I am moving to the boonies next year and I will be 25 miles away from a real grocery store so I bought the books. They give you items that you can make ahead of time and store. They also tell you how to use leftovers in a different way.

My mother has an RV cooking cookbook that does the same thing with the first meal and the leftovers, it also gives you a shopping list to take to the store. If you are not familiar, RV fridges, they are small. I forgot to add that to the list.

Also, you did not mention if you have any kids in the household.

can you make a little extra by taking in a child at home? if you can type quickly, maybe you could find a job typing up papers or doing secretarial work somewhere. do you mind mentioning what your home business is? (or would that bring trouble on the board? I don't know if i'm allowed to ask.. sorry!) maybe we can help you with ways to advertise and increase your business. the ladies here have some great ideas. also, see if angelfood ministries has a host site in your area (if not, maybe your church could become one) - there are some good deals to be had through that ministry. you and DH could also give blood; I think they compensate you with like $20 a time or something, but I could be totally wrong - I've never done it before, just read of others doing it. you didn't mention too many details about whether you have a job somewhere or kids, so the following may be totally off. maybe you could get a job nannying. there are some good jobs (both part-time and full-time) that pay good money (i've seen offers of $350 a week); if you have a second car available to you, it may be something to look into. also, i've heard mention of some taking on an early-morning paper route for some extra cash.

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~~Amanda~~ Mommy to one Little Man (3 1/2 yrs old), TTC #2

You are doomed if you think of your lifestyle as a burden or a punishment.
I often read Like Merchant Ships and thought the writer did a beautiful job of explaining a frugal lifestyle. I quote: "Frugality is active, not passive; it's counting pennies instead of swiping plastic. Frugal living is choosing effort over expenditure.
Cheerful frugality doesn't just happen. It takes a daily decision to be content."

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~Jeweled

Oh goodness, let's see...
My home-business is actually transcription/manuscript services. I have a couple jobs right now, hopefully will bring in about $200 within a couple weeks. However, I wanted to use that money to get a decent website up, since I have nothing right now. Might have to use it to pay bills instead.
Angelfood doesn't have anything in our area, already checked. Perhaps I could mention it to the deacons at my church, good idea.
I can't give blood... the Red Cross rejected my blood years ago when I first tried and said that I'm never eligible again. And DH faints at needles.
I am home with my 4-month old baby, so I'm pretty limited with what I can do outside of the home. I gave up a $21/hour job to be home with him! DH's work schedule, between two jobs, is too erratic for me to get anything outside the home where we know he could be home with the baby.

There really isn't much more we can give up. We have only cell phones, no landline, and I just downgraded our plan. We do not have television at all. Cable internet is probably our only "luxury". We have nothing of value we could sell on eBay... my house is mostly furnished with hand-me-downs. I don't even have a full-sized couch! I can't remember the last time I bought any clothes for myself at all. More than a year ago, anyway. I rarely go anywhere except to the grocery store to save on gas. My cat is literally dying here and I simply can't take him to the vet. My husband was out cutting trees down in our yard today to use for firewood for this winter because we don't know how we're going to afford to buy any.

Really, I meant the "doomed" part kind of sarcastically. But DH has expressed concern that I might be obsessing over coupons and price comparisons a little too much. I was totally inspired by that eBook someone posted recently about that lady who feeds her family for $200/month, and I would do so much better with that if we had a chest freezer! Anyway, I know that the Lord wants me to be home with little William, and that He will provide for us. I'm just kind of frustrated about it all right now. Thank you all for your kind suggestions.

Since you rarely go any where, would you be willing to sell one of the vehicles?
This will save the payment and the car insurance(full coverage here).

BJ's is the best place for formula prices and their brand of diapers work really well. I perfer over huggies and pampers.

Can't really sell a vehicle because even though I rarely go anywhere, I need it available for doctors appointments and shopping and whatnot, and DH works too far away for me to be able to drop him off and pick him up. So we need the car for family, and DH needs the pickup truck for his own work. We're stuck!

Are you asking for advice on how to bridge the $600 gap? I didn't get that from your origional post.

You won't save $600 in groceries alone unless you've been eating out a lot. The suggestion to sell one of the cars is a good one. Getting rid of one car payment will help a lot, plus your insurance rates will go down. You can buy a used car for your occasional trips with the baby. You can drive the better vehicle on those days and hubby can take the clunker to work. Or hubby can buy a motorcycle for himself on the days that you need the vehicle.

Now that you're not working like you used to, consider reviewing your tax situation. You can improve your cash flow considerably by decreasing the amount that is withheld from hubby's paycheck.

I also recommend that your read "The Tightwad Gazette" which can be found at your local library. There are lots of ideas on ways to save money - or rather, not spend money. You'll want to look for ways to save on NON-food items. For instance, don't buy diaper wipes. Make your own. Consider switching to cloth diapers. Don't use disposable products like tissues, paper towels, paper napkins, plastic wrap or aluminum foil. Cut back on the high-priced cleaning products. You can do a lot with a little bleach, vinegar, ammonia, cleanser, soap and go ol' water.

Personally, I don't use coupons anymore. I spend less by buying through second and tier food outlets (cheap groceries stores, dented can store, Cash N Carry, wholesalers, farmer's markets, roadside stands, etc.) Inexpensive and better quality cleaning supplies can be found at janitorial supply houses. Don't buy convenience foods (make your own baby food). Get used to preparing lots of stuff at home. Yes, a chest freezer would be useful but freezing food is a very expensive way to store food. Consider finding other ways to store your deals - home canning and dehydrating works well.

Set a price limit on entertainment, clothing and gifts. I went several years paying nothing more than $5 for an article of clothing. I was NOT dressed in rags. As a matter of fact, several of the items I bought were brand new from department stores. I'll start another thread on just that topic.

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"Poor people work for their money. Rich people make their money work for them."

Maybe you could sell your car and buy something used. If you don't use it much you maybe able to find something cheaper that you could just pay for out right. I understand about not being able to be a one car family. My husband has a crazy schedule and we live in the boonies so having a car for appt.'s and emergencies is a necessity but, since I only use it for appt.'s and grocery shopping we bought my aunts old car. It is 11 years old but is still running. I also live in NH and the houseing prices are crazy. $1600 is about normal in most areas!!

Good luck with everything. I know how it feels to be spending more than is coming in. I stay at home with our 2 girls and we just barely live on what dh is making. Overtime is our extra money to be saved or put on cc that we need to pay off. Good luck with your business.

Hey, neighbor! Don't you love the boonies of NH?!
I'm not sure we can afford to sell the one car, first because we owe so much on it still that I doubt we could have any cash on hand after the sale, and second because we have no extra cash flow to use for the more frequent repairs/maintenance that come with older cars. As it is DH's truck needs work and we're still not sure how we're going to handle that.

But the good news is that we're getting a bit of a windfall soon. I didn't realize that I had opted to contribute to a Thrift Savings Plan at work. Now that all my resignation stuff has gone through, I got a letter from TSP saying that I have about $1245, and I can either leave it in there till I retire or I can pull it out now. After taxes it should be about $1000 :happy dance: . So with that we will buy a couple cords of wood for the winter, pay off the hospital bill, and pay one more bill (or put some work into the truck). would it be terrible of me to take an itty bitty piece of that check to buy a bottle of wine?

I just love being in the boonies. The only store nearby is a corner country store and to buy milk there you have to take out a second mortgage We live in Weare, NH which feels like the middle of no where most days. I love how quiet it is though and we have great neighbors.

Congrats on the nice check you will be getting. I just love when you get money that you weren't expecting. That is great that it will help you on some of your bills. I know about older cars and the repair bills. Right now we are lucky because our oldest car was owned by my Aunt and Uncle who took great care of all the mechanical work. It doesn't look like much (the paint is starting to peel off of it!!) but it runs great.

I think a bottle of wine is a great idea, everyone needs a little treat every once in a while. With me it would be Lindt chocolate!!

Laurie