Cutting Cost? (Long wanting thoughts)

Where we live in Nova Scotia food is very expensive much more so than in the US. We have always gardened and preserved our food just to survive and eat well. There used to be six in the household and it took alot of food to feed four teenagers!We raised goats and chickens off the land and kept a work horse who ate pasture; hay and from the garden also.We only had to buy a small amount of laying mash for the hens.We still do this today.

I cooked on a wood stove and heated all the bath water on the stove. It also had a five gallon water tank on the end. We washed clothes in the bath tub plunging them and wringing by hand until later when we had a wringer washer. They were line dried in good weather and hung on a folding rack set in the bath tub in the winter.Now I have an aprtment size pressure washer and really appreciate it. We also have a twelve gallon hot water heater for bath and sink water. That I am also thankful for. I still line dry or dry the wash on drying racks in bad weather.

The wood stove was a lot of work because we had to go to the woods and cut the wood and limb it; haul it out with a horse and haul it home with the horse and cart. It had to be cut up and left to dry in the wind until ready to be stored in the wood shed for winter.Then it had to be brought in and fed every two hours into the stove in the dead of winter.We still do this but it is getting harder as my husband is 65 in March.

Buying wood is out of the question as it can run $200 or more a cord in long lengths and still has to be cut up. We plan to insulate the part of the house we live in when we can afford it to save on wood.I still use my kitchen wood stove and we have a heating stove also.

We would not have survived had we not lived this way off the land. For years we also didn't have a phone or vehicle.Our fixed expense was property tax which increases every year and the power bill which we kept to the minimum. Our income was never over $5,000. a year when taking care of six of us. But we still lived very well and still do. Last year our income dropped when I lost my childcare job and we lived on $2,500. for the year but there are only two of us now.

It is possible to live cheap but it is very hard work and you have to like living this way. You also have to be willing to give up luxeries and enjoy the things in life that are free.

Big Rockpile,
It's sounds like you are doing just about everything that you can to help cut your cost. I would also like to suggest that if you have two homes, choose which of the two you would like to live in at retirement or now and sell the other. I know how hard it is right now for you cause i am going through about the same thing. Hubby had to have emergency open heart surgery eight months ago and there went our income. He had been having heart surgeries (stints) for over two years prior to this so our savings was wiped out and gone. I didn't want to , but had to go and apply for food stamps and medical help. Now that he is on long term diability, we make too much to qualify for anything. As we see it, if he is allowed permanent disability, we will be living out our retirement years now. I too am always looking at cutting things back as I don't think I will be able to afford to buy anything, like a wood stove, to help us heat our house up. I would love to go with a wood stove as here in our area, getting wood is fairly cheap. I just go to the forestry service, pay my $6.00 for permit, and go where they have logged off some of the land for the leftovers. Now if you want to make a few bucks here and there, do like I do, I do online surveys and get paid $3.00 for each one. It's not much, but in a few months, it's enough to buy a book I'm wanting from Amazon or what not. In fact, they just sent me out a letter to forward to my friends to have them sign up too. If you would like to join, just pm me with your web address and I will get it to you.

Debbie

We were locally offered wood stoves for free twice (by people upgrading to propane or oil). Now, that said, often those aren't the most current code-approved type, which is a consideration for insurance requirements. I have seen plenty of code-approved models selling via Craigslist very reasonably. Now isn't the best time to buy, unfortunately. The most substantial money saving thing DH is working on is that modification to our wood stove to heat our water. It has been quite a project! That should cut our propane bill dramatically I don't know how well bartering is in your neck of the woods, but we have found it to be an excellent way to get everything we need (yet can't afford).

Well we talked things over.Thought over the fact my wife could go to School but it would be for two years which would put her that much older and may not be a Job in the field left at that time.In March she can reapply for the Job up by our Cabin at the Lake.Even if she doesn't get it she should be able to get a Service Job up there or at least she can still go to school up there if she wants.

Sell this place price it at the most I figure its worth but be willing to deal.If I can't get what I need let it set,not having any problem keeping it.

We can get all our Firewood free,up there can still have a Garden big enough for needs.Can get a Car in and out so be cheaper on Gas and initial cost.

If we sell this place it will cover all we owe and we can live on what I have if needed and have some left over.

If things go right with Income Tax Refund,Money from Logs off this place and if I collect money owed to me we should be in there by May.

big rockpile

__________________
I love being married.Its so great to find that one person you want to annoy for the rest of your life.



If I need a Shelter
If I need a Friend
I go to the Rock!

What I'm going to suggest probably won't be popular. But, this is what many people should do to get through tough times. Take in a boarder. Rent out a room. Just my thoughts.

Thats funny.There is just enough room for me and my wife here.It is next to impossible to drive back here.And no Jobs for income.

I only had one person outside a family member living here.All he had to do to stay here was help around the house.He kicked my Dog Within five minutes I had all his stuff and his A out on the road literally.

Family I Love them but that doen't work with me even.

big rockpile

__________________
I love being married.Its so great to find that one person you want to annoy for the rest of your life.



If I need a Shelter
If I need a Friend
I go to the Rock!

If you want to save money the way to do it, first of all, is to stop spending money. You're looking at investing (spending money) to save it. Hold off on that and reduce costs first. Electricity is the big eater. Turn off everything you don't need on - yes, like our parents and grandparents did. Turn the light off if there'll be no-one in the room. Use compact fluorescent lights rather than incandescent lights. High quality compact fluorescent lights - this is definitely one item where you get what you pay for, and false economy is just that - the el cheapo ones last no time at all, and the quality of light they give degrades quickly too. Anyway, compact fluorescent lights, turn them off when you're not using them. Same with other electric devices - if they've got an "instant-on" feature then it's because they aren't really off - there's a lot of things with a "phantom load" because they wait for hours or days to respond instantly. Computers, monitors, printers, scanners, things with remote controls (TV, DVD, sound system). Turn the lights off at night, then walk around and look for lights. Anything that shows a light (even an extension cord/multi-outlet) or a clock (microwave, DVD, TV) will be cheaper if you turn it off at the wall, and only turn it on when you use it. When you get down to it, The only things that should be on all the time are frig and freezer, maybe heater and air-conditioner.

Next thing is cut down. Turn the thermostat higher in summer and lower in winter, and make up for it by wearing lighter clothes or more layers depending on the season. A fan is cheaper to run than an air-conditioner, and a fan will let you be more comfortable even if you use the air-conditioner with the thermostat up.

About now is the time to start thinking about LED lights too. They're even cheaper to use than compact fluorescents, but they cost more to install.

Then you can start thinking about spending money to save money - investing in solar power, solar hot water, etc. But you would have needed to do an energy audit and trimmed your energy use before that anyway.

The next thing you need to think about is fuel usage. It's another big cost, and just cutting down a small fraction can still add up to big dollars. First, keep your tyres inflated at the top end of their range - they roll easier. Keep your motor vehicles properly tuned, and the spark plugs on non-diesels clean. Then drive easy. Don't race. Drive smooth and easy. Drive looking well ahead - every time you stomp on the gas you spend money, every time you use the brakes you lose that money, so don't get caught behind a turning vehicle or a stopping bus if you could see it happening up ahead. This is actually fun - the fourth or fifth time you coast gently past some hoon would-be racecar driver as the traffic lights turn green, when he's raced and roared to get past you and be held up at the lights - just smile in a saintly manner and mouth at him "Bless you, my son". It's surprising how little difference there is in trip time between racing frantically, and driving calmly to arrive in good shape. A lot less time and money if the racer was pulled over and booked by a traffic cop.
Only use the vehicle air-conditioning if you must. At lower speeds during summer it still works to have the window open. And if you're stopped in traffic turn the engine off - guess what? - running the engine while going nowhere for more than a few seconds wastes fuel.