What did you do to save money today? Oct 5-11

[musclemouse]

Okay I get the second paragraph (I did the exact same thing) but how do you find the willpower to avoid Starbucks? I told myself this morning...NO STARBUCKS this week - maybe this weekend! Well, after I dropped off my son at school I made a unconscious turn towards Target. omg I'm weak. I need help! Damn pumpkin spice lattes!

I love this thread! Okay, I cooked at home all weekend instead of eating out. That saved a bunch of money! And I really wanted to stop at Starbucks yesterday when I was out but I didnt. Its only $4 but if you do it 2 times a week, thats $32 at the end of the month that could be used to buy something else or pay off a bill.

I also took inventory of the fridge/pantry/freezer and only bought what we needed at the store to round out some meals. I had planty of meat so we only needed to buy some milk, bread, lunch stuff, veggies, etc. I spent about $50 as opposed to my normal $100 a week.

 

[DesertBell]

Yesterday, I called the cable company and switched to a standard bundle instead of a deluxe bundle. My house phone doesn't have caller ID anymore, and my internet is slower (but I can't tell at all) but I'm saving $25 a month.

I also changed our cell phone plan to a Myfaves family plan, for a savings of $30 a month.

Today I am going to cancel my kid's gym memberships. (They have memberships to the kids club there, but they don't use them anymore since I go while they're in school.) Also, my husband's- he hasn't been in over a year. By the end of the month I plan to cancel my personal trainer. (I have about four sessions to use up first.) All together that will save us $85 a month.

I am also going to shop car insurance; I am pretty sure I can cut ours by about $50 a month.

We're also doing a no buy month, so none of our usual eating out stuff. I'm cooking every day.

I grocery gamed my way to 65% savings at the grocery store yesterday, yay that. I also stocked up on meat products that were all about $2 a pound instead of $6.

I instituted a "One bath towel a week" policy, and also a rule about wearing pajamas two nights in a row. I also had DD lay out her outfits for the entire week, and went through to make sure they all fit her. That way, she won't throw outfit after outfit on the floor and then put them in the dirty clothes hamper instead of putting them away.

We've been keeping the AC at 80 degrees instead of 76. DH whines about it constantly, but I'm tired of $300 electric bills.

I started sending leftovers to school with the kids for lunch instead of making them sandwiches every day. I also declared Sunday "Leftover day".

That's what I've done in the last week.

 

[uk_wildcat]

I went to Gamestop today and traded in an old Gameboy Advance to get the $40 towards purchase of a new DS Lite. While there, we went ahead and traded in a few games and Guitar Hero guitars that we just don't play anymore. After the $40 for the Gameboy and all the other trades, the DS Lite (normally $129.99) only cost me $6!
Later today, we are thinking about taking some books to Half Price Books to try and get some cash and I also have a few boxes to take to the children's consignment store.
Anything we can do to get rid of stuff and also get some cheap or even free things for Christmas gifts!

 

[mskayjay]

I ordered some coupons for a product that I use quite often. Small investment, decent return! ) I'll use them for the product for my lunches and save even more than buying lunch (which I don't do anyway!).

I did the coupon matchups at my local stores to save extra. I made a larger than needed pot of Chicken Gumbo to have for lunches this week.

 

[Tinker'n'Fun]

I am a bit behind but on

Saturday - I went to the market and purchased a bushel of peppers and apples both for under $10.00 total. The peppers will last throughout the winter and the apples will last for eating for about 6 weeks.

Saturday night - my anniversary! I purchased a reduced pizza at Aldi's and added a salad with it from the market. Saved the cost of an anniversary dinner.

Sunday - shopped alone with coupons very slowly so that I was sure to get the deals I needed and no extra's in the basket.

Monday - Took my car to a new mechanice recommended by my neighbor. It is getting fixed for under $200.00. The other mechanic said it couldn't be fixed and told me to buy a new one.. Savings well around $15,000.00!

 

[ZPT1022]

nothing specific each day but DH and I have been working slowly but surely to purge the house of unneeded/unwanted stuff. This weekend's projects included emptying out both pantries, DH was able to fix a shelf with supplies we had on hand , we emptied out a huge box of stuff to go to Saint Vincent de Paul which is nice because our local food pantries are hurting right now. I've been making a point to empty out the freezers, pantry and cupboards before I grocery shop and instead of eating out. We've had some odd meals, like DH's lunch of "meatball subs"- meatballs, sauce and cheese on hotdog buns but it's better than throwing it all out.

We also saved us some space and my mom some money by giving her an old computer monitor we're no longer using.

 

[hercamore]

Same as the previous poster:

Getting rid of stuff and giving to charities.

I see more and more household leaving items on their front lawn with a (take it, it's free" sign. Good idea.


herc.

 

[hsmamato2]

on a prolonged shopping trip yesterday with some "shop till you drop" friends I only bought one quilt on clearance for 14.00,and it's totally useful!
Made breakfast for dinner last night w/ items on hand
tonights dinner is meatloaf I made a few weeks ago and froze,now it's cooking in the oven(mmmmm) along with some potatoes,and in the process adding some warmth to the house!
My favorite easy meals are my own "preprocessed " foods, like when I make meatloaf,I make at least 3-5 and freeze some, for busy days when I can't take the time to cook.....now that's convenience!

 

[tmbrea]

Haven't decided if I was spending or saving....was with DH today when he went for a haircut. There is a Cato next to the place he goes....bought 9 pair of blue jean shorts for $35. This is East Texas and wear short for all but 2-3 months a year.

 

[travelbug]

I went one more day without turning on the furnace. I haven't turned it on yet this fall at all. I just dress more warmly and huddle under comfy blankets while watching TV.

I'm going to look into bundling phone service in with the cable and internet package I already have. Pretty sure it will save me a little each month.

This is a fun thread to read.

 

[crazelion]

I did not eat out for dinner today and save 10.00 dollars.
Will not be eating dinner at work for 5.00 pizza day either.

 

[natcat117]

I love to shop at Kohl's, so I signed up for the e-mail list thing and got a $5 coupon that I used for a 100% silk shirt (originally $46 but it was 90% off) and a great tie (originally $28 but it was also 90% off). I ended up paying about $2.40 total! The shirt I gave to my dad and the tie will be a present for my boyfriend.

 

[travelbug]

I love to shop at Kohl's, so I signed up for the e-mail list thing and got a $5 coupon that I used for a 100% silk shirt (originally $46 but it was 90% off) and a great tie (originally $28 but it was also 90% off). I ended up paying about $2.40 total! The shirt I gave to my dad and the tie will be a present for my boyfriend.

Good job! Way to maximize those sales!

 

[LuckyMamaInDE]

Today: more Green Giant veggies shopping at Acme. Combining store sale with coupons, 10 boxes of unsauced, allergy-friendly veggies and 10 steam-in-bag veggies for $5.36. 15 meals'-worth of veggies for my family of 5 for $.36 each!

Made from scratch white pizzas (2) using half a pound of on-sale mozzarella, about 3/4 lb on-sale ricotta cheese, a bag of broccoli (see above) and some clearanced Baby Bella mushrooms (.92 for 16 oz)----plus loads of garlic, some onion and olive oil. Fed all of us with enough left over for lunch tomorrow!

And I swiffered our hardwood floors today using the same swiffer dry cloths I bought one house and SEVEN YEARS ago! I just throw the cloths in with a load of towels every week. I have no idea if the currently-available cloths are of the same quality, but you all might want to give it a try!

 

[delmar411]

I stuck to my meal plan for dinner.

Got only the things on my grocery list at the store, including my 18 free packs of TP , and resisted a bunch of useful yet still impulse buys.

 

[Belle0101]

I stayed home, no quick trips to the store. I'm sure I saved there by not purchasing on impulse.

It was chilly this morning but I left the furnace off and opened all the blinds instead. Let the sun in to heat the house.

We have a ton of apples from when we picked them a couple weeks ago and I made applesauce with them today.

 

[Adey]

We are having games/contests all week at work in honor of Customer Service Appreciation week. One of the contests today was guessing how many M&Ms were in a jar and I won! I was only 2 off from the actual total of 1,778 so I won the jar. Crazy! Anyway, that will save us money because I'm a serious candy eater and now I'm set for quite awhile.

Stopped at the grocery store after work and got a paper and nothing else. The paper went up .50 though and I made a .50 donation to a breast cancer charity at the register but there were 4 coupon inserts this week so I will easily make my money back plus some once I use the coups.

 

[slightly_obsessed]

there are a lot of great things on here! my husband and I made dog treats last night. I'm not sure how much we saved but we used items that we purchased long ago specifically for this purpose. So instead of being lazy and just buying dog treats, we made 200+ treats with things out of the cupboard/freezer. And it makes the puppies happy and more spoiled for less money.

 

[Belle0101]

there are a lot of great things on here! my husband and I made dog treats last night. I'm not sure how much we saved but we used items that we purchased long ago specifically for this purpose. So instead of being lazy and just buying dog treats, we made 200+ treats with things out of the cupboard/freezer. And it makes the puppies happy and more spoiled for less money.

Going OT here - I love your puppies!! Are they labs? I was thinking they might be because they look a lot like ours. We have 4 plus 1 greyhound. The labs are -

Shadow, black female (mom)
Simba, yellow male (dad)
Jack, black male (son from first litter)
Shy Boy, chocolate male, (son from second, and last, litter)

The greyhound is Kayla, fawn female



Sorry, back to the topic of saving now .....

 

[slightly_obsessed]

Going OT here - I love your puppies!! Are they labs? I was thinking they might be because they look a lot like ours. We have 4 plus 1 greyhound. The labs are -

Shadow, black female (mom)
Simba, yellow male (dad)
Jack, black male (son from first litter)
Shy Boy, chocolate male, (son from second, and last, litter)

The greyhound is Kayla, fawn female

Sorry, back to the topic of saving now .....

Thank you so much! They are both predominately labs. Jasmine (she looks brown but is really more reddish) is a lab, brittney spaniel mix... or so the kid in the Wal-Mart parking lot told my husband. Max is probably a lab and sneaky neighbor dog... we adopted him when he was about 6 years old because he was so good with Jaz. We absolutely love them. Yours sound absolutely wonderful! I would love more dogs but we don't have the room for them.

And back to saving money!