What's The Most Extreme Thing You've Done To Save Money?
DelMarVa's Premier Source for News, Opinion, Analysis, and Human Interest Contact Publisher Joe Albero at alberobutzo@wmconnect.com or 410-430-5349
DelMarVa's Premier Source for News, Opinion, Analysis, and Human Interest Contact Publisher Joe Albero at alberobutzo@wmconnect.com or 410-430-5349
40 comments:
Quit smoking, cold turkey.
You go to a restaurant for the good food, not the soda or alcohol. You can get those for much cheaper at a grocery store. Ask for and Drink water, perhaps adding a slice of lemon for taste. For fun request Diet Water from your server lol.
buy a flobee to use haircut money for gas n beer
I use a clothes line, no cell phone, no cable tv,I just laugh when I hear these young cry babies talk about no money.
Quit smoking. Chantix!
Cancel the Daily Times, and switch to basic cable and only eat-out once a month.
Quit buying Viagra
Use a clothes line, grow my own vegies, fruits and can and freeze them. Take my lunches to work, absolute minimum spending, saving change, bartering for things I need and budget shopping.
actually i can't save , i'm out of ideas. so i look for money. in parking lots, vending machines, etc.
last month i found $11.74 cents. just walk with your head down. you'll be amazed how much you will find. and check vending machines, newspaper machines.. people leave change there all the time.
i've found 15 dollars walking in the park, another 18 in a dept store lot, and 10 more in another dept. store parking lot. just blowing along the lot.
Got a divorce.
Hunt and catch my own food .
My Mother came from the depression era. Later in life when she didn't have to, for financial reasons ---- I have seen her wash off aluminum foil, saran wrap , & wax paper to save from buying more. I remember thinking-----Depression left quite an Impression on her mind of what it was like not to have enough money to buy what was needed. Ew
One time I had a neighbor lady who saved aluminum foil, washed it and used it again.
1043-I like that. You and me both.
I moved out of Maryland.
i got a divorce.
hey it was cheaper than staying married to her. :)
I've found a home in the Cook Islands. I had to get out of this country before the revolution get here. Also I found that ammo is much cheaper at Walmart than at Gander Mountain.
my wife and i haven't turned our a/c on yet. plus driving my old pickup with 225,000 miles on it, instead of getting a pretty shiny new one.
Turn the heat back so low I had to go to bed soon after getting home from work. Quit smoking with Chantix. Raised insurance deductibles, went to basic cable, no cell, no eating out and car stays in garage all week-end. Not a lot of fun, but I'm making ends meet.
With only 18 comments it seems pretty clear to me that most Americans are spoiled rotten and have yet to do much of anything to cut back.
These are probably some of the same people complaining about those people refusing to make their mortgage payments, yet they'll be in the same shoes with a new excuse in less than a year.
I fix All of my owne equement @ my restaurant , HVAC, Ice machines, ovens, Pos system cooler doors,
I even hooked up a water cooling system on the roof for my ac units to save eletric also invented a gloycol booster system for my draft beer I SAVE thousands and Thousands!!!
Cut way back on groceries. Freeze my bread and only take out 4 slices at a time. Seperate my meats into bags and freeze. I get 3 dinners out of 1 pack of chicken (only allow 1 piece of meat per person per dinner) Buy cheap sides. Found free things to do for summer...i.e free movies on Tues and Wed every week. Found a little beach that has nothing there but beach. Killan's pond (waterpark) only costs $1.50 for kids and $2.00 for adults. If we can't go to those places, we stay home. Getting the cable and home phone cut off.
We drink water when we go out to eat.
We usually eat a breakfast or lunch for dinner. The items are cheaper. We grow our own vegetables indoors. We do not go out - at all. We sold what furniture we could. We sold our second car and have only the one clunker. Our last pet died so we are not getting another since we can't afford to feed it. I miss that most of all.
There are tons of way to reduce. You just have to think differently.
1)If you see a book you like at a bookstore, contact your local library, they will get it.
2)Don't pay for cable. What a jip for what you get. Get movies from the library or Redbox $1.02 per night.
3)Put up a clothes line.
4)Turn your flower beds into vegetable gardens.
5)Cancel your trash service, if possible. recycle and take your trash to the dump yourself.
6)Don't run the sprinkler on your grass. You can go two weeks without cutting if you don't water it.
7)Plant lots of trees around your house as a barrier from the sun in the summer and wind in the winter to assist in efficiency.
8)Get a hot water timer installed.
9)Don't use your large oven for heating something small. Buy a counter top small oven.
10)Where your hair in a style to drip dry naturally.
11)Get on a bike and peddle for small local errands.
12) Take a defensive driving course and saving 15% on your insurance.
13)Buy all your stuff in bulk.
14)Shop at goodwill stores. It is amazing the deals you will find.
15)Barter and exchange your skills and services.
16)Turn your backyard into your own little oasis so you never have to pay to escape for a vacation.
17)Install outside shades on the windows of your home.
18)Use the short cycle on the washer when washing clothing.
19)Don't eat out. Have your friends over for a B-B-Q instead.
20)Grow your own grapes and make your own wine.
See the magazine "Real Simple" at your local library.
Joe there are a lot of people who probably went into more drastic measures. One of which could be disconnecting their internet. They simply can't read your post.
Readers here are at least able to afford that or have jobs with internet access.
Ales, with all due respect, I get to see just how many people visit Salisbury News every day and trust me, we grow every single day. Our numbers have never decreased in volume. Hope that answers your question/statement.
I am not saying anything bad about the site. Glad it's growing, but you asked for the most extrem measures that people have undertaken. I am thinking that someone who, let's say cutting down on cost by not having heating would certainly resort to that after he/she gets rid of the internet.
My point is that we may not be able to hear about some truly extreme money savers simply because they have not access to your site.
We're currently selling our house, which will save us roughly 12K a year in house payments(we're downsizing our home to increase our standard of living). We're also switching from a 30 year fixed to a 15 year fixed when we sell, it'll save us a pretty penny in the end(while still lowering our monthly mortgage payment over what we have now).
It stands to reason that one would really only have to cut back on stuff if they were overextended to start with... I don't make a ton of money but I live in a modest apartment with 2 roommates and drive a used car with cheap payments so I can still afford to have plenty of fun.
Rob S
Divorce!
Alex....have to visited the libraries lately? There are many people who go to the library so they can still access sbynews. You have to get on the waiting list when you are there.
I asked my wife to get me cigarettes, And she come home with a can of tobacco and rolling papers because it was cheaper. She asked me to pick her up a box of tampons, so I bought her cotton balls and some sowing thread. I figure if I have to roll mine, she should too.
Sold my lovely three year old vehicle and went back to driving my fifteen year old vehicle. No car payments now. Only paying insurance on one vehicle. Took the equity from the three year old vehicle and paid off a few credit cards so no payments there now and I am also saving on the interest that I was paying on the credit card debts.
I am using all the recycled daily times for toilet paper and I am collecting my uterine lining in a buffalo horn to use for a miracle sab for the family. It is an old remedy handed down from my indian great grandmother.
Walk
I started changing my own oil and doing more and more of the auto maintenance I had previously paid people to do. Also, changed the temp on the thermostat, drive less, eat out less, have bought no movies, cds, starbucks, beer, etc... You just trim where you can.
Everyone just about has cable and I hear it all the time from my kids. Mommy why can't we have cable anymore? For starters we killed cable about 3 years ago when the kids had to watch"thier shows". That is not a good sign. Thier behaviour has changed. And they have no cell phones like thier friends. We have window units instead of central a/c. Our vehicle we have had for the last 8-9 years has died, with us replacing the transmission once, has just been taken to be recycled by us. Dollar store sells food now, Lou's grocers in Laurel has some good cheap food,you do have to check dates though. My husband makes 42,000 a year while we have 4 kids. Choose wisely people what you spend your money on.
not spend any
I drive a scooter as much as I can. Got rid of the home phone. Walk and bike instead of Gym membership. Take one rewarding vacation instead of mini trips. Cut back on clothing expenditures. Stopped buying sodas make iced tea instead. Reduce what I have to make less cleaning. Only print what is necessary, ink was costing a fortune. Check out books from library and trade with other people. Have neighborhood pot luck dinners instead of going out.
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