With inflation rising rapidly most of us are finding it increasingly difficult to make ends meet. And when this begins to effect our MRR hobby spending $$, we need to become more resourceful. Lets not let this thread go down a rat hole like the previous one that was locked this morning. Rather, lets see how constructive and creative we all can be at listing some ideas on how to gain more $$ for our hobby needs. And please, don’t rap someone else’s ideas, if you don’t agree, just move on and list your own ideas.
Here are some of the things that I have done. I am retired and on fixed income, so what I have done may not be appropriate for others.
Increased air pressure in tires to 34 lbs for better mileage, the LHS is 14 miles away.
I keep my speed to 60mph on freeway with autopilot. Big savings over doing 65 or 70mph, anticipate stops, and no jack rabbit starts at the lights saves more gas.
Collect all the bottles and cans that are returnable, use $ for MRR.
Planted a larger veggie garden, we will freeze and can more this year to save on food bill.
Buy more kits, they are cheaper.
Sold the Pellet stove because Pellet cost per ton is rising every year, we bought a Jotul wood stove because we have 6 acres of hardwood and we have a log splitter, no hard work swinging a maul. Money saved on fuel cost helps my MRR budget. Cut oil use from 850 gallons a year to 540 last year.
Changed every light bulb in the house to CF’s. Electric bill has dropped $4.25 on avaerage per month.
Dry cloths in utility room hanger lines instead of dryer. Big savings here.
Planted more shade trees around the house, AC runs less in Summer, more savings on Electric bill, more $$ for MRR bu
We did just that several years ago and that has saved us 500+ dollars per month already; actually about a thousand dollars a month plus parking fees etc.
Start a budget, know how much to spend each month.
Make one trip to walmart for everything that month. Make a list and stick to it. For example I know we consume 6 rolls of paper towels per month, every 30 days.
Stop going to the hobby shop far away, start using the internet to get items shipped to you.
Finally but not last, create a savings account for 6 months to one years total funds and make it happen. For example, if you spend a thousand dollars each month on everything then start putting aside 3 thousand, then 6 then 9 and so on. Before you know it you have sufficient funds to ride out any problem for a long time.
That recent 1200 stimulus check? Straight into our savings to rot until tax time next year.
It might have to cost you your beer, smokes and fishing boat… all of that is wasteful and drains your funds.
With cornbread and a thick slice of Baloney…YUMMY!
Simple…For my needs I avoid both full price hobby shops and buy at the best on line discount…I also only buy what I need instead of buying simply because I like it.Oddly some months I have hobby dollars left over and then of course the month could end up in the “red” as well depending on if I need any of the new releases from Athearn or Atlas.
General tip: You can keep a relatively well-insulated house comfortable without A/C. Temperatures always drop at night, usually a lot. Put box fans in several windows. Install ceiling fans in the rooms. Now, turn the box fans on in late, late evening after sundown. All night, they will blow in cool air. In the morning, turn them off and leave them off all day. Use the ceiling fans to provide cooling breezes in the house. You will find that the house usually stays quite comfortable.
As I was standing at the kitchen sink waiting two minutes for the hot water to heat up I thought, Hmmm…One of those instant hot water heaters that mount under the sink would be a good idea. They only use energy on demand and your not wasting water waiting for it to heat up. I remember seeing them 20 years ago and thought they were a joke, but these days they make a little more sense.
Anyone have any experience with these?
Last Chance-Unfortunately, many people living in rural areas are forced to make 60 mile(or more) commutes to work because that’s where the jobs are.
We had a govt job in a nice cushy agency filled with money, benefits etc. Gas is or was about 400 dollars per month, per car. Both of us went down there, me to my work and wife to hers.
Total gas cost at the time 800 dollars per month. Commute time about an hour and change subject to traffic which is particularly bad in the morning requiring horsepower and big brakes.
That was then. We took home x dollars per year of income and filed taxes etc… years go by with little change and increasing maintaince to now worn out cars. They just dont make em like they used to.
We commute less than 15 miles now to work that offers the benefits we need with a annual income of slightly less… ok, half the govt job. However that 15 mile commute takes place on lonely two lane state roads early in the afternoon while everyone else was racing home the other way. and vice versa in the morning. Basically we swapped day to night.
Our brake work has dropped to zero and became years between brake shops, our engines last longer and perform better at least 30 miles to gallon. We drive about 350 miles each week every 7 days and require the car to do at least that much with a 50 mile reserve on our tank. Trips are planned weeks in advance to fit within that mileage limit.
That work commute at 15 miles or so one way is a durn sight cheaper than the big 60 miler.
The savings of gasoline for parking one vehicle and using less gas per week for both of our work is much more than the loss of the nice government salary and 7 dollar/hour blue collar work downtown. We were slaving away slapping 500-700 miles a week on BOTH vehicles with horrendous gas bills each month. That was then.
Yes we gave up the good job downtown but we gained so much spending power as to eliminate credit card bills and take on additional projects. We are still broke but if all the jobs vanished and we only had the two bit mc-job (Try competing against hundreds of graduating teens for th
I’ve been on the brink of trading in my 1966 Lincoln (along with its 4 mpg and 1 quart of oil per tank of gas consumption) for years, but I just can’t bring myself to part with it. Besides, it’s so much fun to drive to Green rallies in it. [:)]
Less to do with NAFTA and more to do with very high world commodity prices. There aren’t a lot of those commodities that Canada doesn’t have oodles of.
I have one at work. It’s really good, since it heats up really quick, and it actaully produces hotter water (as in scalding hot)
As for me, less leadfooting, keep it under 2500 rpms, pump the tires up to 35 psi, and drive a little slower. (I used to go 60 going through downtown, now it’s around 50). plan trips to have more than one stop (i.e. after work go to LHS, wal mart, and Lowes; work is close to those places) I don’t know how much gas I’ve saved (odometer and tripometer quit working), , but I went from filling upevery other week to every three weeks. What bugs me is in a month I went from about 35 bucks for 3/4 of a tank to almost 50.
Having recently been laid off, I can certainly attest to things being less than rosey round these parts. My work is based in residential housing, which is still sucking wind after about a year and a half. I’ve got some odds and ends to do for people, so the wolf hasn’t gotten through the door, but I can sure hear him knocking.
The main thing I do is try to stay positive, thank God for the blessings I do have, and keep my faith that things will work out in the end.
The good news is, I only have to get gas about once a month since I do my free lance work at home. I actually volunteer to run to the grocery store once in a while so I don’t forget how to drive!
Just remember… Every day above ground is a good day.
stop the impulse spending. If it’s not on your list or in your budget, forego it.
Stop the “sign and go” purchases…credit cards, installment credit and “no $ down, no payments for…” on whatevers…It will get you into trouble all the time.Only put on the credit card what you can REALLY pay off the next bill when it comes.
Send in the payment the day after the bill arrives. HAve the $$ ready for it when it needs to be paid to avoid late fees, and higher interest rates due to missed/late payments. The credit card bills always come out the same time each month, know when yours is due to arrive and have the $$ waiting.
4)Stop the “entitlement purchasing”…does EVERYONE in the family really need (be entitled to) one of each of things? Can’t some be shared? This includes cell phones, TVs, computers, cars and even rooms and bathrooms. Do the kids or grandkids really need one each of these?
Do you really need 2,367 channels of TV to watch? Cut the cable/satelite bill. Cut out the extra extentions you pay for each person to have their own TV to watch in their own room.
Take the safe driver course to save on car insurance.
stop eating out.
Use cash whenever possible.
Don’t use expensive interest rate Dept Store cards…they DO take MC, Visa & Discover (usually)
Transfer high interest balances to low or zero interest cards, and pay down quickly.
Sell any “toys” that you rarely use…RV’s, boats, ATV’s, extra vehicles etcetera, even if you only get what you owe on them, at least you will be out from under the payment.
NEVER buy anything at full price, only buy on sale.
have a yard/garage sale to get rid of “stuff” you don’t need, don’t won’t can’t use and make a little $$$.
Vacation only within a 50 mile radius of your home/town. You’d be surprised at what there may be to do c
The economy is OK it’s the 17% HST (homogenized sales tax) that’s killing us, but we are just waiting for the other shoe to drop, does anyone remember 1981 “bust” in Alberta??? —get ready for another one ! ! I went through 2 of them.
This is the number one drain on cash, the number one way to run up a credit card bill, and will save you a lot of cash wasted in those side trips to Wal-Mart, Target, etc. “because we’re already here”.