Estimated read time: 3-4 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
SALT LAKE CITY — These days of recessions, government shutdowns and more have many families feeling they are financially drowning. While some are struggling, others have found unique ways to stay afloat and make do with less.
Sara Wilson no longer buys anything brand new. She buys, trades and sells stuff online through Facebook yard sale sites for Herriman and West Jordan.
"The bike was $10," Wilson said, pointing to an almost new bike for her son. "The bouncer we got for $15."
She has found tires and Wii games, and she traded a tub of boy clothes for a bin of girl clothes with someone on the South Valley Clothing exchange.
"We buy and sell here quite often, especially for the kids play clothes," Wilson said. "They run through them pretty quickly. I spend one dollar an item of clothing rather than $15, $20.
"You have to be pretty quick, because they often list or best offer. And bring cash," Wilson said.
And she never pays full price for new Halloween costumes anymore. There's a local Facebook page for that, too.
Everyone of our households can face our own personal recession, our own personal shutdown.
–Will Vandertoolen, a counselor with Triple A Fair Credit Foundation
"This is how we used to do things," said Will Vandertoolen, a counselor with Triple A Fair Credit Foundation.
Vandertoolen says now it has to all be new and people treat their credit cards like a bank account. He says many people have not learned the lessons of the national recession, nor may they learn lessons from this recent government shutdown.
"Everyone of our households can face our own personal recession, our own personal shutdown," he said.
But Vandertoolen sees encouraging signs of Utahns making do with less - buying more practical used cars; College grads paying off debt while living at home; Teenagers paying for the things they want.
Others are getting creative, like Kiel Sorenson, who was spending up to $120 a month in data plans for smartphones for himself and his wife. Now he uses a cheap track phone for emergency calls.
"It's $6 or $7 a month on phone service," he said, "and I use a Galaxy mp3 player for my smartphone."
It has apps, and email and texting through Google's free VOIPP services that he accesses through Wi-Fi.
"It's been a huge savings for us," said Sorenson, who is a full-time college student, works full time, and has three children.
Other Utahns told KSL they use cash-only budgeting systems to help make sure they don't spend too much. Others say they wait a week until they buy something big to give themselves time to see if they really need it. A Cedar City resident wrote in to talk about how he goes around harvesting fruit from trees that has fallen to the ground. People are happy to get rid of it, and he benefits.
Vandertoolen says entertainment is a big area to save money, but food is the number one budget buster. People tell him what they think they are spending, but he finds it's usually double that because of restaurants, fast food and school lunches.
Vandertoolen says to determine between needs and wants.
"If you try to justify an expense to a friend or family member, may not need it," he said.
Set aside money for emergencies, and then get creative. You, too, can make do with less.
