As we are now fully into 2011, some people are finding themselves still looking for work or under employed as our nation’s economy has not fully recovered. After a long time being frugal, living on less and blowing through one’s savings, times are still stressful for some. So, here are some ways to further reduce your expenses without really altering your lifestyle too much.
GET RID OF THE CABLE TELEVISION
I know that this is probably the last expense anyone wants to stop paying because in today’s day and age, if you don’t have cable television, you usually don’t have TV. Television is actually an inexpensive entertainment and fun for the whole family, but when the cable bill cuts into money families simply don’t have, its time to rethink it.
RENT DVD’S
For as little as $9.99 a month, you can get free instant online movies and one DVD out at a time. What is great about Neflix is, you can use your Wii, a Netflix Viewing Device or a computer hooked up to your television to view instant online content. There are actually a lot of titles to chose from that are changed and added to each month. My daughter loves to watch a Netflix movie at night before bed and if you don’t want or need a monthly DVD, your entire television/movie watching experience will only cost you $7.99 per month.
WATCH TV ONLINE
Major television stations like CBS, FOX, NBC, ABC and many of the cable channels like MTV, Lifetime and HGTV have episodes online for free.
Also sites like HULU, FANCAST, TVUNETWORKS, all allow you to either see network TV in real time or download full episodes. Sites like TVUNETWORKS actually have television shows, streaming live from all over the world. And while the quality is not as good as television broadcasts, there are ways to get a good quality television watching experience for either half the cost or free, that is much better than the over $100/month most families spend on cable television.
GROW YOUR OWN FOOD
While this may seem like an impossible and daunting thing to do, it is actually quite simple and can really help you save money. Even if you only have a small window sill or balcony, you can grow things that will help you cut down on your food bills.
You can start as easily as planting an herb garden to add fresh herbs to your cooking. Since fresh herbs and even dried ones can be pricey this can save a bundle.
Herb gardens are easy if you know what you are doing, most herbs will come with instructions, but if not you can refer to this WikiHow article on how to grow and indoor herb garden.
After you have graduated from herbs you can move on to plants that are still easy to grow and maintain like, tomatoes, leafy green vegetables, peppers, strawberries, tangerines, green beans, etc. Most of these plants can be grown in a small plot of land or in large pots. While it may not seem like a lot, growing food in your own garden is cost effective and fun for the whole family, it also ensures that you are not getting unnecessary pesticides or processing in your family’s diet.
foods. The gardener helper website gives you a quick reference grid that explains the kinds of environment and timing each vegetable needs for optimal growth.
REDUCE, REUSE, RECYCLE
You can reduce the amount of stuff you buy to the bare minimum. We don’t need kleenex, paper towels, toilet paper, paper plate, paper napkins etc. All you really need of the above is toilet paper, all of the other items can be substituted with, toilet paper (kleenex), rags (kids old clothes, dirty worn out towels etc.) can be used as paper towels, use real plates and use cloth napkins that can be reused before washing if they are not too soiled.
Reuse or recycle your plastic containers, so that you don’t have to buy tupperwear or more expensive storage containers. Also buy in bulk so that you can use your containers at home to store food items, rather than collect more containers that will either need to be reused or recycled.
MAKE YOUR OWN BABY WIPES
You can either use paper towels, but like I said, this may be a frivolous misuse of your funds or you can also use rags cut into wipe squares and either add the following mixtures to the baby wipe box or spritz the wipe with warm water and the mixture for each use. Most of this depends on how wiggly your baby is and how much poop needs to be wiped. You can throw the used rags into the wash or soak them in a bucket before washing to remove excess “stuff” before tossing them in the wash.
Baby Wash Recipe #1
- 2 TBSP Baby Wash (choose a natural wash!)
- 2 TBSP Olive Oil
- 2 Cups water
Baby Wash Recipe #2
- 2 TBSP Baby Wash
- 2 TBSP Olive Oil or 1 TBSP Calendula Oil
- 2 Drops Tea Tree Oil
- 2 Cups Water
Vitamin E and Essential Oils Recipe
- 2 Drops Tea Tree Oil
- 2 Drops Lavender Oil (Please be sure to use only pure essential oils –don’t use synthetic oils.)
- 2 Drops Chamomile Oil
- 2 Cups Water
- 1 Vitamin E Capsule
All of these things can help reduce your spending and save you money each month and they can be fun for the family as well. Try working in the garden together, decorating the reused containers and have them help fold and put away cloth napkins and dishes as a family activity.
