Ok .. here's a place for us to share GOOD, GREAT, CREATIVE & FANTASTIC ideas with each other to weather all this depressing news about the economy. Our grandparents did it .. now it's our turn eh?

Honestly, all this "woe is me" .. no job, no car, no SH*T SHERLOCK .. is makin' me GET depressed, when I wasn't ..

I know, I know .. we have to face "reality" and all that BS .. but since we are truly blessed to have such a wonderful community of creative people here I am sure many of us are finding great ways to save $$.

Let's share some.




















*pulls up chair, puts feet up on desk, grabs a cold one

and waits for the GOOD STUFF to start pouring in.*

I'll even start it off ..

I've redone my car insurance to lower premiums, cut cable to basic, saved on cell bills, and buy generic whenever I can.

Deleted runs to Starbucks & only drink on Happy Hour at restaurants (which we hardly use now .. dang I use to go out 4-5 times a week easy )

I watch where I drive and combine trips, even to my kids schools.

















Tag! You're IT!!

reminds me i still need to invent that transportation machine i was thinkin about , would solve alot of problems including pollution from automobiles lol



i'm not to bothered by whats been going on , as it is i already was without a car and a desent job so its nothing new for me, i feel for those who are being hit hard by it though


but so far my year is looking good and i'm leaning on that to keep my mood up

ok that drink looks good- what is it!!!! yum!!!

At the moment I have no creative ideas- just home with a sick kid so Im enjoying some quiet reflective time and playing on the computer while he sleeps

It's a Mimosa .. I love them.

I do keep that habit of having one but buy the little bottle of champagne and only use 1/2. That way I can use it up 1/2 as quickly.

whats on the bottom? I love mimosas- the bubbles feel really good

think about it this way , if someone could invent a transportation machine that would send you anywhere you wanted to go from without having to drive or be driven anywhere, you could travel anywhere, anytime you wanted, it would save millions on fuel, which in turn would drop cost of food and other items since all stores would have to do is have it transported directly without being driven from a warehouse, no driving cuts down on alot of pollution. but this idea isnt very realistic let me tell ya, fantastic but so not realistic


for the most part to save money , we have been tryin to by anything we can in bulk, bargain shopping, watchin sale ads and such,

quiting smoking to save on money , instead of going to the store every couple days and only buying a few days worth of food, going once a week to every two weeks and following a menu of what we are going to eat on what day and buying only what we need to fix those meals,

saving energy is easy , i dont have a dryer, so my clothes get washed and hung outside to dry, winter time does mean that doing laundry isnt as easy when its cold and wet, hung clothes out one day and by the time i went to check them they were frozen solid.. lol

i'm thinking of other things that can be done but right now i need more coffee, and i'm out of filters , dang old pot..

Oh ya .. TINY BUBBLES in the wine, makes me feel HAPPY .. makes me feel FINE


I think the red might be cranberries? Not sure ..

I've replaced my light bulbs with the energy efficient ones. Make less trips when possible. Cut back on the fountain pops and started drinking bottled tea instead. However I did splurge on new furniture and I don't go without tanning but that my boyfriend pays for.

Ah another way to save .. I use the expensive cone ones so I am now rinsing and reusing at least once. Heck it works for me. LOL

Here's a cup while you are out though..

just be sure with that tanning you save $$ for the medical bills if you contract cancer

ahhh good idea, going to store at midnight thursday morning to get groceries, i'll get filters then .lol.. oh yea and i go shopping at midnight, not as much traffic

i ditched the satelite (gawhd i miss tv!!!!)
i buy generic. and in bulk.. example if you can buy the 24 rolls of toilet paper, you aucutualy save about $2.00 over buying the 4 packs.. and about $1.00 over buying the 6 or 12 packs.
my cat has switched to generic everything. and my shopping sprees have gone to.. never.. i buy only what i need and only when i need it. my kids get hand me down clothes from school mates, and i havent gotten new clothes since i lost my job except for what my best friend bought me. let friends and family know that you have bills due, and rather than them getting you a present for birthdays, and holidays, you would much more apprecieate they put that $$ towards a bill..


i miss my old life.

Oh ya .. that ONE comment .. is HUGE ..

I NEVER go in stores anymore. I mean to buy clothes or stuff for my house or whatever.

I mean you have to DRAG me into Dillards or whatever now. I don't want to be tempted. No thanks.


ps >> i miss it too though .. lol

Save on your energy costs by installing weather stripping around the doors and putting up plastic around the windows. I got the kits at the hardware store and you can hardly tell there's plastic on the window at all and it was easy to put up.

Turn down the heat and put on a sweater.

Turn off the lights!! In the evening I use night lights and candles.

When doing laundry I don't wash my clothes the full 12 or 16 minutes. Unless you're rolling around in the mud, clothes don't need to agitate that long, it just wears them out faster, 6 or 8 minutes is plenty. Hang clothes on the line when the weather permits instead of using the dryer.

Take shorter showers.

Save and re-use anything you possibly can.

Buy generic.

Check out the Dollar Store/General Dollar/Dollar Tree. You'd be surprised how much you can save by shopping there.

Car pool. Ride a bike or the bus. Walk.

A very smart economist/financial manager once told me that the best way to save money is to save on the big stuff, and not worry too much on the small stuff. In more specific terms, you'll save more money by buying a cheaper car than buying cheaper groceries.

I used the car as an exaggerated example, but a more technical explanation for this money saving method would be called a top down cut approach. That is, instead of trying to save on the smallest items first and then moving up to bigger items, start with the big items and then start cutting the small stuff (of course I'm not talking about essentials like your house, or your car if you need it for work).

Believe it or not, it's actually a very common tendency in people to work from smaller to larger, in fact, some companies do this, i.e. they fire their low wage workers before thinking of possibly getting rid of inefficient but highly paid *expensive* upper/mid level management.

plastic shrink film on the windows actually saved me 10% on my heating bills Installation costs=$13. savings about $15 a month.. yeah cfl light bulbs everywhere. turn off hot water tank during no use periods.. I found out that the tank will stay warm for 3-4 days..lol so I turn it on about an hour prior to use.. saved 30 dollars a month in electricity... shopping wise like everyonre else get the best for my money cost wise. Yet every so often I get a whole NY strip steak loin . Cost is half my local store cuts it and packages each steak seperately for me instead of 8-9 dollars a pound it costs 3:75-4:75 a pound . look at the little stickers when you shop at stores they put the price per ounce on there Go by that.. works wonders... Oh I am retired......

my best friend.. the 21 yr old with 2 jobs and no responsibilities.. .. she still drags me around the mall. i HATE it.. and i feel like a complete failure.. lol.. she is spendign hundreds of dollars every couple weeks on clothes and random crap.. and i cant pay my rent.. i just want to shake her.. but i love her, and she has helped me out enough times that i just tag along and feel really uncomfortable. lol

luckily i work part time at least... but what ive had to do is... take insurance off my second car,turned off my home phone,shut off garbage,<use the neighbors>,drink only at home, eat all my leftovers,skipped christmas, and got a roommate.oh yea forgot... i shut off my internet that was 50 bucks a month! anyhow im piggybacking why pay for it?

i dont get cell service where i live ( i live in a hole) so i turned off the cell phone.
i only go into town about 2 times a week so it was useless the rest of the time anyway.