I'm on SSDI, so I live on a fixed income that doesn't stretch very far. With the uncertainty the economic crisis brings to the financial future of all of us, I've spent some time recently thinking about how to make those few dollars I get go further. Some of these suggestions will be more extreme to help those whose circumstances are more extreme.
Because I realized AFTER I'd done my financial makeover how much I could have been saving before, I thought it might be useful to create a thread where we can share cost saving measures we can all use to help us get through the financial mess Wall Street has created. Here are some of my tips.
- Check your phone, internet, and cable bills for any expenses you can cut and not miss. In my case, I cut the movie channels that I watched little each month and saved $30. I had originally signed up for these because I spend all my time at home and needed the distraction to help manage stress. Problem is, no good movies, so I never watched them. Out they go.
- Check your car insurance to see if deductables and other coverage is correct for your circumstances. In my case, my car has been sitting in my drive and hasn't moved since last November. I bought a small electric scooter to go places locally. So, I dropped car insurance completely since I probably either won't keep my car or will make other changes down the road. In your case, you might find a bigger deductable or altered coverage - and shopping around among insurance companies - can save you money.
- Do an electrical check in your home. In my case, I was growing some things in the basement (citrus trees, etc.) and had two grow lights. I shifted things around and consolidated to one grow light and unplugged the other. In addition, I unplugged my unused TV and video equipment (they draw electricity even when off), and did a general all over look of the house to find anything to unplug that could save on electricity. I've been using compact fluerescent in every light fixture for some time now. This can also save you money - both on saved electricity and on the reduced need to buy bulbs since compact fluerescent bulbs last much longer. Plus they're good for the environment and reduce your carbon footprint, which helps the global warming problem.
- If you qualify, try to get a free checking account. Also check your other banking to see if you're getting the best deal for your money. Bank fees can cost big bucks.
- With credit being squeezed and the ability to get credit becoming much more difficult, try to stash some of the savings you come up with in this process as an emergency fund. If you have the cash to pay, you don't have to pay credit card or other interest fees, and you don't have to beg a reluctant bank spooked by the credit crisis to lend you money. Even if all you can sock away is a small amount, it will add up, and it will bail you out when you need it.
- Gardening. I've been eating endless numbers of peaches I picked off my trees in the yard for the past several weeks. I'm disabled and can't do heavy gardening, but growing fruit trees is not heavy labor intensive. If you enjoy gardening and can do the work, indulge. If you're time constrained or physically impaired, choose garden additions that are less labor intensive. Worry less about weeds, and more about how that food you grow can help your squeezed budget. In my case, I usually can't afford fresh fruit at all, so having trees in the yard allows me to add things to my diet that I otherwise could't afford.
- Find ways to pinch pennies in feeding your family. I have good days and bad days, and not very many of the good days when I can get things done. Last year on one of the good days, I packed pre-mixed bread mixes I made from the recipes in the bread machine book for my bread machine and stored them in the basement. With the high cost of bread, this saves me money and time when I'm sick and can't do a lot in the kitchen. Nothing is better than fresh baked bread with butter. Since I can't do a lot of cooking, I live on prepared foods - which is expensive. There are some easy to make items I add to my diet to help cut costs.
Pasta Salad
(I eat this as a meal, most eat it as a side dish.)
Tri-color spiral pasta
Can of sliced olives
Chopped bell pepper
Italian dressing with romano or parmesan cheese in it, to taste
Cook the pasta and drain, rinse with cold water until pasta is cooled, combine with the other ingredients, refrigerate and eat.
Split Pea Soup
Couple cups of dry split peas, washed
A potato, peeled and diced
A couple carrots, sliced (I leave the peel on for ease and nutrition)
Water to cover
A couple teaspoons of boullion or some chicken broth
Throw it all in a crock pot and serve when it's soup with a loaf of fresh bread from the bread machine. Yum!
Beans
Couple cups of dry beans, washed and soaked for several hours
Water to cover
Season to taste with bouillon, salt and pepper, tomatoes, or other of your preference
Throw it in the crockpot and cook until tender. Serve with a baked packet of complete cornbread mix, just add water. I think you can buy these at Walmart for under $1.
These are humble and inexpensive meals, but if you add them into the mix of more expensive meals your family eats, you can save money without feeling deprived.
I often eat those rice or noodle mixes, like Liptons, as a meal.
If you're pressed for time, instead of eating out buy some chicken strips or tenders, frozen fries, and a bag of frozen vegetables at the grocery store. At home, line a cookie sheet with foil, throw the chicken strips and fries on the pan. Wrap the vegetables in a foil packet with your preferred seasonings (butter, salt & pepper, etc) and place on the cookie sheet. Toss it all in the oven at 400 degrees for about 30 minutes - 30 minutes unattended so you can do other things while it cooks. Serve with BBQ sauce or a can of country gravy warmed in the microwave for dipping the chicken.
Fresh baked bread makes great sandwiches of all types. Slice up your left over pot roast, chicken breast, ham, or what have you and combine it with whatever you happen to have in the fridge - mayo, tomatoes, pickles, lettuce, cheese, or whatever. I also sometimes eat a vegetarian sandwich of avocado and sliced olives (lots of fat, but the good kind). I also like sliced avocado and sliced roast chicken together in a sandwich.
Remember that cooking in your microwave - or on your woodstove (mine has a flat top that I can cook on just like a range with normal pans while I heat my house, has very low particulate emissions so I don't hurt the environment, and is the best investment I ever made) - is cheaper than using your range, which is an electricity hog.
- Instead of using your dryer, hang your clothing to dry. I have a garage style spinner dryer(http://www.brabantiaonline.com/product/393077.html), several racks, and a nice metal railing along my stairs that is great to dry clothes on. I hang tops and blouses wet on plastic hangers with some space between them in my closet to dry. No mold or mildew or drips, and no extra work to iron them or hang them up later after they're dry. I lay other items along my stair railing to dry, and use the spinner downstairs if I need more room. An electric dryer uses a LOT of electricity.
- Check your home for energy leaks. Caulk is pretty inexpensive and anyone can apply it to close gaps around windows or door frames where warm air leaks out. "Insulation" film is available that you can use to cover your windows in winter to stop the drain of heat to the outside. Keeping your drapes closed also helps. If you have some cash, you can add insulation to your attic. You can also save on energy costs by wrapping insulation around your water heater and your heating ducts. You can also turn down the thermostat on your water heater.
- If you're elderly and you don't have the money to heat your house this winter - and can't get LIHEAP or other heating assistance - you can make yourself a "suit" out of emergency blanket material and use it to layer your clothing. You can use your street clothes as a cutting guide and tape or sew the pieces together - remember to allow extra width for the seams and to allow room for the clothes you'll wear underneath. Normal street clothes, the emergency blanket suit, then an outer layer like a coat or jacket. This is an extreme measure, but if the choice is between freezing to death or getting weird and creative, it's better to be weird and creative. Emergency blankets are cheap (often only around $1 each) and are excellent at helping the body retain heat. You can also use them as a blanket layer on your bed directly under the very top cover to add warmth to your bed at night without turning up the thermostat. You can tape several together with packing tape to get a size big enough to fit your bed. If your house is cold, cover your head because it's where a lot of your body heat leaks out. Wear a stocking cap to bed at night. During the day, drink warm fluids to keep your core body temperature higher, and you'll feel warmer. You can use or buy an insulated thermos to keep liquids warm during the day and save on electricity.
- If you can, pay down debt. Credit cards are the expensive bain of our existance, and interest rates may move higher as the economic problems unfold. If you can save money in other areas, you can use some of it to pay extra on your credit cards or other debt. Saving money in other areas can also help if you have an adjustable rate and your mortgage payments go up.
- If you don't already have a budget, make one. Put everything you normally spend in it, and if your finances allow add a line item for your frivilous spending so you don't feel deprived. Take out the frivilous money in cash, and when you run out, stop spending on those things. Make a line item for an emergency fund and have it automatically transferred from your checking to your savings account each month. Make a goal to stick to your budget. If you screw up and blow it for the month, forgive yourself and try to do better the next month. Eventually you'll succeed in sticking to your budget and save money. Pay attention to what you buy each month, and eliminate those things you don't need and won't miss.
- If your house is drowning in stuff you never use, have a garage sale or advertise in the newspaper and get rid of some of it. Put the money you make in your emergency stash.
- Take your time when making a big purchase decision. Sleep on it. Let yourself consider the matter for a while. Ask yourself - do you need it, or do you just want it? Can you fit it into your budget without tapping your credit card or another loan? Is it worth the many hours you have to work to earn the money it costs? Let these types of thoughts percolate in your mind to help you avoid impulsive decisions that might break your budget.
- Educate yourself on money saving ideas and pick those that best suit your lifestyle. If you have internet access, there are many web sites that offer free ideas and suggestions to help you with your finances. The public library also has books, newspapers and magazines that you can hunt through for good advice. Here are some web sites to get you started:
http://moneycentral.msn.com/...
http://finance.yahoo.com/ (click on the Personal Finance tab)
I hope that one or more of these ideas are useful to you in tightening the belt in this economic crisis. Please add any ideas you have that could help others navigate the storm. If you have recipes for tasty and inexpensive meals that will help people save money on their grocery budget, please share and post them. If we work together, we can get through bad economic times, no matter what our present circumstances might be.