What did you do to save $ today?

[ORChick]

Our local farm stand - who grow much of their own stuff, or get it (mostly) locally - closes between Jan. and April to get ready for the new farm year. For the last few weeks before closing everything is 20% off. So today I got a big box of apples (for applesauce and keljonma's Hungarian apple cake - both of which I'll be making tomorrow), some of their locally made jams, of sorts that I don't make myself, and, from the dedicated freezer, several cuts of locally grown lamb - a leg roast, some shanks, and some chops - and everything for 20% off

 

[Calliopia]

On Friday I posted to Craigslist asking for old chickens and unwanted roosters. With in the next week I have 17 packing peeps, 6 adult Arruacauna (sp) roos, a mixed batch of about 6-10 adult and young random yard roosters, and an unknown qty of spent hens arriving all for an outlay of about $20.00 now and enough feed to get the peeps through to butchering age. And that's just in the first 2 days

Woot! I will have a stuffed freezer and a stuffed freezer means a happy me

 

[savingdogs]

I tried an ad like that and didn't get a single response. What did you say in yours? I live in a rural county.

 

[Calliopia]

I just said I was looking for older spent hens or roosters and would pay up to 1.50 for them. So far most of the offers have been for free roosters and a couple old hens. The hens will be given a chance to recuperate and lay but they may be just old stewing biddies. We'll see.

 

[savingdogs]

Maybe it was offering that 1.50? I just said free pickup.

 

[Calliopia]

I have found that people get tired of request for free stuff on craigslist. Even if I have said item myself and don't want it I will frequently ignore blatant begging, especially if it is a writing style or phone number I recognize. The fact that your child wants an xbox or whatever is not a life or death emergency.

I have found if I offer something even if it is not much, people do appreciate that. I don't have a lot of money to spread around but while I'm not going to pay $15 for your 3yr old rooster, if he's in acceptable health, I'll shell out 1.50 for him.

 

[framing fowl]

Did laundry at work today so I was using someone else's water & electricity! I figure two loads a week will add up a bit.

I also researched switching our gas service to a different provider. Found out it wasn't worth it in our situation.

 

[Denim Deb]

As soon as my DH leaves for work, I turn the heat down. We have electric heat, and I normally roast in the house cuz he keeps it too hot. When I'm home, unless it's bitterly cold out, the wood stove keeps the house plenty warm for me.

 

[HEChicken]

Yeah, we keep our thermostat set at 57 in winter and 87 in summer. In winter its easy to wear an extra layer of clothes to keep warm. I can't say I love the heat in summer but I can always go hang out in the basement where its a few degrees cooler when it gets to be too much. And when the bills come, I love not having to stress over them. I put myself on an "auto pay" system for utilities. My utility company charges an extra $2/mo to average your bills for you. I decided to do it myself, so I took a year's worth of bills and averaged them, then started paying that amount at a time of year when the bill was lower than the average. This set me up with a credit amount so when the bills went higher than the average, the credit helped and I am able to continue paying the same amount year-round. My electricity and gas bills combined are $75 per month for a 4-bed/2-ba house which I don't think is too bad in a climate where we get down to single digits in winter and triple in summer on a regular basis.

 

[Calliopia]

Oh I would love to even have our heat down to 62. Right now it's at 68 because the woman that lives with us w/ her husband and kid has Reynauds and gets total body pain if the temp drops below 66 for very long and she can't tolerate extended temps below about 67.