50 ways to Save Money
1. I don't buy hardley any clothing for myself, I don't put on my jeans or what few nicer shirts I have unless I go out somewhere to avoid wearing them out. I mostly wear workout pants mostly bought from the Goodwill around the house (Have been doing this for years).
2. Buying our food in bulk including our meat (just started recently)
3. Not buying any clothing for the kids (grandparents really enjoy this!)
4. Do your shopping at thrift stores as long as you can steer away from the junk. I buy all our glasses at a thrift store 10/$1
5. Using cloth diapers as much as possible
6. Keeping our heat turned down as low as we can stand it
7. Using baking soda instead of buying toothpaste
8. Taking advantage of yard sales in the summer but only bring as much cash as you NEED to spend
9. Not buying conditioner for my hair and the girls (just started this)... (Jan 2012 update, I was unable to brush the girls hair without conditioner, It was torture for them, Therefore I am now the only one going without conditioner)
10. Not buying any bottled water anymore (we have now discontinued our Shenandoah bottled water service)
11. Eating as much free deer meat as we can get (Been doing this since we were married thanks to my dad!)
12. Not participating in any activities that cost money other than swimming
13. Baking our bread
14. Not buying Christmas gifts for anyone but our kids (just implemented this year)
15. Not paying for haircuts for anyone in our family
16. Replacing Daniels jeans only once a year when Belk has a big jean sale
17. Getting any free books for the kids that I can find
18. We won't pay more that $10k for a reliable family vehicle even if it means I can't find the color I would like:-).
19. When something breaks, We do without it if possible.
20. We love to eat out especially after a long of caring for 4 children! However, we are trying not to eat out often and only eat at places where our bill comes to less than $20 for the whole family. This means that when we are paying, we order for our kids and everyone gets no drink choice but water.
21. Using as little gas as possible by leaving the house no more than necessary
22. Grocery shopping only once a week and no more
23. Rarely ever serving an individual serving of meat, Instead I am strerching almost all of our meat into casseroles and soups.
24. Not hiring any household help and doing all of my own cleaning and laundry
25. Not buying any beverages at all other than raw milk
26. Eating lots of oatmeal (bought in bulk)
27. Hurrying in the shower to use less hot water or take showers at the community center
28. Let Grandparents babysit kids
29. Not buying baby wipes
30. Always pay tithe and give $ to those in need.
31. Making my own laundry soap
32. Making my own body wash
33. Making my own salad dressings
34. Making my own vanilla flavoring
35. Making my own cream soups
36. Making my own yogurt
37. Gathering up all the change around the house and rolling it up to take to bank
38. Making kitty eat scraps instead of buying cat food when possible
39. Leaving the garage door cracked open to avoid buying cat litter
40. Not hiring babysitters for the whopping $8-$10/hr they expect nowadays
41. Not using as many cleaning products and making some of my own.
42. Eating less, Snacking less
43. Using less butter and cheese
44. Learning how to make more meals out of beans
45. Not going shopping other than for bare necessities
46. Heating our living room with wood
47. Having kids share school books
48. Not buying any cold cereals or granola bars
49. Saving all of Isaac and Grace's clothes to give to James and Mercy
50. When you need shoes, Buy hiking shoes for your husband and kids instead of regular shoes, They are made to be rough in and last so much longer than all other shoes!
Expenses that are currently killing us and I need idea's to fix it!
Health insurance (Daniels is free but for me and the 4 kids it costs $435/mo!
Our Old Fashioned electric ceiling heat (costs around $500 a month in the wintertime!) (Jan 2012 update: due to our wood stove we have managed to get our power bill down to $300/month!)
Homeschooling (costs about $300-$400 per child in books and materials per year) Approx $100 per month for us.
Our mortgage ($840/month plus taxes and insurance, Ends up being about $1100 per month
Food (even though I cut every corner I can with food, I will not sacrifice my huaband and kids health, meaning we spend about $200/weeks on food for 6 people with very little eating out. $850/month.
Cell phone bills total over $100 month
City Water Bill is $50-$60/ month. (Can't wait to get on a well!)
Life insurance is $120 month (we keep alot because living parent would need to stay home with kids)
Gas costs $300 month
Internet/ home phone totals around $100 month
Vehicle insurance on 2 cars ? I need to check our most recent bills.
Here are some things we have considered but aren't sure we can stand:
Only using 1 vehicle and getting rid of the other, Though this makes it very difficult if I want to go out to homeschool mom or ladies events without the kids and Daniel needs to take the kids somewhere since I can't drive the company truck. Probably we will do it anyway and Daniel will just have to drop me off and pick me up. updated...(January 2012 update...WE Did it and yes it has been hard since I can't drive the company truck! sacrifices, sacrifices:-)
Cutting off my smart phone, This would take away the only camera and video camera we have... (January 2012 update, I DID it and yes I miss it... another sacrifice)
Cutting out health insurance (not even legal anymore and might be dumb since we aren't done having kids)
Selling our house (Is there anywhere to rent that would cost less than our mortgage that a homeschool mom can keep her sanity staying home all day with 4 children?....(January 2012 update, watched craigslist to get an idea of the rental market for several weeks and found that it is not possible to rent anything big enough for our family for less than our current mortgage)
Not skiing this year ~ Heartbreaking for me and Isaac! Have not decided about this yet. (Jan 2012 update, we were able to get free passes!)
Not sending out Christmas cards this year. (Jan 2012 update: My kids were too cute to give up this one!)
Not doing a family vacation for the 3rd-4th year in a row. (January 2012, It is official that we will not be able to pay for a beach vacation this year. BIG SACRIFICE!)
Not going to the Homeschool Convention. Yes we know we need to go, It is especially encouraging and uplifting in our journey to homeschool our kids BUT the cost for the last 2 years has been more than we can handle. (January 2012 update, we will not be going...yes yet another sacrifice!)
Cutting off Netflix would save $15/mo. Can't get my kids and husband talked into cutting this off.
Discontinuing my Sunday paper, I love it! But it would save $7/month. (January 2012 update..I did it and yes I miss it... another sacrifice!)
Live in a camper for a few months (might not be worth it unless you could sell the camper for as much as you paid for it or more and I would GO CRAZY...too great of a sacrifice.
Stop using the dryer (with our magnitude of laundry and bed sheets, I don't know if I could stand this). (January 2012 update, I tried but I simply couldn't handle the workload involved with 4 kids)
Eating unhealthy ~ Personal conviction. This would save lots of $ but is not an option, and would increase medical expenses down the road. (January 2012 update.. I have resorted to buying some cheap unhealthy food on occasion but will not compromise on meat, farm fresh milk and farm eggs)
OK, I don't want to be ridiculous about this which I realize I might already be. I just want to be a good steward of all that God has given us AND accomplish our dream of buying land and raising a large family. Now let me hear your idea's for saving money!
Live like no one else is so tomorrow you can live like no one else does~ Dave Ramsey
4 comments:
Lol! You are both crazy and amazing! Baking soda for toothpaste?! my only advice would be to save and be frugal....but dont let it rule/ruin you out of enjoying life. You and daniel are very good stewards and God is already blessing u because of it!
LOL! Yes I am a crazy girl:-) Have had to be. My parents didn't even buy my clothes or change the oil in my car when I was a teenager. Learned early to take care of myself and save money! We need to get together soon!
Coupons are definitely for unhealthy products, with the exception of toiletries. I haven't paid for a single tube of toothpaste since I began couponing and I get all of my husband's razor for less than a dollar per razor. Those are very expensive! You can also get great deals on laundry detergent but those deals probably wouldn't compare with making your own. There are also lots of savings to be had in paper products: toilet paper and papers towels and diapers!
It all sounded really good until you say to cut scrapbooking and hobbies. These are the things of life that make you happy. If you cut out all happiness, you will most likely go on a crazy spending spree or go crazy :) LOL I can tell you instead of cutting those things out, you really should consider getting a wood stove. You could purchase one stove to last you many years and cut $500 on electricity.
Thinking of selling your home in this market, you would be better off keeping it. There are programs that can help reduce your mortgage. Look at MakingHomeAffordable.gov.
Netflix allows you to put a hold on the account so that it doesn't charge you until you're ready to start paying that amount again. Just make sure you do it at the end of the billing cycle. They don't refund partial months.
You can also research lower rates on health/life/car insurance and cellphones.
I'm glad you are not considering eating unhealthy, as this really will catch up with your health and end up costing more, including your life. My mom has a disease that if she eats ANY MSG (monosodium glutamate), it will kill her. You can eat healthy inexpensively. Your tongue may not appreciate it, but your body will. My mom eats lots of salads and rice. They are both inexpensive and healthy. In the spring and summer, you should consider planting a garden. You could eat nearly every meal from your own garden. Just make sure to plan it right. We eat a lot of tomatoes and cucumbers in our salad, so we brought in our tomatoes from the garden and hung them upside down to finish riping. We still have many green tomatoes, so I'm sure they'll last through the winter. You can also freeze and can vegetables to eat during the winter.
Hope these tips have helped! :) We're also a family of six who live off of $10,000 a year.
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