It seems like prices are going up on everything again. Just when I thought that we would be fine financially, everything has gone up. And prices will be rising again. I work hard for the little bit of money that I make, and it would be nice to be able to keep some of it. I find that, yet again, I will have to try to cut corners to make ends meet. How do rising prices determine what this single homeschool mom will do to cut costs and be able to afford an entire homeschool year? Well, I will have to sit back and determine my priorities and how I can cut costs. I will have to think about every aspect of our lives. What can we cut back on? What can we eliminate, if anything? What are we not willing to give up?
* Gas
Sometimes we pitch in for gas when we are with others, but we do not have to worry about this on a daily basis right now. None of us drive, until Skye gets her license. We walk most places, most days. This is good because 1) we do not have to pay for gas and repairs, 2) we are not harming our environment, 3) I am losing weight, and 4) my children are not overweight. If we lived closer to a grocery store, we could even do our shopping without transportation. We would just be shopping a little more often.
* Food
We are learning new from scratch recipes. We used to cook from scratch a lot more than we do now. Due to the fact that some of it can be a little time consuming, we have cut back. We will just have to start doing this more. What can we make cheaper from scratch than by purchasing pre-made? Bread, English muffins, pizza crust, soups/stews, pastry crust, muffins, lasagna, breakfast and snack bars, desserts...
I planted quite a few tomato, zucchini and cucumber plants this year, and I am hoping they will do well. Half of them are in good soil, and the rest are planted in the not-so-good dirt around my tiny little lot. I always have chives growing as well. I am planting where ever I can fit things in. I am hoping that I will not have to by so much when these can be harvested.
* Cleaning Supplies
I resolve to always have on hand: Vinegar, baking soda, salt, dish/dishwasher/laundry detergent. Nothing else is necessary. But, when affordably found, some other things would be welcomed.
* Personal Hygiene
I will purchase only what is necessary: Soap, shampoo, toothpaste/brushes, floss, mouthwash, q-tips, razors, deodorant and womanly needs.
I have not had a haircut in more than year! I will find someone to do this for free/barter.
* Utilities/Other Bills
Over the last two years, each of these have went up once or twice: Lot rent, water/sewer, electric and oil.
1) I took everything off my phone bill except the maintenance service and the call forwarding. The maintenance plan can (and has) saved me a lot in repair bills. I feel that call waiting is necessary so that my teenage daughters can let me know where they are when they are out and about. My phone bill is $8 per month.
2) I have done quite a few things to reduce these bills already. I replaced all of the major appliances over the last few years so that I could have more energy efficient ones. I also switched to compact flourescent lightbulbs where appropriate. We use natural light as long as we can each day. We use the laptop more often than we use the desktop because the laptop uses less electricity. The desktop was a gift to us, and I purchased the laptop refurbished from Dell rather than purchasing a brand new one. This saved quite a bit of money. We are using the television less. I like the background noise when I am working, but am trying to do without it. This is my second biggest (new) change for saving money. During good weather, we hang the laundry outside to dry. I try to hang as much as we can inside during bad weather.
3) We take significantly shorter showers now, and I cannot really cut us back any more here. I purchased a dishwasher, which is supposed to use less water than doing dishes by hand. However, I used the dishwater to water the gardens, so I will have to figure a way to do this still. I have a portable dishwasher, so I can put the dish pan under the faucet and let the water drain into that. I can watch it to make sure that it does not overflow, and replace it with the big bowl when needed. After the water in these cool , I can use them in the garden. This will be a big money saver this summer. Also, I use the water from cooking vegetables and pasta in my gardens. The plants love the nutrients. I just make sure the water is cooled all the way before using it.
4) There is not much I can do about the sewer bill unless I can lower the water bill. The sewer bill is always twice as much as the water bill.
5) I will be keeping my AOL. I pay a monthly fee, am happy with my service, and my name is linked to it. It stays.
6) The oil is expensive, and prices have gone up here as well. During the winter months, we wear extra clothing and keep plenty of blankets around for covering up while watching television. I turn the heat down to 60* - 65* when I go to bed. We have covered some major heat loss areas, and I will have the curtains made by winter so that we are not losing so much heat that way. I am also going to try to make the things that you lay across the bottom of the doors.
7) DirecTV is a necessity to us. It has quite a few educational channels that we use regularly. It is also our main form of entertainment. I also use it in my childcare business due to the educational value. It is an expense, but it is something that I am not willing to let go of unless it is necessary. We are all hoping that we can cut back far enough on other things to keep the DirecTV, as well as cover other necessary living costs. If not, we will have to let it go.
8) We cut back on our Blockbuster membership, but did not eliminate it completely. We switched from being able to have 3 movies mailed to us at any one time, to being able to have 2. This provides us with educational movies, as well as regular movies. I do not generally buy new movies, as I wait for individuals to sell them at very low prices online, and I will not buy something that I do not know for sure that we will like. This way, I can test drive the movies. We have a rather large collection of DVD's that we own, and keep acquiring them as we can find them cheaply enough. We also have three family members who buy the new DVD's, so if we absolutely have to get rid of this, we will still have plenty to watch. For now, cutting back seems to be enough.
9) We do not require a lot of entertainment (other than movies!), but there are a few things that we like to do. Unfortunately, these things usually cost money. So far, this is what we have done. Our vacation this year is a concert and a trip to a friends camp. Skye and Zowie purchased their own tickets from money they earned, and my ticket is a freebie. So I paid nothing for this concert. The camping trip only requires me to buy our food, and I will try to force gas money on our friend.
Bowling happens only a few times a year, on discount days, and I do not play. I keep score and watch the girls. It is a lot of fun.
We go to the movies only for the big ones: Pirates, Harry and another choice or two throughout the year. We go to a discount theater. We eat first and/try to get the food deal as well.
We go to free events whenever possible. We will sometimes even bring our own picnic lunches.
We play board and card games.
* Other Items
I only pay full price for things when it is necessary, and we try to keep most purchases to the bare necessities. We wear clothing until it is no longer useable or until we grow out of them. We do not have any actual game systems, though we do have some educational computer games and a couple of Scene Its. Skye won a lot of her CD's.
I love thrift and consignment shops, clearance aisles, yard sales, used book stores, flea markets, department stores, dollar stores and the Good Will.
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Shannon Buck is a single homeschool mom who lives in a small town in Maine. You can contact her at
thehsmomof2@aol.com. For some tips on acquiring homeschool supplies cheaply, see her article Preparing for the 2007 Home Education Year at
http://www.thehomeschoolmomof2.com, and for more money saving tips, see her site
The Low-Income Way of Life.
