Living cheaply, what do you do to cut back?

[Mari3333]

Its rough out there, and my retirement savings is in mutual funds and bonds. I know its a downswing right now but I wont panic. I have 2 1/2 yrs to retirement. until then, I am living on a super tight income that comes from my funds. I have cut back considerably.
Some ways I cut it to the bone.
1. my house is paid off.
2. small house, very little.
3. no cable, no TV.
4. cut my own hair.
5. crockpot, beans, rice, legumes. I dont eat meat so that helps. I also dont eat eggs or dairy so that helps also.
6. make everything from scratch as much as possible.
7. no lights on at night, except for one. and it is an energy efficient bulb.
8. no air conditioning turned on.
9. buy groceries only once a week at Sav A Lot. learn to like what they have.
10.car has 120,000 miles on it, just keeping it maintenanced . I only drive 55 mph and never use it when i dont have to.
11.use the clothes I have. if I need clothes, which I dont, go to thrift shop and buy them used.
12.no credit cards.
13.walk
14.no restaurants, no fast food, no starbucks. I make my own coffee with a french press and reuse the grounds at least once.
15.use cold water for everything. even cold baths.
16.plastic inside on the windows, cut off all rooms except one and heat only that. keep temp down to 65. its not worth getting a wood stove it would cost more in the long run then the fuel oil tank i have. electric heater is actually cheapest.
17.garden. I made sauce from the tomatoes in my garden and froze it. I also planted potatoes and harvested them and made a stew which I froze. my yard is small, but I use it up as a garden. I harvested herbs and dried them for winter also.
18. throw some potlucks. invite people over to dine and everyone chip in some food. gets us all thru the winter and we end up helping each other out. barter system works better then cash.

so, these are some things I do. what do you do to keep it cheap? what can you give up, what cant you give up?
I appreciate any ideas people have that I havent tried.

[NMDemDist2]

1. you're living like a Spartan

:hug:

:kick: and Nominated

[DrDan]

2. ya know - some of these things have to do with living good - not cheaply

no TV
no credit cards
garden
walk
no restaurants - make your own coffee
entertaining where everyone contributes
drive slowly and enjoy the drive
no house payments
fresh air - not conditioned

this is living well . . . you are to be commended

[billyoc]

3. I stop paying taxes, it's a BIG help.

:hi:

[Marr]

4. I've stopped eating.

I'm saving a lot of money now, and I should make a very sexy corpse.

[Mari3333]

6. come on over

I made a mean vegetable stew last night, onions, potatoes, okra, carrots, celery, spinach, green beans, spiced it up with red pepper and balsamic vinegar and threw in some penne pasta. hearty stuff with dark bread. I get into soup mode this time of year.

[dana_b]

17. yum...

cooking at home saves a LOT of money. I have a feeling that a lot of restaurants are going to be hurting soon (too).

[Mari3333]

30. well, a bag of navy beans costs about 1.65 here

if i throw them in a crockpot with some onions and celery and spices, it cooks for 4 or 8 hrs and i use up a few more dollars in electricity. i probably end up spending , then, about 5 bucks for a whole crockpot full of beans that lasts me a week of meals for just me. if i order at a restaurant, its 10 dollars for one meal. so yes, i think it saves plenty all right.
note to self: buy beano.

[MO_Dem]

5. I strung up clothesline in the backyard

and I hang all my laundry out to dry. And I'm REALLy enjoying it! And I'm thinking I can dry most everything inside without using the dryer this winter, too. Won't be quite so much fun as outside in warm weather, though.

[Mari3333]

7. Thank yOUUUU

thats what I can do..I have a basement..f*ck the dryer. I can hang the stuff up. doh! :hug:

[MO_Dem]

11. You will notice a difference

in your electric bill. We have, and there's only two of us.


:hug:

[DemoTex]

8. Our joint income (2007 1040) was a king's ransom .. 75% Dr.D's income.

We owe nothing, other than a modest house note. Nothing. But we are as nervous as a cat scratching shit on a sidewalk! Things are not good.

[crazylikafox]

9. I'm in the same boat... 2 1/2 years to Social Security..living off my dwindling 401K

And I thought I was being careful with my money, but wow, you have me beat by a mile. I did manage to get my real estate taxes reduced last year. I withdrew so little out of my 401K (which counts as taxable income) I qualified for a tax rebate.

[Mari3333]

14. i am trying not to touch my funds also

but i get some meager income from them. the knockout punch is taxes, and the crappy catastrophic health insurance i pay for, because i have no other health insurance. but i have to protect my assets and ass, basically, so i pay it.
i tried getting a part time job but they are scarcer then hens teeth around here. this is michigan, land of no jobs.
:)

[Esra Star]

10. Set up a small (at first) co-op with your friends.

Work out some things you all use and find a bulk supplier.
Distribute it to your close circle at cost.
When that's settled in. Move on to the next thing to supply.
Take it slowly. Learn as you go.
In a fairly short time it'll be humming.

Cheers

[Mari3333]

12. does that end up cheaper in the long run?

then buying groceries at aldis or sav a lot? its a small town but i should check into it..that makes a lot of sense.. :hug: I know of one co op near here i should contact...

[Esra Star]

22. If one is already set up, go and check it out.

The chances are that they will need some sort of help.
Good luck

[Esra Star]

25. You might want to look at this site.

It is related in that it is an existing way to "barter".

http://www.gmlets.u-net.com/

[nonconformist]

13. 15.use cold water for everything. even cold baths.

:tinfoilhat:

[Mari3333]

15. perks you up.

:P

[Ian David]

16. French pressed coffee is bad for you. Coffee filtered through non-chlorine-bleached paper is better.

I'm going to assume you don't buy soft drinks and bottled beverages?

Do you brew your own beer?

[Mari3333]

21. its bad for you?? wow ,

i didnt know that..how is it bad? no i dont drink anything but coffee and tea. I thought about making wine, I have a friend who does it and she said she would show me how. ...she ferments everything, she told me.....which i thought was a little odd. i think she made brussel sprout wine once...:P

[Habibi]

29. Ack! *faints*

[Gwendolyn]

34. The French Press squeezes out way more caffeine...

And it increases the levels of bad cholesterol, if you drink gallons of it.


Hanging clothes to dry is a great idea...saves on the electric bill, but also saves your clothes too, specially fragile items like knickers!!! :)

[Ian David]

36. I read somewhere that filtered coffee has anti-oxidants but french-pressed has free radicals.

Brussel sprout wine?

Seriously?

I think I would try making kiwi wine.

Or, to be more environmentally friendly, make wine out of something I can grow myself or at least that is grown locally.

Apples, peaches, tomatoes, soybeans, or blueberries, maybe.

[JerseygirlCT]

18. Wow. Sounds like you've got it all covered.

Hats off to you!

[leftofcool]

19. Grow a small garden and learn to make your own soap, shampoo

and other personal care products

[Cassandra]

20. You might want to get some solar lights

Small solar cell gathers energy during the day for at least 8 hours of light at night. LL Bean has some nice ones (sorry to suggest buying something).

I have a small trust that's gotten a lot smaller in the last couple of days, and I was living somewhat tight before. I hope Obama does something about the price of health insurance before they simply attach my bank account.

I'm so glad I don't have, and don't need, a car.

[Mari3333]

24. see, i didnt even know those existed

so i will go on the web and check that out because if it saves in the longrun its worth it..
i figure, i am almost 58 now, i have maybe 20 years left if i dont get hit by a truck tomorrow. i can calculate the months til i pass on and do some figuring to make my resources last. i wont be as agile in 10 yrs as i am now, so i am trying to be super cheap now so that when i get older i can relax a little.
even your trust is going down ..jeez.
well here is a hug
:hug:

[Cassandra]

31. A trust has to be invested in something....

and I'm only allowed the income, not the principle, so it's not really an option to sell things that are going down in value but will probably still pay the income they are legally required to pay (unless they collapse).
From Bean, I have 2 spaceship lights. They are under $20 each and appear to last forever. I also got a clip-on gooseneck lamp that has a solar cell. It was more expensive but is very sturdy.

[rwheeler31]

23. You must be very healthy, I could not do your list.

[Mari3333]

27. everyone has their own way of living cheaply

for my one friend, who has macular degeneration, she has to have lights on, or she cannot see. my other friend has MS so she needs warmth . everyone is different.
hugs hugs

[TheCentepedeShoes]

26. What you do sounds more

sensible than "cheap"
'cept for #15 - had to do that once when the water heater quit, not pleasant
#18 looks like you have a great community of friends :)

[Mari3333]

28. small town, but liberal types

and kind people. they all help each other out. my fridge is a food pantry as far as one of the local musicians who is a young man here is concerned. he also helps me out with handyman stuff.
my dad and mom had 6 of us and we had to eat a lot of gardened food and my dad was in the union and they kept going on strike so we ate a lot of pasta til it came out our ears. but we made it. i learned from them to use and reuse and still find joy in small things. my dad always said ' it doesnt cost anything to enjoy sitting in the sun '. he taught us some good values. hugs

[Faygo Kid]

32. Quit inviting Lady Lynn Forester de Rothschild aboard my yacht.

She, of course, is "of the people," as opposed to that nasty Obama and his single mom, or "common man" John McCain, who does not know how many homes he owns. Of course, us humble types have no idea how many homes we won. Recalling that simply isn't done; it's like if you have to ask how much it costs, you can't afford it.

I will cut back on the invitations to lords and ladies, and direct the steward to pour only (yuck) cabernet post-1980. Surely the "little people" will be grateful.

[SheilaT]

33. Well, I've cut back recently,

but I'm a spendthrift compared to you.

Most of what you're doing is simply sensible

I have almost completely stopped eating out. I live alone, I'm post divorce, and I can actually eat quite frugally. I also have no tv, so obviously no cable.

My biggest cut-back is I've stopped buying books and resumed going to the library. I will see if next spring I can plant a small garden. As for coffee, I fix one cup of instant every morning, and that's as much as I drink.

I personally would not be willing to do cold showers, but if you can, that's probably good.

[ldr65]

35. You have my admiration!

It sounds like you are doing what is necessary to get by in troubled times. To many people are crying about hard times while living above their means. Charging every thing they buy on credit just going further in debt. You will not only survive troubled times but prosper doing so. My hats off to you.