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Little things add up to savings

January 2nd, 2008 at 04:31 pm

I have been thinking of ways to save small amounts of money, by doing things that take a little effort, but save money in the long run.
This morning, I skinned and de-boned chicken breasts,that cost $1.00 a pound, instead of buy boneless, skinless breasts that cost significantly more.
I dug out leftover turkey gravy from the freezer, and thawed it out for dinner.
I peeled potatoes that were not exactly looking pristine, and were a little shriveled, but still good. Before I found my resolve to save, I would have thrown them away.
I have a plastic tub of dishwasher detergent under the sink. Some moisture had gotten into it, and formed large, hard chunks. I would have thrown it away, at one time in my life, but I got out a wooden mallet and crushed the chunks. It is now usable, and I won't have to buy more for at least three weeks.
It was two degrees this morning, the furnace has been working overtime. I decided to start a fire in the antique wood stove. I'm burning old, rotting fence posts from our property, so there was no extra cost involved. DH cut them up this fall, but I've been lax in bringing them to the house, and keeping a fire going.
Seems like there are lots of little ways to save, if one just makes the effort.
What are some of the things you do to save?

8 Responses to “Little things add up to savings”

  1. Joan.of.the.Arch Says:
    1199293606

    These are all excellent examples of the small things to do to be responsible and to make your money stretch. You have illustrated the saying, waste not, want not. Smile

  2. Englishteacher Says:
    1199293695

    Little things add up!

  3. Ralph Says:
    1199296241

    I just recently realized that our programmable thermostat was left on HOLD, so I reset it from summer to winter settings to get that nice setback to 60 at night. Better late than never. It's nice because now the furnace will be on the whole time I am getting ready for work so that is nice and comfortable.

  4. Ima saver Says:
    1199296370

    I keep the hot water heater turned off most of the day!

  5. collegemomma Says:
    1199297767

    Great examples! I especially like using the old fence posts for firewood! Not that we have a need for it here much in Florida, but it's a good way to save money and not waste the wood.

  6. mom-from-missouri Says:
    1199301250

    I wash & reuse baggies-don't use many, as I try to use rubbermade as much as possible. Sounds silly to some, but my SIL buys 2 boxes of baggies a week-so I am saving around $6 a week if I compare to her.

    We disconnected the DISH box from the kids TV room and our bedroom. That saves us $10 a month. The kids can watch mom approved videos instead, and in our room we can watch DVD, video's or local TV with the antenna.

    We combine our trips to town to save gas.

    We eat leftovers or freeze them

    Basically, I try to use it all up before we throw it out. But here on a farm, even odd things can be put to use. Right now I have an icky cookie sheet with peeling teflon that I can no longer use to bake with. But I am saving it because it can probably be used later ro repair a hole in my chicken coop or the feed shed. Old sauce pans make great grain scoops or containers to put leaking oil bottles in....

  7. nance Says:
    1199304285

    Great ideas, everyone!
    Mom from Missouri, I am also a zip lock bag washer! Some of my relatives think I am nuts for doing this, but I have saved a lot. I tell them that they are just adding to land fills, and it will take a million years for all of it to disappear!
    Re-purposing is a great way to save money too.

    I also combine trips to town and try to go on days when I am going to go see my mom, which is a 20 mile round trip.

    Sometimes the small things seem trivial, but combined, they really add up to savings.

  8. koppur Says:
    1199311251

    We turn the heat completely off at night when we go to bed. It's gets cold here (New Enland) in the winter at night, but we have some heavy blankets and homemade quilts to wrap under. And we try to keep the heatlow the rest of the time; we use blankets on the couch when we are watching tv or reading and a space heater at the computer desk.

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