New money saving tactics from COVID-19

[molarbear]

Just curious if people would like to share if they have picked up any money-saving practices during COVID19 that they hope to continue after the pandemic ends.

For us..
-Not eating out as much. I didn't realize how much I would occasionally pick up a drink or treat driving around doing errands or on my way to work
-Found out I'm semi-decent at giving my DH a haircut. Hopefully will never visit the barber again.
-Bread making
-Yogurt making
-Surveys online since I have so much more free time now

[imadandylion]

Oh, absolutely. I started some projects that I had been meaning to do even before the pandemic for the fun hobby factor and to save money in general.

- I started a sourdough starter, and baked a couple loaves of bread (one was just with regular active dry yeast, though, meant to be more of a regular loaf). Husband likes to get bread which is like $6 so I feel like we are 'winning.'
- Watched a handful of youtube videos on hair cuts for men. I now feel like I am somewhat knowledgeable on 2020 hair trends for men. And gave husband a good cut with the limited tools we have. It did take 2 hours since it was my first time, but it was FREE! :) My own bangs? Let's not discuss.
- Saved herbs purchased from grocery store or received in a restaurant takeout order to grow. Now I have rosemary, thai basil, italian basil, and green onions (I always WTF-ed at how these are always $1.99-$2.99/bunch)
- Planted seeds, mostly herbs. Tomatoes. Hopefully I will be inundated with them later on. Tomatoes are kind of expensive...
- I made at least $50 worth of kimchi, and it came out perfectly, and we are not sick. That makes me feel pretty baller. That is typically $7-8 for 16 oz. Ridiculous.
- We fixed a clog in our sink instead of calling a plumber or getting the apartment maintenance guy involved. One snake drain and a large pipe wrench later, we don't have to deal with a backed up sink. Woohoo.
- Grind whole wheat berries in our blender to make flour instead of buying actual flour. It's so much cheaper and they have a longer shelf life anyway when they stay whole.
- This was a while ago, but I made gnocchi and although it took me quite a  while, it was nice because the store-bought version is many times more costly.

Other projects:
- We are also going to make our own almond butter soon. So it'll be half the price of the store-bought house-made one we get at our grocery store.
- Starting a scoby to make kombucha.
- Homemade yogurt.
- Homemade hand cut pasta and udon. I don't have extruders or anything like that so this will be fun. I don't know if this saves any money, though.
- Make cold brew coffee. I don't drink it - this is more a habit I hope husband will adopt because he loves to go out to cafes in the summer and get it. That is like $5-6 dollars on ONE beverage and it's such a waste of a container, too, if he doesn't bring his own cup. We have the filter bag and a large jar, so just need to actually do it.

[erutio]

- Homemade yogurt.  Been making about a quart a week.  Kids love it with honey.  We put it in smoothies. 
- Homemade yogurt led to homemade granola.  So easy, so cheap, and much healthier/less sugar than commercial granola (why haven't we always been doing this?). We add nuts, chia, coconut mixed with a small amount of honey to ours.
- After many years, finally have a sourdough starter going.
- Made homemade sweet potato gnocchi.  Plus: Wife says it was the best pasta she's had in her life.  Minus: Although we save a small amount on cost, the time it took probably made it not worth it.  I'll have to 'save' this for special occasions, lest DW starts expecting me to hand-roll, cut, and shape gnocchi every weekend.

[maisymouser]

Not mine, but my brother recently slashed his cell phone bill $30-40 per month since he decided he didn't need much (any?) data while staying home full-time.

We are on the yogurt train too. I'm a bit intimidated by bread-baking, my loaves have always come out pretty dense. I need to head over to the sourdough thread I guess.

Since I can't go to thrift stores I haven't spent as much money on things that would be just fun to have, though I don't know that it's been a net positive in my life. I miss being able to pick up a fun toy or two for my 1-yo each week.

I am planning to write an article or two for a blog that I freelance with sometimes. Not big money ($50-80/article) but it's a nice little side piece of work to do when things are boring.

[Eventuality]

Lots of homemade food and less takeout, including pasta, bread, etc. Only going to the grocery store once/week and being efficient about shopping. I didn't realize how much money I would save by not stopping at the tempting local thrift store and stopping for coffee every once in a while (even once a week adds up!). I think I had been sliding into some less-than-Mustachian habits without realizing it. Bad me!

[MasterStache]

Hmm, our food bill is quite a bit higher with kids being home. And we have budgeted take out from 1 local restaurant every week to try and help struggling local eateries. On the flip side transportation cost has dropped dramatically.

[Loretta]

Before getting groceries became so stressful and required such planning, I was more wasteful.  Now I’m trying to get every last drop of soap out of the bottle and every last speck out of my spices.  I’m also on the prowl for sub $2 gasoline.  In the past I would just buy gas at my closest gas station. 

[the_fixer]

Wife and I were discussing how much less we are spending due to the stay at home and working at home.

We have driven our car 1x to go to the grocery store and short trip to top off the battery about once a week. Our tank is still almost full and it has been about 60 days since we filled it where normally we would fill it weekly.

I have been threatening to shave my head for years and did it about a month ago, my wife was pissed at first but she is okish with it now. I think it turned out great and plan to keep it short for summer, might let it grow in the winter. Normally I would get it cut 4x a year

Not eating out for lunch daily and multiple dinner’s each week. We have been WFH and staying at home for 53 days now and the amount of money saved is amazing

Not wasting food and other stuff we have been trying to use every bit and freeze what we would normally let go to waste. Partially due to scarcity of items but also we have more time to be mindful of waste and deal with things

We would have normally gone on a spring trip to somewhere warm in February but watching what unfolded we decided not long trips this year so that will probably save us 3 or 4 major trips typically out of the country so that is thousands of dollars

Fixed the shifting on my MTB and the disc brakes on my wife’s bike, normally we would take it in but the Park tools videos were great.

Not necessarily a monetary thing but by not eating out and having time to ride my bike and work on projects around the house I have managed to lose 21 lbs since the stay at home orders.

Really puts things into perspective at how damaging my current job / lifestyle is and has me more excited and hopeful for FIRE.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[molarbear]

Oh, absolutely. I started some projects that I had been meaning to do even before the pandemic for the fun hobby factor and to save money in general.

- I started a sourdough starter, and baked a couple loaves of bread (one was just with regular active dry yeast, though, meant to be more of a regular loaf). Husband likes to get bread which is like $6 so I feel like we are 'winning.'
- Watched a handful of youtube videos on hair cuts for men. I now feel like I am somewhat knowledgeable on 2020 hair trends for men. And gave husband a good cut with the limited tools we have. It did take 2 hours since it was my first time, but it was FREE! :) My own bangs? Let's not discuss.
- Saved herbs purchased from grocery store or received in a restaurant takeout order to grow. Now I have rosemary, thai basil, italian basil, and green onions (I always WTF-ed at how these are always $1.99-$2.99/bunch)
- Planted seeds, mostly herbs. Tomatoes. Hopefully I will be inundated with them later on. Tomatoes are kind of expensive...
- I made at least $50 worth of kimchi, and it came out perfectly, and we are not sick. That makes me feel pretty baller. That is typically $7-8 for 16 oz. Ridiculous.
- We fixed a clog in our sink instead of calling a plumber or getting the apartment maintenance guy involved. One snake drain and a large pipe wrench later, we don't have to deal with a backed up sink. Woohoo.
- Grind whole wheat berries in our blender to make flour instead of buying actual flour. It's so much cheaper and they have a longer shelf life anyway when they stay whole.
- This was a while ago, but I made gnocchi and although it took me quite a  while, it was nice because the store-bought version is many times more costly.

Other projects:
- We are also going to make our own almond butter soon. So it'll be half the price of the store-bought house-made one we get at our grocery store.
- Starting a scoby to make kombucha.
- Homemade yogurt.
- Homemade hand cut pasta and udon. I don't have extruders or anything like that so this will be fun. I don't know if this saves any money, though.
- Make cold brew coffee. I don't drink it - this is more a habit I hope husband will adopt because he loves to go out to cafes in the summer and get it. That is like $5-6 dollars on ONE beverage and it's such a waste of a container, too, if he doesn't bring his own cup. We have the filter bag and a large jar, so just need to actually do it.

wow amazing! i'm definitely going to look into grinding my own wheat berries - where do you get them?

[imadandylion]

@molarbear I just got them in the bulk section of my grocery store, which is a local co-op. To be honest, I'm not sure if I've ever seen wheat berries anywhere else before but I wasn't trying to look for them before either. You could probably try whole foods or an equivalent local natural foods store in the bulk or baking section, or try sourcing them online.

[Fru-Gal]

Weird tip: Commercial toilet rolls last forever! Bought 2 accidentally ordering online (they come in a box) and we leave it on the back of the toilet (too big to hang on wall unless we got a commercial dispenser) but seriously lasts weeks. Not going back to normal rolls!

[tyrannostache]

I have been getting a lot of enjoyment out of this bread recipe: https://www.treehugger.com/green-food/loaf-bread-i-bake-over-and-over-again.html. It's pretty simple, though it does require a lot of kneading, and I'd recommend you look up some videos for how to shape a sandwich loaf before you plop it into the pan (and then let it rest there for 30 min or so before baking).

[K_in_the_kitchen]

Oh, absolutely. I started some projects that I had been meaning to do even before the pandemic for the fun hobby factor and to save money in general.

- I started a sourdough starter, and baked a couple loaves of bread (one was just with regular active dry yeast, though, meant to be more of a regular loaf). Husband likes to get bread which is like $6 so I feel like we are 'winning.'
- Watched a handful of youtube videos on hair cuts for men. I now feel like I am somewhat knowledgeable on 2020 hair trends for men. And gave husband a good cut with the limited tools we have. It did take 2 hours since it was my first time, but it was FREE! :) My own bangs? Let's not discuss.
- Saved herbs purchased from grocery store or received in a restaurant takeout order to grow. Now I have rosemary, thai basil, italian basil, and green onions (I always WTF-ed at how these are always $1.99-$2.99/bunch)
- Planted seeds, mostly herbs. Tomatoes. Hopefully I will be inundated with them later on. Tomatoes are kind of expensive...
- I made at least $50 worth of kimchi, and it came out perfectly, and we are not sick. That makes me feel pretty baller. That is typically $7-8 for 16 oz. Ridiculous.
- We fixed a clog in our sink instead of calling a plumber or getting the apartment maintenance guy involved. One snake drain and a large pipe wrench later, we don't have to deal with a backed up sink. Woohoo.
- Grind whole wheat berries in our blender to make flour instead of buying actual flour. It's so much cheaper and they have a longer shelf life anyway when they stay whole.
- This was a while ago, but I made gnocchi and although it took me quite a  while, it was nice because the store-bought version is many times more costly.

Other projects:
- We are also going to make our own almond butter soon. So it'll be half the price of the store-bought house-made one we get at our grocery store.
- Starting a scoby to make kombucha.
- Homemade yogurt.
- Homemade hand cut pasta and udon. I don't have extruders or anything like that so this will be fun. I don't know if this saves any money, though.
- Make cold brew coffee. I don't drink it - this is more a habit I hope husband will adopt because he loves to go out to cafes in the summer and get it. That is like $5-6 dollars on ONE beverage and it's such a waste of a container, too, if he doesn't bring his own cup. We have the filter bag and a large jar, so just need to actually do it.

wow amazing! i'm definitely going to look into grinding my own wheat berries - where do you get them?

Molarbear, depending on where you live, you may be able to get wheat berries from Azure Standard, a co-op run from Washington state that delivers via truck to drop off locations.  Essential Organics (online) also sells wheat berries -- I find their prices to be higher than Azure, but Azure isn't coast-to-coast *and* Essential Organics delivers to your door.  Locally I also find wheat berries at a Seventh Day Adventist market, and a natural foods store.

[K_in_the_kitchen]

We used youtube to help us fix the garage door when it came off the tracks.

I cut my husband's hair (trimmer + scissors) and my son's hair (trimmer only, figured out doing a fade). Neither of them would've let me cut their hair pre-Covid.

We're regrowing vegetables from vegetables (romaine, celery, green onions). I honestly was too lazy to do it before.

I had some dry milk and dry cream in the pantry, and have used them successfully in making ice cream.

Today I'm trying to culture reconstituted cream with the last of our sour cream from the refrigerator.

I already bake sourdough and culture yogurt, off and on, and I have them going again (this starter is from 2016). I have plenty of yeast, but it's nice to have different breads, and sourdough pancakes with the discard are easy and good.

I finally decided to dehydrate some of my sourdough starter, to have as back up.  Again, I was too lazy pre-Covid.

I combined ground rice with pulverized rolled oats to make a cheap gluten free flour I can use in brownies for my sons.

[Chris Pascale]

No commuting cost, oil changes, car washes.

On 5/1 I let the kids shave my head.

[Trudie]

Eating out less.  Not as expensive to drive because we’re not doing errands.

But the hassle factor of masking up and being careful (necessary, but makes life tense) makes me think about what we really need.  It’s like the old adage:  “Use it up.  Wear it out.  Make do, or do without.”

Also, a renewed commitment to shop locally has slowed me down from buying shit on Amazon and elsewhere.

[nessness]

I typically buy a tank of gas every 10-12 days, but I've only bought one tank of gas in the last 2 months, and my tank is nearly full.

[Linea_Norway]

I FIREd a few months before the pandemic started, so I already made new routines like baking SD bread.

But specifically because of Corona, we stayed at home a lot and weren't allowed to visit our mountain cabin for a time. We saved lots of car fuel and tol road money on staying home or close to home.

For the rest our money saving is business as usual, as we very seldom eat out, I cut DH's hair, DH sews our outdoor clothes, etc.

[Plina]

I have been saving money on bus tickets as I usually walked about half of the times and took the bus the other half to work. Mostly when it was raining. I am also saving money because there is no job travel and therefore no lunches or dinners out. I am also experimenting more with vegetarian dishes as I found an interesting cookbook for meals under one dollar.  The biggest money saver have been all the cancelled personal trips. I am saving record amounts. This month my savings rate will be about 70 % instead of about 40 %. I don't think the 70 % saving rate will be sustainable in the long run but I am pretty happy if I can keep it over 50 %.

[Cassie]

Saved a lot of money by not going anywhere but being retired it’s getting really old.

[Bettersafe]

Saving on gas, but that will likely come to an end once we have to go back to our workplaces.

[Dicey]

This is for you, @molarbear, and anyone else interested making your own flour from wheatberries. Lots of good comments, too.

https://www.thefrugalgirl.com/grain-grinding/

[draco44]

I've been using some of what would have been commuting time to work on mending my clothes. I've darned socks, repaired seams, etc. It's empowering to be able to fix your own stuff and make it last longer. For anyone who's new to mending, there are tons of free tutorials online. I also love the book Mending Matters by Katrina Rodabaugh.

[Linea_Norway]

Since covid and the lack of toilet paper, I have gotten a routine to use less toilet paper. After a number one, I wipe with a wet cloth that I wash out afterwards and reuse during the day. This saves tons of paper.

[K_in_the_kitchen]

Since covid and the lack of toilet paper, I have gotten a routine to use less toilet paper. After a number one, I wipe with a wet cloth that I wash out afterwards and reuse during the day. This saves tons of paper.

I've used dry cloth wipes instead of toilet paper (for urine only) off and on for more than a decade. Last year I got serious and sewed flannel cloth wipes, and using those consistently dropped my toilet paper roll usage to one roll every 8-10 days. I have a small covered metal container in the bathroom to hold the used wipes, and I wash them weekly (hot wash / hot dry) and sanitize the container.

***************

I'm still looking for new ways to save money in our new Covid-19 lifestyle.

I have plans to rescue/repair a leather dog leash with instructions I found on YouTube.

Since I have the time (and craft supplies), I'm going to make the necessary birthday and Father's Day cards for June.

I plan to give home-baked bread to a friend for her birthday (DH doesn't need a birthday gift).

With the library closed, I've challenged myself to read books from my bookcase.

With everyone home, we've reinstated family game night, playing games we already own, of course.

Not wanting to go to a laundromat, I used the hose with a good sprayer to clean a rug I would usually need a big machine for.

I've cooked 74 dinners in a row (and made sure we had breakfast and lunch options).

Our van (class B mini motorhome) and our car were last fueled 3/13 and 3/15 respectively, and both still have half a tank each (we're driving them to keep the batteries charged).

I bought gelatin to make those gel room/closet fresheners, since I tried one out and like it, but didn't want to pay $10 again for the naturally scented option.

I asked my dad if I can have the freezer he isn't planning to move across the country.

I'm saying yes to many things my dad is offering me, even if I don't have a place or need at the moment. So far he's offered me an antique mahogany dresser, a high quality cubby unit with baskets, and canning jars. He's also giving me his high end patio dining set (second wedding gift), because the chairs need new seat fabric and he doesn't want to hassle with it. He mentioned he was going to scrap the set, but I was pretty certain replacements could be ordered.

[blue_green_sparks]

Wow, impressed with all the ideas and accomplishments, seems many of us think alike... such as the joys of fresh home made yogurt, SD bread, and backyard garden harvests. Also we have been ordering paper supplies from restaurant supply houses. Our 3,000 feet box of cling film may outlast me. Safe bet that people who aspire to be FI (or who are FI) will naturally cope with exceptionally challenging events better than most.     

[Loretta]

I saw on my Nextdoor site that the local band boosters were selling masks.  My state just made masks in public mandatory this week.  The band booster’s wanted $8.00 for one mask.  I said no thanks. 

I am finding that everything pretty much tastes better wrapped inside a warm and buttery crescent roll.  That’s going to be my dinner in a few minutes—ham and A Colby jack Mix baked into crescent rolls. 

I am limiting my grocery outings to a smaller, older Safeway because I don’t want to deal with the crowds who might be at the more popular, larger Wegmans. I clip their digital Just 4 U coupons beforehand although they are not as generous as they were pre-pandemic.

[Morning Glory]

I had the option to work during my normal vacation and save my vacation time for later but I chose to take the time off and stay home because I just needed a break from work.  We finally got around to taking down our swimming pool that came with the house (it needed a new liner which would have been about a thousand bucks, plus we are now saving the annual cost of chemicals and electricity to run the pump). It’s much safer for the kids now too. We are DIY ing the landscaping and can probably get a little money for the leftover chemicals and pool parts as well. We have an old creek bed that we can move some dirt from, so our only cost will be a bag of grass seed and gas for the tractor.

The time spent mowing and weeding will be reduced too, since the pool was surrounded by stupid rocks that alway got full of weeds, and it was blocking a section of grass from being able to get to it with the riding mower. And we won’t have to winterize, dewinterize, and worry about the kids falling in.

Let’s say the pool used to cost $250 per year in chemicals, the odd replacement part, and electricity, plus I’m saving a thousand bucks by not replacing the liner. So if I invest $1250 this year and an additional $250 each year afterward I will have $5797 after ten years (using an investment calculator with 7% return) Plus the amount necessary in my stash decreases by $6250 from removing the $250/year expense.  These 2 things shave about 2 months off my time to fire, not including other major repairs that the pool would have eventually needed. In my area pools don’t add any value to the house as they can only be used 3 months of the year.


We cleaned up some of our other junk too and photographed it to sell.

My husband is repairing my stand mixer today, so I can start making bread again.

I became eligible for CSP again just as they started the grocery promotion; I normally just redeem the points for cash so I will get more value out of them in grocery statement credits than I would have otherwise.

I am definitely more motivated to save money because my job sucks more because of COVID19. I am not going to reinstate my gym membership once they reopen since I am used to home workouts now.

[Hula Hoop]

Tons of family time here so we've been playing the board games we already own - as others have done.  Also making lots of time intensive foods including home made bagels, home made pasta and various other things.  We've been going to the park to skip rope and the kids roller skate and younger one rides her scooter (already owned those).  This is not money saving but we also all bought bikes and helmets that we are picking up tomorrow.