Boring thoughts on saving money...

[lisamoe]

Everything is getting crazy expensive, perhaps you've noticed.

Anyway, I got about 30 mpg on my last tank of gas, but I ended up idling it more than usual waiting around various places, so I'm hoping it will be a little better if I don't do that. $35 filled it up today and will hopefully get me through a week. I've been trying hard to curtail unnecessary driving, like on the weekend, the kids and I just stayed in and watched TV and worked on the yard and played games and stuff. And when we do go out, we consolidate trips and try to shop and eat closer to home. I feel ok about our gas usage.

Staying in has been good in another way, because it makes us eat at home which is cheaper and healthier, plus we're not out blowing money on pointless random stuff. This week I spent about $200 on groceries, but that included a lot of meat that I froze plus bulk items from Sam's. In these crappy economic times, I feel good having a freezer and cabinets full of enough food that all we have to do to eat for a couple of months is buy perishables like fruit and milk. And even the fruit, I've been freezing when I find a sale. Not that I'm expecting to not be able to buy groceries, but it still feels good.

In other good news, this summer we'll only have one class a week (for Jesse) in Broken Arrow, as opposed to the three we're driving to now, and other than that the kids are mostly just going to swimming lessons and camp that are at the park a mile from our house. And Jesse says that he's amenable to taking acting at Clark Theatre in the fall instead of at Theatre Arts, which will be both closer and cheaper. Dingo's gymnastics and soccer are both at the nearby park, and their Kung Fu and guitar lessons will be in mid-town, which is not so bad to get to. I think the next school year is going to be a lot better for us both time and money-wise. Maybe I'll even be able to take a class myself! I've been looking at a workshop on making dichroic glass jewelry for three years now, but the kids have always had conflicting classes up til now.

Other savings are that Jesse is old enough to babysit with Dingo for short periods now and enjoys doing it. He went and took the all day Red Cross babysitting class and also got fully certified at the Red Cross in First Aid and CPR, so I feel ok about leaving him with Dingo for a couple of hours. Plus we've been hitting the library instead of the bookstore, I changed my Dish Network to save a little money, I cancelled a computer service that I wasn't using, we're using ceiling fans more and A/C less, plus Dingo clips all the coupons in the Sunday paper for me. We're all pitching in. :-)

Comments

[servicesoul.livejournal.com]

I was just thinking this morning that I need to cut down on any unnecessary driving. And spending. I have about decided I need some kind of punishment for every piece of food I throw away because I let it go bad.

[lisamoe.livejournal.com]

I have been making a real effort not to let food spoil, which used to be a bad habit of mine. When I buy vegetables now and I only use part of them, I have a big container in the freezer that I cut up the extra into. I thrown in anything, carrots or celery or tomatoes or whatever, and then when I make vegetable soup I just dump the container into the pot. That has cut down a lot on letting fresh vegetables spoil because I bought more than I needed for a salad or recipe. I've also been freezing any fresh meat that I'm not going to use within two days.

[tripcg.livejournal.com]

Since I only cook for one, throwing away food that spoils has become a regular part of my routine. Thanks for the tip on freezing veggies for soup! I also have to ask.... does it really save money to use ceiling fans as opposed to A/C? I just have never been convinced of it, but I'm willing to be set straight! Isn't it funny how we are willing to change our minds so easily when there is money involved??

[lisamoe.livejournal.com]

When you're running the AC you're running a fan AND a compressor and the compressor is the big energy suck, or so I understand. I'm a big A/C booster myself, but when it's reasonably nice and not too humid, I still like windows and ceiling fans. It's supposed to heat up this week, so we'll probably turn the A/C on, but I'm glad that when we had the house re-wired I had fans put in all the bedrooms and the living room. It's perfectly comfy in here tonight with the windows open.