I haven't changed the name of this blog yet, but I've decided to record some of my ideas and lots of tips on becoming more frugal, especially as it relates to living in OH!
Here are some things I'm working on to stretch the bucks
1. I joined Swagbucks and am using my free Amazon certificates to buy Christmas gifts.
2. Become obsessed with gas mileage and kind of hyper-miling. We drive A LOT so this is a big expense. I'm not talking about driving on the butt of a semi to decrease drag. I'm shifting to neutral going downhill, trying to keep my RPMs under 2500(my mom always did this), turning off the car if I sitting for any length of time, driving slower than the 72 mph I usually do, planning ahead so that I ease to a stop, and planning trips to I don't back track. The last is easy for me because I'm totally OCD when it comes to back tracking. It makes me crazy. Ironic, isn't it.
3. Making as much of our food from scratch. This means running the bread machine I bought on Craigslist at least 3 times a week to make bread.
4. Making an effort to improve my use of coupons. There are a ton of sites out there that explain this better than I can. I'll try and list some soon.
5. Eating in season and buying enough to preserve for the rest of the year. This means picking blueberries in July and freezing, strawberries in June, etc. I'm currently taking advantage of the cheap cheap cheap apples!! I've already purchased a bushel($24, U-pick @ Hillside Orchard in Brunswick). Made a batch of applesauce for the freezer. I'm going to need more to freeze for recipes.
6. I just ordered 25 pounds of rolled oats from Shaffers Market. Not only will this save money buy getting it bulk, I won't have to make a special trip just for oats. DD14 loves her oatmeal! Oats can be frozen indefinitely, so storage isn't a problem. The only problem is that I'm starting to run out of freezer space. I currently have about 75 pounds of ground local beef, 8 local whole chickens, applesauce and some other stuff I can't remember in the upright freezer.
I welcome any money saving comments or ideas. Tips for local places to get some good deals would be awesome!
