Comments on: Changes

By: Dawn

Dawn — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 19:21:28 +0000

Well I for one will be eating more humble pie after reading all these lovely frugal convictions. What can I say? My convictions are the same, just needed a little nudge in practicing some of them once again, Thank you, antique mommy and all you wonderful women for daring to stand firm in this wisdom, and passing that on to others
I’ll just be getting on in to my kitchen to do up my menu’s now

By: bee

bee — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 14:49:28 +0000

Not making many changes around here. We keep things pretty lean anyway.. no cable, eating out only once a month, etc. However, we are going to have a much simpler Christmas due to the economy and a new baby.

By: Sally

Sally — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 02:54:28 +0000

Forgot to add that we never eat out, and we are still struggling financially from when my husband lost his job 2 years ago and was unemployed for several months.

By: Sally

Sally — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 02:52:41 +0000

We are a single-income family of 4, trying to afford to put our oldest child through her first year of college. I drive a 15-year-old car and my husband drives the “new” car (it’s only 13 years old!!) Our college-aged daughter still doesn’t have her own car. I color my own hair at home instead of the salon now, rarely get new clothes, have cut way back on groceries and can make a tank of gas last 2 weeks. We live paycheck-to paycheck, with nothing left over after paying the bills.

By: Colleen

Colleen — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 00:57:23 +0000

We were planning to replace one vehicle, but have decided to wait. Vintage is good!

We aren’t eating out or carrying in-when we do it’s a special treat.

The library is my friend. I love bookstores, but am successfully battling the addiction and withdrawal symptoms. My mom still buys books and sends stacks home with me when I visit-thanks mom!

By: Melissa

Melissa — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 22:01:23 +0000

Luckily (and unluckily, I suppose), I’m starting this whole ‘adult’ thing at the same time as the economy tanked. So, it’s not so much an adjustment as it is another factor in the learning process.

I’m learning to cut coupons and buy frugally. We’re not driving very much. I’m learning how to make as much food as possible from scratch instead of buying expensive pre-made food, and learning how to use left-overs to cut waste.

Unfortunately, I’m also losing my job in 2 weeks, so we will be living verrrryyyyy frugally until I get another. Husband is doing research half-time for a small wage, so we’ll be learning to make do on that for a while (hopefully not more than a month, but who knows with this economy!)

By: Iota

Iota — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 14:08:20 +0000

Where we are, this summer was very wet, so people didn’t use their sprinklers as much as usual. So the water rates went up to compensate. My fear is that we will all be economizing on heating, so they will put the costs up. What do you think?

By: Adrian

Adrian — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 05:43:39 +0000

Oh, I forgot my most important tip – stay OUT of the stores! I know if I set foot in Wal-mart, Target, or Costco, I will be dropping at LEAST $100, no matter what I went in there looking for. I give my husband or son a list and a check.

By: Adrian

Adrian — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 05:35:19 +0000

I’m not really noticing too much difference. We are still able to pay our bills, save money, and give to charities like we always have. We’ve been working on paying off most of our debt which has saved us $350 a month which we are devoting to our remaining bills. In about 4 months we’ll be debt free! I love Dave Ramsay!

I do cut back on a few things – my niece cuts and colors my hair which saves me about $30 a month, I only get my nails done every two weeks and I just get a polish change which costs me about $5 and I get a pedicure about every 2-3 months, especially in the wintertime. A couple of times a week, we have lower cost meals such as breakfast for dinner, or Zatarans red beans and rice with bratwurst. Other than that, it’s pretty much business as usual.

By: cyn

cyn — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 02:36:22 +0000

Well, the husband and I have been discussing how we could make a change with the budget. But his ever so kind employer decided to force changes on us. They laid him off. Isn’t that kind. SO in this great economy, we are looking for a new job! Of course being in a christian non profit charity organization is not easy in this economy.