[Duff in VT]

Just curious how people are saving money in Vermont this season. Thought I'd toss out a couple of ideas.

If you have the Price Choppper gas promo in your area take advantage of it !! I just filled up my car for 69 cents a gallon ! The cashiers at the store say a lot of people don't use the program. What a shame. We all buy groceries, right? So why not get a super discount on gas in return for buying your weekly groceries?

www.Freecycle.org People give away lots of wonderful items. You can offer your own stuff or ask for what you are looking for. I just got a nifty new hot air popper when mine konked out. And I gave away a stroller and a bunch of baby items. Arrange for pick-up in a location of your choosing. There are at least a dozen freecycle online groups in Vermont -Burlington, Rutland/Addison, Bennington, etc.

[GypsySoul22]

Freecycle is a good idea.

I've begun to do a lot more bread and muffin baking (Rather than buy them). We don't want to waste fruit or whatever.

I am also searching for 'convenience' items I can make at home (you know, like granola bars. We eat a lot of them but they cost a lot for what you get.) Basically I am trying out a lot of frugal recipes which is okay because my husband and son are vegetarians. I try to buy meat frugally and even the dog has learned some of her kibble meals are coming with beans and only the faintest whiff of meat. We don't feed canned food anymore. She gets very good quality kibble and 'quality' mix ins.

I make things before I buy them, particularly for the dog (homemade toys).

We do our own sewing/hemming of our son's clothes/pants. I saved over $10 a pair doing it myself (my husband cuts and measures because he is more 'particular' than I am). I sew it.

We live pretty frugally anyhow.

Oh, and we use the library for 99% of our entertainment. The $100 it cost for the year (we go to Hanover library) is worth it. (comes out to about $2 a week).

[Duff in VT]

Great ideas !

Oh, I also made a huge bucket of laundry soap. Enough to last months. You grate Ivory or Fels Naptha soap and mix with hot water, then add washing soda, 20 Mule Team Borax and more water. You can add Dr. Bronner's liquid castille peppermint soap if you like. It does a good job and the cost is only pennies per load. Google it or let me know if need specific instructions.

[Sherylcatmom]

I just Googled "granola bar recipes" and got tons of hits. I think you can take your pick!

Here's a tip for cat folks: We feed our cats locally-raised whole-carcass fine-ground raw rabbit as well as raw chicken & turkey parts. It costs way less per pound than canned cat food and is much better for them than commercial pet food.

[chaz longue]

We live just a few blocks from the Chittenden Solid Waste depot on Pine Street.

My wife had a brainstorm, and cancelled the trash pickup. Seems it costs nearly nothing to bring bags of trash to CSW ourselves. We're trying to put everything in the curbside recycling blue bins, too - which helps keep the volume of trash way down. I think hard before I put stuff in the trash now, and the recycling truck takes a lot of stuff...

The one surprise was how expensive it was to replace the plastic receptacle we store the trash in outside... but the payback period turned out to be one month, more or less...

[Duff in VT]

Just bought a pack of 5 large reusable grocery bags to give as Christmas gifts. We have been using these for years and had a hard time finding them in the past. We finally found a few while on vacation in Maine (at that shop that sells prisoner-made goods on Rt. 1, south of Wells). Now you can find them everywhere ! They are very rugged and you get a few cents back for using them at the grocery store and you don't have a house full of the dreadful plastic grocery bags.

[Sherylcatmom]

Originally Posted by Duff in VT

Just bought a pack of 5 large reusable grocery bags to give as Christmas gifts..

This is such a great idea!

Rutland recently began selling these really nice heavy-duty cloth shopping backs for only $2!



They're made from organic, fair-trade cotton and printed locally. The first 500 bags sold out in about three weeks. They're expecting another shipment tomorrow.

You can get them at Book King on Merchants Row and at the Rutland Winter Farmers Market, every Saturday, 10am-2pm, enter through the Co-op (a/k/a Rutland Natural Food Market) on Wales Street.

[Duff in VT]

Rutland recently began selling these really nice heavy-duty cloth shopping backs for only $2!


Those look wonderful ! I will have to pick up a few next time I am in Rutland !

[GypsySoul22]

Those look great. I know Shaws has some for a dollar each (not sure how big they are, though).

I'm going to try a whole bunch of new things next year (resolutions anyone?) and one of them is to get more 'green' and cut down on the plastic bags. We do recycle them though when taking the dog on walks.

[tkln]

I bought these:
ACME Bags™ - Recycled PET EarthTote™ - ReusableBags.com

They are great, nice and big (sort of a little bigger than the nice paper bags from years ago and they fit a ton in them) and very strong. But it was a bit of a dilemma for us as we used the plastic bags for kitchen trash...I ended up going out and buying seventh generation trash bags, which are at least recycled plastic.

We use the plastic bags from fruits/veggies for our dog.