Frugal Moms Share Your Tips

Deep Freezer.

Food costs here are through the roof. $12 a pound for lunch meat through the roof. $20 per # for cheese. When things go on sale (Turkey, $8-10 per pound down to 33 CENTS per pound? I buy 6-12 turkeys. Roast every month or every other month. Voila. Dinners, soup, sammie meat, etc. Ditto corned beef $11 per pound, on sale for $3 per pound, etc . ONCE a year, I buy a lot. Chicken thighs just went from 9p# to 3. Bought bags and bags.)

Similarly, I shop regularly at 5 stores. Milk = $4 per half gallon everywhere but WholeFoods & TraderJoes. There it's 1.59 per half gallon. Done and done. Day old bread from the bakery for $1, versus bread for $4.59 at Kroger/QFC/Target/etc.

I only eat out if it's cheaper to eat out (like phô) than to make.

I rarely drink. Although I LOVE wine, I drink that even less (although I went on a $10 bottle mission a few years ago and found some GOOD ones. Aussie, South Africa, etc. even still... A bottle of wine is 4-6 glasses, and should be drunk that night. A bottle of hard alcohol has dozens or even a hundred or more servings, and keeps for years.

DIY everything... And trading/bartering for either what I'm not good at OR lessons. Our lowest bid on our fence was 5k. Cost 300 to build. New kitchen cabs = thousands. Cost me less than $100 in trim and paint to reface. Hardwood floors? Bought demo'd Beeche for $200 (enough for 1000 square feet. Saved thousands there, and a $75 bottle of scotch, a pizza, and a 6 pack of beer bought me the instructor and use of his tools for installing. Seed over sod. Cedar chips over play chips. Glass cutter and cannibalized frame ($8) instead of $200 floor length mirror.

Tomato seeds ($6) for 50-100lbs of tomatoes instead for $2.99 per pound. Herb garden instead of bought herbs. Homemade sauce instead of bought sauce.

Expensive sturdy clothes that last for years (or are grown out of) over cheap clothes that need replacing in a few months.

Netflix & hulu+ (less than $20) versus $100+ for cable.

Cellphones over landlines (1/8th the cost)

Preventative healthcare over emergency/acute care.

Massage over imatrex (both work for my migraines... Even out of pocket, massage costs less than imatrex, and insured??? $20 a month for massage).

Snowboarding over piano ($50 per month for 2 people, v$159 a month for 1 person).

Previous Gen electronics.

Hand me down electronics

Pawnshops for name brand power tools (hey... Can even sell back instead of storing!)

Grant & scholarship writing for school.

Airmiles & deals for travel. Ditto hostels and staying with friends/family.

Courier work for miles (airfare)

Drive away (or similar company) for road trips

Hunters or butchers over stores. 1/8th of a cow over 'individual servings'

Dish soap + water = foaming hand soap refills

Are you papeless? I went paperless a few years ago. I love it! Cloth napkins works so much better than paper, and cloth bar towels are Amazing! I don't know how they convinced people to use paper! Paper is terrible!

We also butcher our own chickens. Chicken breast costs a fortune,unless you butcher it yourself with cheap birds! ;-) And then you can make stock and soup.

making my own liquid laundry soap....easy to make and store. and it washes just as good as the brand names....and alot cheaper!!

My local newspaper has a column about free and cheap things to do each week. They detail lots of cool stuff. I read the column and sometimes find stuff that my kids would love. Today, we went to the Glazer Children's museum when they were running a special of $4 admission. So, we had a few hours of fun for $16...otherwise it would have cost us almost $50 to get in...

We use the "envelope system" (Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University). It saves a LOT of money and really keeps us thoughtful about what we spend.

I also make my own laundry detergent. Recipe: 1C of 20 Mule Team Borax, 1 C Arm and Hammer Super Washing Soda, 1C grated up bar of Fels Naptha laundry soap. Use 2T per load. All of these are found in the laundry aisle at Walmart. Costs me LESS than 1 penny per load, smells great, and is safe in HE machines (because the soap does not get sudsy).

Shop at Aldi. I love this store....it's cheaper than Walmart! Yes, I still buy a few things at "regular" stores, but Aldi is my favorite place.

Get "Redbox" movies and a frozen pizza for family night instead of going/ordering out.

Pop your own popcorn on the stove: Using a heavy bottom 4qt pot, put 1/2C popcorn kernels and 3 tablespoons of veggie oil in. Put lid on "crooked" to vent. Put on medium heat. Remove from heat when you don't hear popping anymore. Season as you like. Much cheaper than the microwave stuff...and FUN! The kids love it.

Go down to the basement (or wherever you throw the stuff you don't use/like anymore). Grab a couple of those items...and put them on Craigslist! Sell that stuff that's just sitting there! Over the last 3 weeks, we've made over $700 selling the stuff we don't use. It's just SITTING there....why let it collect dust (and space) anymore?

Buy a cow/pig/chickens. I don't mean live ones...I mean, if you have a deep freezer, consider contacting a local "grower." Find out how much a 1/2 a steer or pig costs. They'll usually take it to the butcher for you, you just contact the butcher and tell them what cuts you prefer. It ends up being MUCH cheaper, per pound, than store-bought.

Eat a lot of eggs? Consider having a couple of chickens in your yard. They're easy to raise, will keep your yard bug-free, and in the autumn, you can butcher them.

Get a programmable thermostat. For reasons explained by others below.

Get rid of cable completely. If you have a TV with HD you can still search and pick up the free local HD channels. That plus Netflix is plenty of entertainment.

Make menus. Don't just "go shopping," have a list of what you're shopping for and why. If it's not part of a meal, don't buy it. I make my menus bi-monthly and try to use what I already have in the house first.

Best of luck!

Garage Sales! I'm definitely not a huge fan, but there are some GREAT deals out there!

A friend got a huge bag of Lego Duplos (made by Lego, but bigger for kids 1.5-5 years old) for $2. She soaked them in bleach to clean them up and they were as good as new! Savings $40

Same friend got a Tricycle (Fisher Price Rock 'N Roll 'N Ride) for $5. Again, she washed it up super good and it is an outside toy. Savings $50.

I got a plastic table and 2 chairs (Little Tikes) for $5. I washed it really good and it is out on our deck for the kids. Savings $50.

They still sell all of these items on Amazon!

I use vinegar for cleaning, and laundry (softens and sanitizes). Dryer balls instead of fabric softener. (I now HATE the smell of fabric softener.)

I use the budget plan for our electric and gas bills. That helps keep bills consistent.

I don't run anything that produces heat during the day in the hot months, and use those things at the beginning of the day in the cold months.

I negotiate with the cable company for the best prices. We cut all other bills that we don't need or use (landline phone, services, etc).

I know where to buy our regular items and know all of my prices almost to the penny. Sams club has saved us quite a bit of money. We aren't afraid to buy in bulk.

We use our freezer to keep food costs down. We also make a lot of homemade foods, and don't have to pay for premade hamburger patties, chicken stock, pasta sauce, etc.

I like to buy a lot of the girl's toys and clothes on clearance at the end of a season and on Black Friday. I buy ahead toys and put in a box (labeled something else....not that they can read yet) and add fun things to it in case we need a gift or toy on the spot. I also buy ahead birthday, Christmas, and Easter gifts.

I LOVE the sales that have lots of vendors in one place that sell kids' toys and clothes. I've gotten AMAZING things for no money at those sales. One stop shopping!

What are some of your tips???

Freecycle!

In most communities (sizeable communities, anyway), there are "freecycle" groups on Yahoo. Just go to Yahoo groups and do a search for "freecycle"

People post things they are giving away, and things they need. No money or bartering allowed.

This is a great way to get children's toys, clothing, furniture, and you'd be amazed at what people give away!

I love this question, thanks for asking it b/c I am curious too. I used to hang dry all my clothes to cut down on the cost of the dryer and hand wash dishes-kind of hard core though, lol. I only shop at Kohls for clothes, (like once or twice a yr!) You can get ridiculous deals there, I recently spend $60 on $200 worth of clothes for husband. Even he was taken back by the savings. I love their Kohls cash too. Most of my clothes are ancient so if they are "nice" I hang dry b/c they last longer. I only run laundry/dishwasher when full. I live where its hot, and I found turning off my air and or closing off vents to certain rooms resulting in no savings in the elec bill. I do find a savings when I keep the thermostat at 80 and turn up to 83 when I leave. I am a freak about turing off lights and appliances when not in use. Also, cleaning dryer vents after every cycle is supposed to save money. I have the basic cable package, ($14mo). Trying to learn how to save on food though!

If you have high speed internet, there is an option for telephone service that is cheaper than your standard 'land line'. It is called Ooma. You can buy the device for $150-200 and then you never have to pay for telephone service again. We got it and LOVE it!
http://www.ooma.com/

Also, do you have cable? We got rid of our cable and had a digital antenna installed on our home. It cost $200 but saved us more than $100 a month in Cable bills. We got a subscription to Hulu for $7.99 a month to see our favorite Cable shows.