I found this in the NY Times and thought it would apply here. People have listed their ideas on how to survive the hard times that we are all going through. If you have any ideas or suggestions, please feel free to add them!
- Living within my means
- Bring lunch from home
- Drink water
- Stop buying expensive cleaning products. Most things can be cleaned with white vinegar, baking soda, coarse salt, or soap & hot water.
- Never go food shopping without a detailed list of the items you need (not want) to purchase. Bring along only those coupons that matter.
- 1. Donate clothes you don't wear to charity. 2. Don't buy anything new. 3. Actually wear the clothes you own (OMG).
- LESS Amazon, Borders & BN and MORE Public Library
- Use the internet to research before buying anything big.
- use freecycle to get free stuff you need!
- Use student clinics - medical, dental, massage, acupuncture, haircuts, etc
- I buy shirts on sale then embellish them to make an original, custom-made item. It saves $$ and fills the time since I gave away the TV.
- Learn to sew so you can replace a button, repair rips, etc. on perfectly good clothes.
- I'm doing my best to focus on my job, but at the same time I'm trying to develop skills that might be useful if I suddenly become unemployed
- downsized to smaller house one year ago; paid off debts; learned to use craigslist, goodwill and freecycle.
- Instead of going shopping, I am hosting seasonal clothing swaps. I provide snacks, guests provide beverages. We all bring clothes.
- I only buy the necessities.
- Volunteer. You'd be amazed... it's entertaining, it's free, it eats time that you'd spend doing expensive things, and it opens doors...
- I quit smoking.
- Always remember no matter how hard you have it, someone has it worse. Count your blessings instead of your sorrows.
- Love my slow cooker. Cheaper cuts of meat become tender. Also great for beans, etc. Uses less energy, cleans up quick, kitchen stays cool.
- No magazine or newspaper subscriptions anymore.
- Ditch sodas and bottled water for regular tap water - improve your health, your pocket and the environment
- I won't use my car for recreational purposes. It's grocery store, the gas station and whatever other trip is absolutely necessary.
- Going back to school to improve my resume and prepare for going back to the job market if our company doesn't make it.
- Use extra cash, if any, to pay off credit cards. Never spend what you don't have to buy what you don't need to impress those you don't know
- We hung out our first clothes line in our adult lives yesterday so the clothes could dry while we planted our first ever vegetable patch.
- Instead of eating out with friends during weekends, we have a rotation in which we make dinner at each other's house like a potluck
- Open your doors to your friends. Share a meal. Share a laugh. Share a tear. What goes around comes around. We are all in this together.
- I spend less money than I make.
- A focus on helping others, with no expectation of return, distracts me from my short-term supposed "struggles".
- My daughter is 3. I buy her clothes in charity stores. Does she care? Nope. Does she look great? Yep. Have I saved a packet? Definitely!!
- Yard sales and church sales sell everything you can imagine and then some. Never buy new!
- B-days, etc., friends pool our money and give a pre-paid credit card as a gift. The getter can spend it on paying bills or not, discretely.
- Reintroduce yourself to the staple foods. Try cooking with more potatoes, cabbage, rice and so on.
- Stop watching negative news forecasts, get involved in service work, curb expenditures, focus on gratitude for what I have.
- I'm cutting my grass with a rotary mower. It replaces a treadmill and gives me exercise, replaces a landscaper, and there is no gas cost!
- I am staying in a job I hate because I know that it will be nearly impossible to find a new job.
- cut out the starbucks or any morning coffee, make home and use a travel mug, 2 dollars a day for hot brown water = $730.00 a year
- $5 Foot-Longs from Subways! Eat half for lunch, the other half for dinner.
- I'm selling things on eBay that I don't use. The money goes into a savings account. $1500 so far and counting!
- If you are not sure if you should buy something or not, don't toss a coin. Just don't buy it, and wait for tomorrow.
- Cut up your credit cards! Use CASH to buy your groceries, gas, etc.
- I cancelled cable and installed Boxee. Now I watch TV for free with programs like Hulu.
- I put my parents on my cell phone plan because it is cheaper to add people to my plan than for them to pay for their own plan.
- Define what my needs and wants are. Make sure my needs are taken care of and to remember that my wants are just wants.....
- Keep an extra $200 in your checking account but don't include it on your checkbook. Works wonders.
- Unplug the cable TV and watch the free channels which are now HD. For movies get DVD's from the library (return them before late fees apply)
- Wash clothes only in cold water. I've done it for 20 years. Clothes get just as clean & you save money.
- Hair care at home. Wife cuts my hair with a clipper and I color her's. Saves several hundreds year. Note: don't cut wife's hair, go to a pro!
- Read a book instead of see a movie! Pass the book along afterward and borrow a new one!
