Staying at home is cheap, but...

Since we bought our house, our budget is really tight.  Last night, I learned we (Americans) can expect gas and energy prices to raise dramatically with gas going up to $6/gallon.  Dh and I are barely making it now, let alone if prices go up even higher.  We can afford the new lifestyle we have chosen if we stay home a lot.  I mean almost no going out to eat, combining trips, and basically staying at home most of the time.  The problem is, I hate staying at home and barely leaving the house.  It's so boring!  I have to figure out a way to love staying home not spending money as opposed to going places and doing things which costs money. 

I don't think it would be so bad, if I weren't disabled and unable to work.  Oftentimes, the only time I see people outside immediate family is at Walmart or the commissary.  I don't really like shopping at the commissary.  The aisles are narrow.  You're constantly bumping into people or being bumped into due to the narrow aisles, plus the place is constantly busy no matter when you go.  But that tax free stuff makes it worth the hassle (sales tax is really high in my area), so we buy most of our groceries there even though  none of us really like it.   I don't really want my weekly outings to be trips to the commissary and doctor's appointments, but that's the way it has to be for us to get ahead.

Does anyone know how to make staying at home fun?  I have hobbies.  I have a garden.  I have a clean, organized house.  There are a few things I need to do, but they do not amount to hours of fun.  I am staying home a lot.  I find myself looking forward to mowing the lawn.  Yes, I have offered to do some volunteer work, but I haven't heard back yet. 

Spending more time on the internet...  yep, staying home, although cheap, is dull, dull, dull.  I need to mow the lawn and take out the trash today and I'm actually looking forward to it.  At least, it will be a change in the routine. 

Sales tax is close to 10% here.  It is 10%+ in the neighboring counties.  We're in the cheap county and it's not cheap compared to WV!  The prices are about the same, but all the taxes make everything much more expensive than WV. 

We're on the line now.  I don't know how we're going to handle even higher gas prices.  If gas goes up to $6/gallon, I think all my neighbors will be staying home too.  Home is where the cheapness is.  *sigh*

Our house actually came with a storage shed and a big playset.  It would only be about $15 for a kiddie pool, so we'll probably do that when it gets warmer.  I have met some of my neighbors and have started to make friends.  Well, I went to the commissary, got gas, ate fast food and mowed my yard.  There goes my excitement for the week.  I blew it all in one day.  Actually, I had dubbed all my vcr tapes onto dvd this week, so I had to go to the thrift store on base  to dump all those old tapes off anyway, so we combined trips.  Gas is about 10 cents a gallon cheaper on base. 

If it doesn't rain, dh and I plan to walk around the neighborhood and check out others landscaping, because ours sucks.  Our front yard is almost completely shaded all day.  I was reading that bushes make good cheap landscaping.   I wonder how well they like a lot of shade and hot weather...

Working in the yard is cheap entertainment and it raises your property values without increasing your taxes.  I just found the Kansas Extension service channel on youTube which has a lot of good videos on lawn and garden care.  I imagine other states have something like this too.  The tips on there could be useful for almost anywhere though.  It's not as if rock vs organic mulch is a Kansas only thing. Here's a link: http://www.youtube.com/user/KSREVideos#p/c/34/3MnsdTST1aQ  It's set on selecting shrubs for your yard, but you can access all the other videos from here.

Home is a lot less exciting when you're there 24/7. 

When you're a 100% disabled vet, home is where you're going to be for a very long time.