Cutting budgets...

[LisaKinVA]

Like many of you, we're trying to cut our budget.

 

So far, we've started the "Dinner's in the Freezer" concept -- buying and preparing multiples of the same meal(s) a couple of days a month, sticking them in the freezer and pulling them out as needed.

 

This is off to a good start ($500 for 10 weeks worth of dinners, and LO for dh lunches is a HUGE savings). Plus, I'm enjoying having the menu planned (no more "what's for dinner" stares into the fridge/freezer/pantry), and having essentially a freezer full of "convenience" foods (only without the bad stuff in them). This has cut roughly $300 from our food budget (and I'm still finding ways to save here).

 

We also just dropped our dish network and lumped our phone, internet and now cable into one plan and are saving $85/month :w00t: We cut the boy's hair (and occasionally, I trim the girl's hair... but I have a tendancy to mess that one up and then need to take them somewhere to fix it). I don't get my nails done :D, I don't buy a lot of make-up either. Entertainment and eating out is pretty sparse as well.

 

We are planning to eventually do the "make our own bread" -- but until I have some space... I think this would be more trouble than it's worth.

 

I can't cut rent or utilities. I can't cut trips out... those have already all been cut. Clothes budgets aren't out of line, and Christmas and gift giving have taken a huge haircut as well (I'm still sending gifts, just homemade candies this year... which will save us about $20 per family).

 

Anyhow -- any ideas?? Things I should look into, or maybe haven't thought about?

 

Thanks!

[OnTheBrink]

It's been discussed here a bit lately, but you could make your own laundry, dishwasher and cleaning soaps. It's so ridiculously cheap, I'm amazed that laundry and cleaning companies are still in business! LOL

[CathyCDK]

Congratulations on all the savings you've found so far! Those are big steps, and should not be minimized! We are right there with you, cutting things that were otherwise untouchable before, Dish being one of those.

 

Have you read The Tightwad Gazette? This book spans from the simple to the extreme, from saving pennies to saving hundreds of dollars. Coupon Mom and Terri Gault from the Grocery Game have very good, but very similar books about saving money on groceries.

 

A good website for money saving ideas is The Dollar Stretcher at www.stretcher.com. Search the index for hundreds of articles on saving money is lots of different areas.

 

Check for the Treasure Box or Angel Food Ministries in your area. These are boxes of food at about half the cost. Our church distributes the Treasure Box, and it has been worth it. It's a balance of processed and scratch foods, convenience and nutrition.

 

Two of my favorite cookbooks for frugal menus are Make a Mix and Cheap, Fast, and Good. Another good one is Family Feasts for $75 a Week. I just got it, and haven't tried any of the recipes yet, but the information about saving money is very good.

 

Lastly, sometimes in the name of making ends meet, it is necessary to find more income because nothing more can be cut. This can be by a part time job, something like a paper route, or selling things. Dave Ramsey has a great perspective on this...."live like no one else now so you can live like no one else later".

 

Hope something here helps you in some way.

 

Blessings,

Cathy

[DesertDweller]

I hung clothes outside instead of using the dryer. I see you're in VA, so you may not have mild enough weather to do that right now. It helped cut our electric usage down a bit.

 

I became a fanatic about turning lights off.

 

I did dishes by hand and was very conservative on water use with washing and rinsing the dishes.

 

We switched our car insurance. This saved us quite a bit. We really didn't have a choice. Our rates had gotten so high we could no longer afford the monthly premium. We probably saved 40%.

 

Those are the things I can think of at the moment. I like your idea about making multiple meals and freezing. I've also bought meat on sale and then cooked it up, portioned it, and put it in the freezer for future use.

[gardening momma]

I buy cheap paper towels and cut the roll in half (so I can have my own "select-a-size"). An electric knife works pretty well for this, depending on how good of a knife you have and how sharp the blades are. I have an el-cheapo that does ok. I tried it once with a bread knife, which worked, but made a mess. I always cut all the way through the roll, then put both pieces on the paper towel holder.

 

We use a lot of paper napkins, but often each napkin doesn't get very dirty, so I've started cutting napkins in half with scissors. I put them back in the napkin holder, and they still look normal. For Thanksgiving (with guests in the house) I made an exception and swapped out my half napkins for whole ones.

[Free Indeed]

 

We switched our car insurance. This saved us quite a bit.

 

 

 

 

This one that I had overlooked in years pass, after i had searched out the best rate, and it had stayed about the same I never thought of checking around. Here is my commercial: "I saved hundreds of dollars by switching to Geico" :D It really is true, we saved about 45%. So check around at least once a year to make sure you still have the best rate. I was a little nervous to leave Allstate, but I did a line by line policy comparison and it really was basically the same coverage.

[duckens]

I hope I don't gross anyone out here by some of the ways that I save $$$. Before Loverboy, I lived pretty thinly, and I was always looking for ways to save $$$.

 

1) I toilet trained my cats. I acknowledge that my cats are a luxury, but at times in my life, they were the only friends I had. I have three indoor cats, and I was cleaning out the litter box 2X/day anyway. I heard about toilet training cats and did some research online. I save a fortune on kitty litter!

 

After toilet training 3 cats, training dd2.5 is a snap!

 

2) I changed cat food. I did a study. For a month, I recorded how much money I spent on storebought cat food if I allowed the cats to eat as much as they wanted. Then for a month, I did the same with the cat food from the vet. The vet food cost me less! I couldn't believe it, so I repeated my experiment! The results were the same. Now I moderate how much food the cats get for more savings. Try it out with your own pets. Results may not be reproducible for your pets.

 

3) I made my own kleenex. I have one of those noses that runs constantly. Always have. I could go through a box of kleenex by myself each week. Now I have a collection of flannel cut up for hankies. They are soft, and they wash well.

 

4) I made my own feminine pads. This is NOT the right choice for everyone, although I did learn that a friend did the same for environmental reasons (she went paper free). I had thought I was the only one! I bought a couple of yards of the ugliest flannel I could find, and I cut it up so it can be folded to 6+layers the size of a store-bought feminine pad.

 

Disclaimers: This may be more complicated if you are gone from home for more than a couple of hours. Your daughters may not want to do this; I am planning to buy pads for dd2.5 when she starts menstruating to avoid any embarrassment with friends over the issue.

 

5) We almost never use paper towels. I have a drawer of rags. Even the toddlers know to use rags for a spill.

 

6) We use cloth napkins. They are washed 1X/week; more often if needed.

 

7) I am cheap for other kids' birthday parties. I buy playdoh for a couple of dollars. I hate to receive a birthday invitation and have it be like a bill in the mail. In the meantime, it is a rare parent that doesn't rant to me that their child has "too many toys." Playdoh can be used up.

 

In return, for dd's parties, I am clear to others that gifts are not required for the reasons listed above. If they want to come and eat a piece of cake in dd's honor and maybe play some games, they are welcome. I don't want to assume anything about others' budgets.

[momto2Cs]

Instead of paper towels, I bought a bunch of various colors of washcloths at the dollar store. I keep them in a basket on the kitchen counter, and give them a quick rinse after using. Yeah, a little more laundry, but they work well, and I don't have to keep buying more. We also use cloth napkins.

 

Cooking ahead is a great idea, and I am glad it is working so well for you! I got a lot better recently about stocking up on sale items, especially seasonal produce, most of which I froze in quart-size Ziplocs. I hope to make my veggie garden much more productive next year, and preserve that too - canning, freezing, drying, etc. Buy bulk dry goods too - beans, grains, flour, etc.

 

Second-hand clothes are good too. I was chatting with a customer last night (I work p/t at a grocery store) and she says she studies the fashion magazines at the library, then hits the thrift shops. Often she finds "in style" items at a fraction of the price!

 

I agree with making your own laundry soaps, etc. Household cleaners made at home are cheaper, and healthier for both you and the environment. I have a lot of "recipes" if you need any!

[DesertDweller]

This one that I had overlooked in years pass, after i had searched out the best rate, and it had stayed about the same I never thought of checking around. Here is my commercial: "I saved hundreds of dollars by switching to Geico" :D It really is true, we saved about 45%. So check around at least once a year to make sure you still have the best rate. I was a little nervous to leave Allstate, but I did a line by line policy comparison and it really was basically the same coverage.

 

Allstate is who we had. We were with them almost twenty-five years. They gave us the best service. We had a few different agents over the years, and each one was excellent. I didn't want to switch. I put it off and put it off. But, with two vehicles that were around eight years old and problably worth less than $5000-$7000, and an RV that's fifteen years old, we were paying $520.00 a month. I called them a few times over the years to get the premium down, and on a couple of times they did, but it always went back up. We finally just.couldn't.pay.it. I told dh to call around or else we would be without coverage.

 

We ended up with Geico too. We did go with a little less coverage, but we had to to afford the initial payment. Since then, it's gone down even more upon renewal. They've also worked with us a couple times when we couldn't pay the whole premium by taking as little as a third of our premium and letting us pay the rest on an agreed upon date.

 

Fortunately, things are better now, and we can afford to pay our premiums on time. But, I was glad we found a more affordable option when we needed it.

[elfgivas]

it sounds like you're doing really well!

 

having "breakfast for dinner" one night a week saves a fair bit, and can be a lot of fun, too. i'm not always (read never) awake enough to make much in the mornings, but when breakfast is for dinner there can be all sorts of yummy pancakes, etc... (and sometimes we even wear our pjs ; ).

 

choosing one day a week to stay home helps with gas.... a lot.... and only doing errands when we're already in that part of town helps, too.

 

a neighbor and i used to share a costco shop. so we'd buy the 6-pack of romaine lettuce and each family would get three. that way, we enjoyed the savings and didn't waste food.

 

i know you said the clothing budget was reasonable, but years ago we started shopping only when we needed something, and only at thrift stores. its amazing how many really nice, practically unworn things get donated! it saved us an amazing amount....

 

in the end, we ditched our cable altogether, which brought many blessings, including financial....

 

homemade candies sound like a wonderful christmas gift!

 

blessings,

ann

[RegGuheert]

It's been discussed here a bit lately, ...

Here is an excellent thread on this subject:

 

Thrifty Ideas - Things you do to save money

[JillZ]

I like the "Dinner's in the Freezer" idea! I might have to try that...

 

We were able to cut out a big chunk of money by dropping cable altogether. We thought it would be tough at first but it turns out we don't even miss it.

 

We also dropped our home phone service since we both have cell phones (the cheapest family plan there is with no texting plan).

 

We reduced our electric bill by a decent percent by switching to compact fluorescent light bulbs and watching a whole lot less tv (see above :)).

[Guest Cindie2dds]

I agree with making your own laundry soaps, etc. Household cleaners made at home are cheaper, and healthier for both you and the environment. I have a lot of "recipes" if you need any!

 

Can I have the recipes, please! :D

[kindermommy]

Can I have the recipes, please! :D

 

Me too!!! :) Please? Thank you!!!

[tex-mex]

 

5) We almost never use paper towels. I have a drawer of rags. Even the toddlers know to use rags for a spill.

 

 

My MIL is notorious for not using paper towels!! She has them on hand -- but the minute you reach for one -- she will yell out, "That costs $$$. Use the rag instead." She has a special rag near the sink for that job to wipe up messes. Another towel near the sink is for wiping washed items. (I honestly think that paper towel roll is close to 8 years old... lol. Oh and she always helps herself to the free napkins IF they should ever eat out. I don't think she ever paid for paper napkins. I caught her once using all of the old (very old) ketchup packets being squeezed into an old bottle. Dang. That chick is frugal!)

[lgm]

Gas is one of the biggest expenses for us. Carpooling, schedule changes, and work from home are ways to cut the gas consumption. I know several people who switched to motorcycle or moped and a few more to Prius to get daily commuting costs down. Others carpool to do the weekly grocery shopping.

 

Even though you mentioned not being able to cut rent or utilities, it may be possible. With rent, some landlords will negotiate a reduction if market conditions are right and if you are a tenant they want to keep. Here it is quite common to get a discount for paying promptly on the first of the month. You might also get a reduction in return for labor - perhaps they have a common area or laundry that needs to be kept clean and presentable daily if you're in a multi-unit or perhaps yardwork or maintenance if you're in a house. My mother, for ex., was out vacuuming the carpet in the stairwell by her unit, when the rental agent came in..she was offered a rent reduction on the spot in return for agreeing to continue vacuuming daily during the week. If the rental people are paying the utilities, you might negotiate an arrangement where consuming less than they assume gets you a share of the savings.

 

On the utilities, if you are paying for them, or you're looking to be in a position to negotiate a rent reduction, there are many ways to save. Aside from the standard suggestions, we use the mellow yellow procedure so we don't run up the sewer & water bill flushing a few ounces every few hours X # of people. Low flow waterhead and timer on the shower. With clothing, just like coats, we don't automatically wash everything after one wear. With electric; up with the sun and be in the room with the sunlight or outdoors rather than using artificial lighting..CFL everywhere else. Unplug the vampires. Turn the water heater setting down; setback the heat at night to 50F. Plasticate any window that the landlord needs to replace; it'll cut down drafts as well as get the heating use down.

[DawnM]

We just rip it with our hands.....it isn't a strait cut, but it works! We don't have an electric knife.

 

Dawn

 

I buy cheap paper towels and cut the roll in half (so I can have my own "select-a-size"). An electric knife works pretty well for this, depending on how good of a knife you have and how sharp the blades are. I have an el-cheapo that does ok. I tried it once with a bread knife, which worked, but made a mess. I always cut all the way through the roll, then put both pieces on the paper towel holder.

 

We use a lot of paper napkins, but often each napkin doesn't get very dirty, so I've started cutting napkins in half with scissors. I put them back in the napkin holder, and they still look normal. For Thanksgiving (with guests in the house) I made an exception and swapped out my half napkins for whole ones.

[DawnM]

We started living far more frugally 4 years ago when we too a class at church called Crown Financial. It is similar to Dave Ramsey. We now teach it at least one semester a year because it keeps us in line! :)

 

Just to add to what others have said......I would ask for reductions from cable, landlord, phone, etc.....

 

About 2 years ago I was sick of paying 85 per mo. for cell service for 3 phones. I called and told them we were dropping and they gave me the SAME service for $35!!! We have been paying $35 for two years now for the same minutes and extras.

 

I call the cable company to reduce our internet when it goes up. I plan to call our TV satellite co. when the promo rate ends.

 

We have reduced our elec. bill by turning our heat way down and buying slippers and sweats for the family (at the thrift store!)

 

We are working through our store bought washing machine soap and then I already have the ingredients to make my own soap. The dishwasher I haven't found a good one yet to make. The recipe given left residue on all my dishes and didn't clean them well.

 

We also do The Grocery Game. I am so hooked! I get two papers every Sunday.....I just started back. I have done several grocery store runs getting $100 in food for $25-$30 or so. Even if it is something we normally don't eat or haven't tried.....I get it! We have really enjoyed trying new things....the trick is getting the kids to understand that we won't be having it again, because Mom doesn't have a coupon! :lol:

 

For fun we like to roller skate and ice skate.....I get skates at yard sales and thrift stores for a few dollars and go on $1 nights. We also do $2 movie nights. We go to free museum days, etc....

 

My son was very excited to find a new to him bike at the thrift store with plastic still on it (don't think it was used!) for $30. He was going to use his allowance, but we got it as an early birthday gift for him.

 

I also recommend The Tightwad Gazette and The Millionare Next Door as good reads.

 

Dawn

[Guest Cindie2dds]

Okay, ladies, love, love, love all the suggestions; but, please, include a recipe when you mention homemade soap, laundry detergent, etc. Pretty please! :D

[Mom2GirlsTX]

Have you tried to do things that make your home less drafty? I live in a home built in 1949 with terrible insulation. I have done quite a few things that have reduced our electric and gas bills. DH and I pulled up the quarter round and caulked all around the baseboards and then put hte quarter round back down. Even if you just caulk around hte quarter round, you would be surprised how many drafts this stops. Insulating every electric plug and light switch....go feel your light switches, especially on outside walls when it is cold, if you feel a draft, then insulate them. Insulate any windows, this can be done cheaply with caulk and even taping thin plastic to keep out winter drafts.

 

Turn off the lights, put all computers on power switches so they don't drain power when turned off.

 

I too would love some of your recipes!

[SeekingSimplicity]

We went paper free. Cloth pads, towels, TP, and kleenex. Saves us about $40 a month-- and that includes the cost of laundering.

If my dh ever gets time to sit down and focus on it, we're going to figure out how to run rain water into the sinks but have it to where we can switch from county to rain water when we want.

[OnTheBrink]

Dishwasher detergent:

 

1/2 C washing soda

1/2 C borax

1/4 C kosher salt

1/4 C citric acid (or use about 10 packets of lemon kool aid, unsweetened)

 

Mix it all up and use 1T per load.

 

Fill your rinse aid compartment with vinegar, or your dishes will be cloudy.

 

 

Laundry Soap:

 

2 bars Ivory soap (or Fels-Naptha)

4 C borax

4 C washing soda

 

grate the bar soap with a grater, or put it in the food processor. If it comes out looking like soap cheese, take out the shredder blade and go at it with the bottom blade until it's powdery.

 

Add the borax and soda, mix in a tupperware container with a lid, and there you have it. Use 1T for front loader, 2-3T for a top loader.

[Guest Cindie2dds]

Dishwasher detergent:

 

1/2 C washing soda

1/2 C borax

1/4 C kosher salt

1/4 C citric acid (or use about 10 packets of lemon kool aid, unsweetened)

 

Mix it all up and use 1T per load.

 

Fill your rinse aid compartment with vinegar, or your dishes will be cloudy.

 

 

Laundry Soap:

 

2 bars Ivory soap (or Fels-Naptha)

4 C borax

4 C washing soda

 

grate the bar soap with a grater, or put it in the food processor. If it comes out looking like soap cheese, take out the shredder blade and go at it with the bottom blade until it's powdery.

 

Add the borax and soda, mix in a tupperware container with a lid, and there you have it. Use 1T for front loader, 2-3T for a top loader.

 

THANK YOU! :D I've been looking for both Laundry and dishwasher detergent. Do you put vinegar in the fabric softener dispenser for your washing machine?

[Audrey]

I hope I don't gross anyone out here by some of the ways that I save $$$. Before Loverboy, I lived pretty thinly, and I was always looking for ways to save $$$.

 

1) I toilet trained my cats. I acknowledge that my cats are a luxury, but at times in my life, they were the only friends I had. I have three indoor cats, and I was cleaning out the litter box 2X/day anyway. I heard about toilet training cats and did some research online. I save a fortune on kitty litter!

 

After toilet training 3 cats, training dd2.5 is a snap!

 

2) I changed cat food. I did a study. For a month, I recorded how much money I spent on storebought cat food if I allowed the cats to eat as much as they wanted. Then for a month, I did the same with the cat food from the vet. The vet food cost me less! I couldn't believe it, so I repeated my experiment! The results were the same. Now I moderate how much food the cats get for more savings. Try it out with your own pets. Results may not be reproducible for your pets.

 

3) I made my own kleenex. I have one of those noses that runs constantly. Always have. I could go through a box of kleenex by myself each week. Now I have a collection of flannel cut up for hankies. They are soft, and they wash well.

 

4) I made my own feminine pads. This is NOT the right choice for everyone, although I did learn that a friend did the same for environmental reasons (she went paper free). I had thought I was the only one! I bought a couple of yards of the ugliest flannel I could find, and I cut it up so it can be folded to 6+layers the size of a store-bought feminine pad.

 

Disclaimers: This may be more complicated if you are gone from home for more than a couple of hours. Your daughters may not want to do this; I am planning to buy pads for dd2.5 when she starts menstruating to avoid any embarrassment with friends over the issue.

 

5) We almost never use paper towels. I have a drawer of rags. Even the toddlers know to use rags for a spill.

 

6) We use cloth napkins. They are washed 1X/week; more often if needed.

 

7) I am cheap for other kids' birthday parties. I buy playdoh for a couple of dollars. I hate to receive a birthday invitation and have it be like a bill in the mail. In the meantime, it is a rare parent that doesn't rant to me that their child has "too many toys." Playdoh can be used up.

 

In return, for dd's parties, I am clear to others that gifts are not required for the reasons listed above. If they want to come and eat a piece of cake in dd's honor and maybe play some games, they are welcome. I don't want to assume anything about others' budgets.

 

 

I toilet trained our indoor kitties, too.

 

Funny aside... once, my mischievous kitty got outside and roamed the farmyard. I tried calling for him, but he wouldn't come in. So, I went to town for groceries, came back a few hours later to find him waiting at the door. He rushed in, ran pell mell for the bathroom, and I found him sitting there with what seriously resembled a relieved look on his face.

[grace'smom]

Since it hasn't been mentioned yet- we switched to MagicJack phone service. We heard from friends that it was good and decided to try it for ourselves. We already had cable phone service that went dead when the power went out, so an internet line really didn't change that problem.

 

So now we have phone service for 20 dollars per YEAR. It's awesome. There's call waiting, voice mail, a record log of all calls on your computer, and FREE long distance to the U.S. and Canada. (Maybe Mexico but I don't remember).

 

**** I do not recommend this for people who only have laptops. The way we got it to work is by plugging it in to our desk computer upstairs, and running a phone cord from the computer to the phone jack in the wall. They don't tell you this in the directions, but you can run a phone cord from the "magicjack" to a phone jack in the wall and then any phone you plug in anywhere in your house can use the line.

 

So now we save 40.00 a month.

 

CONS- if you power goes out or your internet connection turns off you do NOT have phone service. You have to be on a set up where you can leave your internet connected at all times, even if you don't have it on (through a modem or cable).

 

We have a "tracfone" cell phone that gives us 1000 minutes per year for 100 dollars. I don't use the phone that much, just when I'm on the road, but it is hooked into 911 in case I ever had to call for an emergency during a power outage.

[MeaganS]

We do cloth napkins and diapers, $20/month date budget and eating out budget, thrift store clothes, free Redbox codes for movie rentals...

 

We use energy efficient lightbulbs and live somewhere where rent is cheaper, even though it's not as nice as our friends.

 

Like others said, check your car insurance and other bills. Usually a phone call will make all the difference and save hundreds of dollars. I cut our car insurance in half by switching to Progressive last month for the same coverage.

 

Play the drugstore game. I haven't paid for toothpaste, shampoo, soap, or feminine products doing this in over a year.

 

Rebates are where its at. I just got 9 boxes of ziplock sandwich baggies for the cost of 3 stamps and filling out 3 rebate forms. Here's the link.:001_smile:

 

We do swagbucks as our entire Christmas budget. Swagbucks is a search engine that rewards you "bucks" for searches. I just set it as my default search engine and we've earned $100 in Amazon gift cards doing this since March. Here's the link.

 

I make sure I always search for coupon codes when buying things online. I always go through a rebate website like Ebates or Shop At Home too. They do add up!

 

http://www.moneysavingmethods.com is one of my favorite websites for deals. Especially the "online offers" section. They're tricky, but worth it. I plan on paying for curriculum completely using online offers and other odds and ends I can earn until my husband is done with school.

[FourOaks]

Ladies, these are some wonderful ideas. Yes, I do use vinegar as my fabric softener in the wash machine.

 

Some questions related to things I've read here:

 

Is Geico really that much cheaper??? Have any of you ever had an accident and had to deal with them? I would love to save money on our car insurance!

 

Regarding electronics that suck energy when off but still plugged in -- how can we remedy this? If my computer is plugged into a surge protector, can I turn the button on the surge protector off and it not drain any power? Is this safe -- or can surges come through to my computer?

 

We keep our heat down low. Last year we would have it lower while we were sleeping and then get warmer while we were up. I am curious though, does it really save money to do that?? It just seems to me that it would take that much more energy for the furnace to get the heat back up to an adaquate level in the morning once it's been down low all night. Anyone have information about this to share?

 

MagicJack -- I am VERY curious about this!! I HATE having to pay for our home phone when I NEVER answer it anyway because it's always a telemarketer or wrong number. Any others care to chime in about this gadget?

 

Redbox coupons ----- where are you getting free codes??

 

Thanks everyone!!!

[Guest Cindie2dds]

We use Skype VoIP. $36 a year no long distance in the US. How much vinegar for a normal load? I am so excited not to spend much money on detergent. Does it smell okay? Thanks! Redbox has codes they send out. Get on their email list. This summer it was free movies on Mondays.

Edited December 2, 2009 by Cindie2dds

[Colleen in NS]

I toilet trained our indoor kitties, too.

 

Wow! I've read a lot of frugal books and sites, but never came across this idea! Never know what I will learn here. Cute story about your cat running inside to the toilet! :D

 

And to the OP - I second and third reading the Complete Tightwad Gazette. That book is my bible of frugality. Love it.

[OnTheBrink]

THANK YOU! :D I've been looking for both Laundry and dishwasher detergent. Do you put vinegar in the fabric softener dispenser for your washing machine?

 

No, because I still have about 5,000 dryer sheets left (ok, maybe closer to 100, but it seems like 5,000). Once those run out, I'll do the vinegar thing in the laundry.

[Melissa in FL]

 

Is Geico really that much cheaper??? Have any of you ever had an accident and had to deal with them? I would love to save money on our car insurance!

 

 

 

Sad and embarrassed, but yes, I've had them during an accident. We bought my new car and my rate went down because of the saftey features on it. Then in a couple of months I hit someone (first time ever, I've been driving about 26 years). Geico was great. They told us where to go and really made everything easy. No problems what so ever! Our rates did go up from the accident though, but we're still saving from what we were paying with allstate.

Melissa

[grace'smom]

you can put some old tennis shoes in the dryer instead of fabric sheets. it works best if you use old tennis shoes your smaller kids have outgrown. I use two pairs of size 7 small girls shoes.

[MommyX8]

Can somebody please elaborate how to toilet train a kitty? I would LOVE to do this.

[Friederike in Persia]

Don't go shopping as often, if you're not there you won't buy stuff. :001_smile:

 

I know it sounds weird, but on a similar thread some time back somebody suggested it and I have to say that it's worked!

Sometimes I adapt it a bit, asking dh to get stuff on his way home, which works well, too, cause he never buys additional things that we don't really need, just cause he sees them ;)

[OnTheBrink]

Can somebody please elaborate how to toilet train a kitty? I would LOVE to do this.

 

:iagree::iagree:

[gardening momma]

I caught her once using all of the old (very old) ketchup packets being squeezed into an old bottle. Dang. That chick is frugal!)

I've done this, but not with old ketchup packets. Before kids, dh and I used to do McDonald's secret shopper assignments. The drive thru almost always gave us way too many ketchup packets (there's actually a correct # of packets to give out--usually one per food item). When we had accumulated a whole McDonald's bag full of packets, I refilled our ketchup bottle with them.