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Idea #1: Whenever we cook and we have leftovers, we package a plate or two and exchange that meal with a neighbor for their left overs.
Idea #2: I set up a website, with the help of grant money from a foundation in my community, to post used items that are in mint condition but have not use for..."one man's trash is another man's treasure" on the site so that people can look through these items and look to trade or barter for them with something else that they may have.
Idea#3: I save coupons for my friends for items they shop for.
Idea#4: I and a group of my friends get manufacturer vouchers for grocery items, we save loads of money here.
Idea#5: We share our blockbuster/netflix account. We order the unlimitted subscription order all the movies we want to see as entertainment for our families.
Idea#6: Any scraps leftovers from our dinner plates we save them/freeze them for our pets so that we do not spend any additional money on pet food.
Idea#7: We car pool for dropping and picking up our kids from school.
Idea#8: We coordinate our food shopping schedule so that we can have fresh produce and dairy every week. One person is in charge 3 other family's shopping for that week. This works out pretty well because not only do we save money on gas, we stick to a shopping list and never get to buy anything outside that list, a very big savings.
Idea#9: We pet sit. Sometimes travel is required, spending anywhere between thirty five and fourty dollars per pet per night can be quite expensive. We do not charge eachother anything.
Idea#10: We babysit eachother's kids. That saves money there as well.
Idea#11: Whenever one of our kids grow out of something whether it be shoes, clothes, coats or even toys, we rotate amoung ourselves.
Try incorporating some of these ideas, you will see how much you save and can still enjoy the benefits of a community.
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