Can we have a page, or thread devoted to this?

[AE]

Wonder if we can start either a thread or a page (specific page for this topic) devoted to helping each other out. The idea I had was to share money saving ideas, site links, and anything else we could do to help each other save money.

I know many people were already on tight budgets before all of our money problem in this nation, and also with people losing jobs in unprecedented numbers, it just is making matters worse for many.

I thought about taking it up locally, but the only place for that would be Craigslist, and let's be honest, nationwide, there are a lot of strange, and/or outright obnoxious people that frequent Craigslist (all too many in Liberalland Portland). I'd much rather share my ideas (tips, recipes, shopping strategies, etc..) with my fellow patriotic Americans here on ALIPAC.

Even an ongoing thread in this section would be good.

Any ideas, or things you'd all like to share, links, recipes, etc...go for it.

[AE]

I'll start.

We have four people living in a 800 square foot place. Our electric bill has been outrageously high, at an average of $250.00 a month. Yeah, I know, people just about faint when they hear this.

We have tried all sorts of things to get it down, but it's a rental and with electric heat, there is just only so much you can do. See, I grew up with wood heat, would love to have a wood stove, but cannot here. In Oregon, you can get a permit to go cut a cord of wood in the forest for $10.00. To have plenty of heat, we'd want two to three, and that would only be about $20.00 or $30.00, DANG!! I miss wood heat.

However, I recently did two things that may help. I purchased a kitchen faucet attachment that has two settings, one for spray, and the other for regular flow. This attachment is a rubber one that allows you to move the spray around to get better coverage of you rinsing and such, hopefully will save hot water. This attachment cost me $2.75 in the grocery store, called "Faucet Queen".

The next was to buy a shower head that uses only 1.6 gallons of water per minute, the one we were using, was 2.5, a savings of .9 gallons per minute. I hope this will bring our hot water usage down, and our electric bill. We have tried a lot to, but little has changed it. Of course spring and summer months mean warmer weather, less heater usage (we already keep it low as it, and simply use sweatshirts and bathrobes), but still it adds up.

Next thing is to tackle our dryer situation. We have a nice sized dryer, normal and in good repair, but we know this adds to our bill to a good degree. I am open to ideas that will lessen the electricity it might be using. BTW, we have checked our vent for blockage, and it is good.

I am hoping in the long run, to save about $100.00 a month on our electric bill alone.

I used to use a lot of coupons and get a lot of groceries for little, and with the advent of a local store I am in love with, which has bulk everything (coffee is $5.98 a pound and the best stuff ever), I stopped using coupons as much, but it might be time to return to that and start setting aside the money I saved, along with the saved electric bill money into savings.

Then with the savings, we can move, have a wood stove and save even more!

[vortex]

I would also limit dryer use as with spring and summer, and hopefully days with low humidity, laundry hung outside smells a lot better than dryer sheets (as long as you don't live under the landing and takeoff paths of the local airport.) I am sure you would be able to find one of those racks on which to hang clothes that folds away when it isn't needed. And if you do move, make sure you take all the goodies you bought for the house with you and replace the originals as there is no reason to leave your stuff in the house.
And if it is a house, and your lease is through the summer, I would also stick a few tomato plants into pots or in between the ornamentals in the beds. (And don't forget to give them a shot of epsom salts when they start to blossom. Makes for very sweet tomatoes).
And appliances probably should be unplugged when not in use (including cell phone chargers) as they will still trickle energy to the appliance whether it is in use or not.
At the moment this is all I can think of, but at $250 electric bill tops what the two of us use in 2,000 SF. And if the folks are family, you can probably make sure the laundry is done in full loads, rather than half loads. If they are just roommates, you may have to do a good sell job.
Good luck!

[Texas2step]

Someone else posted about the following low-cost food provider here earlier. This is my summary from their website:

ANGEL FOOD MINISTERIES:
http://www.angelfoodministries.com/

They provide people with what they describe as "quality food at low cost". They buy in bulk and distribute the food through local sites, usually churches. You just sign up for their service - you do not have to apply and be approved. You pick up the food yourself.

Each box of food is $30. They claim it is the equivalent of $65 worth of groceries at a supermarket and that it should provide for a family of 4 for 1 week. They also have "speciality boxes" of meats and fresh fruits and vegetables. You can order unlimited numbers of boxes. I believe you may order directly from a local site in addition to online. They post a "Menu" describing the foods to be included in their box each month on their website.

Please note that I only read about this on the internet and have no personal knowledge of the quality of food they provide. However, here is their link to "HOW IT WORKS':
http://www.angelfoodministries.com/abou ... _works.asp

AE, this organization began in the South, and I don't know if it is available nationally. However, if there is no distribution site in your area, perhaps you could help organize one. Hope this helps! Thanks to the person who posted the information here the first time; that's how I learned about it.

[AE]

Good points so far. I know there are a lot of people out there really struggling. Vortex, it is just my husband and our two younger kids (15 and 11), and the loads are always full. The bill has been outrageous here, and we cannot find out why, unless we paid for an electrician to come in and assess it, but then that is money down the drain too, as I do not believe we would have a recourse to get it back from the landlord.

We have even tried to have to electric company come in, but they said since it is private property, they cannot come in and have an in depth look, they do provide a technician service, but it costs as much as a private electrician.

I think this summer I will put up a line in the back (take some buckets, with cemented in poles and sink those buckets in the ground for a clothes line). Other than that time of year, up here (in Northwestern Oregon) setting your clothes out to dry is a moot point (cold wet weather 8 months out of the year). As for drying outdoors though, up here our water is straight from the mountains, just filtered, and I will have to remember to use plenty of liquid softener, otherwise things will be stiff.

I am not sure where you all live, but we have a really great store, the one I mentioned. The name is "Winco Foods". Up in the midwest, I believe there is a similar chain called "Rainbow Foods". They sell all sorts of things in bulk, honey, coffee, dry goods, specialty olives, pet food... the list is too big to finish here. For example, on their prices, a package of Grands Flaky Layer biscuits cost $1.38, at Albertsons foods (in other areas called Sav-On), it was $2.37, nearly a dollars difference for one package........that's a lot of money.

Also, not many stores here do double coupons, just a handful, and those are the most expensive stores around. I had heard that down south all the stores still do double coupons, anyone know about that?

I also had to share a good deal I got today. I went to the store to get a few things, and the store had Chex cereals on sale for $1.78 a box. Each box has a coupon on it that said "Get $3.00 off of any three Chex creals". So I bought six boxes, used two of the coupons and got them all for $4.68. Those are the kinds of things that across the country we could all use, more often.

One more thing I wanted to say about my favorite store here, they are the best for taking care of their employees. These people are not union, but they are paid far above almost all the other chain stores (the average clerk is paid $11.00 hourly, and stock is paid upwards to $14.00 hourly) their medical benefits are astounding (about $40.00 per family member for Blue Cross/Blue Shield), and after the first two years, profit sharing. They never have to advertise, are open 24 hours a day and the parking lot is always packed to the street. Yes, I have tried to get a job there, it is hard to get into one.

[AE]

Oh, Vortex....low humidity means it is not raining here, and our springs are really rainy, till about mid-May, yet still we will get some thunderstorms in May. So I will get some outside dry time till about early September, so I'll put the savings in the bank during that time at least.

Oh, here is one thing I can offer up. I have seen stores selling blackberries for about $2.50 a pint. This boggles my mind as around here blackberries are weeds. We get them for free, plus mountain huckleberries (essentially a type of blueberry that grows only in the high elevations (considered mid-alpine). Both are within "arms reach" for us. Another bonus is the abundance of salmon and trout. However if you are into it, we have a huge abundance of white sturgeon, which can weigh up to 500 pounds and up to 10 feet long, and also, one more fish, the walleye, not native here and the state game dept, will pay you to catch them in spring. Clams, oysters and Dungeness crabs, to catch (being a resident) is $6.50 yearly, and a fishing license is $24.75, hunting is $22.50 (big game, mainly deer and elk). I think you can get an all in one license for one year.

However, I am not up to the gutting and skinning of deer, maybe rabbits and grouse and wild turkeys, but not a deer (a little too big).

However, a provision they have here, and maybe other states, if you can prove you are indigent, which is a broad range in income limits, you can hunt, clam and fish for free.

[jshhmr]

Good idea AE! 3 people live in this 1100 sf house, and my last electric bill was $495. The one before that was $565 For some reason that I can't figure out, my winter bills run this high every year. My average bill any other time of year is about $165. I have recently gone around the house and located all of my vampire energy sources. Those are the things that are powered off, but still have a light of some sort on indicating it is powered off My Nintendo Wii is a good example.

I started cooking when I was 8, and I am the one that does the cooking at home. There are several things that you can cook cheap, as long as you have them as left overs the next night. For instance, it costs me $8 to cook chicken and dumplings but with leftovers, it's $4 a night for 3 people. I have a super fast and easy Beef Stroganoff recipe that will feed an army for $9 plus leftovers. Also, if you can do it homemade, then it will save money. Many people keep spices/flour in their cabinet anyway, so there's a good chance you can do it yourself without spending money on a prepared product. Taco seasoning is a good example. If you have cumin, salt, pepper, and garlic powder you have taco seasoning, and it tasted much better too! If anyone needs any cheap meal ideas just let me know.

[AE]

jshhmr, that's a high bill...how cold do you get there in winter? Can you install a wood stove?

I already cook, mainly, from scratch. I grew up in a family of 8, and we learned early on how (yes, my brothers too, my father and mother said they should not depend on potentially getting married in order to have a decent meal, plus my father was a former Navy cook and was a baker for a living).

Roasted chicken one night, chicken soup the next, that's the way it is here. I do keep quick stuff around, it is the lesser of two evils on busy nights versus going out to get fast food. Leftovers for lunches.

I do not buy cookies, they are made, and that goes for all baked goods. Of course having been a bakers (mother was also a cake decorator) daughter, it would be unthinkable to buy it, knowing how simple it all is.

[DearsisterAnise]

Fantastic idea of this thread AE. Especially during times as these.
My husband has been unemployed since 9/11/08, and aside from the annual bills that come in, unemployment just does not cut it. And naturally we lost our medical insurance, so that's another problem too. Yes we were offered 'Cobra', but for us $8-$900.00 a month is impossible to pay on unemployment.
We both are sick, he has diabetes, high blood pressure, and a problem heart. I'm a diabetic, and have MS. So it's mandatory that we have the proper meds, and see our doctors at least once every 3-4 months. The visits are suppose to be once a month, but this has to do right now. For the doctor visits we use a universal healthcare card, (below) which is $18.00 for registration, w/first month free. Then after that it's $49.00 a month. So that takes care of the few doctor visits we could handle for the prescription slips (below) and whatever right now.
For our meds, we get them for free from the manufacturers w/prescription slips from the doctor's visits. So, so far this system is working for us, and we're grateful. Gods forbid if either one of us has to go to the hospital, we were advised to use the Catholic Charities. I guess if worse comes to worse, 'pull an illegal'. I was going to say after that, make small payments as you possibly can afterward. But then again illegals don't pay their bills...

So hopefully those of you who are in the same situation, could use these links for that purpose.
Good luck and God help us all.

This link will tell you everything you want to know about office visits, etc.
It's $18.00 for registration, w/first month free. Then after that it was $49.00 a month. We have the gold program.
http://www.universalhealthcard.com/

Manufacturer meds

Here's a few of the links we worked with for the free meds. If you have the time to read them, cool. If not, just go to the phone #'s and call them for an email application or snail mail one. Some of them interview on the phone too.

http://www.freemedicinefoundation.com/a ... FQodwCYEEA

http://www.needymeds.org/ <---- Good one, this is the one where my husband gets his heart meds.

https://www.pparx.org/SelectMedication.php

http://www.rarediseases.org/ <-----------NORD for MS medication needles

[AE]

Thanks, I like having links like that to refer to.

So far my husband has not lost his job. He works for a fabric wholesaler (know those quilt shops in your areas? That fabric likely was unloaded from a truck by my husband) and the owner said although things have slowed down and sales slipped, he guarantees no one will lose their jobs. Although he was recently promoted to supervisor of the receiving department, no one got raises, and his should have been somewhat substantial. So we will wait it out and if things improve, the boss will certainly reward those who stuck around despite the inability to have their raises, we at least can look forward to that.

However, the insurance offered by his work is too expensive for us. The kids did qualify for the state coverage due to the lack of affordable health care, and barely by our income standards. However, I am uninsured, and have asthma (I recently had a cold go straight to my bronchial tubes and wound up in the emergency room, long story short, ER doctor made my husband believe it was not my asthma, but my heart and convinced him to have me stay overnight, although all tests showed there was no heart issues, and now we have this huge bill to try to handle, in the meantime, they did not take care of my asthma till I made a huge scene).

It is not easy, and we just barely get by. I do feel lucky that we are doing far better than two years ago, and we have hopes to finally get a place of our own, even if it is just a nice manufactured home in a rental space, the place would be ours. I'd rather us do it that way anyways, we would not have to worry about being able to make the payments and know we could afford it.

I have found so many ways to make stuff homemade that usually you buy. One of them is "Nestle's Macaroni and Cheese".....you know Nestle owns the "Stouffers" label (aka: Stouffers Macaroni and Cheese)? I was a bakers daughter and can make my own breads, however we have a bakery thrift store close by (Franz bread, a local company and very good, and very cheap there), so really it is more reasonable to just pick up at that store.

I have two of the books "Top Secret Recipes". The author has more out though, I have the two original. There is a lot of good recipes that are clones of the fast food/convenience foods out there. Although, the Oreo one is just not quite there.

I have made my own mayonnaise, coleslaw dressing (tastes just like KFC's), fried rice, orange chicken (like Panda Express') and....Cinnabons, yes, those can be done at home, it is so much easier than you think, but don't do it, or eat them if you are diabetic (they are loaded with brown sugar and powdered sugar, however, might be possible to make them with a replacement sugar).

I could share some of those recipes here too, money savers so going out is not a temptation to tight budgets.