Tell Us Your Tightwad Secrets!!

[TNKBELL]

Best secret? Dont laugh please. CURBS!!! Its great to live in a small town. People toss all kinds of stuff and if your willing to spend a little time on it, you can get something great.

Example: I needed a night stand. Well I found one someone built themselves out on the curb. ok so it was missing a top and ugly. I took it home and painted it.
Costs:
$1 for spray paint
$.50 for the wood

I guess im saying never pass up fixable junk. ALSO: We found a old bench. Ugly and dirty. Took it home, slapped on some paint and new fabric. SOLD IT for 30 bucks.

One of my favorite pieces of furniture is our entertainment center. It's an old put together sauder piece, we painted it and added crown molding and rope trim and put cute lined baskets on all the shelves for holding dvds, videos, and books. I couldn't believe how nice it turned out, something someone just wanted to get rid of.

 

[mjbaby]

Best secret? Dont laugh please. CURBS!!! Its great to live in a small town. People toss all kinds of stuff and if your willing to spend a little time on it, you can get something great.

True enough! And you don't have to live in a small town, either. I live in a largish 'burb of a major city - just the other day I pulled in two dining room chairs in really good condition. I'll need to change the padding and fabric, but other than that they're ready to sit around my table, which is fine with me since my decor isn't matchy-matchy. With the price of decently constructed chairs upwards of $150+, this is an awesome find.

We've also 'rescued' an electric piano, two brass lamps, a bookshelf and carved piano bench. Of course, putting stuff out at the curb is a great way to avoid the "no show" Craig's List and Freecycle blues - nothing I've ever put at my curb has ever stuck around more than a hour or two. We've put out into our community an exer-saucer, high chair, dinette set, sofa, and TV stand.

 

[2princesscuties]

Not a secret but using the grocery game has REALLY helped my grocery bill. I have saved over $1000 since I started doing it last summer. I LOVE getting stuff for free too!

And I have already enjoyed one free 12 week cycle from referrals!

(Anyone want a referral, PM me!)

What is the grocery game?

 

[Gymbomom]

What is the grocery game?

www.grocerygame.com


you have to pay for it...but the idea is that someone else is doing the work for you (to find the deals)...so it is money well spent

 

[2princesscuties]

 

[MELSMICE]

The only way I would even CONSIDER not having A/C is if I lived in Alaska!!

Same here. We pretty much go from heat to air & back to heat again at our house. Don't even have the screens in the majority of our windows.

When the windows are open there is too much pollen that gets stuck in the screens & too much dust in the house, which irritates DD's & DH's allergies. Not to mention, then I have to spend time cleaning them & spend more money on cleaning products!!!

A/C is one thing I'll splurge on!

 

[hsmamato2]

when mine were little, I never bought swim dipes- I bought a couple of soft nylon pull on diaper covers- they keep mess in if necessary,but are infinitely washable and reusable- just put them on like a swim suit!
I use way less detergent in wash, use only cold water, but add a cup of vinegar to each load- ,fresh,clean,and disinfected!
we use 1/2 dryer sheets-
buy simpler foods that aren't premade- I'd rather buy a cake mix for 1.00 and make cupcakes than buy premade ones at the store-
Shop used stores all the time for kids clothes and other items that can be cleaned and made as good as new!
if it can't be bought used(or gotten free) buy end of year sales- if it's the wrong time of year, scour the 'net for coupons
clip grocery coupons and match to sale flyers-
cut my families hair(if you know how )
try very hard NOT to buy unneeded items,even if they're dirt cheap
buy 1/2 gallons of ice cream on sale at the store, MUCH cheaper than taking the kids out for a cone in summer-or make snocones with the snocone maker,cheaper than buying popsicles-
don't eat meat every day-
ok,I'll shut up for now

 

[hsmamato2]

ooh, I forgot... to cut down on paper towel usage, we use cloth napkins now- just wash and reuse-

 

[TNKBELL]

Gosh there are sooo many great ideas, I'm just trying to keep up with them all!

I clicked on the link for the grocery game and did a search on the disboards for a discussion: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1073728&referrerid=&highlight=grocery+game

After reading this and deducting that it would be a very small investment to try it($1 for 4 week trial) I'm game!!! Ever since DS.5 came along, I have been so overwhelmed and have fallen off the coupon wagon, this might help just give me the boost I need. When I was an active coupon mamma, I always had plenty to share for food drives at our Church. The DKS also got to try new things, lately it's just been Aldi and a lot of repetition!!!


Also, I'm going to try using 1/2 of the amount of laundry detergent, I already do that in the dishwasher, but I have been afraid to try in the washer ! I have tried using cold water, but the clothes just didn't seem to get clean and sometimes they kind of smelled. Maybe we are just really hard on our clothes!(with 4 boys!!)

Thanks for all the great tips!!

 

[samster]

Don't mean to be a killjoy here, but the best way to save money is, don't go
to Disney World! Besides your mortgage and food, Disney may be your biggest expense. If your going w/out AC on 95+ days, and making your own hair detangler, this may be Gods way of saying, Disney isnt for you

 

[mjbaby]

Don't mean to be a killjoy here, but the best way to save money is, don't go
to Disney World! Besides your mortgage and food, Disney may be your biggest expense. If your going w/out AC on 95+ days, and making your own hair detangler, this may be Gods way of saying, Disney isnt for you

Or, it could also be a way of saying, "Hey, I don't need to adhere to society's false expectations about what I should own or how I should spend my money! I'm going to strip away others' demands of my money and prioritize *my* life and *my* finances accordingly."

 

[TNKBELL]

Don't mean to be a killjoy here, but the best way to save money is, don't go
to Disney World! Besides your mortgage and food, Disney may be your biggest expense. If your going w/out AC on 95+ days, and making your own hair detangler, this may be Gods way of saying, Disney isnt for you

Hi, my name is TNKBELL, and I have a problem, I am a Disney lover!

 

[Mellie2162]

Don't mean to be a killjoy here, but the best way to save money is, don't go
to Disney World! Besides your mortgage and food, Disney may be your biggest expense. If your going w/out AC on 95+ days, and making your own hair detangler, this may be Gods way of saying, Disney isnt for you

Actually I have no plans of going to Disney anytime, but I am trying to get out of debt and all of these tips are very helpful to me in reducing money spent each month that can be paid toward my debt.

 

[carmie3377]

Don't mean to be a killjoy here, but the best way to save money is, don't go
to Disney World! Besides your mortgage and food, Disney may be your biggest expense. If your going w/out AC on 95+ days, and making your own hair detangler, this may be Gods way of saying, Disney isnt for you

I don't see anything wrong with making your own detangler. I think it's a great money saving tip. Just because you're not loaded doesn't mean that you can't or shouldn't enjoy Disney. As long as the kids are fed, clothed, schooled, and have a clean, safe environemnt to live, what's wrong with pinching pennies to enjoy a trip to Disney? We can pinch pennies and clip coupons and use the money we saved to enjoy a trip or we can not worry about coupons and money saving ideas and just give what we would save to the merchants or manufacturers. I'd rather use money saving ideas and use the money saved for my own enjoyment.

 

[HelenePA]

may be Gods way of saying, Disney isnt for you

how do you know that god is saying that maybe she's saying HEY more money for you to spend at disney? Actually I dont think god is saying anything about disney... I think she's got other things to say stuff about

 

[IDoDis]

 

[MickeyP]

She?

 

[HelenePA]

She?

Hey if the other person can think she/he is saying this is what god is saying.. why can't I say she?

 

[FigmentsBiggestFan]

LOL - can I join you? I'll bring the drinks!

 

[xyzabc33]

I have never heard of a debit card that you can earn rewards from. Can you tell me what bank you use? We don't have any credit cards (learned the hard way twice ) I would love to earn points for spending my own money

My bank does the points rewards too. LOVE IT! We saved enuf to get $75 worth of BP gas cards for our trip down to Disney this Sept. I just wish they still had the tickets to WDW on the list for about 500,000 points(like I was ever gonna get enuf points for that anyway- but I can dream) OH..National City btw.

Best secret? Dont laugh please. CURBS!!! Its great to live in a small town. People toss all kinds of stuff and if your willing to spend a little time on it, you can get something great.
.

I LOVE GARBAGE PICKING!

LOL - can I join you? I'll bring the drinks!

Count me in too. I make great nachos. The shelf life of good informative threads on here is becoming much shorter.


Back OT......My ways to save money.
*Dont use dryer sheets at all (allergic--ACHOO!)
*Keep the curtains and windows closed during the day and open up the windows at nite when it is cooler. (we have a brick house that doesnt get a lot of sun -huge oaks surround it, so that helps too) Less time I have to run the fans.
*Do all your laundry at once (i mean on the same day-not all in one load ) The Dryer doesnt have to keep heating up as much since it is still warm from the last load. Would love to hang dry outside but dont have anywhere to hook the lines too. (no-the oaks wont work-toooo far apart--heck if they were close enuf, the heck with the clothesline, I want a hammock)