Best money saving ideas

I'm sorry ziggyRN...I didn't even notice that you weren't in the states!! I think it's time for you to take your ex back to court for more support money! Is that possible there??? Are there any advocacy groups there to help single moms...get their fair share of support money??

And Lacey...:chuckle....I didn't even realized I had screwed that up...:chuckle. I meant to say swap. Thanks for giving me a clue..

The Complete Tightwad Gazette by Amy Dacyczyn. Here is a link:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/AS...494410-7930552

BUY IT. Make it your thrift Bible. Dh and I, as you may or may not know, were very poor when we first got married. This book helped us A LOT. I highly recommend it.

Shay,

I remember hearing about Amy Dacyczyn years ago. Does she have a website? Cause I could sure use a few money saving tips myself. I waste too much money on stupid things like magazines for instance.

Ziggy. Wow, am very surprised you get paid so little in New Zealand. You must really love nursing to do it. I don't know if I would have that strength to do it. Good luck to you.

I am shocked that nurses don't get health benefits! As for saving some money and putting some away for retirement, savings, emergencies-pay yourself first. Decide how much or how little, it will hurt, but pay yourself first!

I think that life is too short to go completely without any little luxury at all.
I supplement my income in different ways. I cut wood in the fall (actually I just came home with 2 cords today) and that is my Christmas money and then some. I hope to make about 2500.00 this fall.
I also will look for good prices on hay and sell that from the house.
Other ways to save money that we have learned:
Don't use any credit cards.
Pay cash for your vehicles.
Make a 2 week menu and when you go shopping buy only what you need for those 2 weeks.
Buy in bulk whenever possible (cases of canned goods, toilet paper etc.)
Buy your meat by the animal. When we buy beef or pork we buy a whole cow or pig at a time. The meat is fresher without any abt's or hormones and it cost WAY less! (last cow was $2.00 lb and thats hamburger, steaks etc.)
We raise chickens and rabbits so they are free.
Shop around for a good mortgage rate. and now is a good time to do that.
-Russell
Browns,
How is it that laundry and cooking is cheaper at night?
I've never heard of that.
-R

doing laundry and cooking are cheaper at night because elec. rates go WAY down at night. only makes sense, esp in times of high energy use in summer and winter. i like all the ideas i see here so far; you guys are very savvy. rusty, i so wish to live in the country and raise our own meat, too. it would be so nice; maybe once we retire. plans to buy and build in the "sticks" are in the making......

Well, shoot dahlin'.......don't know the answer to that...hold on......lemme look.....I'll get back to you.

Amy had pretty much stopped her news letters and such. Her books are still in circulation and readily available at libraries. Check em out. They are the Tightwad Gazette series. Some ideas are outright insane to me, others I have used. Can say one thing for Amy; she is a true pioneer in the times of the "throwaway" mentality we have lived in the last 30 or so years. She has a reuse for damn near EVERYTHING!

Yep. She's somewhat of a freak, but hey...whatever works. It's because of her books that I bought the keeper, started baking homemade bread instead of buying it, and a zillion other skills in tightwaddery that I still use today. :chuckle

Kelly, hon, I can't find a website that is specifically hers that describes her ideas. If you can afford to buy the books, DO IT. You'll re-read them again and again. If not, yep, there's always the library.

BTW, are you pg yet? And oh yeah, YOUR OLD COWORKERS SUCK. Glad you feel safe enough to 'out' yourself again.