Right now everybody can use help ,and ideas on how to cut back ,and save money. With the high cost of everything, every little bit helps. We'll use this thread for tips and ideas, on how to keep a little more money in our pockets. Everybody is welcome to put in their 2 cents worth!!! Remember no idea is too small, or strange on this thread. We all need help!!!! :biggrin: I'll start us on our way.....
This is a tip for all people who have outside pets. I live in the country, and I feed my outside cats dry cat food. Raccoons and Opossums absolutely LOVE dry cat food. I've always just shrugged off the fact that they eat a lot of the left over cat food at night. Well, not anymore. I ended up having to buy more a couple of weeks ago. I decided I can't buy 18lbs extra every week, just to feed the wild critters. So, now I go out before it gets dark, and collect the left over cat food,and save it in the house for the next morning. I am pleasantly surprised with the fact that it's 2 days till shopping day, and I have almost 2 18lb bags of cat food left. I have been using 3 and sometimes 4 bags a week.$ Cha ching$ I saved $24 dollars last week. I never knew they were eating that much. :spooked:
Note.... the critters aren't starving.... I still feed them bags of cheapy corn curls and left over bread. I won't let them starve. :no:
OK.... lets hear some ideas guys!!!! :biggrin:
Quit feeding the stray cats on your back porch. No, wait! That's me.
Shower with a friend.
Quote from: Monroe on June 02, 2008, 08:51:52 PM
Quit feeding the stray cats on your back porch. No, wait! That's me.
Shower with a friend.
:rotfl: :biggrin:
Now this idea is scary to me. My Mom was raised extremely poor, of course I was too but.....Mom rewashes used foil, plastic wrap,and baggies. :spooked: Now to me that screams cross contamination,and possible food poisoning. She insists if you soak that stuff in hot soapy water, for 20 minutes it's safe to re use. I'm not taking any chances with it though. :no:
Mine has to do with grocery shopping. We try to hit the grocery store between 10:00am and noon and get some great deals on manager specials in the meat dept. Also when they have good sales on whole pork loins we buy a pretty good sized one and have them cut off the ends for roasts and then slice the other inch thick for loin chops.
Quote from: me on June 02, 2008, 09:08:04 PM
Mine has to do with grocery shopping. We try to hit the grocery store between 10:00am and noon and get some great deals on manager specials in the meat dept. Also when they have good sales on whole pork loins we buy a pretty good sized one and have them cut off the ends for roasts and then slice the other inch thick for loin chops.
That's a great idea me. :yes:
Another thing I do is re use paper plates, that I feed the outside cats on. They aren't dirty, because it's dry cat food. So, I've started saving them for 3 or 4 days, then I pitch them, and get new ones. You'd be surprised how many I save by doing that. We go through a lot, so that helps a lot. :yes:
I'm the coupon queen. I watch for sales on the products and plan my trips in a smart way so that I'm not using more gas than the money I'm saving.
We even started a coupon box at work. I cut out the Sunday coupons and the ones that I won't use, I take to work and toss in the box. Someone else can use it and I grab one that I will use.
You can also always check me's "Free Samples I have found" thread. ;D
Quote from: PIYA on June 03, 2008, 12:08:42 AM
I'm the coupon queen. I watch for sales on the products and plan my trips in a smart way so that I'm not using more gas than the money I'm saving.
We even started a coupon box at work. I cut out the Sunday coupons and the ones that I won't use, I take to work and toss in the box. Someone else can use it and I grab one that I will use.
That is an excellent idea PIYA. :yes:
Quote from: Locutus on June 03, 2008, 12:15:12 AM
You can also always check me's "Free Samples I have found" thread. ;D
I forgot about that thread. They say the memory goes with age. :rolleyes: Thanks for the reminder. :biggrin:
I'll try to jog your memory when I post 'em 'cause sometimes they don't last long.
Shop at Aldis.
Thrift stores and recycle shops are another way to save. You can find a lot of items on Craig's list and Freecycle also.
I keep forgetting about freecycle and we have one here too, or at least we did. Guess I need to check it out and see if its still operating.
Get programmable thermostats!
You can set them to basically cut off your heat or air when you arent home, and keep it comfortable when you are. Also...close your drapes and blinds to hold out the sun in the summer, and open them for free heat in the winter.
Ya know, I heard something depressing today ,and it has to do with the financial situation for people right now. A friend of mine runs a veterinary clinic, and she told me for the past 2 weeks, she's had people calling her in tears, because they can't afford to feed their pets anymore. :'( The bad thing is that none of the shelters in our area can take them, they're all at full capacity. It is extremely depressing to hear this type of thing. I wonder how many pets will be euthanized, dumped, killed by their owner's hands, or die of starvation. :'( My God it never ends. :mad: Stuff like this makes my heart sick. :'(
One way to save money is if a tornado blows all of your pets away. LMAO!!! :biggrin: That would be horrible. :no:
Quote from: Dexter Morgan on June 08, 2008, 11:01:14 PM
One way to save money is if a tornado blows all of your pets away. LMAO!!! :biggrin: That would be horrible. :no:
Heck you'd burn up gas like crazy huntin' for your pets so you might come out behind on that one. :wink: :yes:
Quote from: me on June 08, 2008, 11:12:26 PM
Quote from: Dexter Morgan on June 08, 2008, 11:01:14 PM
One way to save money is if a tornado blows all of your pets away. LMAO!!! :biggrin: That would be horrible. :no:
Heck you'd burn up gas like crazy huntin' for your pets so you might come out behind on that one. :wink: :yes:
You got that right!!! I'd be sick if something like that happened. :'(
Shop Aldis
Quote from: American_Woman on June 19, 2008, 11:00:25 AM
Shop Aldis
They do have great prices. I like the "Everythings a Dollar" store. My husbands to snobby to go to stores like that, but I'm not. :biggrin:
We go to Goodwill a lot too. You can get some real deals in there sometimes. :yes:
Quote from: Dexter Morgan on June 19, 2008, 08:03:25 PM
They do have great prices. I like the "Everythings a Dollar" store. My husbands to snobby to go to stores like that, but I'm not. :biggrin:
Dollar Tree, Deals, Everything's a Dollar,..... yep I :smitten: them too and hub ain't shy about going in either.
I wonder with the price of everything going up if some of those stores will have to raise their prices?? They might become...
Everything's Two Dollars Store
Two Dollar Store
The $2 Tree
Seriously though... that really could happen. I heard a report on my local news channel tonight, that food prices have already started to go up, because of the flooding here. That's all we need. :rolleyes: