There are hundreds of things you can do to scrimp and stretch that don't require you buying something else. Lack of imagination can be costly.

Especially with the intarwebs now. You can look any number of little tricks.

Or you can go to TFD and get mocked for being poor.

I for one bow to our new Popeil overlords.

I spent probably $45 this year growing tomatoes and peppers. Not because I was trying to save money, but because gardening is something I've been trying to get into.

Anywho, I go to Home Depot and the lady there is showing me all this really expensive stuff people are buying to "save money". Unless you have a pretty extensive garden, and you're growing from seeds, you really aren't saving very much.

ultraholland: • Digital day counters: Gizmos that count the days and hours food has been in the refrigerator, to help keep track of when that milk might be in danger of going bad.

do these people not have noses, tongues or eyes? christ

"But this says that rancid meat is good for another three days!"

GoodyearPimp: schattenteufel: I have one of those toothpaste tube flatteners.
My mom bought it for me.

I have several -- two thumbs. Or if I'm really getting nuts, the back end of my toothbrush.

Side of the countertop is fine with me. Though I do have one. From Grandma.

Caps that keep the fizz in opened soda cans.

Um...if you were really poor, you wouldn't be buying soda. And you sure as hell wouldn't buy it in cans.

I'm thinking of buying another indoor electric counter-top composting machine.

Knucklepopper: sboyle1020: Knucklepopper: Diogenes: GoodyearPimp: schattenteufel: I have one of those toothpaste tube flatteners.
My mom bought it for me.

I have several -- two thumbs. Or if I'm really getting nuts, the back end of my toothbrush.

Side of the countertop is fine with me. Though I do have one. From Grandma.

I use one of those paper clip things.

I just buy new toothpaste.


Go dream your farking dream and sing a song about it, you rich, homely farking biatch.

Only brush your teeth once a week or for special occasions (wedding/funerals/3rd dates), you can get your toothpaste to last forever...

Virulency: what_now: Caps that keep the fizz in opened soda cans.

Um...if you were really poor, you wouldn't be buying soda. And you sure as hell wouldn't buy it in cans.

dude in some places you can sell those cans and make money!!
/lol

Sell them???

I cook on them!

Virulency: dude in some places you can sell those cans and make money!!
/lol

Imagine my surprise when a neighbor explained to me that when he visits his family in Pennsylvania, he does his canned-and-bottled beverage shopping there and brings all their empty cans and bottles back to New York to cash in on the five cent deposit that they never paid on it, because that's how you get "rich": by being "smart" about the little things.

Imagine his surprise when I pointed out that he was defrauding the public and may as well be committing welfare fraud.

what_now: I spent probably $45 this year growing tomatoes and peppers. Not because I was trying to save money, but because gardening is something I've been trying to get into.

Anywho, I go to Home Depot and the lady there is showing me all this really expensive stuff people are buying to "save money". Unless you have a pretty extensive garden, and you're growing from seeds, you really aren't saving very much.

Growing your own veggies will almost never save you money even without the gadgets (after all folks in the business of farming take advantage of every economy of scale possible) but it IS an affordable luxury that is SO worth it. I'm really lucky because my local rec center will rent a a 20x20 plot from Mar-Nov for $20, and that includes all the water you want. As I told my son, you've never actually tasted a tomato until you've had a home grown one ripe off the vine. For $25 worth of seed packets We ate tons of heirloom Tomatoes, Peppers, carrots, lettuce, squash beans and melons and herbs last year- every damn one of them better than anything I could even get at the local farmers market.

RareChimer: Here's a good money-saving tip:

Don't shop for more food until you're completely out of food. Once you're out of food, buy only the ingredients you found easy to cook with.

Ideas:
Chicken
Baby spinich
Mixed greens
Garlic
Onions
Tomatoes
Cucumbers
Cabage
Cabbage
White rice
Brown rice
Pasta
Butter
Olive Oil
Unsliced Bread or rolls (not sweet rolls)
Spices (pepper, salt, rosemary, thyme, celery seed, cumin, garlic powder)
Fruits (not red apples or dark grapes... they've been bred to be hyper sweet)
Honey
Sugar
Loose-leaf tea (to make iced tea, sweet tea, hot tea)
Milk


... etc.

Both of them? Can you use them to make sauerkraut and also saurkrat?