I used to go the CVS at lunch hour to pick up deals. Now I try to go on the way home after work, just to save some gas

Things have gotten horrible where we live. Oil is costing us 320$ a month, on top of rising electrical costs, too. So... I got a job. Full time, all day, every day. My worst nightmare... BUT, I kind of like it a lot. Shocking, but it is saving us right now. We are still budgeting BIG TIME though.

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“For beautiful eyes, look for the good in others; for beautiful lips, speak only words of kindness; and for poise, walk with the knowledge that you are never alone.”

We have been eating less meat! We combine our trips when we can. I bike home from work or my husband and I carpool. We go out to eat about once a month. We make almost everything from scratch. Just little changes here and there, but we are still feeling the increases! Scary since I am going to quit my job in May.

We have also been eating less meat. Actually cut all of it out except for fish (which is probably the most expensive) but we don't eat it all that often. But spending the money instead on bean and dark greens to make up for the iron & protein we lack from the meat. Luckily we can get the beans in bulk and are quite inexpensive and FILLING

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www.myspace.com/lilmagil

We are really feeling the crunch too. With gas going up, grocery prices going up, utilities, etc...it just seems to go on and on.

We do several things to cut costs. We live have a farm and raise much of our own food. Beef, pork, chicken, eggs and garden veggies. We freeze and can our garden surplus. We buy from local farmers when fruits and veggies are in season that we aren't growing ourselves, and we stock that away for use throughout the year (canning, freezing, dehydrating).

We heat with an outdoor wood boiler. DH cuts wood on a friend's property at no charge, so we heat our home and our water for free from November to April. We use propane from May-October, so we spend about $250 per year on heat and hot water.

We limit our trips to the store. We do one big trip per month, and then one or two other trips through the month to restock things like bananas, bread and milk. I often just have DH pick things up on his way home from work to save us a trip.

We combine our errands into one day to conserve gas. My parents live near larger shopping stores, so we visit them and grocery shop on the same day. Usually we get gas there as well, since it's cheaper in their area than here at home. We are 30 miles from the larger grocery stores, 12 miles to the local expensive one.

We subscribe to Netflix and it works great for us. Our library only has a few documentaries, so we can't take advantage of movies there. Netflix is great for us and we have really gotten our money's worth this winter.

We rarely eat out. Maybe once a month, if that. I do take older DD to McDonald's for a playdate on Monday afternoons, I don't usually eat, and just a parfait if I do, and she often just gets apples.

We only shop on clearance, yard sales or at thrift/second-hand stores. I have almost all of my Christmas shopping done for this coming year just by shopping at Old Navy's 75% off sale last month. I bought fleece pull-overs for all the adults, they were $3 each. I also bought nearly everything that both of our girls will need for clothes in their next size up. Most things were $1 and $2 each. I bought older DD her winter coat for next year ($12) and a pair of boots ($6).

I've saved most of older DD's clothes and use them for younger DD now. The things that didn't work (wrong season), I bought at yard sales this summer.

That's all I can think of right now, but I'm sure there's more...Money is too tight not to cut corners! LOL

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I forgot to mention cloth diapers, cloth wipes, cloth napkins, cloth instead of paper towels or kleenex...did I mention we use cloth for everything? LOL

Mama cloth too, I'll never go back to disposable pads.

Breastfeeding and making our own baby food really saved us a lot too, when DD was younger. Now she's on regular food and breastfeeding is just once a day for comfort rather than for nourishment.

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I use the plastic walmart grocery bags for my bathroom trash cans. It saves a good bit of money on trash bags. We also do alot of the things that you ladies have mentioned. Also, on the occasional eat out, I usually go through McDonalds drive thru and get items from their $1 menu. They always pitch in a lot of ketchup and napkins. If they are not all used, I keep them for later use.

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ALABAMA MOM

I guess I am not seeing the gas prices as being too much. In May of 06 we did some weatherizing to our home and that helped.
DH has lucked out (work Construction) and has been at a job site that is 5 min from home. He fills up like every 3 weeks.
Me I am just more careful with where my activities are. I choose several events that are near my home just as often as I do those a little further away.
Yes We don't eat out as much but that is more because of the high amounts we spent eating out. When we do eat out we can also make better choices like taking half of our meals home with us so we have lunch or dinner the next day helps not only with the budget but with our diets. The local Chinese places dinner for two easily provided us with dinner for our whole family 2 nights in a row.

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Kimberly Proud Mommy to Bethany Rose April 2006

I needed to see this post today. I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed the last few days with the cost of everything and making ends meet. I was wondering what I am doing wrong besides the obvious but, the ideas here inspire me.

One major change for our household is that my DH cut back on his work and is now daddy daycare for our 6 mo DS. We looked into several childcare options and the expense and time away from our DS just didn't seem worth it. Even part time. I was able to arrange a bit more flexible schedule so DH can still participate in some of his work activities. My parents also babysit so DH can work at least one day a week sometimes more. Did I mention he's self employed ?! My income is stable and I have the benefits. We're still adjusting. We both hope someday that our roles will switch and I can be home more. I am going to definitely put some of the ideas shared here to use.

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Nadene

I don't think our budget has changed much, but some of our habits are. I'm careful to plan outings to save on gas, and we don't eat out very often (I think that is because my husband works too much right now though )