My grandparents were poor, southern country people. They had to be frugal because they had very little money. They never ate out at restaurants and they had to make do with what they had or starve.

There was no microwave dinners, stops by fast food places, or convenience foods. I don’t know if there was a such thing as food stamps back then when they were growing up, but even if there was, they didn’t get any kind of assistance whatsoever. They grew much of their own food.

They grew gardens in the summer and canned food to eat during the winter. They raised chickens which provided them with eggs and killed the chickens for meat. (Yuck!) They also raised hogs. (Yuck! I don’t eat pork)

Apples grew on trees which they ate for snacks or used to bake. There were walnut trees and hickory trees which provided them with nuts.

Basically the only food supplies they purchased in stores were things like salt, sugar, pepper, flour, and cornmeal. Everything else they provided for themselves or did without. They didn’t have a choice.

A regular and staple dinner for all poor country people was pinto beans and cornbread. It was cheap, easy to make, and filling. It didn’t include any meat which they could not afford to eat meat regularly.

Well now things have changed a lot for this generation. I like Mexican, Indian, Middle Eastern, and Americanized Chinese food. I like eating out. And I don’t raise my own food.

People today are also cooking a lot healthier than they did back then. Back then they used grease to cook with (Yuck!!!) After frying some kind of pork like sausage or bacon they would save the grease and use it to cook with and fry foods with. Personally to me that’s disgusting, but doctors have been telling their patients for a long time now, especially those with heart disease and diabetes to use canola oil, olive oil, or corn oil to cook with. Don’t use grease, lard, or fat. It’s unhealthy, clogs up your arteries, and makes your heart disease worse.

People today still enjoy their southern country dinners even though they’ve changed somewhat from way back when.

Why are they so good? Because they are healthy (lots of veggies, no meat), filling, comforting, and cheap.

Here is my version of a cheap country dinner. I don’t like pinto beans, so it’s not included.

*Cornbread- A necessity. Fried or pan baked.
*Corn on the cob
*Green beans and potatoes
*Boiled cabbage
*Mashed potatoes
*Macaroni and cheese

In the old days, people would have put in grease with the green beans and cabbage. I don’t use anything when I cook green beans. Just take some green beans and potatoes and boil in water until cooked.

With boiled cabbage add a little olive or canola oil.

Here is the recipe for fried cornbread cakes:
*1 cup of self rising corn mean
*1 egg
*1/3 cup milk

Mix batter. In a skillet heat a tablespoon of canola or vegetable oil and fry.

For people who grow their own vegetables, this is a very cheap meal since the green beans, cabbage, corn and potatoes are free. This filling meal would only cost a few dollars to feed a whole family.

Here are a few ways to cut back on your electric bill:

*If you have old, outdated appliances like refrigerators, get newer ones. Yes, this will cost more to start out with, but you will recoup your investment and everything after that is savings. Old appliances use a LOT more energy than new appliances. If you have a ten year old refrigerator, washer, or dryer, get rid of it and get a new one. With new technology it uses a lot less energy and they will last you for many years. You will notice cheaper electric bills. It may take you a year and a half to recoup your investment but everything after that is savings. If the appliance lasts you 15 years, then that’s 13 and 1/2 years of savings.

*Turn the thermostat to 76 degrees. Then use big fans to cool the rooms you are using. Ceiling fans are great for making the room feel cooler, but if you don’t have a ceiling fan, stick to regular fans.

*Turn off your computer at night. Some people think it saves energy just to keep it on all the time, but that’s not true. If there will be say, 10 hours you are not going to use your computer, then turn it off and save electricity.

If you really want to save money, try cutting back. Cutting back on certain things can save hundreds or possibly even thousands of dollars a year. Here are some ways to cut back and keep more of your money:

1) Cancel your satellite or cable- *Gasp* I know some people are simply addicted to their favorite TV shows and might not even cancel all those channels if their life depended on it. However, if you decide there are better things to spend money on than hundreds of TV channels, you can save a lot of money by turning it off. Try watching less TV and rent movies free from the library. You can also watch movies and TV shows for free on various websites. If you spend $50 a month for all those channels, that would be a savings of $600 a year.

2) Get a less expensive phone plan. If you have a monthly phone plan that costs a lot, get a cheaper plan. If you talk a lot on the phone, most companies offer free nights and weekends so you can plan to do more of your talking on nights and weekends. If you get a plan that costs $20 less a month, that’s a savings of $240 a year.

3) Cut back on eating out. If you eat out a lot, cut back to one time a week. Eating at restaurants is nice because you don’t have to cook or do dishes, but it can add up. Unless you are eating off the dollar menu everytime and that can’t be healthy.

4) Don’t pay retail for clothes. Look at thrift stores for clothes. You can find some good clothes at good prices if you find the right store. Also check yard sales or ebay. Shop at the big stores when they have big sales. Pay attention to your junk mail to see when the stores in the mall are having clearance sales.

5) Pack your lunch to work instead of eating out. If you work and regularly eat out for lunch, packing your lunch can save you a lot of money.

6) Find free or cheap entertainment. If you spend a lot of money on entertainment like going to the movies, look for alternative entertainment. Invite friends over on Friday nights for snacks, games, and chatting. Go on a picnic, ride bikes, hike, play family games or take up a sport or hobby.

Now that summer is here you can save on your utilities by running appliances at night time when it cools down. Running the dishwasher and dryer releases heat in your home. If you have on the air conditioner, you don’t want to be releasing heat in your home.

So wait till the evening until you use the dishwasher and dryer so the temperature will have cooled down by then.

According to a news report, $7 a gallon gas is likely in 2 years time. With high gas prices, Americans would have to change their lives.

People would have to live closer to where they work. People who currently have to drive a long distance to work would either need to move closer to their job or get a job closer to where they live. It doesn’t make sense to work all day just to be able to pay for your commute to work.

SUVs and gas guzzlers could be wiped into extinction. Obviously we need to look at alternative fuels.

Here is the report from CBS:

A new energy report predicts $200-a-barrel oil in as short a time as two years. If that happens, gas would likely go up to $7 a gallon - and that would have an enormous impact on the way Americans live

Mitchell Igelko in Miami complains rising gas prices are threatening his 20-year-old landscaping business. His two biggest trucks sit idle - he can’t afford to fill them up.

Right now, Igelko’s business averages $30,000 a month in gas - at $7 a gallon, that would jump to about $50,000 a month, CBS News correspondent Priya David reports.

“I think at that time, I’m gonna put a sign ‘gone fishing,’” he said.

Economist Jeff Rubin predicts the $7 mark will arrive by the year 2010.

Hardest hit will be those for those making less than $25,000 a year. For them, gas will go from 7 percent of their income to a whopping 20 percent.

“People are going to be spending more on gas than they are on groceries,” said Rubin. “And that’s not a sustainable choice.”

In fact, by 2012, higher prices could send an additional 10 million vehicles off the road.

It would certainly ease congestion. Having that many cars come off the roads is like permanently parking twice as many cars as there are in the whole state of New Jersey.

Some look to Europe for solutions to the skyrocketing gas prices.

“They drive these nice little cars which maybe we should start doing,” one U.S. driver said.

Expensive gasoline has led Europeans to also drive less than we do. In America, over 90 percent of all households commute to work by car. Compare that to just 60 percent of British households.

“People’s entire mindset as to what kind of vehicles they drive, where they live, choices they make on holidays, and vacations are going to be quite different, because it’s starting to bite,” said Joseph Romm of climateprogress.org.

For Mitchell Igelko, $4 gas is trimming his profits, but $7 gas would be a knock-out blow.

Ok, there is a big craze going on about water cars, fueling your car with water, running your car on water, or however you want to say it. If you haven’t heard about it yet, you will.

The first time I saw these headlines, I thought it was a scam. It sounded so ridiculous. So I decided to research it and find out for sure if it’s real or a scam.

And my conclusion is, it’s legit, it’s real, but it’s misunderstood. You don’t run your car on water. Your car still runs on gas…but with using the hydrogen in water, you use a LOT LESS water and you save A TON of money.

With the way my car burns gas, I would save over $50 a week assuming I doubled my MPG. I estimated I would save close to $300 a month.

So you are probably wondering how this works. Well, water is made up of hydrogen and oxygen. Hence, the H2O. And hydrogen is a powerful fuel. There is a way to turn H2O into a gas called HHO-hydrogen-hydrogen-oxygen.

With HHO, you can double your MPG. You will still buy gas, you will just buy a lot less and save a lot of money.

The thing is, you will have to buy a manual showing you how to make a kit and put it under your hood and either you will have to do this yourself or show the instructions to someone else and have them do it for you.

You don’t have to be a mechanic. The manual is written so everyday people can read the instructions and do this.

There are several different guides out there, but the BEST one is of course, the most expensive one at $97. You will also need some supplies like a glass canning jar and some stuff you can easily purchase at any hardware store. In total with the manual and supplies it will probably cost around $150 up to $200.

Now I would make up that in less than a month and I would save probably around $3,000 a year on gas. So a $200 investment is nothing. My car gets terrible gas mileage and it makes me angry! (Mazdas get GREAT gas mileage by the way, but my Mazda died and I ended up with an awful gas guzzler. My Mazda had me spoiled)

So anyone who wants to be frugal and double their gas mileage might want to try this out. If you are like me and scared of tinkering with cars, then just buy the manual and show it to your cousin, uncle, father, friend, hubby, or mechanic. They should be able to get your car converted in an hour.

There is more science behind it that you can read about if you wish. It goes into more detail about HHO, Brown’s gas, hydroxy, the inefficient way your car’s engine is designed.

Your car actually WASTES 80% of the gas you put in it and converting water into HHO actually stops your car’s engine from doing that.

So, if you want to look at the actual sale’s page for Water4Gas and see if you want to invest $97 into saving a ton on gas here is the link: WATER4GAS

You can also look at: www.squidoo.com/savealotongaswithwater

Now the weather is warming up, yard sale season has begun.

Yard sales are a great way to get rid of extra stuff in your house you don’t need or want anymore and to bring in some extra cash.

The best way to have a yard sale is to team up with a few more families and hold your yard sale together. Bigger yard sales bring in more people. A 5 family yard sale will get more people than a 1 family yard sale. Talk to your friends and family and ask them if and when they are interested in having a yard sale. Then pick the person who lives in the most convenient location traffic wise and hold the yard sale in their yard.

Then you need to place an ad in your local newspaper. Divide the ad by how many families are involved then split the cost of the ad.

Now you can clear out closets, drawers, attics, and basements selling stuff you no longer want. Consider donating the left over items to charity or a needy family.

With food prices having gone up faster than anyone can remember, more and more families are looking for low cost meals.

A common meal for poor families in the country was pinto beans and cornbread. Before food stamps, many poor rural people grew up on pinto beans and corn bread because it was cheap and filling.

Cutting back on meats and eating more pastas and beans will save on your grocery bill. Ramen noodles are cheap, but it doesn’t take long to get sick of them.

Noodles, spaghetti, macaroni and cheese are low cost meals or sides. With creativity, you can still eat good and cut back on your grocery bill.

Everyone who drives must have car insurance. It’s the law and you don’t want to drive without insurance and get pulled over the the police. Then, you’d be in some big trouble and face mandatory huge fines.

The problem with car insurance is it can eat up a lot of money. Of course it depends on age, driving record, type of car, and other factors.

It never hurts to check around and see if you can get a better deal. A lot of people have been with the same insurance company for a long time and haven’t even considered changing. However, they may find another company can offer them a lower rate and save a few hundred dollars a year.

So this is just a reminder for people like that. Call around to different car insurance companies, be sure to tell them you already have insurance but are seeing if you can get a better deal. They want your business, so they will give you the best deal they can.

Sometimes change is good. You may find yourself saving a few hundred dollars a year on your car insurance. Especially if you have a good driving record.

Ipods, Xboxes, Mp3 players, video games, think of all the stuff we have we don’t need. We live in such a materialistic culture that teens think cell phones are Ipods are necessities just like food and clothing and air.

With the price of food soaring faster than it has ever soared before, the highest ever gas prices, along with the recession, some people will have to learn to cut back on the stuff they don’t really need. And some people will have to learn the difference in what they really do need and really don’t need. You need food. You don’t need an Ipod.

Think of all the money an average family would have if they didn’t it on certain “luxuries”. Some families would be rich if they could get back all that they’ve spent on video games. It seems every year a newer, better, must have model of some video game system comes out. How many different Nintendos are there? The latest model was the Nintendo Wii. The original Nintendo came out in the 1980’s. And I don’t even know how many different versions have come in between, but it’s a lot.

When trying to save money and cut back on your budget, look at how much you are spending on stuff you really don’t need.

Only buy those wanted, but certainly not needed things on special occasions such as birthdays and Christmas and set a reasonable limit to what you will spend on these non necessities.

Rather than playing video games or listening to your Ipod, try spending time with what’s really important in your life, the people you love. You can’t buy them at a store. Go on a walk, have a good conversation and enjoy each others company. And it’s free.