Things to Cut When Money Is Tight...2026 October Edition

 1)  Seeing advertising.

Bit hard to cut all of that because...billboards.  BUT, since you cut your streaming services, you might be watching or listening to the free versions.  Look way or focus on the "skip" button until the ad is over.  Better yet, quit watching and listening to "free" apps.

2) putting your data/info in for "free" access to news, streaming, whatever

This allows targeted ads and sale of your info.  Try using the Libby or Hoopla or whatever from your library.  Books, magazines, movies, music and more are generally available there or online from the library.

3) buying/renting new/different when you already own

Or...now...stick with me a minute here....break out the CDs and play those.  No subscription.  You OWN it.   If you are smart and own an older car, you have a cd player in there.  If you are not smart, or the car is sold old the audio is busted, stop by a thrift store and pick up a used cd player.  Or go cassette.  You can get "new" music at yard sales, thrift stores or the library for cheap and free.  

Things to Cut When Money Is Tight...2026 September Edition

 1) Excessive/competitive gifting

This just came up at work.  Apparently our program staff are (is? ANGE! HELP!  I know you are retired but how do I get this verb to agree with a singular subject that implies multiple people) nice to the custodians and this is rare.  WTF??   Do people not want clean toilets and vaccuumed carptets and plenty of paper towels, tp and soap?

ALSO:  Have you tried to run a professional office WITHOUT custodial services?  

ALSO ALSO: I have been a janitor, hotel cleaner, and other similar jobs.  People treated me like crap.  Why do that? I could have poisoned many people by not cleaning those dance clubs and restaurants in Ames, Iowa back in the 1980s.   But, frankly, like contaminated lettuce at a chain taco restaurant (allegedly), how would anyone know it was me poisoning them?  They were all barfing after drinking and eating there anyway.

SO:  The custodian bought all 5 of us banana bread.  Like GIANT loaves.  EACH.  I bought one a few weeks ago because the lady and her son (boy toy??) came around and were super cute and nice and it's good bread but it was lik 15$ each!  The custodian doesn't make that much money.

Most of us were out of the office so our front-desk person doled the loaves out as we came in.  The custodian said she wanted to give us these because we are nice to her, talk to her, and give stuff to her.  We gave her a TINY jar of jam we'd made, a bit of a traditional medicinal plant (we have tons...good harvest this year) and a bar of soap with said medicinal plant in it.  This was over MONTHS.  Not all in a day.

My colleague said "Oh hell, this is going to escalate."  Yep.  Competitive overgiftery shall ensue.

I'm trying NOT to participate but it's hard.

Family-wise we've limited holiday gifts by having names drawn rather than everyone gives to everyone every year.  If you want to give an additional gift to anyone, FINE, but no obligation to do so.  This cut over gifting there quite a bit and it more fun (for me...hopefully for others).  We're mostly adults and we don't need more stuff.  

For the office, I really limit.  We have a yankee gift exchange but the newer person at the front desk and a couple others (this is for the bigger dept, not just our office suite so about a dozen folks) get gifts for everyone.  It's been hard for me not to reciprocate.  But it will escalate and if the budget is tight, it is NOT necessary.

To save $$ when cash is tight, STOP the over gifting

---aside:  The custodian came in while I was typing this (NOT AT WORK...totally at work) and chatted for 20 min.  She wants to learn to can meat!  Woot.  We teach that and it really helps folks).

Good luck in your quest to not give everyone everything you think they might want.

Things to Cut When Money Is Tight...2026 August Edition

1) Entertainment costs.

We already covered streaming services.  Stop it.

Most public libraries have free e-books for check out, print and audio.   Many also have canva or another movie streaming option.  But of course, you dropped your data plan and wifi right? 

Try busting out the dusty deck of cards, books you already own, games you already own.  Maybe ...just maybe...shooot the breeze with other humans without going out to eat/drink/jump-around-on-trampolines-for-a-price and on and on and on.  I think my favorite stupid entertainment cost right now is PAYING o throw axes in a cage or indoors.  Why? WE ARE IN IDAHO, PEOPLE!!!   Just get outside with some space and throw whatever you already own.  Then clean up after yourself.

There is probably something productive that you enjoy doing.  Cooking, sewing, sharpening knives, cleaning the keys on your piano, playing the piano.  Figure something out.  Try a new skill.   There are books in the library on how to do stuff. 

Sort some crap.  Maybe you'll find things to sell, recycle for cash (that beer can collection from the 1980s your drunkbutt uncle left you is work a buck or two as aluminum).   If nothing else, you will clear some space for the fall food stock up.

Don't go to movies you have to pay for.  Many towns have free ones in the summer.  BYO snacks and beverages (like water in those big dumb insulated cups you bought because they were trendy).

Once I year I treat myself to a 10 film pass at a local arthouse type cinema.  $6 per film.  I bring my water bottle.  The current pass only has 3 punches off it.  7 more to go.  Might take me through 2027.   Not $0,  but dang cheap.  And it's in the  budget.   As is the silent film festival pass each year.  That's another 40$.   In the budget and cutable if need be.

Things to Cut When Money is Tight...July Edition

 1) Stupid Fees

This might be the entire list today because there are lots of fees I realized I had cut through the years and have forgotten that people pay.

-ATM fees.   Use an ATM linked to your credit union or bank.   My credit union has agreements with other credit unions so I can use one pretty much anywhere in the country without a fee.  There is not only an app for that, there is a phone number I can dial it, put in a zip code (preferably the one where I am or will be shortly) and find an ATM.  ALSO...take out cash regularly and have it in hand.  Doesn't ALWAYS work.  I have yet to pay an ATM fee in 2026. I do carry more cash around than othes in my finanical class and have a stack of 20s in my home which I dip into as needed   The local branch of my credit union is closing in August so I will have to plan ahead a wee bit more.  There will still be an ATM, but I usually stop in there to take out $$ rather than using the ATM much. 

-Late bill fees.  I did bugger this one up this year one time.  While traveling, I ignored the notice in my phone calendar to pay the phone bill.  OOPS!  So, that was a few bucks down the drain and lesson relearned.

-Credit card fee at the gas pump.  I do my best to go to gas stations that do not charge more for credit card use.   Othewise, I actually walk inside with some of those 20s mentioned above, and pay cash, then go back in for the change.  It takes a moment, but it takes less time to go in to the station twice than it does to earn the takehome pay to cover the increased cost of using a credit card. 

-Credit card fee for paying taxes and government permits.  There is a significant "convenience" fee for using a credit card to pay my land taxes, building permit, etc.  I make time to stop by the actual offices when I will be in that town for other reasons, walk in, write a check (yes, a check) and get a receipt.  This requires a wee bit of planning but you CAN do this.,

-Credit card fees elsewhere.  My fave food truck (yes, I do buy food out now and then, it is in the budget and I can still afford it and find it worth it for a few specific places) has added a 4% credit card fee.  Credit cards charge the business a fee so they nee to either pass it on or raise prices across the board  I pay cash, and add that fee to the tip to maximize my support of a local business and support a healthful local food economy.  Same at the farmers markets and anywhere else I pay in person.   I do use credit cards when ordering online, paying for plane tickets/rental cars/hotels for the record and the ability to dispute charges through multiple channels should anything go wrong.

Apply this principle to whatever fees you may be paying.  You'll find other ones in your own spending patterns.  

No 'Poo 18 Year Update

 Apparently my hairgrease is now 18 years, 1 month, 1 week and 1 day old.  Because I happened to wonder "when did I give up shampoo?" and I had blogged it.

Here's a link to the post about going no 'poo:

https://simplicityandfrugality.blogspot.com/2008/05/no-poo.html

Cool.  I barely even bother to baking soda wash anymore.  Heavy rinsing is my go to.  It's like heavy petting only not at all.  If I'm in a shower with good water pressure just keep rinsing until the whole thing feels better.  Scrub scalp while rinsing.  Hard to get the hair wet through all the natural oils and undisturbed cuticle.

When I'm home with the hairwash bucket (which is watever bowl basin or bucket is clean and appropriately sized) and it's warm out or in a place with time on my hands and a good sink set up for hair washery, then I go for the baking soda (or salt) scalp scrub and vinegar (or lemon juice or skip it) rinse.  Then, a cold water blast to seal up the cuticle again.  That takes off more grease.  Sometimes so much that the baking soda, a base, will saponify the hair grease a little and I make a mild soapy water sort of thing.  Then I think..."Damn, my hair is gross" and keep washing.  This is generally in the summer especially after putting oil on the house project so it's not all hair grease, it's also house oil, making the soap foam.  And please don't picture like bubble bath levels of foam.  More like gramma's lye soap barely run through the water level.  A couple of bubbles is what I'm saying.

So, how's the hair?  FINE.  Just fine.  Curlier.  Meaning slightly wavy.  I keep it braided up or in a pony tail most days because despite being in better condition, it's still very super fine hair prone to breaking off every time it touches a shirt collar or I brush it.  Easier to comb.  When I do a big scrub after a hot day of oily dusty construction work it is the least greasy and quite fluffy.  Hard to get into a pony tail.

It's also harder to get henna to take.  I have to do a big scrub to get lots of oils out.  Then leave the henna in for HOURS which usually means I fall asleep and leave it in too many hours.  This results in a tone best described as "full bozo red".  I do not mind and must say that the funniest moment at work in years was coming in with full bozo red hair (which settles into just shocking copper by the end of a week) and NO ONE said a thing.  Just stared wide eyed and wandered off to whisper to other people for a minute.  Did they think I didn't know?   Or had some specific shade of red in mind?   In reality, I had found the henna at a thrift store, unopened.  And it was the fox and I usually used the parrot (the company I like puts a critter on each package so you can remember which one you usually buy).  The fox is much darker red.  MUCH.  And I fell asleep.  Rinsed for AGES with the garden hose pressure nozzle.   It didn't last much over 6 months and by then was faded pretty well.   I must not have stripped the grease off the hair well enough.  Last time before that I used the parrot but that is STILL in the ends of my hair like 5 years later.  My hair is the worst.

Other effects...easy to comb. easy to braid unless just stripped, and no one seems to notice if I go a couple of weeks without even a rinse as long as there is no actual dirt clods in my hair.

A handful of times over the past 18 years, 1 month, 1 week and 1 day I have done the all conditioner option.  Mostly when at a hotel and I don't have baking soda or salt in a quantity that would be worth the effort but the hair is grimier/sweatier than I think a rinse will cure.  It works but doesn't last and I'm not used to my hair smelling of cheap products anymore and that will bug me for a day or two until it fades away.  I avoid it and go for the heavy rinse if at all possible.

So...that's it.  And still no hair photo.  It's just greying old people hair that doesn't stand out in a crowd.

Things to Cut When Money Is Tight...2026 June Edition

 So, not really specific things but more of a method.  Should have though through the series title but I didn't.

Anyhoo...

Slow down.  55mph doesn't just save lives, it saves $$.

Most rigs get better mileage if you slow down.   There is a limit to that.  I once had to follow a truck convoy for work duties.  The colleague riding along to make sure I didn't fall asleep on the all night drive, thought I'd get GREAT mileage at 3mph.  No.  There is just a base amount of fuel to keep a car running, and the middle of a gear's speed range seems to be more efficiently sustained than the bottom.  Got crap mileage.

Slowing down in town helps too.  Accelerating takes more fuel than keeping a steady speed.  One must accelerate from a stop, but accelerating gently will be more efficient.  If yo aren't going so fast, you may be able to just take your foot of the gas to gradually slow fore most of the stopping distance at intersections.  This is more efficient than going fast and slamming on the brakes.

On the highway, most of my driving, for my vehicle 55 to 60 does seem to seriously increase mpg.  I wonder if that is how the endgine is set up or how it was broken in or both   This past weekend I drove a few hundred miles on highways but through mountains.  I was pretty careful about not trying to accelerate going uphill, coasting as much as possible downhill, and just maintaining a speed on flat areas.   Gained over 10% efficiency.   Noted.

The other thing...walk for any errand etc under a mile (about a 15 min walk for me).  It costs money to start the car so every time you don't, that helps save $$ directly by not using fuel, indirectly by not causing wear and tear on the engine and by making me exercise which probably will make me live 3 minutes longer (and that's just enough time to binge it a bag of mini-candy-bars...damn...there goes the savings!).

Rules: 
Slow down

Start slow

Accelerate less

Maintain a speed

Don't drive if you can walk.

It will all save a bit.  Gas is back just under 4$ a gallon here for the moment, but it won't last.  So Im keeping the habits going,

MAGIC GROCERY SAVINGS HACKS!!!

 Ok, not really but good lord the headlines.  Like there is a "hack" that will fix crap.

This is in response to multiple news outlets having well paid consultants talk with well paid reporters about how to "hack" a grocery bill if you are an actual poor person.  Those well paid people don't have any special knowledge and are working from some sort of fantasy of how the people I know actually shop.

Here's a hack, if it's too expensive, don't buy it! 

Try prioritizing and keep reviewing want vs need per like all the previous blogs.

Priorities: 

Air (still free but I'm sure someone is trying to find a way to privatize and monetize it).  

Water.  drink tap water.  UNLESS you know that your tap water is specifically toxic in the short term (is there a city boil order?) just drink it.  It's cheaper than every other option.  You do not "need" any other beverage and certainly do not pay for bottled water if you are at all trying to cut costs.  You also do not need a fancy vessel to get the water to your lips.  Whatever you already own is the very best choice.  

Food.  Yes, most of us need to eat.  And we need to cook some of it because raw diets don't go well in the long run.  Look at your cooking and storage options and work with them.  Buy what is cheap, use the food banks, little free pantries and other free resources if you are in a giant bind.   It's OK.  Buy the most nutrition for the dollar, given your storage and cooking options.  I get lots of eggs and canned fish because they work for me.  I can cook, but it's hard to store left overs.  These things come in roughly single serving options.  Popcorn is great and lasts.  UNPOPPED (remember when that was assumed?) and just from the bulk bin or the big bag of cheap kernels.  Then, I pop it myself in whatever oil/grease I have.  Or in the office airpopper.  For fruit and veg, start with the discount bin/area if the store has one.  After that, look for the lowest cost per pound.  Grapes...I can't even! You can almost always get onions, cabbage, potatoes and big-bag-o-apples for under 1$/pound.  Those last at room temp for ages.  Same with carrots which are also generally cheap.  For oil/fat to cook with or get enough calories, Go with the size you can store before it goes off.  I don't buy it by the gallon because ick.  And right now it's cheaper for me (given my storage and cooking options) to buy pig fat from a butcher shop I know at 2$/lb, cook it down to lard and store that at room temp.  I also usually get a bottle of olive oil because I have enough money and it keeps well and I can use it to fry, put it on salad, or bake with it.  I don't care for corn oil or other cheaper oils on salad and I don't have room for a wide selection of oils sitting around.  It's good to eat greens.  Get cheap ones or fry up dandelion greens or buy some sprouting seeds.  Cabbage counts too.  DO NOT buy prepared meals unless you truly have no way to cook.  Dry beans store for ever, and you can sprout them.  But, they take cooking.  So, if you can't cook, try a can of black beans, package of tortillas, and dice up an onion with cabbage and throw on vinegar or lemon juice and some hot pepper (sriracha, cayenne powder, dried peppers, a fresh one, whatever) and voila...tacos.  If you eat cheese and can afford it, you can add some.  Cheap, easy, fresh.    

Shelter.  We need that.  Cut the cost.  I friend of mine just moved from a shared house costing over 1000$/month per resident to a room in a more shared house for 500$/month.  This also cut the utilities.  Be creative if you can, but we can't all move that quickly with those big expenses.  So, when you are going to change housing, go for half or less of what the bank/online-calculator says you can afford.  That way if you lose some income, you have a bit of time because you were saving that other 50%...right?  Hope so.

Focus on total spend, not imaginary "savings".  If you buy steak at 50% off to "save" 15$, you still spent 15$ for a couple of meals of protein.  You could have bought 15 cans of beans, 3 lbs of ground beef, 15lbs of dry beans, etc.  So you "saved" nothing.  You spend 15$ poorly.

Good luck and stop with the hacks.  Spend less.