Reducing expenses

[tortoise]

Grocery shopping day! I saved 37%! A personal best. And I did a big stock-up on a couple especially-good deals so I won't have to buy them for a very long time.

One thing I learned from watching the "Extreme Couponing" show was that sales are on a 3-month cycle. So I should stock up on 3-month's worth when there is a loss leader on a non-perishable item that we actually would buy if it was not on sale.

 

[tortoise]

ooo... we have to cut WAY back. I suggested cable. It's $100/month! But we might lose internet then and that would be devestating for me from a mental health aspect.

I can cut back on rabbits. I have an interested buyer and a rabbit I don't think I will breed. It would be great to sell him - he is 4 years old. Too old to eat! I can sell another buck after I get a litter out of him. I will have to raise rabbits mostly on grass come spring. I see rabbits as an SS expense/necessity (like gardening). He sees them as a totally waste of money. Selling the one rabbit would pay for rabbit food for at least 4 months. If they pay for themselves INCLUDING the cost of food, I think he'll chill out a bit over the rabbits.

I can switch to less expensive dog food (boo!). I know all about feeding raw and it's not do-able right now.

I will suggest turning down the daytime heat again since I have been heating a small room in the basement. I don't think he will go for it...

Uggh. I just don't see where we can cut the big stuff. And I'm frustrated knowing that working hard to cut the little stuff won't make the difference we need.

Then again... 2011 budget is based off of 2010. But I don't know if he subtracted for bigger items - like the HE washer/dryer set and the chest freezer.

Which reminds me... I need to get on Craigslist and sell our "old" washer and dryer.

I am FRUSTRATED!

 

[Wannabefree]

tort...if I may suggest a few things...get on CL and sell some things you hardly use anymore. we dumped about $800 worth of small stuff when DH first got laid off a couple years ago. Something laying around is worth some bucks yard sale time is coming up, you could start piling up for it too. Then the rabbits can be bred too and sell half to cover feed and slaughter half of them for meat. THEN if you keep a few extra does the first time around, you'd be able to start feeding the dogs raw, at least part of the time and reduce the feed bill. That's all I got. When I get frustrated I can't think straight

 

[savingdogs]

We cut out cable a long time ago....but not internet. You can get a lot of things to watch via internet. I'm not saying we don't miss it but we could not afford that bill right now, that is for sure.

 

[ORChick]

Tortoise, may I ask, are you needing to cut back your expenses because you have to (that is, you would fall behind on your bills if you don't)? Or do you just feel that you should be able to live on less? I ask because from things you have written it sounds as though your fiance is not as committed to cutting back as you are, but you have also written that he pays most of the bills, and therefore, I assume, knows at least as well as you how desperate the situation might be. When you talk of being frustrated I totally understand; for a long time I was feeling a certain desperation because my DH didn't seem to "get it", and would spend money on (to me) totally unnecessary things. I was very frustrated because I knew, with absolute certainty, that we could be saving more money, if only he would try harder. But finally I was able to see that we were actually doing just fine; yes, our plans might have matured a little faster doing it *my* way, but we were really just fine. We are really both very frugal, but I am rather more than he, and the extras that he was spending on gave him quite a lot of happiness, and also (I think) kept him from feeling *poor* - which is important. This may have nothing to do with your situation, but if it might I would suggest that maybe you should lighten up a little. If you are frustrated because he can't see how you (as a couple) need to cut back, and he is annoyed that you can't cut him some slack, and all along the situation is not a desparate one, then it is possible that you two will just build misunderstanding on misunderstanding. Of course, if it is desparate, then you and he have some serious talking to do. Just going back to one of the things you wrote a few posts back, it should not be unreasonable for you to cut back the thermostat during the day - especially if you are home, and he is not.

 

[ohiofarmgirl]

We cut out cable a long time ago....but not internet. You can get a lot of things to watch via internet. I'm not saying we don't miss it but we could not afford that bill right now, that is for sure.

we dont miss cable at all. in fact when we switched internet plans we could have gotten it but intentionally decided not to.

a million channels and nothing worth watching - and a lot of just plain BAD stuff to distract us from work and show us how we'd be happier if we had this or that or had a superdeluxe crib and a pimped out truck.

so nah.. we dont miss it

and you can get almost all the shows you want either online or thru the library - both (mostly) without the annoying commercials.

folks cant believe we only get about 5 channels (depending on the day) but shhh... we're glad!
;-)

the only downside is that we are completely out of pop culture. so when we do actually go to movies we think for the most part they are dumb....and we are shocked at what is 'cool.' so we go home and watch something on PBS.

;-)

 

[tortoise]

We spent more than we earned in 2010 - but that includes putting money into savings as "spending." 2011 is not looking better. We do want to get married and that would increase health insurance to $450/month. So that's A LOT of cutting back!

I don't know if it is more than that. Thankfully he is frugal also. It's just a matter of figuring it out.

I listed 2 bucks for sale. One is a littermate to a good doe I have. So really I have no reason to keep him. He has been living with a girl and she might be bred? I don't know. I'll put a doe in with the other buck and sell him too. I have one NICE buck to keep. He bred my feisty doe so pretty sure he is a keeper. I'm nervous with having unproven breeders around here. Ah well. :/

I can sell some stuff - I sold TONS earlier this year. It isn't a solution to the problem. But if I can pay for rabbit feed outside of the family budget, that will help. At least my fiance won't resent them so much? I have about 50# left of feed that I paid for. I hope I can sell those rabbits before I use that food up! I can sell some rabbit angora wool - IF I can find a buyer. I have quite a bit stored up right now.

ETA: He let me cut his hair. I didn't do *that* good of a job, but good enough. I pinched his ear - whoops! So I don't know if he will have me do it again! I do cut my own and my son's hair.

 

[Bethanial]

Have you tried selling the angora wool on etsy.com?

 

[lwheelr]

Something else about buying in bulk and freezing ahead.

Some cheeses freeze better than others. Very curdy cheeses freeze well but don't shred well after being frozen. Sometimes you can crumble them to get the same effect though. Moderately curdy cheeses don't crumble or shred well after freezing. Mozzarella seems to be the best freeze and shred cheese.

If you buy meats cheaply, sometimes it is cheaper to get on sale roasts than to get stew meat. Chop it up and package it in sensible sized packages and you'll use it more efficiently.

If you buy stew meat, grab the kitchen shears, and cut the meat pieces smaller before you use them. 1/2" cubes go further than 1" cubes. Smaller than that and you can't get a good enough bite to satisfy, but about that size means you can make a soup and get a bit of meat in every bite, so it feels more satisfying with a little less meat in the pot.

Same with ham - don't dice too tiny, but do dice about half inch dices. Enough to taste it really well, but small enough to go a long way.

Go to your local Game Warden also, and find out if you can be put on a list for confiscated game. Some areas require that you be financially disadvantaged, some do not, so ask about the rules. But if you can get on that list, you may end up with a little extra wild game in the fall - of course, that means they'll come dump it unexpectedly, and you have to process it when you get it, but we usually get a fair amount of game in the fall just because we are home and always say, "Sure, bring it over".

And no, homemade pizza is NEVER a cheap as frozen, but is usually less expensive than take-out. But nutritionally it is Real Food. It is a very good balance of carbs, proteins, fats, and even veggies if you build it that way. You can choose to have a chemical free pizza if you want, and you can't put a price on that (frozen pizzas don't just have the chemicals in the sauce, they also have preservatives in the dough - plus they are very weak on real nutrition). Pizza got a bad rap because of what commercial pizza is, not because of what homemade pizza can be, meat, cheese, sauce, dough, and all.

Look for culprits in your grocery list like Cold Cereal, too. Lots of less expensive options to avoid that, and it is costly in more ways than one, even if you get the "healthy" stuff.

 

[okiegirl]

Hmmmm....we are on about our sixth of seventh batch and it always gelled. I wonder if it just needs more time? I never checked it at 12 hours.

I don't know why it gelling is important anyways. It is somewhat clumpy and a smoother consistency would be an improvement. I would wonder why it did not gel though...keep me posted.

We found when we used Zote soap instead of Fels Naptha, we had a harder time getting the soap to dissolve. We liked the smell, but prefered the Fels Naptha because it dissolves so much easier.

I thought I'd take a picture and see if this is what it's supposed to look like. I've never made laundry soap before.

did I just add too much water? is there a way to fix it? like a strainer?