How are you saving during this economy?

In what ways are you and your family pinching pennies while the economy struggles to stay afloat?

I personally look for little ways that add up so we don’t feel deprived too much.  Such as groceries, heating, eating out, driving etc.  Since we live in a very rural area we have to drive quite a ways to get to a grocery store or any other store for that mater.

So when I do go shopping I always have to spend money to stock up so I am not constantly driving into town.  And when I say stock up I really mean it.  Such as our beef.  We live close to a meat processing place.  We purchased a half cow, yes you heard me right half of a cow.  There where many benefits to doing it that way. One, our freezer is full for the year with beef products so don’t have to worry about buying meat when money is low.  Two, our pricing came out to $2.29 a pound and that did include taxes for everything.  We got cuts including steaks (t-bones, ribeyes, sirloin etc.) , roasts, hamburger and so much more.  But I am hear to tell ya, next time I will probably share the half cow with a friend, that was sure a lot of meat

Anyway, on to pinching pennies.  Coupons, yep we use them, not to the point of driving you nuts but as much as we can.  I don’t usually buy name brand items but I will clip the coupon and if it is cheaper with the coupon I will get it, if not toss the coupon.

Heating, boy this one is really hard for me.  I am very petite and don’t have much insulation on my body so I get cold very easy.  So we have set our auto thermostat to only heat the house when we are up (we are a night family so our wake time is different than most) and it drops at bed time.  As well, we have cut off several rooms to the house that get no heat and we stuff towels under the doors.  Layer, did I mention layers?  I have to wear layers if I get hot then I simply peal a layer off then put it back on when I get cold again.  It’s an on again off again thing here for me daily.

Ah driving.  I mentioned we live rural so well I had to work on this routine a little.  When I go out, I do as much running as I can fit into the daylight hours before things close, in one round trip.  I end up making a big loop to save on fuel.  And quite frankly I hate shopping

How often do you eat out?  Fast food, fine restaurants?  We very rarely eat out now living in the boonies.  That has really helped out the pocket book.  Hubby was on vacation and we made a date to visit Long John Silver’s, mmmmm I love the lobster bites.  Now Long John’s is a 30 minute drive from our home so we also did some errands and visited our daughter.  Made a day of it and had some semi fast food.  As well, no more coffee or soda on the road.  I make it at home and take it with us.  Hubby gets a whole pot of coffee in a thermos to take to work because $1 per cup adds up fast and the coffee out of the machine tastes aweful.

So I hope you are finding ways to save and the economy has not hit your family too hard.

Related posts:

1. Wow What A Storm… Well I’m feeling gabby today as I didn’t get much...
2. Perfect Roast Every Time! Tip of the Day:  Perfect Roast Every Time! Do you...
3. Save Me Some Money! Well friends I don’t know about you but we are...
4. Tip of the Day: Beef, Mushrooms & Onion Goodness! Tip of the Day:  Beef, Mushrooms & Onion Goodness! I...
5. To Flu Or Not To Flu, Shot that is! Well folks it’s that time of year again. Flu season....

Tagged as: economy, pinch pennies, saving