Fun thread: Just how cheap are you?

G

gwailo168_IHB

New member
I know that a lot of people here are frugal in their chosen areas.



Share some of your cheap tactics to save an easy dollar.





If, and I say if because it is rare, I purchase some juice or iced tea on sale, I always dilute it with atleast an equal part of water. Some of the stronger juices I do 2 parts water, one part juice. You would be surprised that it usually tastes better as well. So I win on both sides.
 
Brew your own tea or coffee.



I don't drink juice from concentrate, but if I did, I'd buy it out of the freezer and mix my own. Most OJ concentrate is exactly the same.
 
i'm kind of a clotheshorse but i do a lot of shopping on ebay. i get shirts and suits custom-made from a local tailor which is actually cheaper than buying brand names. unfortunately acpmette likes the designer duds. SAD SAD wallet.



one of my buddies says he always takes his #2's at work to save on home TP usage. also he reasons, "it's a nice feeling knowing i'm getting paid for my poop time." good point...
 
This week I was feeling very cheap, so bought a dozen already peeled

hard boiled eggs and ate them for breakfast and lunch with bread.



Usually we spend 'way too much eating out. A real vice. And buying books.

A vice that I will stop only when you pry the credit card out of my

cold dead hand.



I add water to juice too but it's cause I have diabetes, and there's half

the carbs in half the juice. Actually, I seldom drink juice. It's very

fattening, and even the real juice is little more than sugar water with

some vitamins. Eat the fruit. Lots of fiber, so you can use your poop

time generously.
 
These are kind of originally environmentally driven, but they save us money too. My husband wasted so many paper towels that we decided to do a month experiment living without them. We bought a couple of packs of dish cloths from Big Lots to substitute. We have a basket for the clean and a basket for the dirty. That was 8 months ago and we haven't bought a roll since.



Now that we have a yard, hubby hung up a clothes line for me, but it's a bit high so I have to use a step ladder and move along with it and the basket. Kind of a pain. Every time I'm feeling lazy and think about just tossing them in the dryer, I remember that it's electric and will probably throw us over the baseline. I don't like the stiffness and wrinkles from hanging them out, so after they dry on the line I put them in the dryer for 3 or 4 mins with a dryer sheet. But, I use the same dryer sheet 3 times. Shhh don't tell anyone.
 
"And buying books.

A vice that I will stop only when you pry the credit card out of my

cold dead hand. "



Yep, books. I kick myself every time I do it, but I can never go into an airport without buying a brand new one and I'm premier on two airlines.... try to buy used on Amazon, but often buy based on racking up the $25 for free shipping on new. I have sold lots of certain kinds on eBay, but haven't done this in a while. I know I should go to the library, but just don't. I boxed up quite a few in the move with the idea of putting them on this paper exchange website, but haven't gotten around to it. They have hardcovers too, so was hoping that by putting enough on there I could pick up some new reads for us for the cost of shipping.
 
Well, I started brown bagging my lunch. Although I've been driving the Mush-stang around and it gets about 10mpg. I've added a 25% mix of E85 gas (which increases the hp - 588 Rear Wheel Hp - about 700 engine), but now I have issues with getting 20% less gas milage. So about 8 mpg. Joy.

Thankfully I don't drive it that much.

Otherwise I just drive the little Focus car.

-bix
 
[quote author="biscuitninja" date=1215902723]Well, I started brown bagging my lunch. Although I've been driving the Mush-stang around and it gets about 10mpg. I've added a 25% mix of E85 gas (which increases the hp - 588 Rear Wheel Hp - about 700 engine), but now I have issues with getting 20% less gas milage. So about 8 mpg. Joy.

Thankfully I don't drive it that much.

Otherwise I just drive the little Focus car.

-bix</blockquote>


What year is the mustang? Is all that power from NA?
 
It has a twin-screw supercharger as I recall, but I can't remember what else. To get that kind of power out of a NA Mustang you would probably need close to 8 liters displacement.
 
No its a DART block 347 (5.6l) stroker motor with 10lbs of boost. I can increase timing because the E85 has about 105 octane rating. The supercharger is a Vortech S-Trim (its pretty much at its maximum for flow- unless I push it WAY past its efficiency range).



Otherwise I live a pretty cheap lifestyle - ok, ok, maybe the ballroom lessons are a tad expensive.

-bix
 
My wife is on this site a lothttp://www.missycoupons.com/

She is on this blog as much as I am on the Irvine Housing Blog.



It is a Korean website where women share information about bargains and coupons, and also experience women bonding. For example, I got couple of 40% off Borders Coupon, 20% off Macy's Coupons, 30% off on Kenneth Cole Shoes through this site. My wife and I are huge coupon fans. The one bad thing about this website is that it is Korean. I will start another topic called "Sharing Coupons" so that we start our own American version.



Panda
 
I saved 44% last week at Albertson's buying sale items and using coupons (114 items).

I think that's my own personal record. :)
 
Shop SuperIrvine for fresh fruits, veggies and meat. Cheapest around outside of SA and GG.



I have planted tomatoes, squash, cucumbers, peppers and herbs such as basil/parsley/sage/rosemary/oregano around throughout my landscaping during the summer. I am in the middle of a ton of ripe stuff right now. I have dwarf citrus of lemon, lime and grapefruit that give out plenty of fruit all year.



Put a chunk of savings away FIRST and then budget the rest of the money for the month.



Bozeaux (sounds like Bozo) red wine at trader joes is seriously cheap $3.99/ bottle and is very tasty wine that can be served to non-wine snobs, easily. We open windows all the way at night and close down the house (including blinds) when it starts to warm up outside. This keeps the house very cool for at least 3 days during any given heat wave. At somepoint this won't work if the weather hits 100 for several days in a row.



The 99 cent only store is unbelievably cheap and is worth a visit if you've never been there before. there is one on the corner of Warner and Bristol in SA.
 
[quote author="CalGal" date=1215933531]I saved 44% last week at Albertson's buying sale items and using coupons (114 items).

I think that's my own personal record. :)</blockquote>


That is awesome! I do this too but clearly not as successfully. I have actually headed over to Albertson's for their 8 hour sales to stock up on cereal and things like that. My fiance laughs but if you are going to buy it anyway and its half-price... its a no-brainer.
 
1) Instead of going to Macy's, I bought a new belt and some tshirts at Marshall's in Westpark Plaza. I was actually surprised at the amount of *decent* stuff they have there. Forget how much the tshirts were, but the Perry Ellis belt was $9.95. And since it's reversible black/brown, I figure that's less than $5 a belt.



2) At Costco last week I was looking at one of those do-it-yourself haircutting kits for men --- the deal with the clippers and about 100 different attachments, plus an instructional book. Told my wife that after about 2 haircuts that thing would pay for itself, vs. what I pay at Supercuts to get basically the same clipper cut.



Despite my protests that I fully trusted her to cut my hair, she drew the line saving money there. Guess she values me having two ears over saving money on haircuts.
 
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