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Living on the cheap
Gas costs more than $4 a gallon. Food prices continue to rise. If your income is climbing ahead of these increases, that’s terrific. I’m happy for all three of you.
In these tough economic times, the rest of us must help each other.
I’ll share some of my best tips for living well on the cheap. I invite you to share yours. Hey, we’re in this together.
1. For example, see the photo above? I bought all those products at the 99-Cent Store on Hilltop Drive in Redding. (The limes and oregano were from Mexico. Everything else was from the U.S.)
These 99-Cent and Dollar Tree stores have things like canned fruits, mayonnaise, shampoo, toothpaste and even plastic wrap and waxed paper. Among my favorite 99-Cent Store finds were sacks of onions from Washington.
Some of my other favorite places to help cut grocery costs include Cash & Carry on Hartnell Avenue, the Grocery Outlet on Churn Creek Road and, believe it or not, Superior Thrift Store on South Market Street, all in Redding.
2. Back when I had a regular paycheck, I visited my hairdresser every five weeks. It was nice while it lasted, but it’s now a luxury I can no longer justify. Consequently, for many months now, I only visit my hairdresser for hair cuts, not hair color. This means I see her probably once every two months.
Regarding hair color (if you’re not into hair color, you might want to skip this part), I cannot believe I didn’t think of this sooner, but if you’re just coloring roots, you don’t have to use all the ingredients. Rather than mix all of both containers together (yes, as the directions say), empty about 1/3 of each mixture into another container. Shake it well and use as directed. Presto. One box of hair color (that I buy on sale) can last me three colorings.
3. Develop a Depression-era mentality when it comes to saving food. I’ve always been like that. It’s why I’ll turn stale bread into croutons, bread pudding and/or seasoned bread crumbs. It’s why I cannot throw away a chicken or turkey carcass because I’ll turn it into stock. It’s why I save little bits of this and that in my freezer that eventually find their way into meals.
4. Get pedicures, facials and manicures from local beauty colleges for a fraction of the cost. (Or buy a Ped Egg, as recommended by our friend, Kelly Brewer on Pink Hollyhock. Hey, I recently found some Peg Eggs at the Grocery Outlet for about $6.)
5. Buy clothes and housewares at thrift stores. Better yet, wait until the Salvation Army in downtown Redding (1557 Pine St.) holds its periodical 50-percent-off-everything sale. It’s usually on Fridays, but sometimes Saturdays. (There are some exceptions, like mattresses). One 50-percent-off day I found a beautiful black Liz Claiborne dress for my upcoming Dancing with the Stars gig. How much? Just $4!
Some even better deals may be found at The Attic at 1336 Oregon St. It’s a wonderful thrift store (for years it benefited Shasta County’s Family Service Agency). But its very best bargains are found on 10-cent Tuesdays. Ten cents!!!
6. Support your favorite restaurants: Can’t swing the price of dinner? Go for wine and appetizers or coffee and dessert. Whether it’s Market Street Steakhouse, Maritime Seafood & Grill, Vintage or Moonstone Bistro - all in Redding - it’s better to go sometimes and spend a little money than to stop going entirely because you can’t spend a lot.
OK. Those are my best tips. What are yours?
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Great article! Lord knows we can use all the help we can get to stretch that dollar!
Here are some of the ones my Mom taught me:
1. Eat seasonally. If you can’t grow your own veggies, visit your local Farmer’s Market (even though we no longer live in Redding, when we visit in September, our first stop is the Farmer’s Market where we stock up on the wonderful varieties of garlic we can’t live without — especially the Hot Korean variety!)
2. Cook once, eat twice. If you’re making chili, make a double batch and freeze some in individual containers for a quick lunch later on. Ditto for soups, stews, etc. Two (or more meals) and only one cleanup!
3. Waste not, want not. Like Doni, we save everything! If we have a roasted chicken for dinner, the carcass goes into the crockpot along with your usual suspects — carrots, potatoes, onions, garlic. In the morning strain and freeze in one cup freezer containers. The next time your recipe calls for a cup of chicken broth, run to your freezer where it’s free (and so much better than canned!). We use it to cook rice in, instead of water. Great soup base of course. Too many ripe tomatoes (come on, that’s like being too rich or too thin!)—core, cut them in half, place cut side up in a large pan. Drizzle with EVVO. What else do you have in the garden or panty? Sliced onions, diced peppers, summer squash, garlic. Season to taste with salt, pepper and herbs (we swear by Pampered Chef Italian Seasoning.) Roast uncovered at 400 for about 45 minutes. We like it tossed with pasta, or my personal favorite, as a topping for toasted french bread slices.
And don’t forget that there are 50% off sales at the other Salvation Army locations as well– Hwy 273 near Breslauer Way and at 2016 North Street in downtown Anderson near the East Center Street renovations!
The electricity bill is a big expense for many people - but you can cut that down to size.
Set the water heater at no more than 120 degrees.
Wash clothes in cold water.
Put up a clothes line! Even an indoor drying rack will work just fine. The clothes dryer uses huge amounts of electricity.
In the early morning open the windows, then close them before it gets hot, and close the curtains too. You’d be surprised how cool the house stays if you shut the heat out. And don’t run the air conditioning with the window/door open.
Great deals on new items are to be found at TJ Maxx, Ross, and Big Lots - high-quality cookware, bedding, perfumes, shoes, housewares, clothes, and a whole lot more. I recently bought patio chair cushions at Big Lots for $22.00 each - they were $39.00 elsewhere.
And not forgetting eBay and Overstock.com- wonderful deals are to be had online.
Many years ago, we had two little ones, a huge Silicon Valley mortgage and a single income, and we seemed to be sinking deeper into debt every month. I found (on sale, of course) a great book - The Tightwad Gazette by Amy Dacyczyn. It’s full of frugal living tips and it explains clearly how to carefully analyze all your spending and get full value for your money. The principles apply whether economic times are good or bad — worthwhile reading.
This may be my favorite frugal living tip of all time - from Susan’s post, above.
“What else do you have in the garden or panty? ” Thanks for the smile, Susan!
It has been mentioned on the forums here before, but I think it is worth mentioning again.
One of my favorite web sites is http://www.freecycle.org
Not only can you get wonderful things you might need FREE but it also keeps usable items out of the landfill.
Here are some items offered for free this morning: BBQ; microwave; fridge; assorted glass windows and doors; two twin beds; 32″ TV; salad maker stuff; plastic edging for landscaping. I have given away dishes, books, linens; games; candles, etc. in down-sizing. I currently have a Shasta High Graduation Cap and Gown size 5′7 -5′9 why buy one? It is a great way to de-clutter and find new homes things you no longer need.
Doni - we are sisters under the skin - Everything you mentioned - I do and say “right on” - the only one I didn’t know about is the the “Attic” and I live on the West side of town - you know where I will be tomorrow -
Yesterday I got whipping cream and organic grape tomatoes as well as asparagus at the 99 cent store - it has been my favorite place ever since it opened - last year I even got “Bare root” roses there - also many gourmet products you can’t even find in regular stores - This place is an especially great store for seniors on social security
Another favorite is Angel Thrift in the downtown mall - I recently got a brand new Liz Claiborne bathing suit for $1.50 - I really enjoy thrift shopping - after all the thrill is always in the hunt - I am ashamed of all the money I wasted when I was working - It has been a real learning experience - I hope I can get my kids to learn from - the jury is still out on that -
Thanks for the nod today, Donibelle. One of my other money savers is to make my own bread, and that doesn’t have to take a lot of effort or time if you use a bread machine. It makes the house smell great. Also, Amazon.com sometimes has sales on bulk household and food items, and will deliver them free to your front door if you choose the slower shipping. So you save on gas as well. Newspaper and magazine subscriptions can be scrapped and replaced with online reading. Saves money and paper. Darcie, thanks for the reminder of freecycle. I belong, but I’d forgotten. And Craigslist for Redding has a free category and a barter category.
Thanks for writing about this, Doni - it’s on everybody’s mind. I think it’s finally time for us to collectively say, “Using oil is stupid” (on so many levels). Personally, I’m riding my bike more and more and looking forward to the upcoming blackberry season on the roads of Shasta County!
Oops, guess I should proofread better at 3am! (~_~)
Doni,
Thanks for starting this conversation.
1. Write down every single thing you spend money on. (It helps you see where you are spending your money and gives you an awareness of where your money is going without even thinking.)
2. Cook from scratch!
3. Some of the canned products at Costco are extremely cost effective. Particularly the tomatoes, beans, corn, and mushrooms. I prefer fresh, but there are many dishes you can add these to.
4. Buy whole grain items in bulk and cook them. Freeze the extras to use in soups and casseroles.
5. Shop for cost effective insurance.
Tammy
Gotta love livin’ cheap! I use most of the wonderful suggestions already listed. One thing I never do is go grocery shopping without a very detailed menu planned out. We do two weeks at a time. This may make some less structured people feel suffocated, but it really helps me to make the most of my grocery budget. That way I can plan ahead what I will do with my Sunday roast leftovers (stew, chimichangas, tacos) later in the week. And planning in advance makes it possible for me to still eat more expensive meals, like big holiday meals. We plan several cheap meals around our more expensive meals. Mapping it out helps me to stay within my limits.
Another thought–bulk may not always be best. Buying in bulk may be cheapest, but it doesn’t do you much good if buying in bulks overspends your budget. This mostly applies when you have a tight budget without much wiggle room. It is best to stay within budget limits by buying a smaller quantity and paying a few cents more per item than buying a huge amount and running out of money or putting yourself in debt somewhere else by the end of the month.
Thanks for the fun thread!
This summer, I am going to can all the quarts of tomatoes I use in a year and that is around 98. I ran out this year and hate paying for tomatoes. I already have the equipment and I have a self-serve produce farm. No excuses for me.
Other things that help are I use those micro-fiber cloths for cleaning and with that I only buy one package of paper towels a year at Costco, and I use a vinager cleaning solution that I make.
Cathleen, if you don’t mind, could you give out info about your self-service farm?
Sure Barbara. It’s Lindell Farms on Deschutes road in Palo Cedro, 4miles north of 44 and 2 miles south of 299. We don’t open until sometime in July as we recently had that freeze. Tomatoes, eggplant, pattypan squash, zucchini, crookneck and cantelope will be available. You weigh your produce, fill out the envelope of your purchase, place payment (cash or check) in it and deposit envelope in slot. It is the Honor system’ and don’t forget your produce when leaving. It’s friendly, convenient and farm fresh.
Thank you, Cathleen! I love making homemade ketchup (SO much better than Heinz!) so now I know where to buy the tomatoes!
Picking up from an article Darcie posted today in the forums:
Energy savers
I just discovered this site today while websurfing. Hubby and I are retired, live in Michigan and like so many in today’s world struggle to get through each month. For past year or so I have been reaching into the cobwebs of my brain and remembering my childhood in the 1950s and visiting my grandparents on their farm in N. Carolina. Grampa worked at a sawmill 40 hours a week and still maintained a small farm where he plowed his fields using a plow and a mule. Gramma canned veggies, fruits and meats on her wood cookstove and also cured pork in the smoke house. She did not own a freezer, just a small Gibson refrigerator. She had a root cellar for potatoes, onions, apples, etc. I vividly remember how nothing was wasted. Everything was recycled, reused and revived in someway.
Well my husband and I are using a lot of those things I learned 50 some years ago and we don’t feel deprived or depressed about our situation, we have a sense of pride when we find a new way to live more frugally. One thing we have been doing since garden fresh tomatoes are in right now, we both hate eating a cold tomato from the fridge, but we also hate to waste a half fresh tomato if it was not all used on a sandwich, so now if we have extra tomato left over after making a sandwich we peel off the skin and core it, then toss it into a freezer container that we keep in the freezer. When one of us make chili, spaghetti sauce, soup, etc we toss in the frozen tomatoes. You can also defrost in microwave before adding to the cook pot. We are not wasting and we can still enjoy the garden fresh taste year around.
Hello Anne Long of Michigan, welcome to Food for Thought: A News Cafe, located in Northern California. We’re happy you found us. Thank you so much for the great tomato tip. That’s perfect. I’ll try it.
Since you don’t like to waste food, you might enjoy my Wednesday food story that will feature what to do with sour milk. (My husband would dump it.)
I hope you’ll check back often, both to read our site and share other ideas. Invite your friends.