With times being so hard financially for so many, I’ve taken steps to tighten our financial belt around the Tedtam household, but it could use even more tightening. Some of the things I’m doing:
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*Cooking more with beans. Hubby really likes his meat, so I can’t do totally meatless meals often, but I slip one in occasionally.
*I have a $7 cookbook. It turns out that the chicken taco recipe is a family favorite, though I use HEB’s Southwest Sauce instead of barbecue sauce. I love that stuff (I currently have four bottles of it stashed away, because I can’t always find it at the store.)
*I make extra and store leftovers for me to eat for lunch or use in/as a later meal when I’m in a hurry. I just put away four serving size containers of soup.
*Along those lines, I try to reuse my leftovers. Hubby’s not going to eat leftovers on his own, but I can use up that leftover chicken and veggies in later meals.
*I eat at home whenever possible. I really noticed a difference in my wallet when I quit eating in the car every day while running errands.
*I turn the downstairs thermostat up during the day. I work in my office upstairs, and the upstairs thermostat is programmable. The only room I’m in all day is the office – it stays cool.
*I can’t say the garden is saving me any money, though I do get a some satisfaction when I CAN get a plant to harvest.
*Online bill pay saves me postage. Sorry, post office. I’m contributing to all those union workers not getting laid off….wait…oh, you know what I mean!
*I use the Wal-Mart price matching. I have a shopping list on my computer that I update with the weekly prices, then I can see which flyer price is the best. I’m one of those women you hate to get behind in the check-out lane. I’ve saved up to $40 on one trip. Most of the savings will be in the produce aisle alone. (I do put each “store” purchase in separate bags to speed check-out. I’m not totally heartless.) This way, every store’s loss leader becomes Wal-Mart’s loss leader, and I don’t have to run to different stores to get the best prices on things.
*Buy meat in bulk and divide into servings at home. I have the restaurant roll of plastic wrap from Sam’s Club, and it’s still going strong.
*I buy books at Half Price Bookstore when I can. Garage sales usually don’t have what I’m looking for.
*I don’t garage sale like I used to (the kids used to groan when I found a garage sale sign, then it became a joke I’d play on them), but in the last few weeks I found an ironing board that actually goes up and down for $5.00, and bookshelves for organizing my craft space for another $5. I was sorely tempted to buy the vintage Singer for $25, cabinet and all, but had to restrain myself.
*I’m “saving fives”. I try to pay in cash whenever possible, and any $5 bills I get in change get saved. (I do toss in bigger bills on occasion. I hate getting caught with my financial pants down.)
*I try to keep an emergency fund on hand. I’ve had to dip into it several times, usually for the kids, but it saves me from pulling out the credit card.
* I make my own laundry detergent and “basic cleaner”. Recipes abound on the internet.
* I air dry my laundry. When I use the dryer and want to use a dryer sheet, I tear it half or thirds. I used to put a dab of liquid fabric softener on a washcloth and use it repeatedly in the dryer. It worked great. One bottle of fabric softener lasted for MONTHS! Then I got my clothesline. 😉 I find hanging laundry a relaxing break during my work day; it brings back childhood memories of walking through our backyard….
* For business (and personal) purposes, we’ve signed up with Nextiva.com for our faxes and let go of the land line. We were able port our existing number to this service (plus the number they assigned to us). It’s cheap, cheap, cheap, plus we don’t have any “lost” faxes anymore. We can retrieve faxes when we lose our originals, and we can forward like and as e-mails, too. We get a referral credit, so let me know if you’re going to switch so I can give our company name to you.
I don’t coupon yet, but I have been saving the coupon sections. CouponMom.com provides a weekly listing combining the local sales and which coupon to use and when, to provide the maximum dollar savings. I just haven’t taken the time to sort and clip. It’s on my list.
My favorite savings book is The Tightwad Gazette. I’m waiting for a copy to show up at HPB – I loaned my copy to the employee I fired recently, and she brought it back with pages bent and dirty covers. I’ll be giving the dirty copy to my other employee and keeping the nice copy for myself. She’s a new mom and needs to pinch pennies like crazy.
What do you do to stretch your dollar?
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