Even MORE ways to save money and end up with money

Put your debit card away.  It's pretty easy to grab that thing and use it, huh.  You're less likely to buy impulse items if you have to dig out the check book or use cash.  Vow to never get cash from the ATM that charges you a fee.  If your bank charges you fees for checking, look for another bank.

Now that you have the checkbook in your possession again, there are some things you can do.  First, start a coin can.

Write the check at the grocery store to the next highest dollar so you get some change back.  When you get home, put the coins in your new 'savings' can.  Every time you have a few coins in your pocket, add them to the can.  A lot of people save $300 a year doing this simple thing.

Use coupons?  Rebates? Put that money in your coin can when you get home.

Talk yourself out of buying something extra at the store?  Put that money in the coin can.

Got an expensive habit, like tobacco or alcohol?  Try to cut it in half.  You're already used to the money leaving your pocket, so put the 'saved' money in the coin can.

If you usually have cash in your wallet, can you add a dollar a day to the can? Or even just a dollar a week?

Now that you have your own little stash at home, use it to your advantage. Do the debt snowballing thing to stop paying interest.  If you saved up $30 in your coin can this month, take it to the bank and then pay an extra $30 on your credit card payment, car payment, etc. You can get a good idea of how much your loan is costing you (and how much you'll save by paying a little extra each month!) by using an online 'what's missing' calculator like this one - http://www.hughchou.org/calc/missing.cgi  .  Hugh has a ton of different calculators to help you.

Round up to the next dollar when you subtract the check amount in the register. Write a check for $39.03?  Subtract $40.  By the end of the year, you could have another $300.

You can also write 'saved' amounts on a calendar. This comes in handy when you get back from the store and only used $2.15 worth of coupons, or decided not to buy that bottle of water from the convenience store.  Put that amount on your calendar.  At the end of the month (or sooner!), make an extra online payment on  your credit card.  Seems like another bill going out, doesn't it.  But it's money that you would have spent in your previous lifestyle.  If it's just a few dollars at the end of the month, add it to your usual payment.

Need to buy a car?  Buy a used one instead of the new hybrid you really want.  The money you'll save over all by lower cost, insurance and taxes will more than offset what you'd save in gasoline costs.  I hate this one, but it's true.

Sometimes you have to look at quality over cost.  We could save $500 by buying a used riding lawn mower, but by spending the extra, we'll get a three year warranty and know that we aren't buying someone else's problem. We'll take good care of it, so it should last us for as long as we're here or will need one.

Rent a movie instead of going to the movies.  More popcorn, whatever drinks you want and as much as what you want, plus you won't miss part of it if you need to make a pit stop halfway through.  Write down what you normally would have spent on the calendar.

Try more private label stuff at the grocery store.  Some of it is lousy, but many items are just as good as the name brands. Jot down the price difference, then add it up when you get home.  Put the difference in the can, or write it on the calendar.

Every two years, check around for insurance rates.  Insurance companies have a way of sneaking the rates up.  Look for an insurance broker that doesn't represent just one company or look online.

Ideally, come April 15th, you don't want to have to send a check, but you also don't want to use the IRS for a savings account, either.  But some people qualify for money back that they didn't send to them to begin with.  Don't go buy that new computer!  Pay off your debt or put it in a savings account.

Just got a raise at work?  Lucky you!  Use that extra money to pay off debt or save.

The One Dress Protest

There really are some great blogs and information on the net if you take the time to sift through the crap.  Today on the Frugal Village forum, someone posted this gal's blog - One Dress Protest, Fasting from Fashion.  She's going to wear the same dress every day for a year.  All I can say is that my hat's off to her!

You can read her blog and follow along here - http://onedressprotest.com/2011/01/this-week-in-the-dress-and-on-the-web-3/

My personal fashion habits, or lack of them, is based pretty much on whatever shirt I grab from the closet.  I'm not picky, I just want to be covered.  Most of 'my' clothes in the closet are Bill's clothes, too.  We have gotten fat together so we still can wear the same jeans and shirts, all 'mens'.  That helps a lot.  I have no problem wearing mens clothing, but he might have a problem wearing 'womens', ya know?

We used to get a lot of t-shirts from the company we work for, so there's been quite an accumulation through the years.  We used to have eight identical t-shirts, but I think we're down to three of those.  Our boys know to bring their donation bag to Ma and Pa's first, so we can dig out anything 'new' or needed first.  Then we take the rest to the DAV or wherever.

Honestly, I don't miss the fashion bug at all.  My every day clothes are my work clothes, designed to get dirty.  I don't mind wearing them on the days that I'm not planning on gardening or basic slaving away.  If I happen to suddenly change my mind and start playing in the dirt, it's no big deal.  I don't have to come in the house just to change clothes.

And I have been known to hit the grocery store wearing shoes that still had some chicken pucky stuck on the bottom.  Oh well.

Bone Broth - the good stuff

The first time I ever heard anything about bone broth was on the Sufficient Self forum.  I figured it was just boiling up the leftover bones from chicken or turkey to make stock.  I was wrong.

According to the knowledgable people on that forum, you need a glug of ACV in with the water and bones to make bone broth.  The vinegar pulls out the nutrients from the bones and makes the most yummy tasting broth!  It looks much richer than the pale, watery stuff I used to make (that I thought was so good) or the really pale stuff you get from Swanson's in the grocery store (which is just a step up from plain ol' water).  An added bonus is that if you cook it long enough, the bones get really soft.  So soft that you can take the leg bone and just mush the end of it between your fingers.  And no, you don't taste any vinegar.

The first time I tried it was in my old pressure cooker.  I used turkey bones.  Holy momma, that was good stuff.  To make the bones soft enough that I felt safe in mixing them with homemade dog/cat chow, I had to pressure cook it for 2-1/2 hours.  I loved the idea of using the bones, but not the idea that I had to have the range on for that long.

The next time I just did it all in my big slow cooker.  I used chicken bones that time.  Plunked them all in the Crock Pot, added water to cover and a glug of apple cider vinegar (a glug is a technical term used in some kitchens).  I put the cooker on low, and forgot about it until the next day.  When I checked it, all the bones were easily mushing up.  Since this batch was just for dog/cat food, they got all the broth and marrow-y goodness from the mushed bones.  All the four legged critters gave it two paws up!

I'm already saving chicken bones in the freezer for the next batch. I'll keep the rich broth for a pot of chicken and noodles this time.  Who knew that simple ACV could make such a difference?

If you have never cooked with stock or bone broth, you're in for a treat.  Once you start using it, you'll never go back to using water.

I found this great site that lists more details on how to make bone broth with beef, chicken and pork bones:
http://www.healingnaturallybybee.com/recipes/recipe21.php

Making ACV - Apple Cider Vinegar

I have my first batch of apple cider vinegar (ACV) cooking.  Not really cooking, but doin' it's thing on top of the frig.  For some reason, this appeals to the inner scientist in me.  Let's try this and see if it works.

I had read on Earth Clinic over 120 posts from people saying that ACV helped lower their blood pressure (15 said it didn't work for them).  You had to slug down as much as two tablespoons of organic ACV that had the 'mother' in it on a regular basis.  Nasty stuff, I'm tellin' ya.  The crazy thing is that 30 minutes later, my blood pressure was over 10 points lower.  I did the trials twice a day over the course of two weeks, taking my BP readings before and after AVC.  I kept an eye on my activities prior to and following, so I would have a more accurate trial.  By cracky, it was working!  I wasn't taking my BP medication, yet my BP was pretty reasonable and gradually dropping.

But I had to stop.  Besides bringing tears to my eyes, it felt like it was stripping off a layer of skin in my gullet and left me gasping for breath.  Didn't make my stomach feel any too good, either.  HOW do people do this???   Eventually I tried it again, and again had the same results.  Blood pressure was going down, anxiety about having to drink it was going up.  Maybe my blood pressure reading would have been lower if I had better tolerance of the vinegar?  I tried all the things mentioned on the Earth Clinic site, adding honey, adding water, etc, etc.  Yeck.

Okay, so then I went to a lot less ACV, about a teaspoon or so with some water, 3 times a day.  I survived, wasn't too bad to get down and my BP still stayed reasonably controlled.  Yay!  But I was still taking one BP pill every other day (I had stopped the other one).  Hey, I am okay with this.

I like to buy locally if I can.  I don't want to order stuff that has to be shipped, either.  But the only organic ACV was 35 miles away and $7 a quart at the health food store.  I wish I could say that making ACV is the green thing to do, but actually I'm making it because I'm cheap.  And I'm hoping it tastes better, too.

So, after some research, Q & A's on the Sufficient Self forum, there's this big jar of weird stuff sitting on my refrigerator.  I started with some $3 organic apple juice and the bottom inch of dregs and vinegar from the pricey stuff, Braggs.  I put a clean hankerchief over the top of the jar, secured with a rubber band.  From what I read, air is very important, so my jar has probably a 4" opening.  I stir it every other day.  It's been sitting there for a couple of weeks and the changes to it are....well, interesting.

It started to get this slimy, jelly type goo on the top. Of course, I figured it was mold. Yeck.  Not that the rest of it looked any better.  The organic juice had solids in it, and then I added more from the vinegar bottle.  But it smelled like apples and vinegar, not icky like moldy stuff.  More reading.  That big, honking lugie was actually the 'mother'.

I finally got brave enough to taste a bit of it today.  Nice, apple-y tasting vinegar, not real strong.  I think it still tastes more like apple juice than vinegar, so I'll leave it a bit longer.  After I strain it through a coffee filter, it should look better.  If your vinegar ever has that acetone smell, kind of like nail polish remover, it needs more oxygen.  So stir it once or twice a day and the smell should go away in a few days.

And the 'mother'?  I read that women used to keep it in a jar in the cupboard so they'd have it to kickstart another batch of vinegar.  They would also use it to help heal small cuts and wounds.  It does appear to have some antiseptic or healing properties.  I'll probably get another bottle of organic apple juice and get some more vinegar going.  I might save a bit just to try on a cut or something. too.

Edited to add on 4/10/11 - The vinegar is wonderful!! I tried to strain it through a coffee filter, but it was taking too long.  But that half cup of strained vinegar was gorgeous.  I finally decided that I could live with some solids, so I poured off some from the top of the bigger jar.  Of course, I fished out the loogie, I mean, mother, first.  That went into the compost can by the sink (red Folger's coffee cannister).  I figured that since I was going to be adding more apple juice to the old stuff in the big jar, I'd still get more mother brewing.  I did put the jar of somewhat strained vinegar into the frig, mostly because I'd rather drink cold or hot, rather than room temperature.  I wondered if it would keep getting stronger, too...and I like it as it is now!

Oh, and putting mother on cuts?  It works!  I had this painful, annoying little tear in a cuticle.  You know the kind.  They aren't big enough that anyone gives you any sympathy, but you're very aware if it because you bump it all the time.  So I pinched off a bit of mother/jelly and rubbed it on the cuticle.  Dang, the pain was gone in a couple seconds!  Unfortunately, it was back right after I washed my hands.  I think I'll keep some vinegar brewing all the time, so hopefully I'll always have some mother to put on minor cuts, etc.  Besides that, it's always fun to watch the expression on people's faces when you show it to them.  :o)

Tips for figuring out what you really want to do

Goal setting.  I hate those words, mostly because I didn't do any of it for most of my adult life.  I just struggled along, doing the same things day after day, hoping that something wonderful would magically appear and change everything for the better.  On my 40th birthday, I remember thinking that I still didn't know what I wanted to be when I grew up...and I was already 'up'.  I had a lot of angst when I hit my 50th birthday and was still thinking the same thing!  As soon as I accepted that I really was happier with a different way of living, life was better!

If you want some changes in your life, you have to be willing to make some changes.  Now, I love those words.

First things first.  Make a list of 20 things you like to do.  Sounds easy, but by the time you get to #15, you might be struggling to figure out the last five.  Some things might cost a lot, but there should be some that are either free or cheap.  You might not presently be able to do everything on your list, but you should be able to do some of them right away. 

After taking some time to ponder the things you like to do, take another look at your list.  Do you see any kind of pattern there?  What makes you happy?  I realized that I was happy when I was doing anything creative or gardening.  I just loved getting my hands dirty with some project.  I loved making something wonderful from trash or junk that other people would throw away.  (I had a blast one day making little denim looking pots with dryer lint clay.)  But I digress.  Again, what makes you happy?  You would probably be happy in a related field of work.  The trick is having the job that makes you happy and living within that income, but you can do it.  Like I said in the previous post, don't compare yourself to others.  Focus on your own goals, your own situation and look for ways for improvement.

Now make a list of what you need to get some more things on your 'happy' list. This is the goal setting part.  By the way, winning the Lottery is not a goal.  Pick a couple smaller goals to start with. Which thing do you have to have first, the one thing that will help you get the next one?  Sort out the list and write it down. 

Repeat after me:
If you want some changes in your life, you have to be willing to make some changes.

Break those smaller goals down into even smaller, more manageable steps. Then after each one, write down all the different ways you could obtain each one.  Write down all the silly, impractical ways, too - beg, borrow, barter, rent, steal.  That might help you come up with new ways of acquiring what you need.
Use your local library or computer to research step one, then step two, etc.  Use words like 'open source' or 'free' in your keyword search phrase.  Be specific about what you need or want.  If you're still researching the same steps after a month or two, then you're just procrastinating.  You can be the most well read person about what you'd like to do, but it doesn't amount to anything if you just read about it.

Now act on it.  Then do the next step.

Spending hours on Facebook playing FarmTown every day might be loads of fun and leave you full of satisfaction, but five years from now, you'll still be sitting in the same chair, working the same crappy job and wondering why life isn't any better.  I loved my son's comment when I asked him how he got so much 'free' money for top notch education and travel.  He said, "Some people get on the computer and play games.  I get on the computer and look for deals."  Point taken.  One of his goals was to visit every continent on the planet Earth.  He's currently teaching overseas, travels extensively...always with an eye on the next goal. 

I chose a different path.  I finally have my little 4 acres in the country, a boatload of critters to care for, as much garden space as I would ever want or need and places to do my sloppy creative projects while living in a construction zone.  I try to be as self sustainable as possible so the money I make from my business website will be all I need for a job - working just a few hours a month. For this I gave up a crappy sales rep job complete with high heels and two hours of doing my fingernails every weekend. 

And my chosen lifestyle?  I've never worked harder in my life...or been happier.  But I do miss Farmtown.

More ways to save money

And hopefully the list will keep going on and on, right?

Instead of buying those cedar blocks to hang in your closets, pick up a cedar fence board at the lumberyard.  First, sand the rough parts off the board. Then count all your closets, cut the board to that many pieces and drill a hole in the top of each one.  Sand off any rough edges.  Hang a chunk of the board on each closet rod with heavy wire (fashioned like the top of a clothes hanger), loose wire tie (zip tie), heavy string or cord, etc.  Every few years, hit it with some coarse grit sandpaper to bring the scent back again.

Use vinegar in the Jet Dry do-hicky of your auto dishwasher instead of Jet Dry.  There's a rinse or two after it's dispensed, so you won't smell any vinegar at all.  The dishes come out sparkly-clean and it keeps any soap crud out of the dishwasher plumbing parts.  Don't buy that auto dishwasher cleaner as the vinegar will take care of any funky odors that suddenly appeared and hard water deposits.

Now that you're using vinegar in the dishwasher, set the timer so you know when to beat a path to the kitchen and open the dishwasher door.  My newer dishwasher's heated dry cycle wouldn't come on unless there was something in the Jet Dry do-hicky.  Twice I tried to listen for when it sounded like it was finished washing, and twice I missed it.  I timed it this morning and it took a whopping 1 hour and 15 minutes!!  Back to hand washing, I think.  I think you have to use the dishwasher once in a while to keep the seals wet and working right.  Otherwise, you end up with an expensive dish drainer.

Love those flavored coffee creamers?  You can make your own powdered flavored creamers at your convenience with just a few basic items -
1 cup instant dry milk powder
1/2 cup powdered coffee creamer
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 to 1/3 cup (about half the package) of instant pudding mix, your choice of flavor.  I like French Vanilla the best.
Blend it all together and put it in a resealable container.  I put the dry milk and sugar in my Magic Bullet (blender thing) to make it really fine, then add the rest of the ingredients.  Use 1 to 2 TBSP per cup of coffee, or to taste.  Agh, and here I told myself that this wasn't going to be a blog of recipes!

Got a neighbor that recycles, too?  You might be able to strike a deal with them to share the cost of the trash service, then take turns going to the recycle center.

If you know you're going to have to repaint a room sometime in the future, start looking at the markdown paint area at your local home improvement store.  I got most of the paint for an entire house for $5 a gallon, but lately I don't see it that cheap anymore (usually $10 a gallon).  There's probably 40 different shades of white, but if you mix three different shades in a big 5 gallon bucket, you still have white.  Mixing colors comes pretty easily to me, so I have a hard time trying to explain it to someone who struggles with that.  The best thing to do would be to stick to basic colors that you like.  Then if you don't think you'll have enough paint, add a can of white to it for a lighter shade.  Of course, if you're mixing paint like this, you have to make sure that you have enough to do your entire project.

Need a 5 gallon bucket?  Ask at the deli in your grocery store.  Most of the time they are getting something in 5 gallon food grade buckets that have lids.  Perfect for storing food and for mixing up paint!  You just can't use it for food after you mix your paint in there, ya know?

Get to thinking about creative leftovers.  Repeat after me, "there is no such thing as food going into the trash".  Any leftover corn, green beans or peas can go into a container in the freezer.  Pour the juice in there as well.  Then when you make a pot of soup, use those veggies.  I love leftover spaghetti sauce in beef or hamburger soups.  I'm not too sure that leftover cooked broccoli would make the cut in this area, so eat it up.  Or make chicken Alfredo the next night and put the chopped up broccoli in it right before you eat.  You get the drift.

Defrost or thaw frozen food in the refrigerator instead of on the counter.  Takes longer, but it's probably safer (not that I ever poisoned anyone, but ya never know) and it might help keep your frig a bit colder so it doesn't kick on as often.

Don't compare yourself to others.  There will always be people that have more money, a bigger house, the latest fashions, the newest computer, etc.  Focus on your own goals, your own situation and look for ways for improvement.

Grow some of your own food.  You don't have to live in the country to do some gardening.  Did I mention this before?  Anyway, container gardening can be cheap if you scrounge for containers like 5 gallon buckets from the deli or bakery, etc.

Buy smaller trees or bushes instead of the bigger ones and be willing to wait a year or so longer for them to get full size.  Cheaper yet would be if you could get a start from another gardener or grow something from seed.  I have three peach trees in my yard now that were grown from seed.  Will they have wonderful peaches?  I don't know.  I think the peaches that they came from were grown on a tree started from seed, so I'll probably have the same results.  But I was after shade more than I wanted peaches.  They're a bonus.

Buy seeds over plants for your garden.  I'm always surprised to hear that people will pay $2 for a couple little cucumber plants.  I could get a packet of cucumber seeds for $0.15 for a lot of years.  Now that I'm buying strictly Non GMO seed, that packet ran me close to $2.  The difference is that this year I'm planting a realistic number of seeds instead of the plethora that I planted a couple years ago.  Looked like a jungle of cucumber vines...sigh.  Picking 70 cucumbers in one day was, well...tiring.  The hens even got tired of them.  So this year, it's four hills and the rest of the cucumber seeds are stored in a zipper bag in the freezer for next year.  This year I'm going to try to save seed that can grow chow next year, too.  And they'll be free.

If you left your clothes in the dryer and now they're all wrinkled, you don't have to crank on the dryer again or buy that wrinkle release stuff.  Hang up the shirts and give them a spritz of water from a spray bottle and let them air dry.  Jeans will usually smooth out on their own after you put them on. When I was traveling, I'd hang my dress in the bathroom while I showered, then move it outside of the bathroom while I did makeup, hair, etc.  Usually it was dry and wrinkle free by the time I put it on.

When you buy socks, get the same brand, color and style.  Then there's no sorting socks on laundry day.  If one ends up in the rag bag, you still have a mate for it unless you go through all of them in between wash days.  I just stack them up instead of pairing them.

Whenever possible, use what Nature gives you.  We had to cut down several elm trees that were severely storm damaged.  With some work, we got some lousy firewood that will do fine in our wood burning stove when it's not freezing cold, but we still need some heat.  The smaller branches were hauled to the back to be used as kindling when it's time to burn.  Instead of buying shredded bark, we used the bark from the trees.  They're big pieces now, but they will break down in time.  Some of the sawdust was raked into deep depressions made by falling logs.  It too, will break down and support plant growth.  At our place, it's whatever wild grass seed blows into it.

Right now, vow to never throw leftover food away!  Well, unless it's really crappy or burned.  If you aren't going to eat it in a couple of days, make little entrees or tv dinners, label and pop into the freezer.  That half a cup of green beans can go in the freezer.  Add more veggies to it when ever there's leftovers you won't eat.  Later, make a pot of soup.  Even the soup can be frozen if you have a couple servings left over.  I don't know how many times you can keep cooking and freezing this stuff before you have some major quality control issues, so plan on eating it, k?

Clean the dust bunnies from anything that has a fan.  That includes your blow dryer, refrigerator, freezer, furnace, computer equipment, etc.

Learn new skills.  About any skill.  It's either DIY or PAY.  If you're reading this, you have a computer.  Get to typing in the search bar.  There are some things that shouldn't be messed with other than by someone who really knows what they're doing, but there are many things that YOU can do if you take the time to search online for instructions, tips, trouble shooting, hints.  We have friends that paid someone $80 to come out and change the battery backup in their CO2 monitor.  He wasn't happy about it, either.  Had he taken the time to get on the computer, he probably would have read what the beeping was all about.