We've already pretty much cut to the bone on excess spending. What would I give up? .... the animals, the internet, chocolate, tea, and coffee; not necessarily in that order.
We gave up tv over 6 years ago and stopped Netflix over a year ago. We have two paid for cars, an '84 and '02, so insurance is just liability. We gave up the cell phone contract 2 years ago and went to pay-as-you-go phones. These are mostly used for short long distance calls (under 5 mins) and emergencies. We are in a rural area where there is only one internet provider, and ironically, they say they don't have a dial up service, so we have dsl. That's okay because I'm trying to find work and I think dial up would kill me. :/ I could go to the library, but they are only open 8 hours 6 days a week, and they have only 8 computers. So I'd have to reorganize my schedule to get in the queue for computer time. Our landline phone and internet cost us $35 month. It is our highest bill right after the mortgage, electric, car insurance and maybe pet/chicken feed (depending on time of year).
We try to grow the majority of our veggies for the year, so we do can, freeze or dry most of what we grow for winter use. We have also been blessed with some free veggies and fruits this year, so the pantry is pretty full.
We don't have a boat, but there are lots of places for off-shore fishing here. We have bartered yellow perch, bluegill and trout for little things needed around the house.
We make our own laundry, dish, and bath soap, and all our cleaning supplies are basic. I do use the washer for laundry, but hang it to dry. I've only been using the dryer when it is too damp to dry anything.
We buy most our clothes at a local consignment shop, where dh recently got a brand new pair of Levi jeans for $5. (The mall store tags were still on them, originally they were $65.) He also got an LL Bean long sleeve dress shirt for $4, which looks like new.
We belong to a food co-op through our church and between that and the nearby Amish store, get most other foods in bulk and store them. We make almost everything from scratch including jams, juices, fruit leathers, cake and baking mixes, soups, yogurt, breads and pastas. We don't go out to eat, except to relatives'.
We purchase grade B maple syrup from a local farm friend who isn't "into the barter thing"....
We purchase honey from a friend in our beek club, as we started too late for honey harvest this year.
Our church provides a free community meal twice a month and we could eat there if we had to cut back on food expenses. We don't eat meat, but our chicken flock provides us with plenty of great eggs. We have used them to barter for fruit, grains and locally made cheeses. Since we don't eat meat, we haven't signed up for Angel Food Ministries, but would consider that, if it became necessary, and then give the meat to one of my sisters and her family.
Our house (1880 farmhouse) has oil heat, so we have been insulating the house the past couple years, to use as little as possible. We keep the temp of the house at 55 during the winter. We layer up if we're cold and use some space heaters. We need to have the chimney completely relined to use the wood stove, and that is just not financially possible right now. We have a pine windbreak that keeps most of winter's chill away from the house. Because we are in a windy area, if all the doors and windows are open in summer, the inside temps are about 70 when it is 90 outdoors. We don't have a/c, but do have ceiling fans in all the rooms, and use them when needed.
We were thinking that if we had to, we could sell everything, get a used motor home, pack up and move with the animals (chickens and great pyr) down to our dd & sil's acreage.
Bow season opens tomorrow, so hopefully we will have a freezer full of venison this winter!
