Official SS Poll: What do you do to eliminate bills / cut down expenses?

[Support]

Who doesn't love saving?! May it be lessening your electric bill or pulling off a DIY, every dollar saved is huge deal!

So tell us, what do you do to lessen your bills or cut down your expenses?

If your answer is not included in the list, please choose Others and comment your answer in the discussion below.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

This is going to sound terrible when I say it - but I'm going to say it anyway, lol. My biggest financial windfall was a bad divorce that turned out financially profitable for me. I got my house free and clear, a nice lump sum of cash and a big fat 401k investment. Everytime, for the last 18 years, that I walk into my paid off house - I thank my ex husband, lol! Even my "new" husband thanks the old one, lol!

 

[Mini Horses]

Just ready on BYH and can say that the thought process, for retirement income/spending, begins to change your patterns some. When young and working full time, you see, buy, pay and depend on the "loaners" to tell you "you are over spent". You feel your promotions & pay raises are just in the near future & normally they are. Most of the time things go ok.

Let's face it -- most people do NOT plan well for the future. In years past it was not as thought out for anyone and long term care rarely considered. Expenses & income have changed dramatically over the last 30 years! What a smart planner has in a current "plan" for these things is often more than what a person of MY generation even earned, way back then.

When you get to retirement age you are rarely on the "short list" for hires! Your income often becomes limited and set. Promotions & raises are normally not gonna happen. Dismal? Not all together so -- but you do begin to work "around" your limitations -- free, barter & discount is huge. That is why gardening (which we love anyway) & preserving the harvest become far more important! The milking becomes self-sustaining, not just a chore, and so on.

You begin to look at the sale of 5 dozen eggs as enough to buy the hens feed to supplement free range. Selling kids or calves becomes -- how many months of hay they buy -- it works to help you keep your life in order. Right now, I must raise more winter feed!!

I didn't plan to have 5 broody hens at once....with over 50 eggs!....but, I do. They will give me replacement layers, freezer roos, can cull older hens for dog/cat food, maybe some pullet sales AND these chicks are "FREE" as a product of my flock. (I don't have to pay $2.99 per @TSC) It's a thought process, a mindset that we need to develop. Farming is a job. You will find that retirement is, also. If we can break it down into manageable units the finances are less of a burden. We set a little aside for "dream" purchases and thrill to smaller goals being achieved. My cream separator was huge for me. 20 yrs ago, a minor buy.

Most on this forum are working toward more self-reliance. Age does create another stage in life. MANY of us are there


Great example -- if you like okra, easy to grow & big producer. In stores it's almost $5 a pound! I don't eat it -- but --- what a saving to grow some if you like it. Butternut squash is $1 a pound. I had about 140# from 3 volunteer plants last yr. Still have some to eat -- it stores great!! Goat cheese is $1-$3 a pound. I make it from excess milk! We all need to look at what is already part of our life that create saving each day, week, year.

Bay may be the queen of "hog butcher" She feeds the neighborhood and they help her in return!!! KUDOS. Everyone needs to continue to share how it works for them -- we can continue to live well.

 

[baymule]

A neighbor stopped a couple weeks ago asking if he could put a pig in with ours. I told him no and explained that my two were boars and would torment his little female to death. Upon questioning, he had a pen he could put the pig in, so I strongly encouraged him to add onto it and strengthen it, which he did. I told him that we would help him slaughter it and loan him our meat grinder to make sausage and teach them how. I also told him that we would show them how to cure the bacon, smoke it and get the "neighborhood" meat slicer to slice and package it up. Him and his wife are both disabled, so money is tight. They are so excited over having this pig, it will help them a lot to fill their freezer.

Sometimes, it ain't what you do for yourself, it's all about what you do for others.

 

[canesisters]

haha - dumped the roommate - so far my power bill has dropped by half - the groceries are a 1/3 what they were and the contentment of me and the house pets is off the charts.

 

[Denim Deb]

Another thing I do is to let my horses graze in the parking area. After all it's mainly grass (and weeds). The more they eat of that, the less hay I have to buy. Plus, it makes the grazing in my field last longer. I just clean up any mess they do so the area stays clean.

I've been seeing some barn swallows in the run-in. Last year they built a nest, but I never saw them in it. Today, I saw the once come flying out. Some people buy fly predators. I have fly predators that I don't have to buy.

 

[Dianna Starr]

best idea was instead of buying an instant on hot water heater, cost is about $400.00, to $500.00 , so to help cut down the electric bill, we put in an on & off switch in the bathroom to the electric hot water heater, we had a gas hot water heater but going out to turn that on & off every night for showers then back out to go turn it off again was simply to much, so lucky we had the electric one we took out to put in the gas hot water heater in Ha,so gas turned out to be not such a good idea , plus that gas was just another bill , so we reinstalled the electric hot water heater & hooked it up to an on and off switch , which is about as good as the instant on hot water heater , we turned it on every night one hour before we took showers, and then turned it right off a total of 2 hours on every night plus we asked the light co which times were the most expansive for using the electric & our's is 12 noon to 7 pm that was the most expansive so we changed our electric use to the hours that were cheaper..! we showered & did the laundry & dishes after 7 pm plus we had some fairly hot water all the next day long in the hot water tank , this took down the electric bill pretty good, so this was what we did wile saving for solar hot water and our electric bill went from an average of $185.00 a month to around $78.00 a month, so the effort was worth it i must say. and now since my husband has passed away in march my electric bill i further cut it back and its been down to about $30.00 to 40.00 a month, but i do have a cooler on in the AZ heat, i don't use any heat in winter, so it averages out well for the year, then when i cook that heats up my home just fine until around 9 pm & after that its off to bed to keep warm, with electric blankets a good idea for very cold nights , but one thing my parrot Burt always has a small heater on in winter to keep him warm that's why he lived to age 42 because he is always kept at a constant 70 degrees. so that's some of the ways i keep the bills down. next is an all solar home..! with solar hot water heated floors & water cooled floors..! plus a lot of other ideas i cant wait to use to live a bill free life wile living & learning

 

[Mini Horses]

Just have to update ---

The dehydrator I bought for $8 several MONTHS ago was put into use last night. A friend has 2 huge fig trees & doesn't like figs -- go figure -- trees there when they bought over 20 yrs ago. I give her fresh eggs, she gives me the figs & even picks them when they start ripening (I will help in a week or so when large amts ready.

I had 3 trays full last night. They were various sizes and I wiped moisture from the top/lid a couple times. This AM some of the small ones were "done". I pulled them out, rearranged others, swapped tray positions...etc. My first go at this! I can say they are delish!!!

I'll probably have 40-50 trays to do before it's at the "NO MORE" stage for me. And, I'll make some fig preserves when they are at height of ripe and buckets full at a time. Sure a nice trade for those odd & small eggs that the customers don't want to buy. We are both very happy with the barter!!

We swap out things from the garden, too. She sends buckets of scraps to chickens, I give her chicken poop for garden. We have a good share situation. She's in town, large lot.

 

[CrealCritter]

PayPal is mainly what I use for on-line shopping and that account is linked to a bank card. Occasionally I'll use the same bank card which is a debit/credit card, tied directly to a bank account that dedicated to purchases only. The "limit" is floating and whatever we want it to be. If we have a big purchase, we'll transfer the amount into this account from a savings account. Our monthly bill paying account (checking second account) works the same way and has another bank debit/credit card that we never use for purchases - just playing monthly bills. When I put my foot down and said no more credit cards, The CFO (my wife) got creative. My paycheck gets direct deposited into savings. From there, monies are electricty transfered into either the bill pay account or the purchases account. It's worked well for us for a good 9 years now. And I hope I didn't confuse anyone

I must be a target for pan handlers, because I get asked all the time when I'm out. If i carried cash i woukd surely give it away. So I keep no money in my wallet at all. Any extra cash or checks I receive during the month - get deposited directly into the savings account asap.

I guess what I'm saying is I forced us to live with in our means when I said no more credit cards. I had so many friends loose their businesses, homes and assets when oboma took office and the economy went south. We also had credit card debt and I viewed our debt as a big risk, so I took action to eleminate it once and for all. We now live within our means and have enough savings to cover anything "major". It's a good feeling.

 

[Mini Horses]

While some tweeking would be needed, I'm able to feel ok and could go off-grid if it came to it. I have oil lamps, washboards, 2 man saws, axes, how-to knowledge. It is a different lifestyle but you adapt and I could feel comfortable. I remember doing all of this into my teens, WV taught me!

My well is over 500'. While I have a hand pump, too deep. But there is an old well at the back of my property, dug & stone lined, & stone barrier at top about 3' above ground, which has ample water. Downhill from house and would need to be tested, probably boiled -- but there! A river is about 4 miles. Again....fish like it but boil for me. Have wanted to test the old well for a while but not on priority, just "to know". Have soap making oils & lye on hand. Plus know HOW to make lye from ashes & rainwater. I can, have raised own food, meat & veggies.

A solar set-up to pump my own is a "look into" in a year or so.

I have a septic and could work an "outhouse affair" to tap into the lines going to it. Catch rainwater to flush on down

Heat. I have propane, kero, wood, available when needed. And huge generator...gas, of course. If the need became permanent, yes, I can re-install the wood heater inside - all the chimney, etc is there. Just pulled it out & put in a "look like wood" propane heater several years ago.

Wood is available at the back of my farm. Daughter uses for her fireplace in winter, plenty there for the cutting. I've hauled, cut and split my fair share!!

I'd miss my computer for a while because of connection to this stuff