Free Republic

While chatting with fellow freepers, I realized I have some expertise (I'm no expert) in the ways of making a household more economical. I preserve foods by canning and freezing, I hunt, plant a garden, dry clothes outside, and so on. I do not pretend to be an expert in any of these endeavors, but I do my best. I have been told in the past that I mustn't be so thrifty, because it is that unwillingness to spend that hurts our economy. Got it. However, I live this way because I am building and planning for a grand future....

Food is expensive, gas remains stubbornly high and winter's big heating bills are coming. Since loans are tough to get and our retirement funds are shrinking fast as the stock market crashes, we thought we'd share some old-fashioned penny-pinching tips. Some come from readers who responded to a business reporter's request for suggestions. Others come from the misers on our staff. And a few come from rules our mothers taught us or hints we've read over the years. Of course, one person's "don't need that" is another's "can't live without" (we didn't suggest cutting out the $4 latte). If some...

Oh ... one more thing worth repeating. Next time you're looking for a job ... see if you can go to work for a poor person.NEW YORK — It's hard to feel sorry for well-heeled shoppers whose idea of tough economic times is passing on $1,000 Burberry raincoats or that $300 limo ride while the working poor skimp on vegetables and take the bus. But economists say recent signs of the affluent cutting back could hurt the economy and deliver even more pain to lower-income workers, who are dependent on their business and fat tips. Nathan Warren, a limo driver,...

By keeping your car for 15 years, or 225,000 miles of driving, you could save nearly $31,000, according to Consumer Reports magazine. That's compared to the cost of buying an identical model every five years, which is roughly the rate at which most car owners trade in their vehicles. In its annual national auto survey, the magazine found 6,769 readers who had logged more than 200,000 miles on their cars. Their cars included a 1990 Lexus LS400 with 332,000 miles and a 1994 Ford Ranger pick-up that had gone 488,000 miles. Consumer Reports calls the Honda Civic a "Good bet"...