VeryHappy

I shop at a Big Box store for stuff like detergent, paper towels, tp, etc.

I stopped buying my cup of coffee in the morning at the train station and instead make it myself before I leave the house.

I almost never buy new books any more, unless they're "special."

After 20 years in the same house, with one S gone and the other about to leave, I'm trying to be a "net exporter of goods." I'm donating everything that's usable to various tag sales around town -- for the rugby team, for the church, and so forth. (I recognized years ago that if I hoarded the stuff in anticipation of my own tag sale, we'd need a bigger house to store all the stuff. And in my book, tag sales are NO FUN to do.)

I hit the outlet stores hard when I need clothes. I can't remember the last time I paid full price for clothes for myself.

I only buy used cars with low mileage. I bought a six-year-old Mercedes with only 37,000 miles from a co-worker. Cost me $17,500 and drives like a dream.

But I don't scrimp on education -- and I don't scrimp on food.

simba

"My H, doesn't need his hair cut- he wears it in a ponytail,"

That's my dream hair style. But my wife and son are against it.

Zimmer07

Growing up, my dad taped little index cards beside every single light switch in the house. He had written on each, "TURN OFF THE LIGHT". Funny thing is, I walk all over this house every single day turning off lights after H and the kids have left for work/school.

I save the water from rinsing vegetables and use it to water the potted plants. Keep all the soap ends and mush them into a washcloth until they truly are all used up. Don't scrimp on food at all, but don't go out to restaurants much at all. We are big-time savers, resisted the "keeping up with the Jones" thing and might be one of the few with no pool, the boys have to share bedroom, cars are with us so long they are family members, and, best of all, my kids are apparently label-blind. They don't care anything about clothes or where they come from as long as they fit and feel good.

conyat

We had a thread awhile back about reusing ziplock bags and washing aluminum foil. My D. is very frugal. One time when we were on a road trip, we overslept and missed the free breakfast in the hotel lobby and had to go to the IHOP. I heard about that for 350 miles.

anxiousmom

Ahh, I contributed to the "wash your aluminum foil" thread. When the kids were little we used powdered milk, drank "earth juice" (aka water), made our own bread, etc.etc. and followed the "Tightwadder's Gazette" philosophy. (Most bang for the buck and borrow/reuse/delay purchase/stockupcheap, less is more). It's very earthfriendly! I'm too lazy to do all that now, but compared to most people, we are considered very thrifty.

conyat

Back in the day, I was never sure it was cheaper to bake bread then to buy it, by the time you figured in the cost of heating the oven. Now? No question. A loaf of not very good whole grain bread is $2.50 a loaf.

great lakes mom

I love being frugal. Craigs list and freecycle are a gold mine. My time is precious, hours at my job are arduous, and the less I spend, the less I have to work, whether now and esp. in the future. But some things are worth spending on, a rare good meal out with my kids, music lessons, museum fees, travel, good live performance, Sunday NY times. I buy at thrift stores, garage sales and sale racks, eat what is in season, bike and hike for entertainment, watch my energy conservation with an eagle eye, avoid fast food and chi chi coffee drinks. We all need to eval what is worth spending on, what brings joy. Of course it helps that my friends are down to earth and I wear scrubs to work!

In regards to the above, I did decide that some obsessive things are not worth my time, washing plastic bags being one, having garage sales being another. I'd rather donate stuff and use the tax deduction.

anxiousmom

Secret to bread - you bake 6 loaves at once, then freeze 5 of them. Kneading that much dough take two sets of arms. And you buy the 1lb bag of yeast, then store it in the freezer so it lasts a few years. (You don't have to use 6x the yeast when you make that much bread. Just about 2x)

sjmom2329

I turn off lights all over the house -- no one else seems capable of doing that! I keep the thermostat below 68 in the winter, and we wear sweatshirts or sweaters. (This tactic doesn't really count, though, since neither H nor I can stand to be hot.) I listen to radio stations on the computer, since that's usually on, rather than turning on another electronic device. I drive carefully -- both to avoid any tickets or accidents and to improve gas mileage. I clean the house, H takes care of the yard, and we fix things ourselves whenever possible. I hate to pay anyone else to do something I can do myself. We have energy efficient appliances, and I only run the dryer to the point where things are damp. It's easier to hang clothes and let the wrinkles fall out.

roshke

Here's something interesting I heard on TV recently. *Don't* bother turning out the lights if you are going to be coming back to the room within five minutes. The energy it takes to turn the switch back on is more than the energy used during that time!

PackMom

I shop at Goodwill a LOT. I would say at least half the clothes in our closet came from Goodwill. Also the only books I ever buy come from Goodwill. Paperbacks are only .59. I have found so many unbelievably great deals there.

kwtortoise

I don't buy books, cd, dvds, etc. I extensively use the library. I'll only buy 0.99 greeting cards, and recycle gift bags. Use a Nalgene bottle instead of bottled water, most of the time. Plan all my errands together to save gas; plan my classes and work schedule together so I only drive to school once. Re-use plastic baggies if they are still clean, and use grocery bags for the trash. I like used clothes from Buffalo Exchange, and donate to Goodwill. I really don't buy anything on the store that isn't generic brand or on sale, since I have expensive tastes in food to begin with. (organic, etc)

The only thing we do bad on at my house is energy, as there is always at least 1 TV on, a few computers, and lights in every room. But, the A/C or heater doesn't get turned on unless it's unbearable.

emeraldkity4

Im so frugal, I don't own a watch

MaryTN

I think everyone chooses how they spend their time, money, and calories.

But it was so frustrating to visit a friend of mine with a large beautiful house and a cheap husband who thought it was wasteful to heat the house to a normal temperature. I would wear 3 layers and wool socks/slippers (couldn't wear shoes in the house). We would sit SHIVERING at the kitchen table drinking hot coffee/tea all morning (couldn't take beverages out of the kitchen). There were times I wanted to offer her $5 to turn up the heat for 2 hours!!!

garland

Bethie--thanks for the nice compliment, but I think a lot of posters here are giving me a run for our money (so to speak). For the record, yes, we do go out to eat now and then.

But, some things we do: Live in a small house in a very moderate town, which means low mortgage (actually none now, because we decided to pay it off), public schools for K-12, little to no summer programs (just local rec ones with nominal fees), rarely replace cars--now drive a hybrid--I've paid less than a 100 bucks in gas so far this year. Both of us walk to work, and many other errands (good exercise, and boy do I need that). Also bike a lot. Keep thermostat low--MaryTN, you might not be comfortable here but my S would agree with you. wear discount store clothes till they're falling apart, grow some of our veggies and belong to a CSA for others, H sometimes bakes bread from wheat he grinds himself (also good exercise). He also makes beer and mead. Home-made haircuts. Gave up make-up, never have had nails done. No fancy electronics except for computers. Older TV, very old stereo (did spring for new turntable for Christmas).

What we splurge on: college (obviously ), computers, sports package on cable, our kayaks (but extremely cheap to run), occasional events like dinners, shows, and sports.

Biggest splurge we are saving for--time. Trying to get to the point of expenses minimized and savings maximized to severely cut down on time spent on paid work. (Well, unless someone buys my novel--I wouldn't mind getting paid for that, just need time to write it).