Are you thrifty any advice?
 

I enjoy buying a nice piece of clothing from the 50% off racks; I?ll tear a paper towel in half and wouldn?t as much as insert my debit card in any ATM machine other than those of the issuing bank.

Yet I won?t eat fast food, buy supermarket brands and junk food like Spam or cut back on the quality of food I consume. How about you, got any thrifty practices to share?

Admittedly I try to buy used books before new... Id probably spend 500 a week on books otherwise lol

Seasonal fruit and veg.....

I got a load of cheap mushrooms a few weeks ago and made a massive batch of a 'mushroom base' that I can use in risotto, soups, stews etc.

I just fried with garlic and reduced with lots of white wine, then portioned it and stuck in the freezer.

Its something I have always done, even in good times.

You can do it with anything that is cheap only at certain times of year.

Edit: Do not season (no salt and pepper)!

Sure. If you have an old style water heater, go turn it down to Low until you need a shower, and after the shower remember to turn it back down. Save on gas. In my townhouse I pay electricity but not water, so I do my dishes by hand these days though the water is ice cold.

I havent eaten fast food in this century either. I dont mind my wegmans store brand for some things. Other things just take math, for instance I like Life cereal so I buy the giant 62 ounce size which is far less per ounce than even the sale prices on the "normal" sized boxes. So pause and do the math, or go online to your stores website and prepare.

I eat rice alot with carrot, zuchinni and baby spinach. I also use the same things to soup up ramen noodles into an actual good meal. So I get them in the largest size (5 lb or so) and use a mandolin slicer to make long julienne strips, then freeze. That way you can break off how much you need and it chops easily into rice size for fried rice, or just toss in boiling water for the soup. Add garlic, ceyenne and red pepper flakes and you're halfway there. Throw in a protein like chopped fried tofu, or chicken breast (bought in bulk and vaccuum sealed and frozen too). Thats some cheap food right there that is good.

Make your pasta or pizza sauce yourself from tomato paste. Just add a cup of water and a tblsp of olive oil to one of those small cans, put in basil and oregano and garlic.

Use coupons on your stores double coupon day with your stores shoppers club card.
The list goes on.

I buy powdered milk instead. It beats the hell out of buying fresh milk every week.

I stopped buying mineral water. I fill my bottle with our filtered tap water instead. Saved me tons of money.

Instead of eating meals, I just eat an apple, an orange and a strip of beef jerky.

I jog to work, instead of commuting. I live a few meters away.

This is a little game I play with myself to save money. At then end of each day any $1 bills I have in my wallet I put in an envelope. When I collect 50 of them I deposit them into a savings account. It doesn't add up to a whole lot of money, but it does add a nice little sum each year.

i keep my own poo, to save me from having to do it again the next day...

I will generally go into a grocery store with a blank slate on what I'm making for dinner. Go to the meat dep't and build dinner from what is on special that week. But the best thing I think I've ever bought for the kitchen, was a vacuum sealer. It allows you to buy whole cuts of meat, or club packs and portion your own. I find you end up with a lot less waste that way. Or to make more than just what you can consume in a dinner, plus lunch the next day, and freeze the rest. Works wonders with Soups, Stews, Stocks etc.

But I agree with not sacrificing on quality of food.

I got one of those a few years ago and it is amazing. Now I buy a lot of stuff in bulk for good prices and just seal and freeze it.

Where do you grocery shop? Grocery stores are expensive.

Every Sunday my wife goes to Big Lots. They aren't consistent, but they have lots of great food and it's a lot cheaper - one third as much. Then she hits Wal Mart. As much as I hate Wally World, they can't be beat for their food prices.

We spent $400 a month on food, and our pantry is full of stuff.

Yeah I have a handheld foodsaver and their mealsaver thing too. You can do a fair job though with simple freezer bags if you lay things flat and roll them up to force the air out.

Whole chicken is a decent deal too. 88 cents a pound around these parts and easy to butcher into whatever portions you want, plus you get the bones to make stock from. All old school stuff really.

I take my green onions and replant the root section (or just set it in a plastic tub with a 1/4 inch of water) and in a weeks time they're back up to almost full size. If I discover a clove of garlic has a sprout in it, I'll take another clove or two from the bulb and plant them. They shoot up pretty quick and the garlic chive makes a nice addition instead of a clove too. Very strong flavor, just add it later.

The list goes on and on.

you can also keep, boil, then drink your own piss... enjoy ! :2 cents::thumbsup

You do not have to boil it - Urine is sterile.....

Kindle would save you a ton of money.

For certain foods and other products, the name brand is WAY better. For others, like saltines, they are the same. I like the soda that is 59 cents for a 2 liter just as much as II like Coca-Cola.

Similarly with tools or other things - if I'm going to use a tool one or twice, Harbor Freight. If I'm going to use it a lot, I'll get a more durable brand.

I'm currently paying $95.00 a day to keep my grandmother in a skilled care facility, so I have cut back on EVERYTHING!

- I've unplugged all appliances that have clocks that can't be shut off on the appliance and will only plug it back in when necessary.
- I never keep more than one light on in the room that I'm in
- I've turned the heat down very low so that it only kicks on a few times a day
- If I have to go somewhere, like visit my grandmother, I make sure that I do everything I need to do while I'm out like grocery shopping so I only have to make one trip
- I try to do everything I can with cold water, but I still take hot showers, just can't do that yet lol
- I don't buy any food that could spoil unless I plan on eating it that day or the next
- I had my cable disconnected, which I meant to do anyway since I watch all my tv and movies online
- I think I'll stop using my dryer to dry my clothes and hang them in the basement instead when I get out again to buy some clothing line, and I only wash cold/cold, no warm water

If I don't go broke and lose the home, lol, I may keep some of these practices after my grandmother comes home and I can afford them if I wanted to.

I go down to the farm at the end of the road at night and nick all our vegetables, he also had chickens and ducks. Very tasty. LOL

Yeah, but that would be like having a cold cup of tea or coffee,,,

Here are a few things I do aside from the ones initially mentioned:

Grocery coupons
Buy 1/4 cow and freezer
We eat out but only with groupon/coupon
No cable. We get OTA HD channels and use Netfix and Hulu.
Buy all fresh veggies, fruits, eggs, bread, cheese and sausage from local Farmers Market.

Before you guy anything online, check if the site has a coupon

i have looked at it and dont see how.

for example, while browing this thread i have amazon open. The book I am looking at shall be our example.

New price: 49.99
kindle: 23.93
Used price on amazon:


















2.99 + 3.99 shipping

heheh

I do that too, but with change. I don't spend any change, at the end of the day it all goes into a coffee can. I had over 300 bucks in change when I cashed it in from last year.