Living Within Your Means

Have Fun for Less

For recreation, we watch local sporting events that cost little... high school, college or minor league. Our family does have a health club membership. We can go swimming throughout the year, work out, sit in the hot tub, and take classes included in the membership. Our youngest son loves the kids club. I love to read and get books at a great price at the local used book store, ebay or Amazon. I swap books with friends. -- Cooper

We haven't been able to buy gifts, so we make cards and decorate them. We also try to have a potluck at least once or twice a month to bring our friends and families together and socialize on a budget. -- Kimberly8

When we go on vacation, I try to find us a time-share condo to rent: I've gotten 2 bedroom units for us for $400 or $500 for Christmas week in Williamsburg. Having a place where you can whip up meals and snacks cuts the cost substantially. -- LeahOne

Cut Food Costs, not Nutrition

Have you thought about making a weekly menu for dinners and lunches? We've done that for years and it cuts down on trips. We get the double Sunday paper and my daughter cuts the coupons out as her task. I grow as much food as I can to cut down some or eat things that go farther in the digestion. One example would be to eat an apple before a meal. That has been shown to cut one's caloric intake by some 150 to 200 calories by filling the stomach up with a fiber rich food. -- Peter M.

Something that will help both save your money and boost your health is to eat a vegetarian dinner every other day--cut down on your meat consumption. -- Chiyo

One of my favorite fall/winter meals is to cut up rutabaga, sweet potatoes, carrots and beets and put them into a ceramic dish for baking. Drizzle some olive oil and maybe add a few cloves of garlic cover with a ceramic bowl and pop ‘em in the oven. Easy, and the flavors mingle very well. Anything cooked in those ceramic baker things will taste fantastic. -- Sakhaiva

Save at the Supermarket

I cruise the "scratch & dent" section of the supermarket every time I go...lots of fresh produce is usually available in there. If I find mushrooms, I slice them up and cook 'em, then freeze in one-cup batches to add to stews, soups, whatever. I also shop the end cuts of the deli department--these can be julienned for a chef salad (same for cheese for you veggie folks), or diced for a hearty soup (roast beef ends are great for this!). -- LeahOne

We also use coupons and go to town, once a week, to shop after the coupons come out. One of the things we do is buy bulk. That includes the animal food. It gets broken down and put in a freezer we have for it.. -- itty