Anonymous wrote:Sign up for Panera sip club for free 2 month membership. If you have spouse or kids, they can do the same. Panera will keep offering free months a fee days when you cancel, so do not ever pay for it. Free drinks every 2 hours and free refills when you are in cafe. Get large cup, not regular. Take it home and keep in fridge. I do this for free ice coffee all week, just need 2 fills because i drink one-third a day to not overload on caffeine.

What a cheapie

Quick recipe that is healthy and cheap. Frozen fire roasted vegetables from Costco. Add to chicken bone broth and boil for 10 minutes. Add beans and or pasta. Add precooked chicken or anything else you like and some seasoning.

That is it. Can feed 5 people for 10 dollars. Very healthy.

Look at different cell phone plans. I use Google Fi, and pay $60 a month for two lines with 2gig of data included; we use wifi mostly, instead of data. It's been fine and I haven't even needed customer service at all; I bring my own phone. Don't know your phone situation, but that is one way you can save money if you already have to have internet at home.

Also: have a "no buy" month. You decide what you include in 'no buy" but you can eat only from your pantry (if you can) and watch which expenses come up. Don't spend any money you don't need to live (utilities, housing, basic food).

Sign up for Panera sip club for free 2 month membership. If you have spouse or kids, they can do the same. Panera will keep offering free months a fee days when you cancel, so do not ever pay for it. Free drinks every 2 hours and free refills when you are in cafe. Get large cup, not regular. Take it home and keep in fridge. I do this for free ice coffee all week, just need 2 fills because i drink one-third a day to not overload on caffeine.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Op, I'm not sure what your housing situation is, but if you have an extra bedroom/basement or if there is any way you can have your kids bunk up to free an extra room, consider doing furnished finder. Furnished finder pairs travel nurses with homeowners for 30-60-90 day stays.

My friend does it, and he brings in $1400 a month. He has had nothing but positive experiences. The advantage of the short term stay is, should your situation change, you can stop and start more easily than you can with a long-term lease.

Hell no

Why hell no?

NP but seriously? You're recommending someone bring strangers into their home when they have children? I don't care what profession. The stats on the number of children abused in this country are horrifying.

You screen the person and don't leave the children home alone with the person. My friend said the nurses were all working insanely long hours and were barely in the house except to sleep, shower and go back to the hospital.

It's a safer option than the single mom having a boyfriend around her kids. If you are suggesting "no" to a short-term, screened tenant, than you should also advise her not to date until the kids are grown.

Hell no I ain’t letting strangers take a shit in my house

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Op, I'm not sure what your housing situation is, but if you have an extra bedroom/basement or if there is any way you can have your kids bunk up to free an extra room, consider doing furnished finder. Furnished finder pairs travel nurses with homeowners for 30-60-90 day stays.

My friend does it, and he brings in $1400 a month. He has had nothing but positive experiences. The advantage of the short term stay is, should your situation change, you can stop and start more easily than you can with a long-term lease.

Hell no

Why hell no?

NP but seriously? You're recommending someone bring strangers into their home when they have children? I don't care what profession. The stats on the number of children abused in this country are horrifying.

You screen the person and don't leave the children home alone with the person. My friend said the nurses were all working insanely long hours and were barely in the house except to sleep, shower and go back to the hospital.

It's a safer option than the single mom having a boyfriend around her kids. If you are suggesting "no" to a short-term, screened tenant, than you should also advise her not to date until the kids are grown.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Op, I'm not sure what your housing situation is, but if you have an extra bedroom/basement or if there is any way you can have your kids bunk up to free an extra room, consider doing furnished finder. Furnished finder pairs travel nurses with homeowners for 30-60-90 day stays.

My friend does it, and he brings in $1400 a month. He has had nothing but positive experiences. The advantage of the short term stay is, should your situation change, you can stop and start more easily than you can with a long-term lease.

Hell no

Why hell no?

NP but seriously? You're recommending someone bring strangers into their home when they have children? I don't care what profession. The stats on the number of children abused in this country are horrifying.

You screen the person and don't leave the children home alone with the person. My friend said the nurses were all working insanely long hours and were barely in the house except to sleep, shower and go back to the hospital.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Op, I'm not sure what your housing situation is, but if you have an extra bedroom/basement or if there is any way you can have your kids bunk up to free an extra room, consider doing furnished finder. Furnished finder pairs travel nurses with homeowners for 30-60-90 day stays.

My friend does it, and he brings in $1400 a month. He has had nothing but positive experiences. The advantage of the short term stay is, should your situation change, you can stop and start more easily than you can with a long-term lease.

Hell no

Why hell no?

NP but seriously? You're recommending someone bring strangers into their home when they have children? I don't care what profession. The stats on the number of children abused in this country are horrifying.

You screen the person and don't leave the children home alone with the person. My friend said the nurses were all working insanely long hours and were barely in the house except to sleep, shower and go back to the hospital.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Op, I'm not sure what your housing situation is, but if you have an extra bedroom/basement or if there is any way you can have your kids bunk up to free an extra room, consider doing furnished finder. Furnished finder pairs travel nurses with homeowners for 30-60-90 day stays.

My friend does it, and he brings in $1400 a month. He has had nothing but positive experiences. The advantage of the short term stay is, should your situation change, you can stop and start more easily than you can with a long-term lease.

Hell no

Why hell no?

NP but seriously? You're recommending someone bring strangers into their home when they have children? I don't care what profession. The stats on the number of children abused in this country are horrifying.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Op, I'm not sure what your housing situation is, but if you have an extra bedroom/basement or if there is any way you can have your kids bunk up to free an extra room, consider doing furnished finder. Furnished finder pairs travel nurses with homeowners for 30-60-90 day stays.

My friend does it, and he brings in $1400 a month. He has had nothing but positive experiences. The advantage of the short term stay is, should your situation change, you can stop and start more easily than you can with a long-term lease.

Hell no

Why hell no?

Anonymous wrote:Op, I'm not sure what your housing situation is, but if you have an extra bedroom/basement or if there is any way you can have your kids bunk up to free an extra room, consider doing furnished finder. Furnished finder pairs travel nurses with homeowners for 30-60-90 day stays.

My friend does it, and he brings in $1400 a month. He has had nothing but positive experiences. The advantage of the short term stay is, should your situation change, you can stop and start more easily than you can with a long-term lease.

Hell no

Op, I'm not sure what your housing situation is, but if you have an extra bedroom/basement or if there is any way you can have your kids bunk up to free an extra room, consider doing furnished finder. Furnished finder pairs travel nurses with homeowners for 30-60-90 day stays.

My friend does it, and he brings in $1400 a month. He has had nothing but positive experiences. The advantage of the short term stay is, should your situation change, you can stop and start more easily than you can with a long-term lease.

Anonymous wrote:I’m a single mom and I’m really struggling to make ends meet the last few months. I finally made a few big changes:

—I cut the cable, saving us around $150 a month

—I’ve made changes at the grocery store such as buying in bulk, making my own beans, packaging the kids Goldfish, etc, instead of buying single serving convenience bags, shopping the ad, “meatless” meals, etc.

But I’d love to find a way to save a couple hundred more. There is nothing else I can reasonably give up, but I’m open to ANY suggestions for living more frugally/cheaper.

Switch cell phone plans. Someone on here recommended this a few months back, and it was a game changer. I switched from T-Mobile family plan at $160 a month to Visible at $75 a month family plan. There is zero difference in service. I tried Mint mobile, which is even cheaper, but their customer service is garbage, and I had too many issues installing it on one of the lines.

Another suggestion is to shop around for gas. This may seem like a Captain Obvious suggestion, but I was notorious for going to Shell and using gas points. I now go to Liberty and come out cheaper there then I did with gas points at Shell.

Anonymous wrote:OP, you've done all the things that we've done too.

We cut a kid activity that was costing quite a bit a month and we can do without for the school year. Started shopping sales only and cut back on red meat (more so than other meat) purchases. More meal planning and trying to reduce food waste. Buy clothes at consignment shops. After football season, we're cancelling YouTube TV. We eat out less but thanks to covid, we had already gotten used to that. Trying to take advantage of more community activities and local theater. It's a lot cheaper and we don't feel like we're missing out on things.

Before kids, I used to volunteer for the arts. You generally get time to see whatever the exhibit or tour is free of charge, plus people just start inviting you to other arts events or give you free tix to stuff. I did it to volunteer, but it was a nice perk.

I buy my clothes and shoes on consignment via ThredUp. I've gotten so many great finds from there (people give the best stuff away, seriously) and have totally refreshed my wardrobe for peanuts. Most of the stuff I've gotten has been in excellent condition.