Random Money Saving Tips

[Carol_]

I just realized that keeping my credit card and banking information at least 5 minutes away from me saves me oodles on impulse buys online.
What simple tips do you have for saving money?

 

[dpswift]

Use free drive up pickup for shopping. Not only are you less inclined to impulse buy, but you see the total before checkout and it is easier to remove items if needed

 

[Disneyfan754321]

When I grocery shop I use cash, I cant go over my budget so I stick to my list, also I'm more inclined to look for sale prices.
( I still have my debt card in case)

 

[easyas123]

One positive thing we've found during Covid is how much less we spend at the grocery store if we
#1 make a menu
#2 place a grocery order for just that stuff - pick up or instacart

Before I'd make a menu and a grocery list, but I'd always add to it and spend a lot more than I planned.

 

[CookieandOatmeal]

Before buying anything online, I like to put it in my cart for a day or more and think about it. Sometimes I end up getting a promo code sent to me in my email that lowers the price and other times, I end up deciding I don't need it after all.

 

[dclpluto]

I just realized that keeping my credit card and banking information at least 5 minutes away from me saves me oodles on impulse buys online.
What simple tips do you have for saving money?

How do you keep your credit cards and banking info 5 minutes away from you? Seems impossible unless you live in a big apartment complex and keep your credit cards and banking info in your car.

 

[Carol_]

How do you keep your credit cards and banking info 5 minutes away from you? Seems impossible unless you live in a big apartment complex and keep your credit cards and banking info in your car.

There are ways if you think outside the box.
(One way I’ve never used is the credit card frozen in ice inside the freezer trick.)

 

[MrsPete]

Yes to the "keep your savings five minutes away" idea -- at least the concept, if not the five minute detail: I used to have a part of my paycheck diverted to a separate savings account in a bank that was inconvenient to reach. I purposefully didn't have an ATM card for that account, so if I was going to withdraw money, I had to make a special trip -- which meant I had to think about it /make a conscious decision.

Other thoughts:

Go through your closet and get rid of things you haven't worn in X amount of time, things that don't fit, things that you can't wear because you don't have the necessary matching items. Make a list of things you actually NEED to add to your wardrobe, and don't buy anything other than those things.

When you're buying clothes, ask yourself if you can see this item remaining in your wardrobe rotation for a decade. Add 10 years to your current age -- can you see yourself wearing this item at that age? If the answer is no, don't buy.

I read somewhere that the average person's grocery bill is 30% beverages -- most of which add no nutrition to the family's diet. Tap water is a free and healthy. This is a very easy way to cut your grocery budget.

When you make a casserole (or spaghetti sauce), double the recipe and freeze one. When you're too tired to cook, you have something ready to go and it'll save you the cost of fast food.

Start saving glass jars (like from salsa or spaghetti sauce) for your leftovers. Minimize your use of plastic wrap and ziplock bags. This is also good for the environment.

Buy things used. You can save so much money, and it's better for the environment.

Put off purchases. Some things you NEED to replace -- like work shoes. Other things, once you put them off for a while, you realize you don't really need -- like yet another pair of black sandals, if you already have two pair.

Don't use shopping as a hobby; that is, don't go shopping "just becauase" you're bored, or you just got paid, or because you haven't bought anything new in a while.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

1. I pack breakfast and lunch every day for work.

2. I leave things in the online shopping cart for a while to see if I really need it. I probably have 50 items in my Amazon "saved for later" section.

3. Do the math. I see or hear what some people spend on their lunches and quietly mulitply x5 days per week x52 weeks per year. Outrageous. We could fly to Paris for what people blow on lunches.

4. Bills that are not monthly get their own savings account. Ally lets me have multiple savings accounts and each have a nickname, all under one log in. Things like quarterly sewer, property taxes, homeowners insurance, car insurance, vacation, etc. I calculate what I need to put in those accounts either weekly or biweekly and then either transfer or direct deposit. (My employer is more flexible than dh's for having multiple accounts to direct deposit into.) When the bill comes, I just transfer from that bill's savings account to checking. Ally tallies up all the savings accounts and it looks like a lot but when you see it broken down and know that money is earmarked for a particular bill, it's far less tempting to just say "Ohhh, $7000. Let's do something fun with it!"

 

[barkley]

see if vendors offer discounts for non traditional payment schedules. for example-most folks i know pay their auto insurance monthly but by paying mine twice per year i get a nice discount (when we still had a mortgage i opted out of having an escrow account and paid my own homeowners insurance once per year which i've continued to do to get yet another discount).

see if you can get a better deal on regular utilities you use simply by asking about all the options the offer-found out i could save about 25% per month on garbage service by getting a double sized container but doing every other week pickup vs. weekly.

buy items in 'off season'-i fill our 1K gallon propane tank in the spring or late summer to avoid higher fall and winter rates.

keep track of average usage of non perishable food and household items-stock up when they go on sale (i buy most canned goods once per year and save at least 50%).


hang on to your costco receipts-if something goes on sale within 30 days of purchase they will refund the difference.

 

[theluckyrabbit]

Amazon lets you put items in the cart and save them for later. This helps save on impulse buying and also helps me look for a better deal.
Put a box/pan/bin on an upper shelf, at eye level, at the front of the fridge. Label "EAT ME FIRST!" and put anything in there which needs to be eaten ASAP, e.g. half containers of yogurt, leftover sandwiches, containers of leftovers which serve one, partially eaten fruit, half eaten anything, etc. Teach the family to rummage there first for snacks and light meals before going through the rest of the fridge. This cuts way down on food waste and things thrown away. It also teaches the family to be more responsible with how much food they mindlessly throw back in the fridge.

 

[tvguy]

Before buying anything online, I like to put it in my cart for a day or more and think about it. Sometimes I end up getting a promo code sent to me in my email that lowers the price and other times, I end up deciding I don't need it after all.

LOL. I've had a $600 item in my cart for 5 YEARS! Still haven't ordered. But my wife is now twisting my arm to use my stimulus money for it!
Hard to do with online purchases but one of the money basic budget suggestions from credit counselors is to pay cash for everything. You can never go over budget that way

 

[CookieandOatmeal]

LOL. I've had a $600 item in my cart for 5 YEARS! Still haven't ordered. But my wife is now twisting my arm to use my stimulus money for it!
Hard to do with online purchases but one of the money basic budget suggestions from credit counselors is to pay cash for everything. You can never go over budget that way

Wow 5 years! Does that mean you really don't need it then haha.

 

[MrsPete]

1. I pack breakfast and lunch every day for work.

As a teacher, I have to bring my lunch. I can't leave in my 22-minute lunch period, and the cafeteria won't sell food to teachers.

I've just started something this year that makes lunch easier (though no cheaper): I bought five identical lunch containers, and on Sunday night I make lunch for the whole week. When I'm making a week's worth at once, I put more effort into it and make sure they're healthy. The result is that I have a lunch loaded up with fresh vegetables instead of a pack of cheese crackers. On Monday I take all the lunches in, and then for the rest of the week lunch is "automatic". I take home one container a day.

This also keeps me from one of my constant mistakes: making my lunch and leaving it on the countertop at home.

FYI: This week's lunch will be stir-fry veg.

 

[tvguy]

Wow 5 years! Does that mean you really don't need it then haha.

It's a police scanner. And it is a want, not a need. I have them on my desk at work, but does me little good working at home, and online scanner apps are AWFUL. I have had a scanner of my own in my car and at home since 1980, except the last 5 years when it died.

 

[cvjw]

I tell my young adult sons - don’t buy junk you don’t need, don’t eat out all the time and live beneath your means. Also, don’t get on the always having a new car band wagon. Once you get on, you don’t get off and you always have a car payment. Save money - as much as you can and watch it grow.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

As a teacher, I have to bring my lunch. I can't leave in my 22-minute lunch period, and the cafeteria won't sell food to teachers.

I've just started something this year that makes lunch easier (though no cheaper): I bought five identical lunch containers, and on Sunday night I make lunch for the whole week. When I'm making a week's worth at once, I put more effort into it and make sure they're healthy. The result is that I have a lunch loaded up with fresh vegetables instead of a pack of cheese crackers. On Monday I take all the lunches in, and then for the rest of the week lunch is "automatic". I take home one container a day.

This also keeps me from one of my constant mistakes: making my lunch and leaving it on the countertop at home.

FYI: This week's lunch will be stir-fry veg.

The key is finding what works for us. Many of my lunches are leftovers from dinner. We bought containers similar to these which make packing a lunch much easier.
While I sip my morning coffee (inexpensive, homemade) I gather my lunch and put it in my car. We have a garage attached at our kitchen so it's easy to step out in my nightgown to have it all ready before I take a shower.

 

[Rob Huff]

Lots of good suggestions in here already. Here are a few more:

1. Track your spending. Do this for at least two months. I've had my spreadsheet going for almost 12 years, and it's fun for me. For most folks, it's an unpleasant chore. There are two huge benefits of tracking spending: (i) you know how much you actually spend on certain items versus how much you think you spend on them, and (ii) having to write something down after you purchase it serves as a check on your actual desire to buy the item. Do I really need/want what I'm about to buy so much that I'm comfortable writing it down and showing it to my spouse/parent/sibling/friend/etc.?
2. Automate...but only the good stuff. I'm a huge fan of automating productive behaviors. What does this look like? Retirement savings are automated as part of every paycheck, as are HSA contributions, and college savings occur biweekly to track paychecks. On the first of every month, I have automatic transfers from my checking account to savings/investment accounts for the following purposes: property taxes, homeowners insurance, household repairs/improvements (they're coming at some point no matter what), buying our next car, vacation, DVC dues, auto insurance, umbrella insurance, and trash/recycling. Now, I say "only the good stuff" above. Why? Automating productive, savings-oriented behaviors is great. Automating spending, on the other hand, is a great way to get into trouble. Subscription services are a great way to spend an extra few hundred or even thousand dollars in a year without knowing where the money went.
3. Figure out your predisposition. Are you a saver or a spender? I'm a saver. My wife is a spender. That conflict could cause serious problems in other relationships, but we're well aware of our propensities and plan accordingly.
4. Make a budget. If you already have one, great! If not, spend a couple of hours and really dig into this. Figure out you biggest line items and see what you can do to reduce the expenditure there. This goes hand-in-hand with #1 above.

I found that these solutions are so much more impactful than trying to save $3 here or there. The inclination to impulse buy goes way down when you realize that the impulse purchases mean extra months/years of paying your mortgage or that your Disney vacation is actually going to be a virtual vacation where you watch other folks go on rides and splash in the pools.

 

[mrodgers]

There are ways if you think outside the box.
(One way I’ve never used is the credit card frozen in ice inside the freezer trick.)

That use to work. Now I go to Amazon, card is in the system. Target, card is in the system. Walmart, card is in the system. Best Buy, Chili's, Applebees, Firehouse Subs, Cabela's, Field and Stream, Barns n Noble.... We can do even more secure than freezing it in ice, cut it up into little bitty pieces, still the card is in all the stores' systems.

 

[mrodgers]

Lunch. I am divorced, kids live with mom and they don't come here often. Usually I go out there as mom has the house (we are friends.)

When I cook, I cook a lot. I buy 2 packages of pork chops and cook all 10-12. Make a big pot of mashed potatoes, veggie, mushrooms, and I have 12 containers in the freezer. 3 lb. of spaghetti at a time. Tacos, 2 lb. of meat and seasoning. I get dinner and 5-6 bowls of soup or chili from the Instant Pot. All goes in the freezer. Hot sausage for a sausage sandwich, cook 2 packages at a time.

Take one out and I head to work. Leave it on my desk and it's usually nearly thawed by lunch time except for soups/chili. Those seem to stay frozen completely.

Walmart Italian sandwich buns freeze extremely well and thaw fantastic. If I get some lunch meat, bun comes out of the freezer and I wrap it in a paper towel and leave on my desk. Lunch time and the outside is nice and crusty and still deliciously soft on the inside. I actually like them better doing this than when they are fresh as the outside gets crusty.

Note, I work in manufacturing and quite a while ago I thought, why bother coming home exhausted from labor all day in extreme heat (going to Disney was great because at 107° I got a big relief from the heat I'm normally in) and spending the rest of the day cooking and cleaning. I'll eat dinner at lunch time when I'm working and hungry, then have something simple when I get home. I generally cook one thing on a weekend and have 1 to 1.5 weeks worth of meals which after the initial gotta cook more for variety, I'm rotating my lunch meals pretty good in the freezer. Currently there's pork chops (my chicken since I don't like chicken), steak for fajitas, spaghetti, stuffed pepper soup, sloppy joe, and BBQ pork from the crock pot all individual meals ready to pull out at 6 am.

I have a small fridge/freezer and I haven't grocery shopped I think since just after Thanksgiving. I have enough food cooked and frozen in meals that I probably could go 3 weeks without cooking.