Things I do to save money

Offhand McFlan said:

I'll eat beef liver and also Menudo (Mexican tripe soup), but Sweet Breads?? No thanks! And I've been a butcher for nearly 31 years. I've never had anyone ask for it in all that time.

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That's 'cause y'all don't live here in Da South where local meat markets put out EVERY part of an animal - nose to tail - not all of it goes into sausage........

Not sure this belongs here and not looking for a pat on the back..but 2 sons and I go up to an outdoor, uncontrolled range in a National Forest. We shoot a lot. BUT we try to pile our brass and leave it so those who 'glean' brass can find it, take it and reload or sell it..fine with us. So they can 'save $'...
Yup, in spite of the covid hardships, we-all are pretty comfy..$ wise...

Like many here, I cut up old t-shirts, socks, etc for patches and cleaning rags. I've also used up old calendars for targets.
In my old job they would go through hundreds of file folders a year, and cleaned out various years worth of file cabinets. Use them once, and then dump them. I would "salvage" them, bring them to the range, and stick a shoot-n-c on them. I still have a big stack of them and grab a few and stick them in my range bag.

At "informal" outdoor ranges, I have done the plastic bottles for targets. Oh, and I also reuse the big coffee containers for my brass storage. And from the other thread, I reuse factory ammo boxes for my reloads.

Yeah, we reloaders are a frugal bunch!

Sorry to say may want to quit saving $ and spend every dollar you can while you can and be forced into frugality later. Gas is up .50+ /gallon here and climbing. Steel went up 35% in a day. These alone will/have caused prices on everything to skyrocket and supplies are dwindling. As just one example lumber suppliers are giving "on the spot" quotes for remaining stock. (OSB $46, 1/2" Ply $55, 2x4s over $1.25 /ft.) Even shipping is nuts with "add on" fees that are almost greater than base fees. If this continues we may be depression bound (which may be the intent). Proposed gun/ammo regs will also affect sales so buy what you can while you can. We are in for some tough times under the new regime.

I cut a silhouette target out and used spray adhesive to attach it to a1/8 sheet of masonite to make my own targets. I draw them with a black magic marker on to odd lots of wall paper rolls I pick up at the junk store. The wall paper also makes cheap target stock.

Another thing I do, since doing electrical work I pull all the desiccant pouches that come packed with fixtures and have about 20 ammo containers and I just toss them into them periodically as a corrosion inhibitor. For my safe I will save up a bunch of desiccant beads and dry them out, drill some holes into a big prescription bottle and makes a nice lil moisture trap.

We also get oodles of extra chain for hanging fixtures and whatever is left over, get used to hang targets. Some of the heavier fixtures come with some pretty heavy duty chain. I'm always looking for a way to repurpose things vs throwing out. Probably why I have so much clutter.....

since we are mentioning non shooting related stuff then the big one for me is keeping my recent vehicles for 16 yrs. first car was 10 yrs but since we moved to less harsh winters, i moved it up to 15 yrs. my current ride is 16 yrs old but i may need to get a new one since my son can now drive. every month i keep it longer i think of the money i am saving.

i pay myself first, i take off anything in excess of what i set for my family with every paycheck and it goes to vanguard money market that only gets touched for investments or major purchases ie car downpayment, house downpayment etc...
having the checking with less money and potentially in danger for overdrafting makes you feel "lean and hungry". after paying off the vehicles i continue paying the equivalent even for years till i buy a new vehicle.

shooting related, not buying as many guns as i can. i am a master in delayed gratification. i must have fondled that same m1a on display for almost a year before buying it . the guy just said "just go ahead and buy it. you know the drill, you can resell it later for a couple hundred dollars less and i will even throw in 50 rounds for free. "

my resolve though is weaker for certain brands ( cough cough CZ... if i see that new tactical sport in my LGS...) . my solution, i visit the LGS less. I tell myself " you may just end up buying stuff you don't really need".

used to wait for hazamat free offers from online vendors during the flush years.

tbaum said:

I cut a silhouette target out and used spray adhesive to attach it to a1/8 sheet of masonite to make my own targets.

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Back in the '80s when we were shooting IHMSA, I found a brand new roll of roofing tar paper I had left over from when I re-roofed our house. I cut a lot of chicken, pig, turkey and ram silhouettes out of that roll of tarpaper, and stapled them on to whatever old pieces of plywood I could find.
That wouldn't work for me nowadays. I was in a lot better shape back then, and even though it took me a week, I re-roofed our house myself. Three years ago I paid someone else to do it - with steel shingles this time. It cost us 3 times as much as when I did the job myself (with asphalt shingles), but it only took the contractor one day, and our steel-shingled roof is guaranteed for a hundred years - I'll be 170 years old by the time that guarantee wears off.

.308 Norma said:

our steel-shingled roof is guaranteed for a hundred years - I'll be 170 years old by the time that guarantee wears off.

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Rain sounds better too I bet...

I suppose I can claim to be saving lots of money now that I don't collect guns just because they're pretty, only keeping things I actually can use...
Some are very rarely if ever used, but I could use them. That's the rationale anyway.

Kinda thifty on the car thing as well. Same truck for 52 years.

vintovka said:

Kinda thifty on the car thing as well. Same truck for 52 years. View attachment 983540

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Hot damn - is that a NAPCO 3100 or did you convert it?

Todd.

Another of my nods to *frugality* though it is as much to being energy-frugal (you may know this as lazy) as to money.

I was fishing through my shop bin one day years ago to light a fire with old shop-paper and noted that my industrial paper-towels were very under-utilized. From that day to this, I try to always have a little stack of one sheet cut up to stop wasting those great, blue industrial towels so quickly.

Fold and fold and fold some more and then cut at each of the folds.



Todd.

Vintovka, that's an awesome looking truck! And as a fellow airman, love the logo!
I also keep vehicles for a long time, but only around 10-15 years.

ApacheCoTodd said:

Another of my nods to *frugality* though it is as much to being energy-frugal (you may know this as lazy) as to money.

I was fishing through my shop bin one day years ago to light a fire with old shop-paper and noted that my industrial paper-towels were very under-utilized. From that day to this, I try to always have a little stack of one sheet cut up to stop wasting those great, blue industrial towels so quickly.

Fold and fold and fold some more and then cut at each of the folds.

View attachment 983542

Todd.

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My wife thinks I'm ridiculous because if I need a paper towel I will only pull of one and depending on the use will rip it in half or even smaller and fold the rest up and put it in my pocket for later. She rips off 5 at a time no matter what, spilled a drop of milk=5 paper towels.

DustyGmt said:

My wife thinks I'm ridiculous because if I need a paper towel I will only pull of one and depending on the use will rip it in half or even smaller and fold the rest up and put it in my pocket for later. She rips off 5 at a time no matter what, spilled a drop of milk=5 paper towels.

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Sure-enough!

Wasn't that half-sheet serration the greatest kitchen up-date since screw-cap milk cartons? For my wife - it's 50% added to each sheet torn off rather than being able to take a mere 1/2 sheet.

Todd.

ApacheCoTodd said:

Sure-enough!

Wasn't that half-sheet serration the greatest kitchen up-date since screw-cap milk cartons?

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And now they have the half sheets scored in half perpendicularly. So, I can get a quarter sheet for the small jobs!

DustyGmt said:

if I need a paper towel I will only pull of one and depending on the use will rip it in half or even smaller and fold the rest up and put it in my pocket for later.

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And, I thought I was the only one doing this!

mstreddy said:

And now they have the half sheets scored in half perpendicularly. So, I can get a quarter sheet for the small jobs!


And, I thought I was the only one doing this!

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You won't hear us, you won't see us. But we're out there man......

Dollar store ATF for bore solvent. Works great and I’ve never had a speck of rust from corrosive ammo. Cut my own patches while I’m gooning at the box. Undersize store-bought 12 gauge patches have always been a particular peeve of mine. Not a problem when you cut your own.

BigBore44 said:

I’m actually going to do that this week while I’m on quarantine for 5 days (assuming my agency doesn’t call me to work more covid units). We have an old shooting range (public land that someone MANY decades ago decided to shoot at and people just kept shooting there) that was shut down about 2 years ago by the Corp of Engineers. I’m betting there’s probably 10,000lbs of lead in those berms.

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I'd be interesting in hearing how this lead hunt goes.

BLACKHAWKNJ said:

You'd be surprised at how many well-off and wealthy people are quite frugal-cheap, if you will. They understand "getting the most bang from your buck".
IIRC Fred Huntington of RCBS started out staging bullet jackets from 22 brass.

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Check out The Millionaire Next Door for backup to BlackhawkNJ's comment, and inspiration.

ApacheCoTodd said:

Hot damn - is that a NAPCO 3100 or did you convert it?

Todd.

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NAh. My 54 body on an 84 K10 frame. Like me it's a USAF vet and has been overseas. In honor of those who perished in F-111a's like my avatar.

mstreddy said:

Vintovka, that's an awesome looking truck! And as a fellow airman, love the logo!
I also keep vehicles for a long time, but only around 10-15 years.

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Can never part with it while still breathing and its in our trust, It spent from late 53 thru 64 in USAF and then again from 69-73 with me in the 430th Tactical Fighter Squadron. Several of the 10 aircrew who were lost in "constant guard" rode it in and will always be remembered.

Plastic orange juice jugs, sprayed with a bright color, along with yellowish detergent jugs (rinsed out) make fun targets.

Connect them with about 4' of weedeater cord to a small metal stake or handy tree branch.
They will "dance" and do quick jumps for you, but can't easily escape captivity. Free, gratis.

vintovka: Weren't the F-111As the first attack jet with an autopilot coupler for terrain-following at very low ingress?

I'm currently rocking a 12 year old irreplaceable man-van. It's a Mazda5 that tows my motorcycle trailer, I can sleep in when off road motorcycle camping, gets 30 mpg on the highway, and can legally seat 6 if need be.

So what makes it irreplaceable? It's STICK! Yes, a mini minivan with a 5spd manual tranny, impossible to replicate.

Of course, not replacing it also saves money. And I reload. And cut up old flannel shirts to make rags to wipe down gun with Eezox.