[RavensWingsAussi]

What ways have y'all found to cut costs? This is what I've done (keep in mind I'm single, just me and the two cats), am doing, and would do.

As of this week, I'm going to turn in the paperwork to get my student loan put on hold due to financial hardship.

What health ins. companies have the best bang for the buck? (I'm shopping for a new company...can't COBRA forever, what I've found so far costs just as much if not more, and I cannot do without it.)

Is there a way I can refinance my car payments so I can pay less each month for longer? This is my FIRST 'new' car, and when I tried to set up a long term payment plan to begin with they would only let me pay over 6 years. That hurts too much nowadays.

Will my c. cards let me pay below the minimum amount so long as I can pay SOME each month?

I'd already started doing a lot of cost-cutting in the last year I was in Montgomery and managed to get my bi-weekly grocery bill down to about $20-30...down from $40-70 (I really had to work at this). I'd also turned the heat down in my non-insulated house from 75*F to 66*F, which dropped the gas bill from a max of $190 to a max of $90 in the winter. In Summer, I kept it at about 80*F and used a fan to pipe air from the coolest room down the hall to the warmest room, and used only the fan and opened the windows anytime the outside temps were between 58-88*F. And had pretty much quit eating-out for lunch at work and just took my lunch. I only ate-out on payday, and even then I'd keep it below $6.

Had I remained in the Montgomery area, I would've cut further...ditching air-conditioning entirely, cooking outdoors whenever possible, using tip-safe state-of-the-art space heaters instead of gas or electric central heating, and paring my food needs to a less modern and far more basic limit, buying basic staples in bulk and making from scratch, and making things stretch as far as possible. The following items are things I was beginning to do and would've taken further.

~~Buy meat at the very cheapest I could find it, slice it and dry it at low heat in the oven to preserve it without refrigeration. This way, I can put it in chili and soup/stew and stretch it very far.

~~Eat more chili and stew/soup which can be stretched w/ dried beans, grits, cornmeal, cornbread, dumplings, barley (found at Chinese/Korean markets), or rice--all of which are inexpensive. Corn and beans are staples in Native American diet. And the cans of hominy can be rinsed and dried, too. Hominy and grits are necessary in a corn-based diet.

~~Buy veggies at the farmer's market whenever possible (prices are usually cheaper than in the store), and preserve them by slicing & drying. OR get the big, institutional-sized cans of veggies and freeze what isn't used to put in soup/stew later.

~~Also go for cheap winter veggies: cabbage, potatoes, sweet potatoes, collards, turnips, carrots or Cheese pumpkins (very high in Vit. A), and squash. Cranberries can be gotten in season and frozen to give ample Vit. C throughout the year--I put 'em in everything possible. Pickle veggies which can be pickled (you'd be surprised at how many types make a good pickle!), and dry leaf veggies and sliced squash & potatoes. They'll last for well over a year without refrigeration if they've been dried to the snapably dry. Works for any veggie: carrots, peas, summer squash, green beans, spinach, cabbage, peppers, tomatoes, fresh corn, etc. They reconstitue pretty well.

~~PB&J is also good, and there's more variety to jelly/jam than grape! Cheese by the log is also more economical. So is lunchmeat by the log. As is dehydrated milk, which I HATE with a purple passion, but would go that far. It can be put in other stuff--it doesn't have to be made to drink, after all.

~~And get meat, like chicken, in 10 lb. bags. I was going to stores in the much less-affluent sections of town and could find chicken leg-quarters for 39-49c/lb., sometimes as low as 29c/lb.! True, I had to repackage the chicken into more useful-sized packages to freeze, but 10 lbs. of chicken could last me for weeks.

~~And most herbs can be found at Big Lots and other such discount stores for 50c/decent-sized jar, as can garlic POWDER (don't get garlic SALT...it's mainly just salt, same for anything with 'salt' in the label). Though black pepper is best if gotten whole and ground in a pepper-grinder, and ginger is really best only when fresh or in small amounts. Ginger is a spice that's not worthwhile when bought cheap.

~~Eggs can be frozen...just break them into ice-cube trays and put the trays in ziplock bags (suck the air out to 'vaccuum-pack' it), so when eggs are on a really good sale....

[bizi]

sounds like you are doing a really good job at watching your budget!
These are great tips!
thank you
bizi

[RavensWingsAussi]

Only stuff I learned while growing up...and a few new things I learned about food preservation.

I don't like my house being set at 65*, but it did cut the cost quite a lot. And I ran around the house snuggled in warm socks & houseshoes, flannel pyjamas, and this big, oversized cardigan sweater.

--RW