Saving $$$

So Thursday, the 28th of July, I re-negotiated our cable bill.  This is an effort to help us spend our hard earned money wisely.  Compared to John, I don't keep an eye out for bargains like he does. Shellie always did say I have champagne taste on a beer budget (that's a PBR budget not a GF beer!)   But I was on the ball that day.  I received an email from Cox Communications touting their newest cable-internet rates.  We'd recently paid our cable bill and what Cox was advertising could save us money.   So, I called them up and secured a lower rate saving us $21.98 a month for the next 2 years. After those 2 years the price will go up - but I'm going to be on the look out for another opportunity to get another good rate once those 2 years are up.

So, Now I'm looking for other ways to save $$$!

Now, we use cloth diapers with the kids. We're not doing it to save the environment but to keep the kids bums from wallowing in a chemically designed pad to absorb pee and avoid spending $$ on disposables.  My mom used cloth- it was good enough for me- its good enough for the kids.  And really with all the laundry we do - we're probably not "saving" the environment with all the water we use to wash diapers. But by using cloth diapers we're saving $$$ because we're  re-using the diapers the girl used with the boy.  Though we did need to replace several of our covers recently - but they should get us through until both kids are potty trained.

Recently we switched laundry soap/detergent.  We were using a cloth diaper soap that was $.20/load and now we're using a cloth diaper soap that is $.13/load.  What's amazing is the diapers are now cleaner, they don't stink as much when dirty (the stink is disappearing the more washes the diapers get in the new soap), and we've stopped using bleach - which degrades the diaper and we're running less wash and rinse cycles.

One thing I'm not keen to skimp on is organic fruits and veggies.  If we can figure a way to buy organic fruits and veggies I'm all for it.  One thing we did this year is we joined a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) that only grows organic produce.  It's been awesome.  Every week we pick up our veggies and they are farm fresh, and taste amazing.  Store bought just doesn't compare.  We'll join the same CSA next year - the fruit and veggies are really good and the cost of $27/week for the entire summer season is a great buy considering all the food we get.  We have a pick up today, and we still have TONS of tomatoes and corn left from last week, and we've been eating the stuff like mad!

I really wish we could afford to buy all our meats as free-range hormone free and antibiotic free. But, we really can't - so occasionally we splurge - but it isn't often. So, we buy antibiotic/hormone free chicken when we can find it.  The same goes for pork and beef too. Turkey thighs and cutlets are a part of our regular rotation, and we buy those at WFM, because its the only place that sells them on a weekly basis, and the cost is reasonable for WFM.   It's nice that COSTCO is now starting to carry organics and some of their meats are hormone and antibiotic free.

So, now I'm on the hunt to figure out ways to save...and I think I found a way to eliminate my paper towel addiction.  It's called Skoy Cloth  - 1 Skoy Cloth replaces a roll of paper towels.  Here's the great thing about them, when it's dirty - you throw it in with your laundry and they are also compostable once you've used up their life expectancy.  I haven't tried them yet - but I'm planning on getting some once we exhaust our paper towel supply. Once I give it a try, I'll let you guys know how I like 'em and we'll see if it breaks my paper towel addiction.

What are you doing to try to save $$  in this economy? Any tips? Ideas?  How do you plan to buy gifts for this coming holiday season?  Are you making gifts or buying smaller/less expensive gifts?