A discussion the other day turned to how to live on minimum wage. It is hard! I've done it and it sucked. I thought we could all give our money saving tips here and maybe if you know someone who is struggling, you can tell them to stop by the library and use the computer and check these out - or just chat over coffee. My boyfriend gets a little irked at my penny pinching (you do NOT need to use a whole dryer sheet!), but I cannot stand to waste money. So, here are some of my tips for living on the cheap:

Make your fabric softener last forever, or make your own. You can find out how to do both here.

If you can shop at Publix, Winn-Dixie or Kroger, use the totally free Coupon Mom system. All you have to do is get the Sunday paper (or really, the coupon inserts) and she will tell you what you can get for anywhere from FREE to cheap each week. You can also use The Grocery Game and get lists tailored to what you buy and also includes CVS, Walgreens, and Rite-Aide. The Grocery Game is not free, there is a small fee - but it will pay for itself.

If you must get your groceries elsewhere, then you can still use these tips from Bankrate.com. My mom used to freeze all of our leftovers in individual sandwich bags. Then once a month or so she'd take the veggies and all the chicken and make a stew. If she had lots of beef she'd add a can of veg-all and cream of potato soup and make a pot-pie. If all else failed, we'd have a casserole. NOTE: pork + sweet potatoes + boiled cabbage + mac & cheese does NOT make a yummy casserole!

Save on clothes, both adults and kids.
The GAP marks down on Wednesdays before they open. Some items (especially socks and underclothes) get down to .99 and that is cheap!

There are two online stores - In fact, an online store is called CheapKidsClothes.com . There is also CheapKidsClothing.com. Other places where you can buy children's clothing at a discount include Kids Wearhouse, Bunny Creek, So Sweet Boutique, Kids Surplus, Web Clothes, Mallking, Clothes4Kids, EOutlet4u Kids Clothes, and Smart Bargains.

Many popular retailers have online outlets (or you can drive to Boaz, Birmingham, Nashville, Decatur has JCPenny Outlet, or Georgia's outlets in Commerce and Dawsonville). Some online ones to check out include: The Childrenswear Outlet. Check this out (top and pants for $8!)

Eddie Bauer Outlet has adult clothes and home stuff at deeeep discounts.

Lands' End Overstocks Check out THE COUNTER for great deals and Not Quite Perfect, too.
Bargain Outfitters They have a $220 women's Guess? brand jacket for $30.
The Graveyard Mall has those Happy Bunny shirts my daughter likes ($20 at the mall) for only $7.99. Good stuff, but hit or miss.

You can sometimes make money and save money at Wee-Swap and those sort of things. I have also bought gently used lots of clothes on eBay. Especially for adults. If you buy a lot the shipping is much cheaper than if you buy individual pieces.

Anyway. Groceries, clothes, and housing probably eat up about 75% of my budget. When I was a struggling single mom I saved on housing by sharing a house with another single mom. For $500 you can rent a nice three bedroom / 2 bath. You cannot rent a nice 2 bedroom for $250! Put the kids in bunkbeds if they get along, or take them apart and string a sheet on a clothesline down the middle of the room if they REALLY want their privacy.

That is all of the tips I can conjure up at the moment. I'll share more as they come to me. What do you do to save money?

I buy my granddaugher's clothes at The Foundry a really neat thift shop here. I got a Baby Gap sweater for $.75 that was still in the catalog for $80.00 (yes!!! Eighty dollars!).

I have found really nice consignment shops here and the shoe stores that handle "model" shoes. I got Chico blouses for $12 and whole Chico outfits for $30.00, along with Hot Cotton and Liz Claiborne brands for less than $10.00. The last shoes I got were boots (short ones) by Bjorn for $19.00!

Course I usually just wear scrubs and sleep pants. When I put on regular clothes I feel like I'm squashed and I'm convinced scrubs make you gain weight!

I have a great deal I have been trying to make someone for a long long time. I used to have a friend that worked with me and her daughter would get my daughters hand-me-downs. She moved and that fell through. I would willingly GIVE someone my son and daughters hand-me-downs each season if they would just come and pick them up. My son is now in a size 14/16 boys and my daughter size 5 jrs. That was what we did growing up and loved getting the "new" things. If someone is struggling to make it then what do you have to lose? I am blessed to have enough money to buy the kids nice clothes and 90 percent of the time the clothes look in superb condition. I just do not have the time to consign them but would rather have a family get them that can truly use them than for them to go to Salvation army to sell. - but thats usually where they end up. I have some bagged up now size 1/3 girls and 10/12 boys.......

We've always passed clothes on to the other kids in the family and anybody else who wanted them. I have teenager sized jeans, shorts, tee shirts and stuff right now that will be going somewhere when my youngest goes to college in a couple of weeks. Besides Hannah Home I don't know what to do with them.

That Smart Chick is really smart! She's even more frugal than I, at least with dryer sheets. There are some things I won't do, just too lazy I guess.

Thrift Stores - I love thrift shopping--I have met some individuals who are too proud, or too something, but not me. I couldn't live like I do if not for thrift/used merch. In the Shoals area, I like Heart's Cry at Killen, located directly across from Brooks High, they have extremely nice merch. So do the Loaves and Fishes stores--great jewelery for only .75, books for .25. In TSC's neck of the wood, the best thrift store I've ever encountered is the Asbury in Madison. The love seat in my living room is a new Simmons floor sample I bought at the Asbury.

Also, turn off your computer, not just the monitor, when finished. The internet? Go to the public library. The Florence Library sells tapes, DVDs, and greeting cards, as well as books.

Sale Aisles -- Both Wal-Mart and Big Lots keep mark down aisles-- you just have to ask where they are sometimes.

Walgreen's -- If you aren't checking their Sunday insert for bargains, you're missing something.

Prescription drugs -- You may make what most consider a good salary and still qualify for some free scrips from the big drug companies. It won't hurt to check it out.

Need some minor car work or upholstery? Try Shoals Community College if you don't mind using students who are well supervised.

eBay -- need a new camera, DVD player, etc., but don't want to pay retail. Check out eBay. You may have to wait a few weeks to get just what you want, but you'll save a mint. A great place for books, too. You may even buy something from my eBay bookstore Tome Readers.

Bath salts -- just buy some Epsom on sale and add a little perfume. Some food coloring too, if it's for a gift.

Minor burns? Prep. H makes a great burn ointment and is cheaper than most.

Minor windshield scratches? Try Pepsodent toothpaste.

Ballpoint Ink stains on your new dress, etc. -- Hairspray works on anything that's washable.

Out of dry erase cleaner? Don't buy any, just use coffee.

Need a small amount of anything and don't want to buy a whole box. Ask a friend if they have any extra. They shouldn't mind.

Hope this helps someone. Just remember, frugality is great, but if you don't get an education to get a better job, you'll never have any money to be frugal with.

I almost forgot my FAVORITE way to get just about anything for FREE. Free is my favorite price! Freecycle. Go to Yahoo Groups and sign up. I belong to every FreeCycle group in North Alabama from the Shoals to Scottsboro and north to the TN line. Right now the Florence FreeCycle group has 4 truck tires, a small BBQ, Ladies & Girls clothes, and a small trike for a toddler all offered for free. I have given away my child's hardly used IKEA loft bed, dog crates, SUV dog barrier, my daughter's karate equipment (it was practically new), and lots of clothes. I was told that DHR in Athens would love to have your gently used clothes. Maybe the one in Lauderdale County would, too. Especially winter coats.

Anyway - Freecycle - you can post stuff you WANT and post stuff to OFFER. It is all totally free.

One more great store I didn't mention is Burke's. For those who have money for the essentials, but not for all the luxuries (I'm talking jewelry, ladies), you should try Burkes. They are having an end of season sale there right now and I just got several pairs of 36.00 Antiquity earrings for .22 plus tax. Their orig. markdown was 4.99, then marked 95% off that and I then used my 15% off card on top of that. I purchased about 282.00 of jewelry and cosmetics for 6.17. Burke's has really great prices on underwear as well.

Also, Rite-Aid has a monthly flyer filled with items that have rebates, sometimes as much as 100%, you just have to wait to get your money back.

I think the TD should set up a separate topic for frugal shopping under the Shoals Woman section!

Article from Yahoo today on Freecycle: http://potw.news.yahoo.com/s/potw/27257/freecycle

It appears they are merging all the local Freecycles to a central site. This has caused quite a commotion on the local sites - the Florence moderator has been especially vocal - but I hope that overall it improves the flow of transactions and helps link up people with stuff more efficiently.

I love going to thrift and/or consignment shops. My favorite consignment shop is owned by a friend of mine, Rainey Holt. It is Consignment Warehouse on Jackson Highway in Sheffield. She has great prices with barely used merchandise. A lot of the times you will find items with the price tags still on. She carries brands such as Sigrid Olsen, Susan Bristol, Ralph Lauren, Tommy, etc. Great place-should check it out.

When my husband was in med school, we had NO money and 4 kids under 7. It was beans and rice, yard sale clothes and no cable TV or cell phones. On Saturdays we would load everyone up and go to Sam's club for lunch. No, not their deli; we'd walk around the store and let the kids sample all the free food 2 or 3 times. They were little, it didn't take a lot to fill them up. Then we'd walk over to Border's and read books. The kids loved it. To this day they ask if we can all go to Border's/Barnes & Noble and sit and read. Most times we'd follow up our day out with a visit to our local park and hike the trails. All FREE!!!

I know fertilizer is useless right now, but the best fertilizer you can get is Rabbit Poop!! & this might gross some of you out but after it is dry it doest smell & it can even be used in the garden. I put it on every flower & tomato plant I had last year & they were all gorgeous. My sister was grossed out by the idea, but by the time everyone seen my flowers & plants everyone was begging for some poop. & some people that have rabbits have it free for the taking. Sorry all of mine is taken.

by the way I have a few boys clothes sizes 4s & 5s if any one wants them - I am thru with having yard sales & taking stuff to the salvation army!

where exactly is asbury? i would like to check that out!

We do all of this and more. I am with TSC. I can't stand to waste money. I work too hard for it.

My daughter is 16 and she's the same way. Whatever money she has in her pocket didn't just land there...she worked for it.

We don't buy anything that isn't on clearance and we cut every corner that we can.

Our one extravagance is ice cream on Firday after school.

Asbury Thrift store is great (and HUGE!) To get there from Florence:

1. Go EAST on US-72. Come on into Madison County. Pass the Home Depot, Lowe's, and Publix. You can go thru the Starbucks drive-thru on your right, just past Hughes Rd. and grab a cup of coffee. When you see Kohl's start looking alive, you'll be turning soon.

6. Turn RIGHT on SLAUGHTER RD (there is a traffic light. It is Slaughter to the Right and Jeff to the Left. There is a Shell Station on the Left, too. You'll pass my church - Summit Crossing! Stop in and say hi if you are around on a Sunday!) go 3.4 mi

7. Turn RIGHT on MADISON PIKE (again, there is a traffic light. Be careful on Slaughter, folks drive like nuts out there) go 0.9 mi

8. Arrive at 8006 MADISON PIKE STE 10, The Asbury Thrift Store (it will be on your right). It is in a sort of older, run down looking shopping center. Which means it has ample parking If you get to Madison Towne Center or Hughes Road - you went to far, turn around and go back east on Madison Pike!