The Stuff We Do To Save A Dollar

I get asked all the time what exactly Marco and I save money on.  People love lists and I love to make them, so I thought I'd compile one big one here to showcase where we save and what that does to our yearly budget.

Things We Do to Save Dollars:

1.  Our own hair:  Marco cuts his own hair at home, and as of tonight I started doing my own too.  I learned a few things by watching youtube videos, particularly this one and this one, but otherwise I just wing it.  This saves us about $50 a year in cuts and tips.

2.  Dog care:  Marco cuts the dogs nails and I bathe them.  I also learned how to express their anal glands which is just as glamourous as it sounds- but all together, this saves us about $100 per year.  *Note: we still get their shots and flea/tick/heartworm regularly*

3.  Paper towels:  Last Christmas I traded some sewing for a few pairs of flannel boxers and made a whole pile of reusable not-paper-towels.  They're still going strong and every once in a while I will pick up an extra receiving blanket from Goodwill and make up a few more.  Total yearly savings: $20 or so.

4.  Entertainment:  We have the cheapest internet we could find, no cable, only Netflix on demand and love our library cards.  I think we have been to one movie in theaters this year- Percy Jackson and the Sea of Monsters.  So we're pretty low key.  Concerts really aren't my thing and Marco knows how to get us invited to the right parties.  All in all by not spending money on cable, DVDs, tickets to events or other similar things, I'd say we save about $250 a year.

5.  Heat and A/C:  We don't turn on the heat until November 1st, and don't turn on the A/C until June 1st.  In the winter we wear a lot of socks, drinks lots of hot tea and double up on sheets.  But in the summer we lose our comforter as soon as the heat starts to settle in, only run the dishwasher at night and rarely run the dryer or the oven.  This has given us 4 months a year where our total utility bills are less than $50 a month.  Compared to our other bills and average usage, that's about $200 in savings each year as well.

Cerulean wears his sweaters all winter

6.  Biking to work and for small errands:  We save about $40 dollars a month just by biking to work.  It added 10 whole minutes to our commutes and cut out any gym memberships we were considering.  Total yearly savings: $400.

7. Food:  When we decided to go veg 5 nights a week (sometimes even more) we immediately starting seeing savings differences.  Growing our own veggies, making our own tomato sauce, and meal planning out of our freezer/pantry all help too.  I am trying very hard to get back into meal planning and hopefully that will help us save even more and waste even less.  It's hard to say how much we actually save by doing this, but when I asked neighbors and friends how much they spend on food monthly, we're spending around $200 less each month.  That's $2,400 a year!

8.  Water:  Our rain barrels and inside water collection help us water our garden, pets and yard.  Savings: $60 a year.

9.  Body Care:  I gave up shampoo and neither one of us wears cologne.  I rarely use makeup and when I do it's not expensive.  I traded for a year's worth of soap for our family and I make my own body scrub from ingredients in our kitchen.  Yearly savings: $100.

10.  Buying Loved:  Our fancy new camera, almost all of our furniture, our books, grill, even our bed sheets, picture frames and about 50% of my wardrobe are all previously loved.  Yearly savings: A LOT

Of course all of these savings mean that we get to splurge in other areas- soy based ice creams for instance- and of course everyone's lifestyles are different, but these are how we feel comfortable cutting back.

Anyone else bartering for a year's supply of soap out there?  Or taking a longer commute to save on gas?  Anyone see any topics that we're just totally missing?  I'd love more suggestions!

What I Got For Free Today: Plastic Bin

When I picked up a few bins of t shirts to make a couple of quilts, the woman who dropped them off mentioned that she wanted her bins back. "No problem!" I told her. Most of my t shirt quilts start in bins, and they make the entire process so much easier, so I don't mind them temporarily taking residence in the guest room, and I don't mind all of the free space when they leave.  When I went to grab the bins however, the woman remarked that one of them was broken, so I could just throw that one away.

Throw it away?? For a small crack in the side? I asked if she would mind if I just kept the broken one. She looked at me and shrugged her shoulders. "Sure, if you want it." She said. Snap crackle and pop! Welcome home new worm bin! Or maybe new chicken compost bin. Or maybe new potato planter bin. Or mini greenhouse. Or hand washing station. Or tiny rain barrel...

I could go on... But what are your suggestions? What would you do with a slightly disfigured, but free plastic bin complete with lid??

What I Got for Free Today: Bulbs

I am officially addicted to two things: cleaning out my junk, and bartering with it. This is what I got today:

A shopping bag full of daffodil bulbs!

Usually I buy our bulbs (3 years in a row now) from the Garden Club President, but I could not pass up a chance to add to my collection- especially since I know this bag is full of white and cream daffodils. So anywho- when I saw a post on my favorite barter page on the Facebook, I started looking around for things to swap. The lady with the bulbs wanted to trade for other plants, and I happen to have quite a few of those.

So I snipped off some nice sized pieces from both of our rosemary plants and stuck them in water. A couple of days later new root knots had started to form and I jumped at the chance for free flowers.

Now I just need to get these babies in the ground and let'em go. They will be the perfect addition to a new flower bed we're installing in the front.

I love free stuff and bartering. What would you trade for daffodils?

What I Got For Free Today

I posted on Monday that I am working hard on paying off my debt. In fact, since writing that post this weekend (and posting it on Monday) I have come up with another $150 to throw at my student loans- that's what we call progress.

But all of this not spending, and budgeting, and being mindful about our money doesn't mean that I'm missing out on new stuff. Today for instance, I picked up this bar of soap.

I traded three shopping bags full of odds and ends from my crafting stash to get it and I have to say I could not be more excited.

The woman who bartered my supplies for her soap, actually makes these herself in her own small business. So in honor of my free soap, here is some free advertisement for her!

Cypress Lake Soap is a wonderful locally owned company that makes wonderfully smelling soaps.  I kid you not.  I left my single bar of soap on the dining room table, to remind me to tell Marco about my sweet trade- and within the hour the entire room smelled of natural (not artificial perfum-y) lavender.  I'm considering buying a bar for each of my dresser drawers and just letting them scent everything!

I have not actually used this bar yet, but I realized that I had been given a different bar as a gift a few months ago.  The packaging has been long gone, but I remember that I had been saving this soap for really important baths. This of course means date nights, "I need a really long shower" showers, after I have run a race, or just need a little pick me up.    And it totally works.  My super dry skin feels soft and smooth.  It has a great lather.  It smells for ever after I towel off and I love that it's from a local business.

Plus, if you check out their website, you can see that there are so many scents available.  I also love that Michelle, the owner, lists every ingredient on every bar.  Y'all know I like my ingredients listed.

And that was how I replaced my old soap, that I really didn't love, but we had in the house, with a new bar that helped me clean some house.

Have you bartered for anything incredible lately?