I figure this is a good time to start a thread like this!

Let's do tips on saving and making do with what we have.

I know I have a LOT to contribute and everyone else has tips that they have lived by for years even when times aren't hard.

Right off the bat:

I take my own coffee to work. I hear folks at work complaining about how they can't afford their Starbucks double mocha choking lattes at $5.00 a whack! I buy 26 oz. bags of coffee at 2.99 a bag at the discount store and flavor the coffee with cocoa or cinnamon or whatever I have when I want flavored coffee.

I get my milk and cream from a dairy farm down the road right out of the steel tank for 2.00 a gallon. I recycle gallon sized glass pickle jars for the milk and the cream floats to the top like it's supposed to! I just scoop off the cream and put it in a smaller jar. Voila! Low fat milk for drinking and cream to use for coffee or baking or whatever.

good thread, RW!!

I've been going thru boxes with my move - and try to empty at least one a day ...

KEEP ... DONATE ... TOSS

I usually end up reboxing to DONATE ...

even have gone thru alot of clothes, shoes and sweatshirts and have dropped them off ... I keep boxes in my trunk until it's almost full - just went the other day ... and it came to 3 boxes and 3 bags of clothing and stuff ...

and some of it is even good ... and that I like, but - it's time to move it on to bring joy to another!

Great idea, River. I am on such a tight budget now (self-imposed) that I'm amazed at how little I can get by on.

I have constructed a budget and only take out a certain amount of cash each month. That is what I use if I need something at the store or pharmacy. It keeps me from buying "impulse" items and makes me think twice before buying anything.

I have a large container in the freezer and whenever there is just a little of something left over (veggies or rice or even meat) I throw it in that container. Eventually I will have enough to make a pot of homemade vegetable soup. We can eat for a week off of that!

I have put a kitchen timer in the boys bathroom. Advised them to set it for 5 minutes when they start their shower and not to stay in for longer than that. I swear, Kevin can stand in the shower for 20 minutes or more....I don't even take that long and I have more maintenance to keep up with than he does!!

I'm sure I'll have more tips to share! Thanks for starting this thread...I always get so many good suggestions from the folks here.

P.S. Even if I did buy a Starbucks coffee I couldn't enjoy it....I'd be thinking of how many cups of coffee I could make myself out of that $5!!

When we go for my monthly infusion it's about a five hour trip minimum. We used to go out to eat afterword to avoid rush hour on our way home. That was normally $15-25 each month on top of the gas and tolls to get there. I've started packing a lunch for us, and scheduling earlier in the day, so we can eat at our leisure and we get out before rush hour AND we save the money we used to spend on dinner out.

Same here! My son bought me one of their frappe chocolate slushy coffee things once and I felt guilty while drinking it!

frank and i save where we can but we also have a few luxuries ... like our dunkin donut coffee beans to brew at home ... i think one has to treat themselves to something important to them so that the saving is not a burden

river ... i remember as a kid my mom buying milk like you do and bringing it home ... skim cream off the top ... makes awesome sour cream cookies ... plus fresh cream on peaches ... fresh cream in coffee ... nothing beats that

My Mom used to get milk and eggs from a place called Mathis Dairy. The truck would come early in the morning and leave bottles of milk and eggs on the porch. We'd put the finished bottles out and he'd pick them up when leaving the new products. I wish we had that service nowadays.

We also had a fresh fruit and veggie stand at the corner of our neighborhood. Several neighbors put their produce there and sold it throughout the summer. Fresh tomatoes, squash, snap beans, cucumbers, etc. It was so good. The man who ran it would take local produce in and sell it for the people who brought it. I sure wish we had something like that here. Grocery store produce is no match for fresh out of the garden.

I try to cook from scratch as often as I can. I made a double batch of garlic/cheddar biscuits (like Red Lobster serves) and froze them. Whenever I make spaghetti sauce I always make extra and freeze it. Buying fresh means more trips to the store but I try and use everything I buy and what is left over is frozen.

Also, if you're used to buying bottled water get a water purifier to attach to your kitchen faucet. That will save you lots of money and keep all those plastic water bottles out of the landfills.

I'm listening. I used to have my lawn mowed by the younger kids in the neighborhood. I stopped that this year and saved at least $600 this summer and lost ten pounds! Let those youngin's make their money elsewhere. If you can do it, then do it and save that money.

Jim and I also stopped eating out so much this year. We cook more at home and food tastes better. There is nothing like homemade and it's even better as leftovers! You wont find that at any outside eatery.

We did this before the market went so bad and I must say it's nice to have extra money to pay off that credit card. I now owe $0 and it feels good. No more using it. If I can't afford to pay cash then we don't buy it.

I was able to not only save but pay more off my house. Cutting corners worked for us. We are also in talks to shut down the cell phones and cable excess. I WONT give up my internet unless I am forced though! I can't lose you guys.

And we don't want to lose you, either. I pay my credit card off every month. I don't spend a lot on it anyway. And I live in an apartment with zero landscaping so no mowing costs. My last car purchase was a '98 Camry that I wrote a check for. So no car payment. I only have the limited basic cable TV service so that's cheap. I think my biggest expense is delivery pizza. But there are those nights when cooking is out of the question. And, I am lucky to live in a small city where the utilities are owned by the city. My electric bill usually runs about 30 bucks. Water and sewer are included in the rent. Which, BTW, is affordable. I'm a lucky guy!