EVEN MORE WAYS TO LIVE BELOW YOUR MEANS! FRUGAL, SIMPLE, OLD FASHIONED LIVING! #savemoney

I did something similar when my washing machine died. I knew that a serviceman would charge at least $100 to come to the house and the repair would likely cost $100 or more on top of that. I searched YouTube with the brand of washer and specific problem and up came a dozen videos showing how to fix it. I ordered the part ($30) and installed it myself. I was pretty impressed - not bad for a middle-aged woman with absolutely no shop classes or experience with repairs! Since then, I've repaired my lawnmower twice and a few other things around the house. Thank goodness for YouTube!!!

An overflow valve on our hot water tank was leaking. The plumber said it would take 2 hours to fix. My husband did research on you tube, bought the part for $30.00 and it took him only 30 min. to put together.

Freeze any watermelon you can’t use in time and then combine with yogurt and make a smoothie!! It’s delicious!!

I am blessed I have a husband that is great at fixing thing. We have been Married 53 years, and he has saved us so much money. We are in our 70's and he tries to do most of the stuff still. I am thankful 😊

In cottage country, there is a used book store that gives store credit for donated gently used books. I took in some books I no longer needed, purchased three books, and still have credit available for my next visit. I have some delightful reading ahead, gained a little shelf space, had a lovely experience with the staff and a volunteer, and didn't spend a penny! A real feel good afternoon!

We always try to find “non buying solutions “ before we spend any money. It’s amazing what we have laying around!

I fed my cat chicken liver and some other meat based foods as I learned on YT that cats and dogs are basically carnivorous. My cat's bold spot on her back went away and she looks beautiful and happy and more serene than usual and no vet or drug bills for me. Meow:)

Question of the week answer:My neighbor gave me some tomatoes and cucumbers from her garden. I didn't have any quart or pint jars that weren't in use to can the tomatoes so instead I got out my jelly jars and I made tomato jam because I just didn't want to spend the money on more jars. I made refrigerator pickles with the cucumbers and put them in regular jars (non canning) that I had in the cabinet.

My washer started leaking from the bottom recently. It's an older washer we bought used 4-5 years ago. So it is probably 10+ years old. My husband (who is a bit more dramatic than me 😂), said "well, i told you it would go out soon, niw we have to buy a new one". I went straight to google, then YouTube. Shared my newfound knowledge with him....and long story short, he was able to replace a cracked pump that i purchased for $12 from Amazon in about 15 minutes!

The weather has been so hot lately I didn't leave the house last weekend to do my weekly grocery shopping. By Tuesday I needed milk for a casserole I was making and no milk in the fridge. I remembered I had some powdered milk in the pantry closet. I mixed together some of that milk to use in the casserole. It turned out just fine. There was no lunchmeat to use for my packed lunch for work this week. Back to the pantry closet. Tuna salad sandwiches two days and a peanut butter & jelly the third day. Just a little use what you have week. God Bless 😊

My son is an automotive tech. So he takes care of my car for me. So grateful for him.

My little frugal savings: I warmed the mechanism of the empty salt grinder and wiggled it off. A person can buy a bag of Himalayan rock salt at Dollar Tree for $1.25 and zero tax that’s enough to refill it several times. The grinder originally cost $2.99 plus tax (8.575%) so this maneuver kept the plastic grinder out of the landfill AND saved us at least $11.80. Not a major savings, but it is a huge return on investment. And salt grinders are FUN

I’m retired but still always look forward to Friday thanks Emmy and Paul ❤

To save money this week, I cut and colored my own hair and did my own mani and pedi. Also lots if zucchini and cucumbers harvested from our garden saved me a small fortune at the supermarket. Have a great weekend, stay cool! Mrs. D. Hudson Valley

I love my pressure cooker so much! It makes the cheaper cuts of meat so tender in less than an hour.

I ignored the heat buildup it caused and canned 18 pints of vegetable soup base. I used fresh zucchini and yellow squash from my garden and all the odds and ins of frozen vegetable scraps I had saved up in it. So the only thing i had to buy at the store were the canned tomatoes and a few stalks of celery which was about $7 total. I had all the canning supplies and spices already. And I have free natural gas to my house! Then later in the week I bought 2 gallons of fresh blueberries from my friends who grow them to sell to local farmers markets. I made 6 pints of jam and sugared and froze the rest in small containers. I figured it cost me about 60 dollars for a years supply of organically-grown frozen blueberries and jam. They are so sweet and delicious! I only lightly sugar them so that they keep their shape and I can open a container and take whatever amount I need out and then seal the container back up. So for about $70, I have18 pints of vegetable soup base, 6 pints of blueberry jam and 1 1/2 gallon of frozen, sweet blueberries to use in baking, smoothies, pancakes or snacks by themselves. I live way out in the country and roads can get dicey in winter. I have the basis for a lot of good home cooked meals from this weeks work for those cold winter days!

Husband repaired my old, perfectly broken in recliner. He found 2 needed parts in his stock pile. I needed a baby changing station for my grand's visits. I found a basket and placed in it a rolled diaper changing pad, some diapers, wipes, butt cream, bottle with water and wash cloth (she spits up alot and a wet wash cloth for washing her neck area does better then a wipe) I set this basket on an old end table near her crib.

The kickstand on my bike is too short and my bike falls over! A new kickstand is $25. I went to a building supply "second time around" store and purchased strong plastic tubing for $1 and a PVC "T" coupling for 65 cents. The plastic tubing slid nicely over the kickstand. I glued the PVC 'T' on the end of the kickstand/plastic tubing. My kickstand is lengthened and works great. $1.65 vs $25=no-brainer.

We have been picking and eating and freezing tomatoes from our container gardens and my son did some work in our car for us this week. Also dried clothes outside. Carole

Our well-maintained 20 y.o. Subaru Outback needed spark plugs, ignition coil and a new radiator, estimated parts & labor about $2,000. The car isn't worth putting that amount into it, but my husband wanted to keep it for hauling things and as our backup second car which occasionally is very handy. With YouTube videos and a little reassurance from our old trusted mechanic, he replaced all that himself for about $150 total in parts, and it runs beautifully again. One advantage to keeping it is that we only insure it for liability. We're both retired and don't often need a second car, but for $150 he is glad to keep it. On the flip side, we also had a recent frugal FAIL -- had an AC unit serviced to replace the capacitor for about $400. Shortly after I found a YouTube video showing how easy these are to replace yourself with the part from a big box home store costing only about $25!! 😆 Apparently these go out every few years and it's the most likely reason if the AC stops working. Arg, live and learn!