The Frugal Lifestyle

[diamondrose]

I thought to mention that a great way for walmart shoppers to save money is to bring the current sale ads from other grocery stores along. Walmart price matches an exact item advertised in another store ad if it is cheaper than the walmart price.( At least they do it here where I live.. Worth checking out)

[rlin]

Originally Posted by diamondrose

I thought to mention that a great way for walmart shoppers to save money is to bring the current sale ads from other grocery stores along. Walmart price matches an exact item advertised in another store ad if it is cheaper than the walmart price.( At least they do it here where I live.. Worth checking out)

years ago... when they first opened in my town... they kept all the ad papers at the registers... dont know if they still do it...
i try really hard to stay outta the place... unfortunately there are those times in the wee hours of the morning when you just gotta have something like a surge protector or a hammer...
so... i do stumble in sometimes still... just usually not for something that may be in a sales paper...

[Andrea]

Have to brag about my frugal honey. He purchased discounted tri-tip steaks for $6. Using an ear of corn, one broccoli head, brown jasmine rice and hot oil, he produced three different dinners for a total of approximately $7 for six meals.

I heart my frugal honey.

Anyone else have any good deals lately?

Andrea

[Miss Scarlett]

i make my own foaming hand soap refill...it's much nicer and less expensive than the refills sold in stores. Plus it's a good way to use that frustrating little bit of body wash that never seems to want to come out of the bottle when you are in the shower. All you need is a foaming hand soap dispenser, body wash and warm water.

i add about an equal amount of warm water and gently shake until well mixed then just pour it into the dispenser.

If you use foaming dish liquid, you can do the same thing with regular dish liquid and water.

[Ursy]

Hey folks,

Just came across this super frugal idea for a solar cooker that you make out of a car windshield shade:
http://solarcooking.wikia.com/wiki/W...e_Solar_Cooker

Super frugal! You get a cheap solar cooker, plus you can cook things without using electricity or other conventional fuels, which helps your wallet as well as the environment.

So for me, that's a win-win-win!

[Chancie]

I bought my not very big, not very fancy house when I was in my 40s and then I refinanced it when I was in my late 40s to save almost $200 a month.

I want to try to pay off my thirty year mortgage because I didn't start teaching in a public school until I was 42, and I won't be able to afford my mortgage when I retire.

I emailed my very helpful local bank manager and he said I'd need to pay about $770 extra a month to principal in order to pay off my mortgage by the end of the school year when I turn 60 years old.

I don't have to tell you how impossible that sounds, so I will just pay about $87 a month towards principal, which will shave off a few years.

But, it's important to me to be able to choose whether I stay here when I retire, so I have been thinking a lot about how to manage my budget with an eye towards the future.

[Ursy]

Good luck Chancie!

We're having to be frugal because we are only living off my income right now. We're getting the house ready to sell and will be downsizing so that I will be able to cover all the bills because Kris has had health problems since Feb.

I've made a start by planting some tomatoes. The price of tomatoes went up to $9 a kilo earlier this year (That's about $4.50 a pound)! It was ridiculous! Now that my tomatoes are starting to fruit, the prices have gone down again. Oh well... I'll still be saving money by growing them (and tomatoes are easy to grow).

I'm also trying to grow potatoes in a big pot... wondering how that will go.

I agree, it's important to have the security of knowing that you will be able to keep living in your house when you retire.

[Metro]

Originally Posted by Chancie

I bought my not very big, not very fancy house when I was in my 40s and then I refinanced it when I was in my late 40s to save almost $200 a month.

I want to try to pay off my thirty year mortgage because I didn't start teaching in a public school until I was 42, and I won't be able to afford my mortgage when I retire.

I emailed my very helpful local bank manager and he said I'd need to pay about $770 extra a month to principal in order to pay off my mortgage by the end of the school year when I turn 60 years old.

I don't have to tell you how impossible that sounds, so I will just pay about $87 a month towards principal, which will shave off a few years.

But, it's important to me to be able to choose whether I stay here when I retire, so I have been thinking a lot about how to manage my budget with an eye towards the future.

Something to ponder...

This solution may not work for you (Chancie) or your particular circumstances, but it might be of interest to others who are seeking ways to boost their income to achieve specific life goals.

A friend of mine rents extra bedrooms in his home through an online rental service (i.e. airbnb.com) and has been quite successful in doing so. He decides when, for how long, and whom he wants to host -- the site takes care of all of the pre-rental communication and payments. IMHO, his particular success hinges on the fact that he lives in a town that has a lot of seasonal tourists, plus he lives in a convenient and safe neighborhood in that town.

Renting rooms in ones home may not be desirable nor feasible for many, but it is an option that has provided my friend with several hundred dollars in extra income per month. University towns may also have good potential for this kind of setup. NOTE: My grandmother did this sort of thing in the 1960s (and also during WWII), so the concept is not unfamiliar to me.