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Yesterday I wrote about how our living cost are rising here on Old Crow Farm. Today I thought I would tell you how we are going to try and cut back without going without all the good things in life. (Like eating! HA)
When it comes to cutting back there is only so much a person can do....After all, we do have to live and pay bills. As a family we have worked to cut our bills back to the bone. We don't have a house payment or a car payment. However, we still have bills....Electric, water, phone, cell phone, Dish Network, propane, taxes, car insurance and house insurance. Some of these bills I guess we could do without (Dish, cell phone, Internet) but we're not....I'll cut back in some areas but I need that Dish for bad weather (And yes I have a weather radio but it's never been as good as our local station!!...We live in an area where you can't get anything with just a TV antenna) and the cell phones keep in contact with my older kids and the Internet, well let's just say it's not going!!!! HA So, our monthly bills won't be going down to much.
For years I've been made fun of by all my friends and family as I refuse to use the dryer! Yes, even living in Kansas with it's bad winters, very seldom do you see me turn on that dryer. Instead, I watch the weather report and I do my laundry accordingly. In the winter time I might have to go as much as a whole week without doing a load but when the time comes and it's warm enough for things to dry, you'll find me out at those long ole clothes lines hanging out....And if they "freeze dry", I just bring them in, spend them around the family room and within hours they are dry enough to put away.
I also drive my family crazy nuts with turning off lights! Keith swears it only cost PENNIES to run lights and maybe he's right...I just can't see having them on unless you 100% NEED them!!!! So, he turns them on, I turn them off! HA
The one place I don't skimp on spending money is our food budget! I feel that no matter how bad things are in this old world, if you have a nourishing meal on the table they can't help but look better....I also feel if your sick you need to eat a healthy meal! So, knowing this, while my grocery bill may not drop down through these lean times, there are things I can do to cut back in this area.
On way I have decided to cut back is our trips to the grocery store. We live on a farm that is over six miles from the nearest grocery store and since I won't shop in that store (I refuse to give our hard earned money to a store that treats their employees like dirt!) that means we have to drive thirty miles for groceries. So, I'm now on a mission to cut our driving (GAS) down to one day a month for groceries!
The past two weeks I have been working like crazy on recipes for good meals that groceries can be bought one month at a time. I have sat and went over hundreds of magazines and cookbooks, carefully writing down recipes and filing them in a new recipe holder. While I'm doing this I have been making a grocery list so I'll know just what to buy when I go shopping.
Next week I plan to put my plan into action. I'll be making a trip to Topeka and while at Sam's Club I'll be stocking up on what I hope will be enough groceries to last us for at least a month, maybe six weeks. [I plan to spend between $500-$600 and really stock up.] I know I'll have to make a trip to town for milk since I can't buy that for a month at a time but we'll just buy it every two weeks when we go to the library....We won't be wasting gas for just a trip to the free library!
Gas in one thing this family spends a fortune on....We mow over three acres and with all the rain we are having we are spending a small fortune mowing. This can't be helped. I am not having snakes move in just because gas has hit an all time high! So, trips to town and running around are about the only way we can cut back.
I am someone who enjoys being in my home so being "stuck" here certainly isn't going to hurt my feels any. I plan to make my house more of a "home" via way of primitive decorating, and work on all the crafts I've been buying supplies for.
I hope you'll join me with this "stay home" adventure and please feel free to post how your cutting back too. Blessings, Sher |
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