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3 Self-Reliant Ways to Be Frugal

axe Doing things for yourself often means that you will also save money. There are so many ways that you can be a bit more self-reliant that will naturally make you frugal as well. I’m just going to cover three of them here today, but the next time you are confronted with an area of your budget that you want to tighten up, see if there is a way that you can be more self-reliant.

Heating

Heating is a big concern this winter. Prices are very high on oil, natural gas and even electricity. You can become more self-reliant by heating your home or at least supplementing the heat with a wood-burning stove or wood furnace, for example. Wood can be purchased of course, but why not advertise that you will haul away dead trees in exchange for the wood. Many people are happy not to have to pay for their dead limbs, logs and whole trees to be removed, and you can then cut and split the wood yourself to use it as a heat source.

Food

To become more self-reliant in this area, start by making your own meals from scratch. Then go one step further to grow and raise some of your own food. From a vegetable container garden on a patio to a henhouse full of chickens, you’ll get the reward of a fun activity combined with actual food you can use. And food prices are sky high right now. Another idea is to mill your own flour from grain. You can purchase the grain in bulk, or grow it yourself.

Home Improvement

With the state of the housing market, adding on to your home or contracting a large home improvement project may not make the most sense. But the components, materials and tools for home improvement are affordable, especially since they are not as much in demand as they were during the housing boon. Buy the paint and paint your home yourself, fix that faucet leak without calling a plumber, do your own landscaping, even build a shed or garage. Not only will you save, but you will surprise yourself about how self-reliant you are!

Click here for more articles by Mary Ann Romans.

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About Mary Ann Romans

Mary Ann Romans is a freelance writer, online content manager, wife and mother of three children. She lives in Pennsylvania in the middle of the woods but close enough to Target and Home Depot. The author of many magazine, newspaper and online articles, Mary Ann enjoys writing about almost any subject. "Writing gives me the opportunity to both learn interesting information, and to interact with wonderful people." Mary Ann has written more than 5,000 blogs for Families.com since she started back in December 2006. Contact her at maromans AT verizon.net or visit her personal blog http://homeinawoods.wordpress.com