Top Ways to Save $$ - what are your tips?

[mom2faith]

I started the thread about people asking about "where we get our money from" and a lot of people had great responses (Thank you).

So, on that topic, where do you get your money from? What are your top Saving tips??

Ours are:

1. No Landline - we were one of the first of our friends to do this and several have followed. We live in a rural area and it was $110 per month (seriously!! Sasktel is ridiculous!! And there is no other option here.) We save $1,320.00 per year on that alone!
2. Allowance for DD - This saves both the "Gimmes" from her, and I also have stopped "spoiling" her. I used to buy her whatever, whenever, and now she has to save her money for items she wants. For big ticket items we will put in half (if she needs it).
3. Bag Lunch - at $7 to $10 per day for lunch we are saving $2600.00 per year per person!! That alone is a trip to Disney!!
4. Secret Shopping - Both DH and I Secret shop in the evenings and we make about $500 per month (give or take). That is $6000 per year - another trip to Disney!!
5. Older Home - yes it needs minor repairs here and there, but my entire family is in new homes. Not one of them has a yard, grass or a fence yet and those all have to be paid for. We bought ours ready to go and do not have to worry about those additional costs.

So, I would love to get more ideas from my DIS friends...

 

[mrsklamc]

Use a credit union instead of a bank!

Ours pays 4% on our checking account and we just refinanced our house for FREE. No closing costs, no appraisal fee- free.

 

[cglaura]

A few years ago I dumped my digital package and went with Comcast basic for $12.60/month. I still get tons of channels. Saves me over $1,000 per year.

I keep my landline to the minimum...just local calls...no caller id, no call waiting. I have my own answering machine, so no voicemail charge. I use a calling card for LD, I buy one $15 card per year. My phone is $16/month, so saving me $540/year.

I use a prepaid cell, that is only $6/month. I only use it for emergency or to receive txt from dd when she is out.

I put my hot water heater on a timer & I hang my clothes except for towels and sheets (most of the time anyway). This saves around $600/year.

I buy older cars (I have a 1997 now w/ 97000 miles), but I pay my car savings account like it is a car payment, so I will have the money for another car without having to refinance.

I don't carry credit card balances, so no interest charges.

We don't shop "for fun". We shop with a purpose and a budget. We buy well made clothes on sale (usualy Land's End, LLBean, etc). Clothes that are classic styles that you can wear for more than one trendy season.

Use a grocery list and stick to it! My friend is amazes at my grocery bill, and I asked her about hers...oh, I just walk around and throw things in the cart!

 

[Justsyd2]

Cook at home instead of eating out. Use a George Foreman Grill and a Crockpot - they are my best friends! We also carry food with us when it's allowed. It's less expensive, better tasting, and healthier than takeout.

Shop sales and use coupons.

Put money into your savings FIRST, then use the leftover money for "extras".

Don't go to the stores when you're bored -- use the time to plan the next trip that you're saving for!

We do have cable, an iPhone, a land line, etc...we don't have to give those up in order to save money. Our biggest savings comes from eating organic, and cooking at home instead of eating out, and by putting money into the savings accounts FIRST!

 

[disneygirl 17]

Secret Shopping - Both DH and I Secret shop in the evenings and we make about $500 per month (give or take). That is $6000 per year - another trip to Disney!!

How did you get started in Secret Shopping - I have always wanted to do that.

I put my hot water heater on a timer & I hang my clothes except for towels and sheets (most of the time anyway). This saves around $600/year.

Putting you hot water on a timer? Interesting. So you have it only heat when you are home...Does it work good?

 

[HLDisney]

1. Keeping track of every dollar I spend. When I know that I have to put down in my worksheet that I spent $12 for the two of us for lunch at McDonald's, I'm more likely to try to find some food for us at home instead. And when I realize I spent over $50 on clothing and accessories for my DD in one shopping mall trip this past weekend (and very few of the items were really "needs"), I know that I shouldn't buy any more clothes for her the rest of this month.

2. Living in a smaller place. My DD and I live in a one bedroom co-op that I had bought before she was born. I always meant to get a 2 bedroom eventually but at this point, I'm realizing that the 2 bedroom really isn't necessary. My DD really hasn't expressed a need for her own bedroom and in the meantime, I've saved lots of money paying less maintenance on this apt than a 2 bedroom one. Maybe someday we'll get a bigger apt but by then, I would have saved countless dollars by living in less space for so long. (it's also good in that it keeps us from buying too much stuff since we don't have the storage space )

3. Using Paperbackswap to get books for my DD instead of buying them new. This doesn't work for every book but I have been able to find so many books at PBS instead of having to buy them new. Even if I don't have enough credits and need to buy some for $3+, it's still cheaper than buying books new.

Helen

 

[Muushka]

Cook at home instead of eating out. Use a George Foreman Grill and a Crockpot - they are my best friends! We also carry food with us when it's allowed. It's less expensive, better tasting, and healthier than takeout.

Shop sales and use coupons.

Put money into your savings FIRST, then use the leftover money for "extras".

Don't go to the stores when you're bored -- use the time to plan the next trip that you're saving for!

We do have cable, an iPhone, a land line, etc...we don't have to give those up in order to save money. Our biggest savings comes from eating organic, and cooking at home instead of eating out, and by putting money into the savings accounts FIRST!

We also save a bunch of money eating at home.

But I have to ask, how does eating organically save you money? All the organic products here are quite a bit more money.

 

[Justsyd2]

We also save a bunch of money eating at home.

But I have to ask, how does eating organically save you money? All the organic products here are quite a bit more money.

I guess "eating organic" lmao could mean just about anything, but for us it means buying locally and not buying processed/packaged foods.

We typically spend around $20 a week at the local Farmer's Market buying all of our fruits and veggies, bulk beans and rice, and potatoes for the week. Then we shop Target for non processed/organic meats. We use rice and dried beans plus the fresh veggies for sides. We have a bread machine for our bread, and an ice cream maker for ice cream. We also make our own soups, and things like that. It cut our grocery bill in half so that we can spend more money on trips!

 

[Colleen27]

Like you, we don't have a landline. DH's business requires he have a cell phone so that he's reachable when he's on job sites, and adding lines to his plan for myself and now our son still costs less than having the one necessary cell phone plus a home phone.

Where we really save on the everyday stuff is in having me at home full time. I've been a SAHM for years and my family teases me that I'm my grandmother all over again. I cook from scratch, bake about 90% of our bread, line dry the laundry, make my own cleaning products, grow a big veggie garden, can/freeze the things I grow and in-season produce from the farmers' markets, etc. Plus I have the time to clip/print coupons and shop sales to stock up when things are cheap.

DH is a licensed builder with years of experience as a handyman, so he does all of our home repairs. I sew, craft, and paint so I do all the decorating. This is a huge moneysaver because it allowed us to buy a very inexpensive foreclosure with cash; fixing it up while we live here is a small price to pay for not having a mortgage payment.

Woodworking is one of DH's hobbies and I enjoy the finishing/painting/upholstering, so together we make a lot of our furniture and refinish older pieces (from the curb or garage sales) for use or resale.

Surprisingly living in an older home has been a moneysaver, not just on the cost of housing but on the fact that our home pre-dates residential electricity and was designed to capture the sun and the breeze for natural lighting and cooling. Our electricity bill actually dropped when we moved even though our square footage almost doubled.

DH & I both drive older cars we paid cash for, and carry only liability insurance on them. We have a savings account built up with the difference between our current insurance and what we'd pay for full coverage that is sufficient to replace a wrecked or stolen car, and if neither of those things happen we're the ones that profit rather than our insurer.

I'm sure there are more, but I think this post is long enough. When DH first started toying with the idea of starting his own business we basically made a game of getting our monthly must-pays down as low as possible, and once he actually went out on his own we kept playing because we can't imagine going back to the long hours and limited family time we had when he was working for someone else. We've gotten really good at the game now - we could maintain our current lifestyle, including modest vacations and retirement savings, on a poverty-level income.

 

[hffmnheidi]

-I've saved money in the past by staying at work during my lunch hour(I live 5 minutes away from work) instead of burning gas going back and fourth. They installed a computer with internet access in our break room so that gives me something to do.

-Not running to Wal-mart each and every day on my break either, see above post.

-Taking breakfast/lunch/snacks/sodas to work with me instead of paying overpriced vending machines with stale snacks and junk food. Eating healthier gets me healthier and losing weight.

-Trying to run all my errands in one day instead of a trip here, a trip there.

-Using up what I already have in my scrapbooking supply stash and using my Cricut machine to cut images instead of buying costly stickers. Using craft store coupons also helps cut costs on neccessities for my craft obsession.

-Bookmooch.com for paperback books that I want that are older books or part of series helps save a good chunk of money.

-Developing photos through Kodak.com when they have a free shipping promo going on

 

[kydisneyfans]

Coupons, coupons, and more coupons.
Buy in bulk when on sale, don't buy anything when it is not.

Charge everything to obtain CC rewards, use the rewards for vacation.
Use Kroger points to buy fuel, if no Kroger points, then go to the Speedway across the street to save .03/gallon and earn points there too. If going to Kohls to spend $100, stop at Kroger on the way to buy a $100 gift card to get gas discounts and additional CC rewards.

Pay off CC's in full every month, never pay interest.
Bundle internet/cable/phone.
Bundle your insurances.

 

[Lear]

We use the library. Books, movies, activities even wii games. Lots of entertainment for free.

 

[mommy2_3]

we have a nice big 5bdrm 2bath, but old house (built in '55) that we got a great deal on. we bundle our mortage, insurance (we are covered 100%), and property taxes and we pay only $430 a month! we were paying more when we rented!!

we have just a basic landline so we are only paying $10 a month for that

we downgraded our cable, internet, and phone bundle. we were paying over $300 a month and now we pay $150

we use lots of coupons!

since all 3 of my kids are in diapers we used to use pampers but now we use target up & up. saving us $16 each time we buy 2 packages of diapers!

we shop for the kids clothes at a second hand store called trendy tots (used to be once upon a child). last time i went in there they are a few things on clarence and i ended up getting each of my 3 kids 4 full summer outfits and my baby girl a tummy time toy and only spent $25!!

we turn out a/c off each night

all our light bulbs are the engery saving ones and we only use 1 bulb per light we have in the house.

we play outside alot so this saves on gas to go somewhere and it also turns down our ele. a bit with no tvs and such running

we got a great deal on our double stroller at babies r us! it was $150 (which isnt bad in itself) but we traded in our old one and got 15% off the new one and we also had a $15 gift card that we used. so we spent a lil over $100 on it!

i am a deal shopper! i love going to jcpenny and getting great deals with their coupons that they give on their site. i once got a nice outfit for church that would have cost over $70 for $10!! it was half off and i had a coupon!

one thing that we are really excited about is our last car payment is july 22nd so thats going to save us $260 a month!

 

[mommy2_3]

oh and we dont have any CC even though we would like one.

 

[Muushka]

I guess "eating organic" lmao could mean just about anything, but for us it means buying locally and not buying processed/packaged foods.

We typically spend around $20 a week at the local Farmer's Market buying all of our fruits and veggies, bulk beans and rice, and potatoes for the week. Then we shop Target for non processed/organic meats. We use rice and dried beans plus the fresh veggies for sides. We have a bread machine for our bread, and an ice cream maker for ice cream. We also make our own soups, and things like that. It cut our grocery bill in half so that we can spend more money on trips!

Ah, OK. That makes sense. I know around here organic stuff is so much more expensive. I never touch the stuff! But like you, I do try to buy local produce and make a lot of things myself.

 

[reagan75]

Get in as many rewards programs wherever you shop.

Planning-we live in the country so when I need to go to the city, I knock several things off my list at once.

I heard for clearance racks when I shop.

I have been writing to companies whose products I love and have been receiving free stuff!

Plan your meals and use coupons.

Compare big purchases with several stores and ask about price matches.

 

[Keira1387]

I'm also interested on information on secret shopping. TIA!!

 

[DanAims]

I'm not sure how much you use your home printer, but I've found that printer cartridges become a major expense, especially with students in the house.

There is software (I use PretonSaver Home edition www dot preton dot com) that can save you 35%-70% of your printer ink by allowing the user to manage the desired ink saving level. You can remove graphics or photos from printing, to make printing web pages less cumbersome and less wasteful, which saves paper, too.

 

[cglaura]

Putting you hot water on a timer? Interesting. So you have it only heat when you are home...Does it work good?

I have it set for 2 hours in the a.m. for showers, and for 4 hours in p.m. for laundry/dishes.

You will have an initial cost because you need to hire an electrician to hook it up, but it will recoup quickly.

The water in the off times stays hot enough for hand washing, etc.

 

[disneydreamersx4]

freecycle.com is my #1 tip! I can't tell you how many times I have received excellent quality clothing for my girls or more recently a coffee table and end tables for free! I have also given away items for free too.

I love everyone's ideas, keep 'em coming!