justagirl - WOW, you do know the meaning of tightening the belt.  I hope your husband can find a better paying job and you can have a few more extras in your life.

Me, I'm using coupons more.  When I go to the drugstore or grocery store I buy generic, unless the name brand really is worth it.  I try to buy whatever is on sale that week, especially when it comes to meat and dairy products.  Just keep a watch on what is being spent each day, each week.  I'm good about watching the electric and water bill.  However, my husband is not.  When he is home I'm always going behind him turning off lights, fans, whatever.  I still haven't been able to break him of the habit of leaving the water running while he is brushing his teeth!

we drive our cars under 60 mph...this really saves.

eat out only once a week

use of propane drastically cut by cooking with elect. (solar only)

will install an elect. water heater come fall

will install a solar water heater also

will get a fireplace insert to cut back on propane in winter.

found a place to buy fresh eggs at 99 cents a dozen in the Copa

Freakin' classic avatar, lol!

You mean UGLY right?

OBG is your water heater more expensive to run on propane vs electric?

I have made drastic cuts all around as well, but the one that comes to mind is that now I drink at home and I drink alone!! lol!!!

Posted By just a girl on 06/07/2008 11:08 AM
sadly, we've had to tighten the belt for awhile, since my hubby was forced into a 30% salary reduction last fall. He hasn't been able to find a job with a comparable salary Oh, and we have a diesel truck, at nearly $5 a gallon! YIKES!

Let's see:
We reduced our orbitel services to bare bones
thermostat is set at 85 during the day 82 at night
showers are timed and held to under 5 minutes.
we've stopped watering our backyard (and it looks so sad )
all non essential lights (including porch lights, night lights) have been turned off
we eat lots of pasta
Car trips are held to the bare minimum
No more "luxury items" from the store (soda, oreos)
absolutly no more dining out
no summer activites for our kids
we have a dirtbike and a quad listed for sale (but no takers 'cause everyone else is poor too!)
I've sold a bunch of my kids clothes and toys on craigslist

and that's just what came off the top of my head......

Just A Girl,

I'm really impressed with what you've done.  Especially when so many people just seem to feel it's okay to "walk away."  My mother (in the Villages) was laid off 4 weeks ago, and she does many of the same things.  Doesn't run heat/or AC, her yard is xeriscaped, so no water, she makes a 2 pound pork roast stretch 2 weeks, and she doesn't have cable.  She now pulls weeds for neighbors for a source of any income.

On the other hand, tell me about your dirtbike.  Where is it listed?

"OBG is your water heater more expensive to run on propane vs electric?"

Yes, I have diff. situation than most forum people as I am on solar only.

in 2004 when we moved in, propane was 1.05 a gallon, now it has been as high as 3.50 a gallon. We were using propane for almost everthing...even bought 3 propane furnaces, 40000 BTU...house is even equiped with plumbed in propane wall lamps in most rooms.

ergo, the switch to electric as much as possible since it is free...oh wait, we did spend over 40K on a new PV solar system, which includes ...yeah... a propane powered 12KW genset. So the elect. is not really free, just paid for in advance. And the payback based on present APS rates will not happen till I am pushing up daisies. (Senior Citizen)

mw......I know how you feel about all these contracts with cable, phone, cell phone, dedicated PC landline, etc.  I look at these bills each month and think, when did it become necessary to pay for all of this?  I remember when TV was free, phone was reasonable as long as you didn't run up long distance calls, there were no cell phones and nobody but companies had computers.

The age of instant informaton and being constantly in touch has cost us quite a bit.  Has it been worth it?  I am determined not to start paying for radio stations.  There are plenty of choices that are free.  I also  will not pay for a navigation system, I'll use a map!  A friend of mine has a navagation system and not only is it costly to buy a car with one, I found out that every year or so she has to pay several hundred dollars to "update" it!! 

Trying to keep up with the Jones when it comes to all this new technology that comes out each year has become too much.  Within a year things become obsolete so you have to buy a new version.  That's how they keep making their money.  Guess I'll just have to become an old fogie (sp?).  I refuse to keep increasing our debt to have these new gadgets.