How are you cutting costs at home?

1. I've changed over just about all of my lightbulbs to the florescent ones. HEB had an in-store coupon a while back that took $1 off the cost of $1.99, so I was able to make the change over pretty inexpensively.

2. Fortunately, I have a big freezer, and two refrigerators, so I watch sales, and purchase in bulk. Recent purchases were "post Christmas clearance" spiral cut hams at Wal-Mart for $.99/lb, pork roasts for $1.00/lb (HEB), seasoned boneless/skinless chicken for $1.00 (HEB), full racks of baby back ribs for $1.49/lb (HEB). Three teenage boys also guarantees that none of what I purchase hangs around very long, too!
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3. Eating out is seldom, and is almost always limited to what coupons are available in the Entertainment Book, or have come thru the mail. We also get pizza on Crazy Tuesdays at Little Caesar's. $3.99 for a large pepperoni. Yeah, I know it's not the greatest pizza, but teenage boys aren't all that picky, $16.00 worth of pizza will feed all of them, and leave a good bit for lunch the next day.

4. My boyfriend has access to just about all of the oak/mesquite that I could ever need in the hill country. My regular home heating routine is to open the window coverings upstairs in the mornings, and leaving them open during the day. The sunlight heats the upstairs, during the day. When I get home, we light up the fireplace, and heat the downstairs.

5. OPEN WINDOWS. If the outside temperature is less than about 85, we open the windows and turn the ceiling fans on high. I'm also planning on having a whole house fan installed this spring. I had one at my old house (it was built in 1951), and it really got the air flowing thru the house on those days when the breeze wasn't blowing enough.

6. I take my breakfast/lunch to work. Fresh fruit, oatmeal, omelet warmed in the microwave at work, for breakfast. Leftovers for lunch. I rarely purchase anything in the cafeteria at work. Breakfast there can easily run $3-5 for breakfast and $4-7 for lunch. WAY too much for my pocketbook.
 
Monday-Thursday, I pretty much lock myself in the house. I don't go out at all. Try to anyway. Parents still give me their leftover foods because they always cook too much.
 
Well my fiance and I have started taking our lunches every weekday instead of going to Quiznos or somewhere. Then when we do go out to eat we will usually split a plate since most places give you too much food anyways. But we also never order 2 drinks. We can always split a tea or something and get a water.
 
Kitty O'Shea's has half-price Fish and Chips on Wednesday (about $5). Ireland's Four Courts is a little more upscale and has $4 off fish and chips on Tuesdays. We actually haven't been to either of those places recently because we haven't had enough time, and I'm not willing to give up by half-price burgers at Whitlow's. It makes me hungry just thinking about it.
 
Every Friday, I drop off that week's magazines at Half Price Books. They give between 50 - 75 cents per. Usually take in 3 or 4 magazines. Hey, its a gallon of gas!
 
Ha! That's what my wife wanted to know when I said I was selling our magazines. I drive right past the Half Price Books on Lamar/2222 on my way home, otherwise, those magazines would be in the recycler.
 

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