What do you do to cut expenses down?

I do too. It relaxes me lol

Yep, making money is definitely a stress reducer around here, lol

I love making money when I'm not "officially working" but just having fun talking to people...like at the market. I don't even make that much, not enough to claim on taxes, but I enjoy it.

Our church has a once a month clothing boutique open to the community where they shop for free. Church members can go there anytime the church is open or if they know a member with a key. We have a lot of scrubs and warm clothes for people who work in the nearby Tyson and needs warm clothes anytime of year. We also have seasonal clothing, childrens, womens and mens clothing, shoes, household items of all kinds. A few people work tirelessly keeping it organized and running. I work there when I can. I get most of all our clothes there for free. The woman in charge always calls me when she thinks she has something in our sizes.

You have an amazing church and community... Amazing.

Yes we do. They believe that we are all servants. Jesus was a servant and we use him for our example.

That's awesome!

One way we cut expenses here is to do our own hair care. Mom cuts both our hair and the hair of others in the family and she always has. She's had no training in it, but has just gotten good at it over the many years. She used to give her mother home perms and also my paternal grandmother.

Now it's my turn to give her home perms. I've been doing that since I can remember, as it's just easier to have someone else put in all those tiny rods, especially in wispy thin hair like Mom's.

Tonight we did that again, this old ritual she and I have participated in for three generations now. I love the smell of the perm solution simply because it brings back good memories of us helping each other stay well groomed, memories of my Grandma getting her perms, etc.

We can make a perm last 3 mo. before having to do it again. We can get her home perms for around $6, so around $24 a year to keep her hair curled and easy to style. One time she went to a salon to see if their perms were better and lasted longer...this was just last year. That one cost her $60 plus tip and didn't last a month before the curls fell out. Think about the expense of $60 a month on perms!

That's $720 per year....I figure we are saving $696.00 on hair care per year on her alone, let alone how much we are saving on hair cuts for me and my boys.

Think of the things $696.00 can buy instead of poorly done perms.

I cut DH and DS's hair. With so many haircuts it saves a ton of money.

I have been cutting my own hair since I was a junior in high school and I cut my son's hair too