...after shipping, you make about $5 a sale. Trust me, it adds up quick.