With
everything getting more and more expensive every day, from food to utilities and
everything in between we have to make our dollars stretch more and more. Trying to save as much as we can where ever we can. Here is a list of some of
the things we do to save money. I will do another post in a few days with more money saving tips that I didn't have room to add here.
Food
1.
We grow as
much of our own food as we can.
3.
We barter
for beans from one of my day care kids dad in exchange for day care.
4.
We raise our
own cows for beef.
5.
We raise chickens for the eggs
6.
We trade hay
for fresh milk. (We have a milk cow, just haven’t got a place fixed so we can
start milking her.) when we can.
7.
Cook most
everything from scratch.
8.
Make my own
butter, cottage cheese, yogurt, and cream cheese (wanting to make hard cheese
soon) I do buy a few of these when they come on sale since I don’t have a
limitless supply of milk.
9.
Make our own
snacks, eg. Granola bars, Fruit Bars, fruit snacks, yogurt, Crackers, cookies,
and cakes to name a few.
10.
We use
leftovers from the night before for lunches.
11.
When we go
on trips we take most of our own food. When we first started doing this the
girls were so embarrassed they would hunch down in the back seat as to not be
seen lol. They are used to it now and don’t try to hide ( not to much anyways).
12.
I render my
own tallow and lard when I can get it. I have a friend who works for a meat
packing place and she can get me beef fat, the pig fat is a little harder to
come by though.
13.
Make a menu.
It saves time and you are not scrambling at the last minute trying to figure
out what to have for dinner. Plus with a plan you can take meat out of the
freezer in the morning so it is ready.
14.
If we have
extra leftovers I put them in the freezer in individual containers for another
lunch when we may not have something left over from the night before.
15.
Make our own
breads.
16.
Grind our
own wheat. I do use half wheat flour and half white I buy the white flour from
the mill and get the unbleached.
17.
I buy candy
after Halloween when it is marked down. We use this in our hunting packs and I
dry pack the rest of it. This is the only candy we eat during the year.
18.
After
Valentines and Easter I will buy the marked down chocolate. I use this to cook
with chocolate chips, chocolate coating or anywhere I need melted chocolate or
chips.
19.
We drink a
lot of tea in the winter. We keep a pot of water with tea bags on the stove at
all times then all we have to do is mix it with water for tea. In the summer I
make several containers of tea concentrate and put in the freezer then as we
use one we pull another out of the freezer. This keeps us from having to heat
the water every time.
20.
When I use
the oven I try to cook multiple things so I don’t have to heat the oven so
often.
21.
If I have
extra produce and not enough to can, I will freeze or dehydrate it.
22.
I Can things
for meals. It is so nice to be able to open a jar of beans, soup, Mexican steak
or several other things on a hectic and
busy night.
Utilities
23.
We heat our house with just the wood stove.
24.
I keep a
large covered pot of water on the wood stove to heat water. We use it to cook
with, wash-up with, and wash dishes with, almost anything we need hot water
for. (Except showers ).
25.
I use a few
of the new energy saving bulbs. I have a love hate relationship with these.
They do save on your energy bill, but I don’t like the light it puts out or the
fact they are full of lead.
26.
In the
winter we have to keep lights on the animal’s waters and in the chicken coop to
keep everything from freezing up so I have timers on these. And on the stock
tank heater when we have to use it.
27.
We have most everything plugged into strips so
we can just turn off the power on everything.
28.
I wash
dishes by hand. Instead of using the dishwasher.
29.
Hang clothes
on the line in the summer and on drying racks in the winter, instead of using
the dryer.
30.
Turn the
T.V. off during the day. In the summer
all we watch is the local news at night, In the winter we do watch a little
more since it gets dark and cold so early.
31.
I have the
solar yard lights that I leave outside during the day then bring in at night to
use. I use them in the rooms that don’t need a lot of light, the kitchen after
dinner, the bathroom, the laundry room, and the living room when watching T.V.
We could use candles bit I want to save them for emergency’s
32.
In the
winter I use the outside for a fridge and freezer. If I need extra fridge or
freezer space in the winter I will just set the stuff outside in a vehicle (to
keep animals out of it ) to keep it cool.
33.
In our area
there are a several people who have to haul water. We don’t,(thank goodness)
but we try to live like we do. I have small buckets in each bathroom to collect
the cold water while waiting for it to get hot. Then we pour it into a larger
bucket to use for flushing or watering plants. We run the water in the sink
into a bucket till it warms up when taking a shower that way the shower water
is warm when we start it.
34.
We use the gray water from the washer to water
outside plants. The washer drain hose is hooked up to a tank outside to collect
it, then we water the plants outside with that water.
35.
Then as the
old motto goes “if it’s yellow let it
mellow if it’s brown flush it down”.
36.
We are in the process of replacing our old
windows with new ones. The old ones wouldn’t open and leaked really bad. With
the new ones we can open in the summer and in the winter they don’t let all the
cold air in.
37.
Planted
trees in the front and the back of the house for shade in the summer. Some are
not very big yet but in a few years they will work great. I try to only plant
trees that produce something. No since in watering something that doesn’t
produce something. I do have a few trees that were planted some time back that
don’t produce anything but shade.
38.
I got a
solar oven for Christmas, so this summer I plan on doing a majority of my
cooking in it as to not use propane, and to not heat the house up.
39.
Keep my
freezers full. If I have empty space I will put bottles of water to freeze so I
don’t have empty space. Then I can use these bottles of water in the coolers to
keep things cold on trips. If the power goes off it helps keep the freezer
cold. I can also put some in the fridge top help keep it cold.
40.
In the
summer I keep curtains closed during the heat of the day. Just the side the sun
is shining in on. Keep the other side open for the light.
41.
I use a Bissell ( carpet sweeper) We only have
carpet in our bedroom and bathroom so I lot of times instead of plugging in the
vacuum I will just use the Bissell. The last two rooms to get rid of the carpet
so we can put down wood floors.
Cleaning
42.
I make all
our cleaners. 409 , bleach cleaner. floor cleaner, furniture polish, oven
cleaner, shower cleaner, soft scrub ect.
45.
Make my own
stain remover.
46.
I use old
rags for dust rags.
Disposables
47.
We use cloth napkins instead of paper.
48.
We use dish towels and rags instead of paper towels. I do
have a few rolls of paper towels on hand for the really nasty things
49.
I do use a few Baggies especially for freezer things but
I get the cheap twist tie bags then line the freezer bags with these to prolong
the life of the freezer bags. I wash and reuse the zip lock freezer bags. And
if I do have to use a plastic bag I use the cheap twist tie bags or the fold
over sandwich bags.
50.
I have some bags that I made from water proof fabric that
I made. I like to use these for bread and things like that.
51.
For feminine hygiene I use Home made feminine Pads cloth pads. (Haven’t got the
girls on this bandwagon yet lol).
52.
This may gross out a few of you but it is a real money
saver. The family cloth I go to the thrift store and buy a bag of rags come home and wash them
(they are mostly old Tee Shirts and only cost two dollars for a large bag.)
then I cut them into 8x8 squares and use them instead of TP for # 1, do still
use tp for # 2 not only does it save on buying TP but I don’t have all that
paper going in to the septic. Just put them in a bucket and wash with bleach in
hot water. ( I just wash with my white clothes.)
53.
I also cut 6 x6 squares for Kleenex.
54.
I use dog food bags
for kitchen trash liner.
55.
I use wal-mart
bags for the bathroom trashes.
56.
I have a can in the mud room for aluminum to recycle.
57.
I have a can
outside with a lid to put tin cans to recycle. The aluminum and tin we can cash
in and make money.
58.
I have
containers with lids to store things in the fridge.
59.
I save all
the envelopes from bills and junk mail to use as note pad papers.
Kids and Daycare
I don’t have
any little ones so some of the things here are things I did and some are things
I would do now. Some of these things are things I do with the day care kids.
60.
Use cloth
diapers. Make your own or for a small investment you can buy them.
61.
Make your own diaper wipes. I am torn on this I have made my own but I not sure you can
save money over the store brand wipes the only thing about making them your
self is you know what is in them.
62.
Nurse. The
cost of formula is crazy and not that great for your baby. If you work you can
pump and freeze. I have had a couple moms who have done this.
63.
Make your own
baby food this really is easy. Just put whatever you want to feed them in a
baby bullet or a blender. I also had a couple kids who never had store bought
baby food.
64.
With minimal
sewing skills you can make blankets, burp rags.
65.
Look for
baby furniture at yard sales, consignment shops ( be careful of consignment
shops sometimes you can buy a lesser brand new then you can buy the used name
brand.)and 2nd hand stores. You can also check around with friends a
lot of times people have stuff they don’t need anymore and will be more then glad to let you use or buy it.
66.
Make your
own diaper rash ointment.
67.
Use the
library they have free story and craft hour.
68.
Use the library to barrow books and movies.
70.
Make your own paint.
71.
Make your
own glitter.
72.
Make your own folder games.
73.
Make your own bubbles.
74.
Make your own sensory boxes.
75.
Make your own Felt board and stories.
76.
Limit T.V.
to 1 hour. I found that when the T.V. Is on ( which uses power) the kids will
not get down and play.
77.
Have 1 cup
per child (that they know is theirs ) that they use through the day. Instead of
dirtying several cups a day.
78.
Sew their
clothes and shop 2nd hand store for them. When my kids were little I
made most of their clothes and what I didn’t make I got from 2nd
hand stores , yard salesw and hand me downs.
79.
Make their
nap mats, when they go to preschool they need nap mats these are very easy to
make. I have two different ones which I will do a tutorial on in the future.
80.
Cut their
hair yourself. There are some great tutorials on u- tube.
81.
Home school
they get such a better education. I know public school is free but there is a
lot of cost associated with public school. Plus they don’t pick up bad habits
from other students.
Hygiene Products.
83.
We make our
own Deodorant.
84.
We make our
own Lotion.
85.
We make our
own soap.
87.
We make our
own Mousse.
88.
We make our
own shave cream.
89.
I get my
razor blades from the dollar store. They have razors that fit the old handles
which, I have several of.
90.
We make our
own shampoo.
Clothing
91.
Mend things
that need mended. Small rips, buttons, ect.
92.
Patch larger
holes. Some of Andy’s pants are more patch then pant lol.
93.
I make a lot
of our own clothes. From Shirts, dresses, Prom and homecoming dresses, Skirts,
even underwear and tee-Shirts.
94.
Again shop 2nd
hand stores and yard sales.
95.
Darn your
socks I can do this but sometimes it is more trouble than it is worth .But if
money is super tight it is an option.
96.
Crochet or
knit your own slippers, sweaters, craves, ear warmers, blankets and whatever
you can think of. I do a lot of crocheting but hate to knit I know how but do
not like it.
97.
I alter
things if they don’t fit correctly.
98.
I make my
own Starch for ironing.
99.
I make my
own fabreeze.
Medical .
100. Stay in shape. We try to stay
as physically active as we can. I do have a few extra pounds I am trying to get
off.
101. I use plants and herbs that I am grow and forage for medicinal purposes.
102. I make a lot of my own capsules
of herbs and some vitamins that I can buy in bulk.
103. I use a lot of essential oils.
Store bought and some that I make.
104. I am taking a class on herbs so
I can increase my knowledge if all we can rely on is herbs.
105. I make our own cough syrup,
cough drops, salves, and ointments.
Misc.
106.Get out of debt. We are working
on this. When you have payment to make you are usually paying interest which is
pretty much money thrown away.
107. We try to keep our vehicles
serviced oil changes, tune ups, tires inflated, ect. To help get the best gas mileage possible.
108. We try to combine all our trips
to town to get everything done in one trip.
109. Use antenna T.V. that is all we
have ever used. We did get netflit this
winter. We tend to watch more t.v. in the winter and was renting movies all the time,
but always had to get them back in time or have a late fee. So I think we are
saving a little by having the netflix. Will have to see how it is in the
summer.
110. I sprout wheat for chicken feed.
We buy wheat in bulk from the mill. When I sprout it it is more nutritious and doubles
in size.
So there are some of the 110 things that we do to save money. I will do another post in a few days on some more money saving things we do. So
what are some of the things that you do to save money.
