What are some of the "Cheaper FReeper" ways you have devised to save money on various and sundry things?
Good morning all!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Share your homemade money saving tips as we gather round the table!!!!
Hopefully you told 'em to mind their own d@mn bidniz.
Beyond the issue of whether it is money saving or not, I think that doing such activites are good for families for many reasons. Least of which is the teaching of self-reliance.
Just make sure the gov't doesn't get the land your tomatos are on, if you can.
This cheaper freeper is all for self reliance! We don't count no stinkin beans!
Any cheaper freepers out there? Our state doesn't want anyone to 'do for themselves'. Therefore, it is becoming increasingly hard to find supplies for canning.
I need to restock a few items for making apple sauce and canning tomatoes this fall. Any good suggestions for sources?
My hubby reloads and dropped 4 deer last year. With that, we now have a freezer full (well now, 1/2 full) of meat. Does that count?
He also maintains all of our vehicles (except oil changes, you just can't beat Walmart). He saves hundreds of dollars a year on that. Of course, he just got a new truck, so hopefully, he won't have that much to do.
He built a 12 x 40 ft deck a couple of years ago and saved thousands as well. Man, I have the greatest hubby in the world!!
I save loads of money at the grocery store with the cards and coupons.
That kind of thinking really ticks me off. It used to be that being a wage-slave was considered a necessary evil ... now only activities that earn money are considered worthwhile. Phoop on them - I'd rather grow tobacco.
I disagree too because the "lost free time" would have been sent doing something unproductive anyways.
Kegs of beer are cheaper then "40s"...
Check out alternative newspapers for great restaurant deals. Yeah, most of those types of freebie newspapers are leftwing rags but, ironically, they are also filled with lots of capitalist coupons for restaurants. You will find a lot of 2 for 1 deals that way.
Hubby has a vegetable garden this year. For two solid months we had fresh lettuce. This summer we'll have more tomatos on our hands than we'll know what to do with. Hubby also brews his own beer, although he hasn't made a batch in a while. After the initial start-up cost of maybe $150, it is waaaay cheaper to homebrew. We always have fresh chives and dill on hand. We have a tiny, postage-stamp piece of inner city property. If we lived out in the country with some real land, we'd have very little use for the supermarket.
Show up at Seafood Festivals on the last day. Then wait until the festival is almost over. What happens is that all the food vendors often just give away their food rather than just throw it into the garbage. I've gotten TONS of primo seafood that way! YUMMM!!! I even got a whole bunch of free buckets filled with crawfish at the tail end of a Cajun Festival.
I rarely ever find a coupon I could use. Store brands are cheaper than the name brand minus the coupon.
I would never slave over a hot stove stewing tomatoes when I can get them all prepared for $.32 a can for tomato sause and $.62 a can for diced tomatoes. Besides HOW WOULD A FREEPER EVER FIND TIME TO CAN OR CLIP COUPONS WHEN WE ARE FREEPING ALL THE TIME. :-)
We get a season pass to one indoor activity during the winter (this year The Tech Museum), and one outdoor activity in the summer (this year Great America). When we go to these places, we usually only go for a couple of hours, and we don't buy suvernirs or food.
The Tech Museum was really fun this year because we had lots of rain. We went lots of afternoons during Christmas and winter break (a week off in February), plus we went on weekends. The pass pays for itself after 2 visits.
Our Great America pass is also good because it is good for 3 local amusement parks, and one of them is a water park. My kids don't do well going all day to the amusement parks. We have more fun going for a few hours in the late afternoon when it is starting to cool down. In our part of California, it ususally cools down around 4 and gets a nice breeze off the San Francisco bay.
These have worked for us: Flea Markets, estate sales, Ebay (for nearly everything including shoes, clothing, carpeting), buy livestock from a farmer and have it butchered, hunting hubbies, barter, think "Can I do that myself?" before picking up the telephone, wood stoves, shopping lists when going to the store, bicycle or walk instead of drive, legumes for protein, start your high schooler in community college summers before graduation to get out of college quicker, inventory what you already have before buying new, videos and books on tape free from the library, be a good neighbor (It comes back and lots of doors open that way!)
Another thing. Get a free, cash-back credit card and put everything on it. As long as you are diligent to pay before the due date you actually get paid to shop.
I love to talk about frugal strategies! When my husband and I first switched to one income (1994) we had one child, a second on the way, and finances were SO tight. I made my own bagels, yogurt, syrup...cooked everything from scratch. Didn't use many processed foods, didn't eat out.
I had all the Tightwad Gazette books and knew them just about by heart. When baby #2 came along we did cloth diapers. Took handouts of clothing, furniture...a lot of furniture.
As time went on and our family grew, money saving strategies have changed. We do more Sam's and Aldi's shopping and less bagel-making.....I have done some Once a Month cooking and would like to do more. I make big batches of meatballs for the freezer.
I would love to garden but the soil here is SO BAD. We live on a rocky hill and I've tried for three years to grow a few basic vegetables with very little success. I will probably try a hoop house or something next year, and just haul in the dirt from somewhere else. LOL.
I did learn how to can last year, so I know how to do it once I get a cheap supply of veggies.
We also utilize chest freezers and buy pork and beef from a local farmer (whole or half hog, side of beef) at good prices.
I go to bulkfoods.com from time to time.
We don't do fancy birthday parties for every birthday. Just immediate family, cake (usually homemade) and ice cream and presents.....we have several sets of relatives who throw a blowout party, every kid, every year. They think we are bad/mean/stingy. They are all having financial and marital stresses....hmmmm.
I don't mean to sound smarter or better than anyone else. It's just that sometimes you have to step off the merry-go-round of spending that our society seems to push us into, and just say no. :)
I keep thinking of more things!
Prepay your mortgage!!! Even a few extra bucks each month will save you thousands.
Talk your extended family into drawing names for birthdays and Christmas. If the items a bride has chosen are out of your price range, feel free to give a gift certificate to the store from which she made her choices. By the way, my favorite bridal shower gift is a set of tools. Coupons for services also make good presents (babysitting for the new parents, x number of home cooked meals, etc.)
If you are doing something that takes you away from an earning job you aren't saving anything.
However anything you do on your own time, can definitely save money.
My tip.
Dry your laundry in the sun.
I just signed up to be a Mystery Shopper recently. They do a lot of grocery stores in my area. If I do 3 a week I have my groceries free. (I'm just shopping for me and one dog) I just started, so I can't tell you much about it, but it is worth a look.
If your city has a craigslist you can find some bargains there. There is even a free section where folks give stuff away.