Making do with what you have

 

Times are tough, money is short and it appears this won't change soon.  So what
can you do to cut expenses.  When all this started for us about six years ago,
the first thing to go was the satellite television.  We had a small DVD library
and have made it grow.  This means we don't see much current television, but
that is no real loss.  I have shelves of series and movies I like, with no
commercials, clutter across the top and/ or bottom of screen, and a choice based
on my mood rather than what some TV executive makes available.

I am one the fortunate ones that was taught to sew young and I enjoy sewing.  I
make part of our wardrobe and mend as needed on all of it.  Clothing budget, not
counting footwear, is less than $100/ person/ year.  Footwear is the least
expensive goods that will meet the use need.

We keep a small kitchen garden and some chickens to offset the food budget.
Most money spent on food is for raw ingredients rather than ready made meals.
The exception there is pot pies, those are cheaper purchased than home made.
Lunch meat is expensive.  It is cheaper to purchase a whole ham, turkey, or beef
roast cook it, slice it and refrigerate or freeze until needed.  For sandwiched
carried to work, pre-make them without the lettuce/ tomato type dressing and
freeze them.  They will stay fresher and be thawed by lunch.

Don't turn the key on a vehicle unless there is a real need.  Keep lists of
things to be purchased when needing to drive somewhere.  No special trips
because you run out of something.  Learn to do major shopping once per month and
to pick up the smaller shopping en route to or from work or the doctor office.
Work from home as much as possible.  Eat home cooked food as much as possible.
Enterain yourself at home by playing games with the family or reading or
watching DVDs.

Turn off and unplug anything electric when not in use.  This protects your units
from lightening damage and your power bill from phantom drain.  Turn off the
water heater while gone for the day/ vacation.  Turning off the water to the
dwelling may also be a good idea while on vacation.  Then you won't come home to
a flooded house and a big water bill.  If it is not difficult to turn off the
water and all the family is gone the same several hours per day you may be able
to save some money and repairs by turning the water off daily.

If you keep pets of any type, see how much of their food you can home produce.
My iguana loves turnip greens, so there is a pot of turnips growing in the
window.  We keep a few white mice fed on table scraps to make babies that feed
the snake and sometimes the house cats.  Pet cats and dogs can eat some of the
table scraps to offset fed bill.  Avoid feeding anything with chocolate to any
type of pet or livestock.  Chocolate is a poison for many animals.

 


(snipped)

The conventional advice is that a child can receive a third degree burn in 2
seconds from water that's at 150 degrees.  It takes 5 seconds if water is at
140 degrees, and a whole 30 seconds at 130 degrees.  Though what counts is
the temperature at the faucet rather than the temperature in the heater
tank, setting the temperature at 185-190° seems to be asking for trouble.

 





Be careful when playing around with your hot water tank settings.  Bacteria
and other nasty things will grow in your hot water tank if the water is not
hot enuf.

 


I have a relative who could put us all to shame.
no telephone answering device
no dishwasher
no computer
no gps
no kind of other electronic doodads - not even a cell phone
no garage door opener
no power lawnmower
basic cable
hangs clothes outside to dry
does own oil changes etc
rides a bike a lot
I'm sure there are other things I haven't remembered.

Prob. has lowest electric bill in town.

 




Some of these can be costly to the people who deny themselves.



Missing important calls is pretty bad financially.  What if your bank card
or a relative died or the government needed to get a hold of you.
Answering machines cost 15 dollars at walmart for GE and Memorex brands


This might be a bad idea for some people.  Dishwashers can save energy
instead of washing them in the sink.  They heat and sterilize the dishes,
esp to those of us who bake a lot.  Dishwashers can be run at night when
electrical rates are lower and they can be programmed so they do not heat
dry but air dry.  There are cases when dishwashers are better than running
water or using dirty sink water.


No computer means no internet.  The internet can be a cheap library and
cheap entertainment source.  never discount the value of learning from
others.


If you have a good paying job that you need good clothes for then hanging
your clothes out to dry is not recommended i.e. dress shirts or dress
blouses.  Not to mention those of us with 6 months of winter.     A water
efficient washing machine is the solution for most of us.   That way the
dryer works way less.  Gas dryers help add life to your clothes that way you
buy far less clothing.  Today's new front loading washing machines are very
very efficient now both in electrical and water use and they really rinse
the water out now meaning your dryer works way way way less.


As long as he does it safely and disposes of the oil LEGALLY and in an
environmentally safe manner.  I do my own oil changes as well.