Tightwad Alert

[Jacafamala]

We live in a city, so no livestock but we do go out to the farmer and choose our meat while it's walking around.  They truck it to the butcher and then the freezer is full.  Currently we have a half cow, and are waiting on the hog next week.  Cut &wrapped it's about $1.35 - $1.65/lb for "organic" meat.

By far my BEST tip is this:  Don't use store cards or credit cards.  Choose your budget for food/household items and get the money in cash each payday.  Then you are forced to make the necessary choices, like no expensive stinky cheese or Calamata olives.

Grow a garden.

Make bread.  Now that bread is $2/loaf up here it saves a ton to make it and it is a good healthy filler for kids.

For bread try the .99 only store if you have one nearby - we buy Sara Lee bread there for .99 a loaf. It freezes well too FYI.

Otherwise try looking for a "bakery thrift" or Bakery Outlet store - they often are cheaper on bread

When I don't bake my own, I buy the day old bread from the grocery store bakery at between $1 and $1.50 a loaf.

Get yer flour bulk from Costco. It's like a dollar a pound or something. Ridiculous cheap.

[leome]

I tag sale throughout the summer....I go to the rich area of town where people have tons on money to spend on their one child. I rarely buy kids clothes or toys new but they ones I buy are in great shape. 


I find new in the box gifts and save them for the holidays for IL... (I swear they never know).
I spend $1 on something that retails for $50.

I coupon like mad as well.

[dakotamidnight]

I tag sale throughout the summer....I go to the rich area of town where people have tons on money to spend on their one child. I rarely buy kids clothes or toys new but they ones I buy are in great shape. 


I find new in the box gifts and save them for the holidays for IL... (I swear they never know).
I spend $1 on something that retails for $50.

I coupon like mad as well.

I do the same on kids clothes - it's not unusual for my daughter to be wearing Hanna Anderson or Gymboree, and I only paid $1 for it. And I get so many compliments on how nicely she is dressed all the time!

[introibo]

For men, cheap hygiene:

Grow a beard if possible.  Razor blades are very expensive, otherwise...

The cheapest way to shave is a straight razor and glycerine soap in a mug, but you trade time for money.  You have to strop and you have to go a lot slower when shaving.

For aftershave use Witch Hazel - works better than expensive stuff.  If you want smell-goody, a few drops of oil of lilac or some such in the witch hazel bottle.

Get short haircuts, much less shampoo.  If you get a crew cut or flattop, you can just use bar soap - don't need shampoo at all.  If you're really cheap, you can cut your own hair (or ask your wife).  Remember the flowbee...

Total + fishie. And I'm the barberess here. Buzzzzzzzz cuts.

Ditto.

[Fontevrault]

buy meat by the animal if you have the freezer space

I bought a chest freeze on sale at Sears for $279.  Went and bought a whole cow. (Actually started with 1/2 cow and currently on a whole cow). Wrapped and in the freezer at $1.30/lb. of meat (not cow).  Most is 90% lean hamburger.  So that is a cost of about 33% of what you get in the store.  On the downside, the wife can always grab a few packs of hamburger and cook something, so our stores of snacks sometimes runs low.

Does anyone here actually own living cows that they slaughter and cut up right in their kitchen for meat?

Everyone else here is a wuss.  If you aren't going to do this you might as well not eat meat.

My husband and I help butcher elk and deer during hunting season with a friend and get some of the meat.  Does this count?  I don't own and butcher my own cow though. 

[Fontevrault]

I really would like to emphasize growing your own produce.  We have a small garden from which I can grow about half our winter produce.  It cuts bills enormously.  This year we had our first crop of apples as well.  I'm in the process of making about 6 gallons of apple butter and apple sauce (depending on how much cutting I want to do).  I've got peach preserves set up, ratatouille (lots), homemade pasta sauce, roasted veggie lasagna (This is frozen for nights when I can't cook.), stuffed chicken breasts (full of spinach and kale, collard greens, and Swiss chard), minced herbs, herb butters, pesto sauce . . .   I think that's it.  There's probably more.

Oh, and get your flour cheap and make your own pasta if you can.  Bread: the same.  Never buy cake mixes or other convenience mixes.  Those things are so easy to throw together with a mixer - why bother.

Even if you roast/cook a chicken - keep the back,wings, and other bits and freeze it.  Do the same with tops of onions and celery, bits of other veggies.  Then you can make your chicken stock at no additional cost.  I make around 4-5 gallons at a time and freeze it. 

Keeping chickens would be nice but my HOA won't let me.

[James02]

Does anyone here actually own living cows that they slaughter and cut up right in their kitchen for meat?

Everyone else here is a wuss.  If you aren't going to do this you might as well not eat meat.

I buy my meat off ebay.

You trying to tell us something about yourself?

[James02]

You can get a clipper set at Walmart for about $20.  If you have boys, you pay for it in one week.  Ours has lasted for years now.  Must have saved over $1,000 by now.  My wife even cuts my hair.  Does a good job.

[GuyIncognito]

Seconded about the clippers. I've saved hundreds if not thousands on haircuts...#2 crop or lower. I'm growing mine out a bit more now but even then I go to a cheap barber shop and keep it simple.

Also true about the witch hazel. No razor burn, super cheap, also works on bug bites, cuts, etc.

Used cars. I have yet to own anything made after 1996. Some extra maintenance fees? Yeah, but still cheaper than $200-400 a month car payment plus full coverage.

Generic prescriptions, generic over-the-counters. If they're selling it in the US, it's the same chemical...you're just paying for a name and packaging otherwise.

If you can, walk or ride a bike to the store, to visit people in the neighborhood, etc. It's better for you, saves gas & car maintenance, and you'll get to get outside and enjoy real life a bit more.

Ditch cable TV. Giant soul-sucking waste of time and money. Find free entertainment wherever possible... libraries are wonderful places and outside is a big place.

Second-hand furniture from friends, craigslist, Goodwill or similar stores, etc. Groceries from discount/dollar stores. Oreos are Oreos wherever you buy them; just check the expiration dates.

Use open-source software wherever possible. Lifehacker.com runs a lot of good articles with recommendations and links.

Listen to Clark Howard if he's on the radio where you are or read his website for good tips... clarkhoward.com .

Network with other cheapskate friends. I just saved $70 on a name-brand television on a tip from a friend who'd went shopping earlier in the day and found a sale. She's redoing her kitchen so I pointed her to a craigslist posting of some guy who's gutting a historic home and is selling the cabinets for cheap. And so the cycle continues.

[calicatholic]

Although it is true that "one man's trash is another man's treasure", I'm thinking that if you feel the need to dumpster dive to be frugal, shouldn't you also be considering removing non-essential costs, like internet access? 

[dakotamidnight]

Although it is true that "one man's trash is another man's treasure", I'm thinking that if you feel the need to dumpster dive to be frugal, shouldn't you also be considering removing non-essential costs, like internet access? 

I work online, so for me no.

[Joamy]

Although it is true that "one man's trash is another man's treasure", I'm thinking that if you feel the need to dumpster dive to be frugal, shouldn't you also be considering removing non-essential costs, like internet access? 

Depends on - dumpster diving or alley shopping isn't always an indicater of how much income one has, just another way of saving money. 

[Satori]

Dumpster diving is also about not wasting perfectly good stuff that other people throw away.

[WhollyRoaminCatholic]

Maybe the diving is what allows people to afford the internet bill?

[Dust]

For men, cheap hygiene:

Grow a beard if possible.  Razor blades are very expensive, otherwise...

If you needed a reason to grow a beard...  Every guy who can, ought to.  IMHO

If you're really cheap, you can cut your own hair.

Did this for the first time recently... borrowed the clippers.  I usually get someone else to do it for me... I think it turned out more the way I wanted it too.  A little practice and my own clippers, and I'll never pay for another lousy haircut!