What are some ways you have cut your expenses in this bad economy ?

Have you made any big or small changes in your lifestyle to save money ?


I've been a lot more conscious of shutting off lights, pushed the a/c up a few degrees. I've become a buy one, get one free freak.  When I run errands I map out a course so there's no back tracking or wasting of gas. I never really eat out any more.
A cake in the store costs over 10 dollars.........cake mix and icing cost under 3 dollars if you make it yourself. I wonder if running the oven for a half hour to cook it is saving money ?  
I'm not ready to give up dessert. lol  

[lovepat906]

No vacations. Eating in. No carryout or delivery. Consolidation of car trips. Antenna- not cable. Limited phone service. Skype long distance. Packed lunches. Energy saver light bulbs.Fans instead of AC. Sweaters. Pellet stove supplemental heat. Programmable thermostat. Do it yourself home repairs. Barter.

[allaboutmary]

Lovepat......Me too.......I have been doing home repairs myself.  Things I never would have attempted before.  I actually crawled up on my roof and fixed a leak, myself.  I was so proud !  The other day I fixed my garbage disposal and I'm becoming a whizz at replacing screens on the pool cage. (my dogs are constantly ripping them out )

How many channels can you get without cable ?   I have thought of cancelling mine but with my mother here it would probably be cruel.

[road2recovery]

Great Post...
we only eat out on sunday after church...usually just a burger....My kids are getting better with the light, and tv's...No more weekend money for the kids to go to movies, eatout, etc...Now they are told they have to use it for gas...Oh and also had to let yard man go, and we now do that :(....Other than that, I can't find and other ways to cut down....
good luck to everyone!
r2r

[flmagi]

Alot!
No more eating out or ordering in, no medical other than for my Sub, Changing from Cymbalta (165.00 pm to Zoloft 4.00 pm) cancelled lawn service, no car payments, much cheaper food, Turn a/c thermostat up, lights out and  energy efficient lite bulbs, changed cell phone company, garage sales selling everything off.
I only have one thing meals, usually no meat. I have dinner at Mary's once or twice a week, LOL.
Done other things, can't remember them all.
Oh, yes, big saving....divorced my husband.

[lovepat906]

We  get the 3 major local channels plus PBS and a few more further away. I wish that I had regular access to some other shows- but I can usually get excerpts later on line. We actually get more channels now that we have that almost free converter box thingy.

I also have a pay/go cell phone- no monthly fee or contract- that I use for emergencies or necessary quick calls.

I have successfully written funding grants for things I need at school- saves me from dipping into my own pocket.

[allaboutmary]

Teko..........your not a loser, your a good grandma.   Did you know you live about a half hour from me ?  I'm in Port Charlotte.

[HelpinUtah]

I haven't had to change much.  The only thing I've changed is that I'm stocking up on food.  Everytime I go to the store, I buy extras.

We haven't had cable or sattelite for almost 2 years.  We decided a long time ago, it wasn't worth the extra money.  We did away with our home phone 2 years ago as well, since we mostly use our cell phones.  We have only one car and car pool together into work.  We've been doing that for a long time.  

We have no credit cards - cut them up many years ago.  No debt other than medical due to unforeseen circumstances. I'd say our debt to medical is about $3,000 and we pay on that each month.  

We have an apartment that we can afford.  We wanted to buy a house during those years of good deals, but we wanted to make sure we could really afford it and so we waited until we could.  But, now, it looks like we won't be buying for quite some time.

We finally took a mini weekend vacation a couple weeks ago since we hadn't done that in many years.  We did purchase a season membership to our local amusement park for a very good price for entertainment.  And, we spent a lot of time at our communicate pool this summer.  

However, I have cut back on visiting close friends who live too far away due to the gas prices.  I miss seeing them regularly, but it was a must for our budget.

Instead of renting DVDs we buy them at Blockbusters (previously viewed) since we can get 4 of them for $20 rather then one new one for the same price.  

Anyway, we have forced ourselves to be this way for quite some time now.  But, prior to that we had overdone it and spent way too much over our budget and we were in huge debt.  We realized we had made so many mistakes and that's when we cut back.  We learned the hard way.  I wish I would not have had to learn that way.

[Beargizmo]

I'm trying to do more home repairs, but I'm afraid I'm not a handyman..I warned my wife of this when we married..I don't fix cars, and I'm not a handyman..I can do little stuff but don't ask me to do something to complicated..then I get all frustrated..we're using fewer lights, eating home more, turning off the TV when we're not watching it...I work from home 3 days a week so I use considerably less gas (in a truck that gets about 18 mpg)..


Jim

[Beargizmo]

Oh...and no vacations this year...we usually go to The Bahamas or Jamaica...not this year :-(



Jim

[bubbles1096]

No more cable TV and no more land line.
We are very good about turning off lights
I hung our clothes out this summer to dry and I do not use hot water when I was the clothes; i've seen a significant drop in the bills.
I cut coupons and I have been buying store brands for a long time..they are much    cheaper, if you read the labels they can be healthier too.
I walk to work most of the time
Cheaper car payment or none at all....my lease is up here pretty quick and I'm having a hard time deciding what to do....
Requested new rate for car insurance
We go to the lirbary to get books instead of buying them
We eat in all the time