Savin Pennies, Makin Dollars

Guess what? I made a list of expenses and income and the expenses are almost equal to the income. If there is an emergency or extra expense, what will I do? So I'm looking for ways I can be savin pennies, makin dollars. No I don't mean printing them, I mean earning them. Here are a few of the things I am doing or planning on doing. Are you doing anything to reduce expenses or increase income?

Raised my insurance deductibles for our cars and home. I am evaluating each bill we pay to see if I can reduce the bill, like the satellite TV - I don't even watch TV and I'm paying for two - maybe I can get netflix instead.

Buying used items by shopping at garage sales, thrift stores, eBay, Craig's list or half.com. Things like t-shirts (Gary works in construction and goes through them like nothing - some of them are brand new at the thrift store), paperback books, towels for the studio, slump and hump molds, texture tools for clay at the thrift stores, old sheets for the slab roller.

Looking around for things I no longer use so I can try to sell them by posting an ad on local bulletin boards or selling the item on Craig's list.

Buying store brands and looking at the cost of each item posted in the grocery store to see which size is less expensive (sometimes it isn't the large size). I am buying items on sale and looking for sales.

Inviting folks over for lunch or dinner instead of going out to lunch or dinner. We often take our lunch and have a picnic in nice weather instead of going out to lunch or dinner. I keep some nuts and water in the car in case we get hungry so we can snack on those instead of being tempted eat at a restaurant.

Just before Christmas, we rolled up all the coins we were saving and got over $200 which we used for our vacation.

Staying home more instead of going away for the weekend. When we went on a recent vacation we camped and took our own food to save money.

Doing all our errands in one trip when we can and trying to shop only once a week to conserve on fuel.

Don't go to the dry cleaners and wash my clothes in cold water and wash and dry only full loads. I got some of Trader's Joe's laundry detergent and it has lasted so long I can't believe it.

Making more soups and rice and beans. We're eating oatmeal instead of boxed cereals for breakfast. I have a vegetable garden and raise my own fruit. I am thinking of getting some chickens for eggs. I buy food from local farmer's whenever I can.

Lowering thermostat in winter and raising it in summer.

Saving my receipts and boxes in case I have to return something or in case I find it cheaper somewhere else I can return the more expensive one (hey that happened, I found a sketchbook cheaper and returned the more expensive one to the same store).

Earnestly looking for a job, even a part time job. Know of any legitimate work from home jobs? Heck, if you have a job I can do, let me know - I'm very dependable (and creative too).

Opening up my studio for pottery sales more often.

Thinking of having a farm stay at my home, like a bed and breakfast with maybe a clay or gardening class.

What do you think? Have any other ideas on how I can be savin pennies, makin dollars, please let me know, big or small, every penny and dollar counts. Thanks for reading and posting.