HOMEMADE SAVINGS

   The costs of keeping a house in working order.. much less looking decent is unbelievable. We have been fortunate in the lawn department, my father helped us buy a riding lawnmower 10 years ago, and I think the little fella has seen his last summer. There is always the cost of gas when you use a riding mower, not to mention oil, spark plugs, new blades, belts, tires....and we were just about to have to replace the lot of them.

   I am sure you have noticed in your own adventures in paying down debt or saving, that as soon as you make the decision to do it, things start falling apart so I wasn't completely shocked when it happened with the mower. But I did at least do my best to be conscious of the costs both up front and in the future.



   We have a little under a half acre lot and in places it is sloped about 45 degrees- this has always prevented me from being willing to ride the lawn mower as I saw myself going over the edge in a blur of grass clippings and flying blades. So the chore was left to my husband who works pretty hard all week long. The things we needed to replace or repair on the mower would have cost about 200.00 dollars (Tires, oil, spark plug, blades, belt)

   So I started looking for some way to keep the yard looking good and spending less money.. man if only baking soda and vinegar could cut the grass.

   I remembered one very long week when I was 10 years old and I cut grass to earn enough money to buy a hamster. Of course my parents weren't going to let a 10 year old use a gas mower, my dad bought a mid evil looking contraption that rolled and as the wheels turned the blades cut the grass.

   Come to find out they still make those jewels, so I went to Lowe's and after a bit of sticker shock ( I mean really.. its like a stroller with blades on it) I spent the $99.00 because at least it was less than $200.00 and went home excited to get my shoes dirty.












   So, as it turns out I am not in as good of shape as I was when I was 10 years old, so it has been quite a chore, but I needed the exercise- no really, and my kids were happy to be out in the sunshine and laugh at me while I struggled up the hills pushing what we now call "The Beast".












   I believe I made the right choice not only financially because it cost less not only to purchase but to maintain and use as well, no gas to buy is a good thing these days. I also am happy that I am able to take some of the work load from my husband it feels good to help him out and I know that I am getting a good workout

The cons of this method of lawn maintenance are; sticks and acorns really gum the works, they get caught in the blade and everything shuts down. Onion grass because it has already grown so high just gets pushed over flat and not chopped to smithereens but I think not allowing it to get so high will resolve this issue. You are going to get your heart rate up, this isn't a con but if you have health issues that restrict your activity this may not be a great idea for you. Lastly, you are still going to have to get out the weed eater if you have sidewalks because the tires on the mower prevent you from going all the way to the edge.









 


Now to estimate my savings, well I estimate that we are saving about 5 dollars a week in gas and roughly 50 dollars a summer in upkeep, not to mention I am giving my husband more free time after work, and that is really priceless.

   I love to get out of the house. I work from home & homeschool the kids so I don't really go anywhere except to church or the store. I used to shop nearly everyday, if there was money in the bank or in my pocket.. I was looking for a place to spend it. Since starting Dave Ramseys Total Money Make Over I save all of my shopping, library & bank trips for once a week, sometimes once every 2 weeks. This saves me about a tank of gas a month and with the price of gas going nowhere but up I believe I will continue to save more money by planning my shopping trips. For this month 1 tank of gas equals $56.00 or $672.00 a year.

•  go to grocery store one a week
• go to bank once a week, use the teller instead of ATM to avoid fees
• go to library once a week, or even once a month if yours allows you that long to read the books
• pay bills online or over the phone instead of in store- save gas and stamps
• call ahead to stores if you are looking for something, instead of going to every store in town
• know the traffic patterns of your town and go when the traffic is light like school hours avoid lunch rush

   This one should have been a no brainer, but it took me a long time to learn it. I love to read, I can easily get through a 400 page novel in a day. I spent between 8 and 19 dollars for each book I bought. As you can imagine this is a pretty expensive hobby costing more than cable t.v. with all the bells and whistles. In a normal week I would read 4 books, if they were all older ones they would cost me $8.96 each at Walmart. That is $37.99 including tax every week. Which adds up to $1975.48 a year!!! Are you kidding me????

   Borrow books from friends, check them out at the library, my library allows me to check out 20 books at a time. So I can go once a month and read for FREE! If you absolutely have to buy a book, don't pay full price, you can buy new and used books for great discounts at online stores like half.com and ebay.com