Congratulations on having a baby on the way, that's really awesome (Don't tell my girlfriend I just said that
).
Here are some things my girlfriend and I do to pinch the pennies:
No heat, I don't know the climate where you're at but sometimes it gets to the low thirties in our house but we have zero insulation so we simply cant afford to put the heater on (hot water bottles in the bed are excellent). If it's a cold day I'll bake bread/dinner. I also read somewhere that most houses are very poorly insulated with drafts coming in through all of the sockets, and other various places (a non-issue for me because I have absolutly no insulation and holes in the wall - "vents"). You might want to look into that, heavy curtains/blankets up at the windows help too I guess. What we used to do at mums where its hot (like 90-100 degrees) in the day but cool (around 50) at night is open the windows at night, and close them in the morning, that kept the house cool all day if we didn't open the front door too much.
Like everybody said, I like to use the library when I can (I do like to own my books sometimes, then I buy used online). I don't ever buy movies though. Libraries should be the center of every town!
Look into non-disposable diapers. It's something I know nothing about but it might be a cheaper option. Non-disposable anything tends to end up cheaper in the long run.
I duno how much you spend on trash but you could reduce the amount you get with a compost pile and recycling. We have an insert in our trash can so its smaller and cheaper for us (...or our landlord) and we still only bother taking it out every few weeks.
Food really is one of the most important and enjoyable things in mine and Kate's lives - doing it well makes us more active, healthier, and happier. Cooking together makes it more fun, putting time into cooking makes it better tasting and more satisfying, and eating together is incredibly sociable and important. I find it very difficult to eat well if I'm alone.
There are a few things that we do with regards to food (If we're really pinched we can manage to only spend 30 dollars between us for dinners for a whole month, probably less but we haven't been quite that poor yet!):
I bake all our bread, 100% whole wheat. It really doesn't take much work at all, really about a half hour of actual work, the rest is waiting, so I do it when I know I'll have some time off (PM me if you want a decent, reliable recipe). It freezes well also, so you can make a week or two's worth in one go.
It's just me and Kate, so when we cook dinners we make a gallon and freeze two person portions. We cook a bunch of dinners on one day and stock the freezer up, that way we just take them out of the freezer in the morning and heat them up at night. (PM me for some tasty recipes!) I try out recipes that work then store them on my computer so over time I am building up a decent amount so I can have more of a variety, not everything freezes well. By doing this we eat less because they are pre-made portions, usually a little smaller then regular portions but then I fill up on bread which comes out at less then a buck a loaf. By planning the meals like this there is absolutly no wasted ingredients whatsoever because you plan what to cook and buy the exact amount you need.
Plan your meals around what is in season or buy lots of veg when its in season and can/freeze it. Can marinara sauce, chicken soup etc if you have a pressure canner (watch out for botulism). Find local fruit trees in peoples garden, people rarely eat as much fruit as they produce, give them some homemade jam or something for their generosity.
We eat less meat. People (at least in America) tend to eat far more meat then is necessary, it's expensive! Me and Kate will save up a hundred bucks and goto costco and buy predominantly meat to keep in the freezer for when we're cooking. With the exception of bacon
.
We tend to eat non-processed whole foods because they are cheaper and better tasting. Simple as that. Buying packaged food may be convenient, but most of the time it's not worth it at all.
Some frivolous stuff that we enjoy but wouldn't normally be able to afford we make ourselves:
Bread - I mentioned it earlier though. No way I can afford 3 or 4 bucks for a tasteless loaf of bread you find pre-made/sliced/packaged in the store. I used think it tasted pretty good if you bought the more expensive brand of sliced bread at the store, but now I make my own, the store bought bread is just awful to me...I'm ruined for homemade bread!
I just got a sausage stuffer for Christmas so now we make sausage that would normally be bought for 9 bucks a pound for less then a buck fifty a pound. Best sausage I ever had!
We brew our own beer, can be as cheep as 50 cents a pint and all you really need is a big pot and a big jar. We had accumulated much much more equipment over the past few years though
.
I'm planing on getting started with making my own cheese, I don't think it's any cheaper then the cheep rubbery cheese unless I can find a good source of milk, but I'll bet its tastier!
I'm
sure there is more that we do but I can't for the life of me remember anything. Take what you will from those tips, not everybody can do everything
.
Oh yeah, I duno about those regular light bulbs but Kate and I use the energy saving ones and our electric bill is so low they only charge us the minimum. It's probably not solely due to the bulbs though.
