"Extreme Frugalness???"

[dolce]

no wonder ya'll can afford disney alot!
i really dont do any of the above, but even making things is time that i dont have with work and school, but i am a good saver and that helps. we only eat out about 1-2 times a week and if i want to buy something, i just buy it (again this is the "time" issue and not having much patience to search)
great tips though

 

[tennvalgirl]

m&m'smom

you have beautiful animals

 

[mrsbornkuntry]

I love this thread...I keep coming back to find some amazing (some funny) frugal tips!

: And like another poster said, I don't dry most of our clothes; although I don't line dry them outside, I do hang our clothes all over the house to air dry (which also drives DH crazy!).

I just started doing this not too long ago, during the winter it adds humidity to the dry air . When DH was home for his R&R after about 3 days he finally noticed (I do about 3 loads a day) and said "Honey, is our dryer broken?"

 

[solgent]

My DH is does not have the same extreme frugal mindset that I do. Once I was trying to get him on board and I said, "Remember! Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or....." I paused for him to fill in the last phrase and he said, "Buy another one?"

But he did affix a new handle made from a stick on a cheese slicer when its handle broke. Not only does it work well, I think it looks very stylish.

I don't think I much that hasn't been mentioned
*Diva Cup which I learned about here on the DISboards
*airdry 1/2 the laundry (inside house or on the line in summer)
*secondhand clothes or extreme discounts
*reuse yogurt containers, plastic bags etc.
*no cable TV, we make do with fuzzy broadcast signals & DVDs
*one car, I take the bus to work (which my employer pays for)
*get books from the library
*DH and I arrange our work hours so we have no cost for after school care
*swap babysitting with other families rather than pay a sitter.
*very rarely eating out, mostly cook from scratch, brown bag lunches
*I cut DDs hair and DH cuts his own hair. (I go to a salon.)
*I don't buy or wear makeup
*heat with woodstove
*we mow our own lawn, shovel our own snow
*we've done house exchanges for vacations, which we LOVE, but some people say they would never do

 

[LanaJae]

I just have to say, we bought our house 5 years ago and it had an on-demand water heater. For 3 years we had cool showers and washed our hands in the bathroom with ice cold water. Finally, we got a regular water heater- the best $200 we ever spent!! Didn't notice our power bill going up, either. Probably balance out since the dishwasher and washing machine didn't have to heat the water when they ran. We only have a 1300 ft ranch, but the hot water definately did not make it all the way upstairs. We had that stupid thing checked, too, nothing was wrong with it and it was only a couple years old when we got it.

Just had to say that, I hated that thing so much, and I am very frugal when it comes to saving gas or electric!

Thanks, I'll check into all the types before we do anything.

 

[BuzznBelle'smom]

I hang some of my laundry (indoors in winter), but only our sheets and any comforters, etc. that need to dry. They take forever in the dryer, and the sheets get all tangled. We have a huge rec room over the garage, with a woodstove up there. It's heated by electric (ouch!), so we keep it low (50) unless we're going to be up there. Then we use the woodstove. The laundry dries up there and smells great, even in winter, and adds humidity, which can be a problem with woodstoves.

The rec room is also our "place to go" in the event of a power outage. We live rural, so they happen once in a while. It gets old after several hours, but at least we're warm and dry, the kids have toys, and we can eat a hot meal.

My sister dries clothes all over her house, and I know that would drive my DH nuts. He doesn't mind being frugal, but doesn't want to be tripping over stuff to save a few $$. I can respect that--with 4 kids, we trip over plenty of stuff as it is.

 

[kimsuenew]

I buy all of our clothes/coats/sleepwear/undergarments/bedding/towels ect... on clearance (when it is way low), most often at Kohls but sometimes Macy's or JC Penneys.

I shop Aldi's for produce, canned veggies, some snack chips, dairy, frozen chicken and other frozen items like french fries and waffles.

I price match several stores at Walmart.

I use coupons whenever possible.

We shop the damaged/mark down area of Sam's (we have got a camera, camcorder, CD changer, 2 computers, and a walkie-talkie set marked way down as damaged and then the companies fix them under warranty) and we always get dog food taped up and a lot of misc. taped/opened products ranging from food, snacks, pads, fabric softner sheets, ect... We also get items cheap from there when they just have a few left of something (recently $35.00 Nautica & Nautica Blue sets for $14.00)

This is our 2nd year of free dining at WDW!

We tent camped many, many. many vacations!

We shop at the Dollar Tree a lot for needed items.

We pay bills online (where I feel secure) as it saves postage and/or gas.

I love to get freebies and sign up for many online (you can get great items and coupons free from doing this).

I am in college, son in school, and I buy/store all school supplies in tubs. I buy these either at "back to school" time when places have wonderful deals (I often take flyers to Walmart to price-match, they even have done Office Max and Office Depot on items they carry). I also buy great deals I find discounted throughout the year at places like Big Lots or The Dollar Tree. This August I got $5.00 tablets price matched at Walmart for $1.00 each... we bought 20 of them, which is the normal price for 4! Also, when Office Max recently had the $23.00 packs of Sharpie Retractables for only $2.00, we bought 6 of them (we use them for many things, ecspecially for making flashcards)!

We now have started renting DVD's from Red Box, we go to no other DVD rental places anymore, nor do we go to movies (unless it is a special occassion, then we will go to the discount "Dollar Movie" theater!

We have never bought a new car, only (really nice) used cars.

Husband does all maintenance/work on our vehicles.

 

[kimsuenew]

Did anyone see the Oprah show (a couple years ago) about being frugal? She couldn't believe that anyone would use a plastic grocery bag for a trash can liner. (we do that all the time). That's when I knew Oprah had forgotten what it's like to be a regular person.

LOL we do that too!

 

[ncbyrne]

I make my own laundry detergent.
QUOTE]

I do too, and I know others who do also.....
First - here is the recipe: 2 cups finely grated bar soap, 1 cup washing soda, 1 cup Borax. Mix well, store in a plastic container. Use 2 Tablespoons per load.
BUT, here's what makes mine really frugal.....I save all the free little soaps from motels and all the slivers left from bath bars at home to make the laundry soap. Works very well too!

 

[shortbun]

Did anyone see the Oprah show (a couple years ago) about being frugal? She couldn't believe that anyone would use a plastic grocery bag for a trash can liner. (we do that all the time). That's when I knew Oprah had forgotten what it's like to be a regular person.

I use the grocery bags to line my trash can on the school bus. I don't line the ones at home except in the kitchen and it's a big ole trash can. That's an interesting insight into Oprah. She's been incredibly wealthy for a long time, eh?

 

[NHdisneylover]

We cut corners in many ways, as do most of you posting here The two things which get the most comments from neighbors are:

We keep the thermostat set to 58 degrees in the winter (our neighbirs have a nearly identical house which they heat to 72 degrees--we spent $2300 less on heating oil last year than they did).

We turned off our sattelite TV (cannot get antenna reception) so no longer have any live TV feed. We do still have Netflix (which we were getting anyway when we had the TV). We hardly ever miss it but enjoy the savings.

 

[Pooh's Pixie]

. She reused the dry dog food QUOTE]

How do you reuse dog food? Once it's eaten, it's gone right?

 

[Anne34]

We cut corners in many ways, as do most of you posting here The two things which get the most comments from neighbors are:

We keep the thermostat set to 58 degrees in the winter (our neighbirs have a nearly identical house which they heat to 72 degrees--we spent $2300 less on heating oil last year than they did).
We turned off our sattelite TV (cannot get antenna reception) so no longer have any live TV feed. We do still have Netflix (which we were getting anyway when we had the TV). We hardly ever miss it but enjoy the savings.

I can't imagine being that frugal!!! I would freeze!! I keep my house at 68 in the winter and usually have a second layer on!!! Ours is at 60 during the day when no one is home and goes up to 68 at 2:30pm. Our overnight temp is 63.

 

[kimsuenew]

Ours is set at 60 (if I am home) or 58 (if hubby and/or son is home, and I am not).

It is turned off when we are not at home (but would kick on at 40 degrees irregardless, which hasn't happened) and it is turned completely off every night.

Last year we kept it at a steady 56 when anyone was home/awake and off the rest of the time and at night, but I was chilled a lot (they were fine) perhaps due to my poor circulation (?) so this year... it is 60 for me during awake hours!

We are still on the same propane tank full this year and live in Ohio (brrrrrrrr)!

We go to my in-laws to visit and cook... they keep it at 72, and we think it is unbearable!

 

[ceecee]

. She reused the dry dog food QUOTE]

How do you reuse dog food? Once it's eaten, it's gone right?

I wondered about that when I read it as well.

 

[NHdisneylover]

I can't imagine being that frugal!!! I would freeze!! I keep my house at 68 in the winter and usually have a second layer on!!! Ours is at 60 during the day when no one is home and goes up to 68 at 2:30pm. Our overnight temp is 63.

We had it set to 58 when we left for vacation two years ago (need it that hight to be sure pipes do not freeze) and actually forgot to turn it back up when we returned home (when it is 4 degrees out 58 feels warm by comparison!). After a few days we realized but figured if it wasn't that noticable then we may as well save $$ and the enviornment and keep it down. DH and I do tend to always have a sweater and slippers on in the house (the kids both tend to run warm and think nothing of running around bare foot ).

 

[HopingToGetEngaged]

My x sil was sooo frugal. My brother and her built a HUGE home. She replanted the flowers from her mothers garden to the front of her house. She reused the dry dog food she would not leave the store with out checking her list with a fine tooth comb and she would go back over a penny ..... My brother and her had a code if they called us...They would ring once and hang up , and we would call them back...Well she is a millionare and I am not so,I should take her tips

My parents did this with my grandparents. But, for some odd reason - it was long distance for both sets to call us, but local for us to call them.
Come to think of it... I kinda miss my Grandmother's "one-ringers".

 

[DVCisME]

Is it safe to leave the temp so low with children? Do they have to be a certain age?

 

[nancijin]

I use the grocery bags to line my trash can on the school bus. I don't line the ones at home except in the kitchen and it's a big ole trash can. That's an interesting insight into Oprah. She's been incredibly wealthy for a long time, eh?

I thought everybody did this

 

[NHdisneylover]

Is it safe to leave the temp so low with children? Do they have to be a certain age?

Hmmm--I don't know about really little kids (mine were 6 and 8 when we started keeping it at 58). I figure throughout most of history people did not have the ability to consistently heat a house all that warm anyway and peopel were fine (but they did dress for the weather. We know a fmaily which heats the house to 84 andwears shorts all winter!). However, I did ask the doctor once at a well check. He said he couldn't see any reason they would be harmed and if anything they may be better able to handle changes in outdoor temps than some kids these days. He said (and he did specify at the time that this was totally anecdotal and not based on research) that he is seeing more and more kids who have issues dealing with heat or cold when outside (especially heat). He thinks their systems may not be able to adjust well because they are so used to a constant temperature form day one (heat in sumemr and a/c in winter).