Your Best Frugal Tips.

[rvijay]

Please share your best frugal tips in this thread here.

Thank you in advance.

Vijay

[frenchie]

I buy foil, sponges and misc things at the .99 store

I invested in Tupperware Modular Mates for buying from the bulk bins. I also bought Tupperware sandwich holders and small containers for taking salads and stuff like that for our lunches.

I check Big Lots for handwash, writing supplies, computer paper, photo paper (for digital prints), light bulbs, mops, brooms and other houshold supplies.

I now check the circulars for sales at the market, and try to use coupons whith the sale items.

I make a menu for the week, and only buy what we need for the week.

I combined my cable, internet and phone service all with our cable company and saved over 100.00 a month!!!

We are refinancing our auto loan with our credit union, and will go from an 8% apr loan to a 5% apr loan.

I always buy clothing from sale racks and discount stores...I never pay full price.

Since I'm a lisenced Cosmotologist and Makeup artist, I only buy products that I can get with my 40% discount. I hook my friends up with my discount...which gets kind of irritating, but I like to share my savings:)

I can't really think of anything else off the top of my head, but if I do, I will post.

[organica]

Sharing accomodations & riding the bus instead of driving a car save me thousands of dollars (which I wouldn't have anyway).
Only buying clothes secondhand also works for me. I get $100 jeans for $3.50 @ Frenchy's, my fave secondhand chain. Don't shop @ valu-Village, they are owned by the evil Wal-Mart & a rip off as well.
Also, if you don't have any credit cards like me, it's harder to get heavily into debt. This is dangerous I suppose, living w/ no credit, but it also is a life w/o debt, which is frugal.
Factory outlet stores are great. I get most of my socks & underwear as seconds from a factory outlet for a local manufacturer in my province (Stanfield's).
Avoiding expensive hobbies may not be fun, but it's frugal. Now I have guinea pigs instead of leasing a horse, for instance. Also I download music instead of buying expensive CDs (& I know someone will probably say I am going to hell/should go to jail for it, but oh well). I consider cable tv a waste of money for myself, so I don't have it. Sharing softwear also probably pisses off some people, but when you have no money, it's what you do. Sorry to Bill Gates et al.

[Lelena]

I make my own soymilk, soy yoghurt and tofu. It costs me about $.12 to make 5 cups of soymilk and $.36 per pound of tofu. I also grow my own sprouts which is much cheaper than the grocery stores. I cook up a different batch of beans each week and freeze them in different measurments. It is a lot cheaper than canned beans. Since I cook only for myself I always have leftovers when I use receipes. So I freeze serving size portions for quick meals.

I shop at fruit markets for fruits and veggies unless they are on sale at the grocery stores. I always frequent Ocean State Job Lots and like stores. When there are sales for things I buy, I stock up even if I have some already at home. That way I never pay full price. The same for clothes unless I have a coupon, it's on clearance or sale, I don't buy it. I don't buy used items though. I have had bad experiences.

[rincaro]

I make my own soymilk, soy yoghurt and tofu. It costs me about $.12 to make 5 cups of soymilk and $.36 per pound of tofu.

Holy cow! That's some savings. That's like 40 cents a gallon for soymilk. Silk here costs me $5 per gallon. Wow!

Can you please share your recipes and you sources for ingredients?

[sky73]

My Cost Savings Tips:

*No cable service
*No telephone service (cell only)
*Don't eat out a lot (if you do, eat a snack before so you're not hungry)
*Rent movies from library
*Make meals from scratch, buy fewer processed foods
*Make gifts for others instead of buying and/or do trades
*Pay more than minimum on credit card

:nana:

[kirkjobsluder]

public libraries are your friends.

[Lelena]

I have a soymilk maker which paid for itself after a few months. It makes it so much easier and quicker than the blender/stovetop method. The yield is much higher also. I cannot remeber the exact figures as I have been using the machine for the past five years and I started making my own tofu/soymilk for ten years. I get the soybeans from the HFS or Asian markets. They run between $.79-$.99 a pound. For the five cup container I use a premeasured cup which I think is around 1/3 cup of soybeans. I use a little less and add 2-3 Tbs. of brown rice. This makes the soymilk a little less beany and smoother. That's all I use and water of course. Some people add salt and a little sugar or vanilla, but I like it plain. To make it without a machine you would soak beans in water over night. I am not sure about the ratio of beans for soymilk this way. Maybe try just a cup to see how much it makes and then adjust. Rinse the beans and either grind in food processor until it is a sandy paste or for every cup of beans add 3 cups of water in a blender until it is a fine slurry mix. If you are using a food processor add the bean paste to a large pot with 3 cups of water for every cup of beans. If you are using a blender just add the slurry mix to the pot. Boil for 20 minutes, but make sure you keep an eye on it as it can overboil in seconds. It is a mess to clean up. Put a colander lined with several layers of cheese cloth over a large bowl or sink. Ladle the soymilk into the colander. Try to squeeze out as much milk as you can. And your done. You can use the leftover soybeans, called okara, in baked items or casseroles. My dog loves it. I hope this helps.

[sky73]

I have a soymilk maker which paid for itself after a few months.

What brand soymilk maker do you own?

[rincaro]

What brand of soymilk maker do you have?

[rvijay]

I would like sites in regards to making Soy Products from scratch with Soy Beans.

Thanks in advance.

Vijay

[kristadb]

As a side note, homemade soy milk isn't fortified, so it's missing all the things that people drink soy milk for :)

[Gracie]

I don't eat out, particularly lunch at work. Planning dinner ahead for the week, with an eye towards having leftovers to take for lunch really helps.

Last year, when I was unemployed for so long, I made EVERYTHING from scratch, and that helped. Unfortunately, I don't have time now. But here's a list of stuff I made instead of buying for almost a year:

*bread
*cookies
*dog treats
*veggie burgers
*most canned foods (we canned tomatoes, green beans, peaches, and froze strawberries, blueberries, etc. Also, I cooked dried beans in huge batches and froze them.)
*granola

I'm sure I'll remember more stuff. Sometimes I cooked all day long!

Also, my partner & I don't use credit cards at all! As far as I'm concerned, they are the biggest rip-off in the world. I hate paying interest--why would I pay someone to let me spend my own money? If I don't have the money to pay for something today, I need to save up until I do, not charge it and hope I can pay for it at the end of the month.

[rincaro]

As a side note, homemade soy milk isn't fortified, so it's missing all the things that people drink soy milk for :)

I was thinking about that Krista. The boys eat a pretty, healthy, varied diet and take vegan multi-vitamins, but I do like the insurance policy that is fortified silk (calcium & B12 mostly). Course it would be a good excuse for me to pay better attention to the nutrient contents of individual foods we eat.

On a frugal (on-topic) sidenote. I wonder in general if it pays to make things from scratch. Apparently for soy milk it probably does. But I'm making soft pretzels right now and bread. I need to price out the ingredients that I use and see how much I save (or overpay) to cook certain things from scratch.

[Lelena]

I have a soyajoy soymilk maker. Their site is www.soymilkmaker.com.
It's true it's not fortified so it has less b12, vitamins and minerals. I drink it for the taste not for the nutrional value though. Maybe you could switch off or use half and half with commerical soymilk. It would lower your overall soymilk cost.

[Gracie]

On a frugal (on-topic) sidenote. I wonder in general if it pays to make things from scratch. Apparently for soy milk it probably does. But I'm making soft pretzels right now and bread. I need to price out the ingredients that I use and see how much I save (or overpay) to cook certain things from scratch.

You do have to be sure you're getting good prices on ingredients. I was buying 25-lb bags of flour from a wholesale place (and keeping it in the freezer--thank god for that big old freezer!), and getting a lot of other stuff from the super-cheap bulk bins at a local store.

And I chose recipes that used cheap ingredients. For example, I made Better Burgers from Vegan Vittles a lot. The main ingredients are tvp and oats, both pretty cheap. I would double the recipe, freeze most of the burgers, and we had veggieburgers cheaper and better than store-bought!

[rincaro]

Do you have the recipe for Better Burgers? I've been looking for something to replace veggie burgers that are storebought.

ETA: I found it. Thanks for the tip!

[sky73]

Do you have the recipe for Better Burgers? I've been looking for something to replace veggie burgers that are storebought.

ETA: I found it. Thanks for the tip!

Where did you find it?

[rincaro]

I found it on a random MSN message board:

Better Burgers

1 cup TVP granules (textured vegetable protein)
1/4 cup-quick-cooking rolled oats (not instant)
1/2 tsp dried basil leaves
1/2 tsp dried oregano leaves
1/2 tsp dried parsley flakes
1/2 tsp garlic granules
1/2 tsp onion granules
1/4 tsp dry mustard

3/4 cup almost boiling water
2 tbs ketchup
2 tbs soy sauce

1 tbs smooth peanut butter

1/4 cup whole wheat flour
1 tbs nutriental yeast flakes (Red Star brand but is optional)

· place the first 8 ingredients in a medium mixing bowl and toss together
· pour the hot water into a small mixing bowl; add ketchup and soy sauce and stirr until well blended; pour over the tvp mixture and let it rest for 5 minutes
· add the peanut butter until it mixes in well; stir in the wheat flours and yeast flakes and mix throughly
· shape into 4 flat equal patties
· cook in canola oil over medium heat until brown on each side
makes 4 burgers that are 148 calories per burger; 14 grams of protein; 17 grams of carbs; 3 grams fat

[sky73]

Thanks Rincaro! :hamster:

[zoebird]

my friend gave me a recipe for raw almond milk that i really liked. Almonds, water, and honey (though i used agave nectar). I soaked the almonds 24 hours (because i accidently forgot about them), and then blended them with spring water until it was the consistancy that i wanted. i tasted it and added the agave nectar to meet my taste needs. It was really good!

remember, though, it's hard to fortify home-made stuff, so make sure if your'e vegan you're still taking your multi and b12.

------

my frugal stuff:

no long distance phone

no cable

net zero for internet

buy veggies and fruits at produce market (sadly, not always organic)

bargain hunt for clothes (sales racks, used/consignment, etc)

use movie rewards card whenever we go out to the movies--this one took a bit of coordinating. we don't go to movies often, but a lot of our friends do. i have a 'rewards' card that is run as a tracking thing through the theater that we go to. my friends and i all pre-purchase our tickets online before we head to the movies, and there we can type in my 'code' and i get the 'points' on my card. After i get so many points, we get things like free movie tickets, free food, etc. Also, i got a 'vip' card from the movie theater by making friends with the management--which gets me a discount on all of our tickets. WE also only go to matinees--which saves us a lot of money.

we do a lot of activities that are free: walking in parks, forests, etc; library movies (they have movie nites on friday nites--classic films); local coffee shop has music, you have to buy a beverage, so we buy water which costs $1 each; there's a 'free' music 'coffeehouse' at the local quaker meeting twice a month--very cool. :) i often bring food to that.

uhm, what else? can't think of much else. :)

[toesonthenose]

This is dangerous I suppose, living w/ no credit, but it also is a life w/o debt, which is frugal.
why would / could it be dangerous?

[Hansbos]

-Keeping my old car instead of buying a new one.
-Buying clothes in thrift stores and furniture on Craigslist (this is really my girlfriend's area of expertise, but I benefit).
-Having state-sponsored solar panels on my roof and not paying for electricity for almost two years now (good for the environment too)
-Not having a home phone (or long-distance bills)
-Using cheap phone cards for international calls
-Drinking beer during happy hour (I don't do this enough unfortunately)
-Getting gas in Marin instead of San Francisco
-Flying JetBlue

Saving money is fun!

[kristadb]

why would / could it be dangerous?

If you don't have enough savings and something bad happens, you're screwed.

Example: You live in a rural area and work in the city. There is no public transportation. None of your neighbours travel into the city. Your co-workers don't live near you. Your car breaks down. You cannot afford the payments on a new car, but you have no money for the repairs on this car. You don't have enough in savings to fix it. You don't have enough credit to get a loan for the repair. Your family doesn't have the money to help you out. You cannot get to work, so you lose your job. You're screwed.

[MrFalafel]

If you don't have enough savings and something bad happens, you're screwed.

Example: You live in a rural area and work in the city. There is no public transportation. None of your neighbours travel into the city. Your co-workers don't live near you. Your car breaks down. You cannot afford the payments on a new car, but you have no money for the repairs on this car. You don't have enough in savings to fix it. You don't have enough credit to get a loan for the repair. Your family doesn't have the money to help you out. You cannot get to work, so you lose your job. You're screwed.

Same thing could be said if your credit card was maxed out, except you now have credit card payments on top of your unemployment.

Living without credit cards can be a dream come true. I know a couple of folks who live a 'cash and carry' life style and they're better off than many of teh credit card folks I know.