Already took it to email, mags. This made my day. 
I also shop at Aldis. It’s the best! I go there once every three weeks and stock up and only spend about 60. Their canned vegetables are like .39 a can compared to $.89 for name brand at a name brand store like Dillons. I also like their frozen BBQ Riblets and Salsbury Steak. It costs $1.79 for 6 patties and they taste really good. Fix some rice and some vegetables and you’ve got a quick and easy meal.
I also cook dinner every single night. We’ll have take-out once or twice a month and that’s it. I fix spaghetti, lasagna, chicken breasts, casseroles, sloppy joes, bratwursts… stuff like that. It’s quick and easy and still more nutritious than fast food. It also saves a ton of money.
I tend to buy my kids play clothes at Wal-Mart or at yard sales if I can. My MIL and my SO’s Aunt (she’s also our babysitter) are always finding clothes for the kids at yard sales. This saves enough money that I can buy the better clothes at Sears or JC Penney’s. (My MIL gets a 10% discount on everything at JC Penneys because my FIL retired from there) I’m not saying that Wal-Mart’s clothes aren’t any good but they tend to ravel and fall apart more quickly than clothes from Sears or Penney’s. I’d rather spend $14 on an outfit at Sears and have it last 6 months than spend $10 on an outfit at Wal-Mart and 2-3 months later having to spend another $10 because the outfit got torn up or worn out.
I really need to find good ways to conserve energy at our house. Our electric bill was $169 for last month! That’s almost $70 more than we usually pay. Last winter our gas bill was up to over $200 for December and January. Most of that was the price gouging though. Still, the house we’re renting is kind of drafty around the windows so I think I’m going to put the plastic over them this winter. We’ve already insulated around the door so that’s ok.
I used to be a sort of “brand name snob” myself, but then reality set in and I realized that most generic products (and low budget stores) are essentially the same as their brand-name counterparts. (The only thing I will not buy generic is toilet tissue, though.) 99 cents for a six-pack of off-brand soda? I’ll take 4 cases. $2.00 for an umbrella? I’ll take 2. Pens at 5 for $1? Well, 25 pens should last me a while. Eight AAA batteries for 99 cents? Five packs should last the year. Of course, all of this only saves you money if you’re buying things that you would have bought anyway, not just buying things because they’re cheap.
Anyway, there are a couple of bargain stores around here that have become my favorites:
“Ocean State Job Lot” (formerly East Coast Marketplace)–This place is great for non-food, and some food, items. (The above examples of soda, batteries, umbrellas, and pens are from the Job Lot, plus a dandy 2002 desk calendar for $1.48, compared to $12 at the office store.) For example, my wife does a lot of baking for friends, family, work, and for us. She finds it useful to buy those disposable foil baking pans when she gives food to people. The ones she uses are about $3.49 EACH at the grocery store, but are 4 for $1 at Ocean State Job Lot. Another example–Macadamia nuts, ridiculously expensive at the grocery store, can be had for about 75% off. (Formerly I would say “Ew!” to buying food at such a place, but then I figured: it’s sealed, and there’s nothing wrong with it.
“A Dollar”–I suppose it’s the same as any other dollar store, but I was amazed at what I could find there (though I’m always tempted to keep asking the clerk, “How much does this cost?” just to be a wise-ass). The best find was a kitchenware set–a large knife, a pair of scissors, and a spatula, for $1. The wife figures it would be around $10 in a normal store.
Another thing we did recently to save money in the long run is to buy a second refrigerator (spend now to save later) for our basement. When things like chicken, ground turkey, bacon, juice, or bread go on sale (buy 1, get 2 free is common at the Big Y), we load up the fridge, as long as the expiration dates are good; if not, in the freezer they go.
We figure that we can easily save about $1000 to $2000 a year by doing easy things like this, and that’s a conservative estimate. We also have a membership at a wholesale club, which helps. The $30 membership fee may seem a bit much, but it paid for itself the first trip we made. Example: I go through lots of Gatorade when I golf, play racquetball, etc. Buying a quart bottle usually costs you about $1.50-$2 at the store, coming to $6-$8 a gallon. I got a tub of Gatorade mix which makes six gallons at the wholesale club for $6, coming to $1 a gallon. (Please, no comments about how much cheaper it is to just drink water; that’s not the point! :))
There’s also a bargain grocery chain around here called Save-A-Lot, which I hear is good, but I haven’t checked them out yet because they’re a bit out of our way.
All in all, there are so many ways to save money these days if you know where to look. Again, the key is to only buy things that you would have bought anyway–this goes for coupons too. They can save you money, but not if you go to the store and buy things just because you have a coupon.
Gee techchick68 why don’t you tell us how you really feel about cable TV! 
People here have posted some great suggestions.
I don’t understand this though:
I understand wanting to be frugal and even enjoying it. I often shop at thrift stores and odd lots. I enjoy cooking at home and I try and continue to buy many store brands.
However, I work hard for the money I make and I am happy to spend some of it unwisely in order to treat myself. Whether that treat be saved time (someone changing my car oil for me) or a frivolous sushi dinner with friends, I feel as though I deserve it. It’s not like I’m going to line my coffin with all of the money I’ve saved. Plus I grew up poor and have no desire to live in a self-imposed impoverished lifestyle.
Bunny, you’re ON, baby! The only thing I know about winterization is that my house needs it bad. As for the pop cans, oh yeah. I went off on my husband BIG time once when I saw him throwing some away, and this was well before our current financial crunch. Ten cents adds up fast. I’ve always saved mine, regardless of whether or not I needed the money.
techchick, I love my cable. I really do. No, it’s not a babysitter for any of us, but I’ve just always liked TV. Don’t much care for network, though. So I think I’m going to get the cable back & ditch the second line. I already have voice mail on my house line, but I think I’m going to ditch pretty much everything on it, except for Linebacker, which I know I don’t need, but that’s one that can’t hurt.
Scylla, we’ve got a couple of Value City stores here. One’s about a mile from my house, in fact. I do like them, too. They do have pretty darn decent men’s clothing there. I’ve gotten my husband quite a lot of things there.
Tomcat: I bought crushed tomatoes AND tuna at Aldi’s last weekend. I shall be making your recipe tomorrow, because that sounds REAL good! Thanks!
Tevya, i agree that being frugal should not preclude oneself from living happily. We do not have to be like Hettie Green, whom my “Guiness Book of World’s Records” states the following, under “Greatest Miser”:
>>>
She was so stingy that her son had to have his leg amputated because of the delays in finding a free medical clinic. She herself lived off cold oatmeal because she was too thrifty to heat it. Her estate proved to be worth $95 million.
<<<
For those who are stuck with high credit card balances, take advantage of some credit card offers that charge 0% interest on balance transfers for the first 6 months. After the 6 months are up, transfer again to a different credit card.
(Obviously you need a decent credit rating for this).
Anyone know if there are any free internet providers left in the US?
“If you don’t watch your pennies, the dollars will take care of themselves.” – anon
Lao, NetZero still has a free service. I’m using it now, in fact. 
Kind of a lot of pop-up ads, and the banner is a little on the big side, but other than that, it doesn’t suck. They do have a premium service, with no banner or pop-up ads, and that’s only $9.95 a month.
Bagkitty remembers his student poverty and freelance days much too vividly… here are a few hints from it (which I still do).
FOOD:
Never buy spices in those cute little bottles that supermarkets sell. Find a bulk / natural food store and buy them by the gram. Store them (and the little plastic bags they come in) in an air-tight container in the freezer. Instead of the $3 or $4 you pay for those 65-90 gram bottles, you can usually get at least 100 grams for about a $1. Keeping them in the freezer prevents the oils that give them their taste from evaporating.
If, like me, you are a raging carnivore, make curries and stews… this stretches you “dead animal” dollar a lot further than grilling / broiling / frying that big old chunk of dead animal.
Learn to bake a few basic items (bread, pies, chocolate chip cookies) - they taste better, are much cheaper, and it impresses the hell out of your friends.
Check out so-called “ethnic” supermarkets (Chinese, Indian, Hispanic etc.) – many of the items they carry are much less expensive than in a typical “Anglo” supermarket. (Thinking here especially of spices, fish, rice and the soy sauce comment someone posted above). They often have great specials on fresh vegetables, but know your prices before you go in.
APPLIANCES / ELECTRICITY:
If you have an electric kettle / toaster oven or such, USE them, they take less power than boiling water on the range or using a regular oven.
Turn your water heater down, no need to keep it so hot that you have to turn the cold faucet way open to compensate when showering… If you can afford the investment, get an insulating cover for the water heater.
If you aren’t in a room, no need for the light to be on (yeah, our old-fashioned parents were correct).
Check doors, windows etc. for drafts, lots of inexpensive ways to plug them - why heat more than necessary?
Wear a sweater / put on slippers if you think the room is too cold rather than turning up the heat (I am still shocked at the people who claim it is “too cold” in a room while they are dressed for summertime weather…)
ENTERTAINMENT:
Read. Shop for books at used book stores, swap them with your friends. (This swapping bit applies even more to magazines).
Have people over rather than going out: If amusement is having a meal or a couple of drinks, both are cheaper at home. Develop a circle of friends who realize this. If you are going to sit around talking over a couple of beer, it is a lot cheaper to do this at home than paying the tab at a bar. Pot-lucks or taking turns cooking dinner for a group once every few weeks is a lot cheaper than going out to dine. As long as the same person isn’t always stuck hosting/cooking, this can be a lot of fun. Also cheaper to rent a video than go to a new release. If it is something that really cries out to be seen on the big screen, try to find a discount theatre – see it second run.
Do you live in a university town with a faculty of music? The students are required to do a certain number of performances each year… In my experience, these are all free, and are surprisingly good (although they tend to be exclusively classical and jazz).
TRANSPORT:
(Montreal biased comment here.) Hey, extend you definition of walking distance.
BUYING IN BULK:
I see this one again and again, but it is based on the assumption that you have the money to buy the larger lot in the first place. Splitting larger lots / cases with someone is often the best way to go (esp. if storage space is at a premium). Also, if you are primarily walking or using transit and have only occasional access to a vehicle, CAR POOL, offer to split the price of gas with someone who may have access to a vehicle to get to one of those discount large lot stores that you need a car to get to.
BRAND LOYALTY:
Okay, I will fess up to only buying Heinz Ketchup (the rest really do taste different), but otherwise I look at the price, not the brand name. This applies even more to clothes than food – I really hate paying twice the price in order to adverstise someone’s stupid company logo.
I remember being soo broke one week that I ate toast and tomato ketchup. It was kind of tasty
You pay for convenience at the grocery store. Whole chickens are usually cheaper than a whole chicken, cut-up. I recently bought a london broil on sale and cut it up for stew meat and spent $2 a lb instead of $3.
Know your over-the-counter medications and what they do and what they are for, then buy generic medicines instead of brand names and buy medicines with only one active ingredient instead of a mix. You can save 50% or more doing this, and it’s better for you to take only the medicine you need, instead of taking 3 or 4 medications when you only need one or two. People love NyQuil, but it has alcohol in it; ask your doctor, but doctors usually recommend that you don’t take alcohol at the same time as most medicines. Also, diphenhydramine hcl(Benadryl) is also sold as sleeping pills; comparing the prices can save you some money.
When I go grocery shopping, I also stock up on things like canned soup and snack foods to take to work with me. A can of soup that costs a dollar is a lot cheaper than a bowl of soup from the restaurant downstairs that costs $3.95 plus tax. And by supplying my own food, I can control what I eat. By rationing out the box of cookies or crackers instead of going downstairs to the snack machines, I can make a two-dollar box of cookies last a week and not spend sixty cents a pop in the process.
Robin
I have recently gone back into starving student mode because I’m saving like mad for a house and trying to live on half of my income. It’s definitely easier now that I don’t have to, but it doesn’t have to be torture.
I agree with a lot of what has already been said. I found that the biggest single change I made is not buying drinks at the grocery store - nothing in a bottle, even juice. The whole fruit is more nutritious and cheaper per serving anyway. I’m just feeding me, so my bills aren’t that big in the first place, but I cut them by a third when I started drinking water all the time. I still get soda occasionally for a treat, but I’ve lived without it long enough that it tastes funny to me now, and I generally prefer water anyway. When I live in places where the tapwater sucks I use one of those filter pitchers instead of buying bottled.
I have this rule that I started using years ago that still works for me, and might for other people who only shop for one. I never get the big cart at the grocery store, only the basket. The rule is “if I can’t carry it, I can’t afford it”. It really makes me think twice before I put something in the basket, because I’m going to have to lug it around for the next half hour, and I’ve been known to put something in (like the occasional diet Snapple), and then pull it out later in favor of chicken breasts that are on sale, because my arm feels like it’s going to fall off.
I had remembered this little tid bit from the big energy cruch of the 70’s but was not sure if it was applicable to this day and age. So after several fruitless phone calls to Detroit Edison and speaking with a member of the walking dead customer support, I finally had to get down to brass tacks.
My cousin got a job as a comptroller or bean counter (ain’t they the same thing?) at Edison and I called him at work to badger him on this until he broke the silence and told me that “Yes, it’s cheaper to run your stuff at night.” 11pm - 6am)
So, there you have it.
Is that true for every electrical utility? Is it a large enough difference that I should make ice at night and cool my house with it during the day instead of running an air conditioner?
*Another Dumpster Diving Story *
I read a few months back in *People Magazine * the warm and fuzzy heart warming story about two immigrant parents who were putting their son ( they might have other kids in college, but I forget) through, no less, M.I.T. by dumpster diving 12 hours a day, 7 days a week for returnables.
(Naturally, reading this article I was like, "Why in the hell doesn’t JR. get a job on the side while studying at MIT? But I digress.)
Prior to kids, I would pick up returnables on my bike rides and it was fun. Instead of saying, " Oh, I’ll ride to X spot and turn around." I started riding until I had picked up twenty cans. That’s $2.00.
And during football season and prom time, I will tell you this, on Saturday nights, all the local teens chuck a shitload of budweiser/ Milwaukee’s Best and (ug) Red White and Blue out the windows of their parents Expeditions. Thus making my bike rides very short and very profitable. By the end of my first summer of popcan collections, I made nearly $100 dollars ( I saved all the cans for one big turn in which I made an agreement with a local smaller grocery store that they would be clean when I brought them in.)
The second bike riding season (march - late october) I tripled that money.
Naturally, I frittered that money away.
End ramble.
We just got satellite TV yesterday. It is $31.99 a month ( cheaper than cable with more stations) and, while I am not happy with having it, it is probably a better deal since we can watch PPV movies without going to the video store to have the classic “what do you want to watch” crapola and then rent three flicks ( one for me, one for him and one for the kids) and watch the kids and have no energy left to watch our flicks because it’s 11pm by the time we get the chance.
Off the TV track: Garbage picking or dumpster-less diving, is one of my favorite past times. When I am out and about and it is garbage day, I always cruise by the piles of junk to see what people are throwing out. I’ve picked up resin (?) chairs for the kids that there was nothing wrong with them other than dirt. A huge gift basket from a Fruit of the Month club arrangement that was in perfect condition, which I used for a friends baby gift. And a few other things that escape my mind right now.
Wedding Gifts: Instead of money, which I won’t give and not wanting to give a gift from the registry (oh, that’s been done…) I take candid black and white pictures at their wedding of everyone in the wedding party and their immediate families and give that too them as a gift. Film and developing (single prints with double negatives)and a basic photo album for them to put the pictures in themselves. costs me possibly $25.00 for the entire present. This gift has been very very very well received by everyone we have given it to.
One of my pictures, I am proud to say, beat out the paid photographer’s, as the photo of choice for the bridal couple picture on the mantel.
Damn, can I drivel on…
But how? Let’s look at my last electric bill shall we?
Meter Readings:
Previous: 08070
Current: 09148
kWh Use: **1078**
Supplier Services Detail:
Generation Services: 1078 x $0.055 = $59.29
Delivery Services Detail:
Transmission Charge: 1078 x $0.004090
Distribution Charge:
Distribution Service Chg: $8.10
Distribution Chg per kWh: 1078 x $0.021980
System Benfits Chg: 1078 x $0.003010
CTA Charge per kWh: 1078 x $0.008840
Conservation & Load Mgmt Chg: 1078 x $0.003000
Renewable Energy Investment Chg: 1078 x $0.000500
Fuel Adjustment: 1078 x $0.001970
Total: $54.87
Grand total: $114.16
Note that all charges except for the Delivery Service charge are based on 1078 kWh, which comes from two meter readings spaced a month apart. There can’t possibly be any way that they know that I ran my dryer at 2:00 AM and thus deserve a discount.
Again, this isn’t to say that some electric companies aren’t installing smart meters which somehow record power and time of day usage statistics which get read into a computer. But the majority of us still have the old style meter that just sits there and spins causing little dials to go 'round and 'round.
Maybe there’s a time-of-day factor worked into some of the rates. Maybe they look at the electric load at various times and compute a daytime-penalty/nightime-reward that raises or lowers the per kWh rates, but I doubt it. But if this were true, it would take everybody running their appliances at night before there was a difference, there would be no benefit for the individual good guy.
Should you run stuff at night? Sure. It’s easier on the power grid especially during heat waves and other high-use periods. Is it cheaper for big corporations to operate at night? Sure. I know a lot of steel mills use to run a large 3rd shift because they got huge energy discounts at night. Is it cheaper for most Americans? I can’t possibly see how.
I think we need a more in-depth explanation from your cousin at Detroit Edison on this one.
Let me amend my last rant slightly. From here:
"Enrolling in load management programs and off-hour rate programs offered by your electric utility may save you up to $100 a year in electricity costs. Call your electric utility for information about these cost-saving programs."
Not all companies offer such programs, mine apparently doesn’t. But the bottom line is that you apparently have to enroll in such programs before you see any benefit.
You could always move in with a swell guy like myself…
rubes who hasn’t posted to the board in eons
Ooooh frugality I love it. First I’d like to say that living frugally does not mean living poorly. I live by the saying “Use it Up, Wear it Out, Make it Do or Do without.”
Along the lines of dumpster diving is flat out trash taking. When you are driving down the street and you see someone carrying out a perfectly good table, chair, whatever and set it out to be picked up for trash, I think it’s perfectly all right to ask if you can haul it instead.
I look at things and say not "what is it?’ but “what else can it be?” Before I throw away any clothing, I strip it of its buttons and ornamentations. Before I threw out my leather sofa and love seat with the broke down and unrepairable springs, I took them out on the deck and stripped them down to the skeletons. I got yards of thick top grain leather, several bag of heavy dacron batting, and two solid oak trim pieces that ran along the front bottom edges.
I save lace trims, unusual fabrics like velvets,silks,furs, never throw away any flannel shirts or nightgowns, I cut those up for polishing clothes. I have a large 3 drawer chest that I use just to store my salvaged stuff in shoeboxes, and ziploc baggies,
I also save jewelry odd n ends too. A solid gold but unrepairable chain goes into the scrap bag to be melted down to a pendant. gold jump rings, clasps, & ear wires are all sorted. I keep a supply of kits to convert clip to pierced earings too although some especially vintage peices are so heavy it is better to keep them as a clip on. I found a broken ink pen in a box of stuff that had a solid gold band on it. I took that band to a jeweler for 10 bucks I had a darling toe ring.
As I mentioned in this virtual garage sale thread I take more pleasure in the hunt and in the fun of being creative than in actual money saved. But for me it was worth $20 to get so much fodder for a creative outlet.
Rubes! I thought we lost you! Drop by more often…