With EVERYTHING going up, what are YOU doing to save?

[Whistle]

Hello there! With the rising prices of EVERYTHING (except our checks), what are YOU specifically doing to combat the prices?

It can be anything you are doing to save money, earn more, etc. Let's share our tips and help each other!


*I am paying close attention to using up leftovers in my fridge (I had gotten pretty slack about this and am focusing on not throwing away any food- we have been using it up!)

*I am focusing on combining my errands to help save on gas

*I joined weight watchers and have been carpooking with 2 of my friends that go as well

*I haven't gone to Target

*I entered some items in a consignment sale and made almost $90.00 (spending money for my boys for our upcoming spring break trip)

I know there are even more ways I can save (in particuliar I need to do better with groceries but am finding eating healthier is more expensive!) Can't wait to read your tips and strategies!

 

[angierae]

1. I listed a bunch of video games/cds/dvds on Amazon Market place and have made about $100 in the last six weeks. Sales have slowed down, though, so I think everything that's going to sell, has. However, listings don't expire and there's no charge, so I'll let them sit there.

2. We started eating at home much more, and shopping sales even if it meant hitting 3 different grocery stores every Sunday. They're all within five miles of each other.

3. Strict budgeting for "fun stuff". It has sucked having to wait for the library to get a book, or borrowing it from a friend, or not being able to go out, but I'd rather scrimp a bit now and still have savings.

4. Quit buying my lunch at work. Now I take last night's leftovers or a sandwich. I've also lost about six pounds in 6 weeks.

5. I can't get DH to cut down on the cable bill, but that'd be high on my list if I had more control over the tv.


I'm sure there's more.

 

[dreamalittledream]

*no fast food, gave it up for Lent anyway

*not going to stores for every thing, waiting until I really need it and then not taking the girls with me. or making a purchase online instead, saves gas and eliminates the impulse buys!

*going to 4-5 different grocery stores and getting the sales of each on essentials, (on my way other places to save gas).

*eating out of the freezer/pantry, really trying to use what we have.

*gave up gymnastics this session

*cut back a bit on cable, just can't give up the dvr yet...

*using myponts/swagbucks faithfully to earn giftcards

*selling anything on Ebay that I can!

I try to make it a game to gain some entertainment in my life...

 

[Tink-n-MrIncredible]

1. I listed a bunch of video games/cds/dvds on Amazon Market place and have made about $100 in the last six weeks. Sales have slowed down, though, so I think everything that's going to sell, has. However, listings don't expire and there's no charge, so I'll let them sit there.
2. We started eating at home much more, and shopping sales even if it meant hitting 3 different grocery stores every Sunday. They're all within five miles of each other.

3. Strict budgeting for "fun stuff". It has sucked having to wait for the library to get a book, or borrowing it from a friend, or not being able to go out, but I'd rather scrimp a bit now and still have savings.

4. Quit buying my lunch at work. Now I take last night's leftovers or a sandwich. I've also lost about six pounds in 6 weeks.


5. I can't get DH to cut down on the cable bill, but that'd be high on my list if I had more control over the tv.


I'm sure there's more.

How about donating the ones that do not sell to the library? We have donated several DVD's to the library. We have also been borrowing movies from there instead of going to the movie store.


I have started to hang up some clothes to dry instead of using the dryer.

 

[rubato]

Riding my bike or walking when possible.

Combining trips, when not.

Not buying any summer clothes. Just losing weight to fit into the old ones.

Not eating out.

Trying to plan close to home things to do this summer, instead of a big vaca.

Using up freezer/basement pantry stuff whenever possible.

Gave up meat! Saving a ton with that one.

Talked my friends into getting together on walks instead of going out. So far, it's working.



We've always lived pretty frugally except for vacations, so haven't changed too much. Thinking about giving up the cable, but only if I can save at least $30 a month. My internet will go up, so not sure it's worth it.

 

[sydneysmom]

** shopping with coupons

** matching coupons w/ the sales and extra care bucks at CVS (to get lots of items for free!!)

** eliminate X-Box live charge. ( that was DH's idea)

** called Comcast and worked with them to lower our bill.

** my DH and I work together, so we commute everyday

** get our gas at the station that Kroger offers a discount per gallon of gas.(it adds up)

** we make our lunch every day. only try to eat out once a week either a lunch or a dinner.

** food shop for 2 weeks at a time.... I make / freeze dinners so it's more cost effective when I cook.

** we buy only when it's on sale. (or REALLY try) that includes clothing, food, etc.

** RedBox movies instead of renting them from ONDemand. (they're only $1.00 from Redbox !!)

That's about all I can think of right now !!

 

[DawnM]

Well, we are already pretty frugal, but we are slashing the budget again to pay down the mortgage more!

Here is what we already do:

1. Strict budget categories and try not to go over (grocery, eating out, etc...)
2. Used items as much as possible
3. Switched to Ooma phone service
4. Drive older cars
5. Homemake as much as possible

So, here is what I am slashing right now:

1. Chiropractor- just can't afford it.
2. Directv- going to Roku boxes and Netflix and Hulu
3. After the trips already paid for, we are not going to Disney for at least a year, possibly longer....we will see if I can handle it! Or, we will cut it down to only once per year doing my super frugal $1,500 trip!


Just the Chiropractor and the directv cutting will save over $200/mo, sometimes more if I got to the chiropractor more.

 

[chris31997]

We make a list for all shopping.

Pay cash for everything except bills

Thrift stores for clothes, 1st saturday of the month the local store does $5 bag sale

Turn in old DS games

Yard sale

 

[brymolmom]

This is what we're doing:

1 Got rid of cable - saving about $60 a month
2 As soon as DH can get on the roof to install the antenna - another $12 a month saved when we get rid of local channels
3We're paid for garbage collection thru the end of this month - changing to another company will save us about $50 this year.
4Starting to budget our credit card spending - We pay it off every month but I swear almost every month I'm saying - WOW - how did we spend all that? So I tracked it for a couple months and came up with 'reasonable' allotments to spend on each category. We are almost 1 week into this new budget amounts and it's going OK. It is definitely making us think twice about spending now and it is showing me where all the money goes. We'll see if we can stick to it. Of course, my own $100 incidental money is just about gone and we're not even a week in (had to get a shower gift and gift for my mom bought one thing for myself). AND I need a haircut next week so that will have to come out of my 'spending cash'.

 

[C.Ann]

Going through all of my recipes (as well as copying over new ones) that contain meals and desserts that can be made with inexpensive staples that I pretty much have on hand at all times..

Looking for more coupons for specific items that have to be name brand: Breathe Right Strips; Boost; Folgers Coffee; and one particular OTC med that I have to take on a regular basis..

When I return to the lake (hopefully soon), I'm dropping my cable/internet from Standard Service to Basic Service.. (There are no "options" up there - it's the one company or none..) Standard Service with internet is $116 (plus tax) per month - Basic with internet will be $60.. That's quite a monthly savings right there!!

I will be doing a large "stock up" grocery shopping trip before I leave - due to the fact that the decent supermarkets and Aldi's are much, much closer here than up to the lake.. The majority of the food items/cleaning items I purchase don't have to be certain brands, so the biggest chunk will be spent at Aldi's..

I normally buy used books on half.com - but this year I'm hoping to go the garage sale/thrift store/rummage sale route instead.. I'm also hoping to acquire some VHS tapes that way as well - since no one wants them anymore and they can be had for 25 to 50 cents each.. (Since my cable will now consist of not much more than 3 channels and PBS, I'll use whatever VHS tapes I can find for my "background" noise - or maybe even find something that I'm interested in watching - LOL..) On the other hand though, I will not be running around to garage sales here, there, and everywhere - wasting gas.. I will wait for the "neighborhood" sales and do them all in one fell swoop..

Someone posted a link to an article here on the BB about "phantom electric use" and I found that quite interesting.. Just for the heck of it, I'm going to try some of the things suggested in that article when I get up to the lake.. While I'm gone, there's no usuage at all - so I'll bring my first bill from last year, try the suggestions, and see what kind of difference there is in my actual usage (not price)..

I won't be going out shopping anywhere - because I really don't "need" anything..

I have quite a few projects lined up to keep me busy for the next 7 months, so boredom shouldn't be a problem..

Still looking for other areas where I can "cut out" or "cut back" - so I'll be keeping a close eye on the BB when I happen to be online..

ETA: Forgot to mention that I've been cutting my own hair for over a year and a half now.. Watched a video on how to do it, took the plunge, and it worked out fine.. My hair is thick - and grows very fast - so that's a significant savings right there..

It's actually become sort of a game with me now.. I have a certain figure in my mind - that I would like to see materialize in one of my savings accounts by next November - and that makes the whole process more enjoyable than drudgery..

 

[Taja]

Hmmmm...

Have been combining trips/minimizing driving since the 1974 OPEC oil embargo. Dates me just a bit, doesn't it? *LOL*

With all of the financial chaos, I wanted to begin saving more money last year. I began by developing a written budget and identifying every expenditure (I'm usually within $2 for the month). I enter all receipts (broken into categories--not just by store, so no "groceries" line item), checks, etc., in QuickBooks at the end of the month (just as if I were a business) and compare the results to my budget. I've been saving about $300 per month doing that, which is nice. Sort of Dave Ramsey light! It does take a bit of time, though. I find entering my receipts bi-weekly works well. Monthly is tedious!

Check the thermostat before leaving in the morning and going to bed at night. Keep rooms a bit warmer in hot weather and a bit cooler in cold weather. Probably saves about $15 to $20 per month. Not a lot, but I'll take it.

Buying smaller quantities of fresh foods more frequently. I'm solo, and there is just so much produce I can eat before it goes bad. While a three-pound carton of strawberries is great deal for families, I struggle to make it through a 12-oz. container before they spoil. And I love strawberries!

Seriously comparing prices when I need to purchase something--clothing, shoes (need three pairs of sandals this year and am having problems finding something I like, can wear and at price I'm willing to pay!), electric fans (Need to replace those this year, too. The old ones have croaked!), small appliances, etc. Anything more than $5 or $10, particularly if I don't have to go too far out of my way to purchase it.

There are a couple of ARCO stations that used to be $0.10 to $0.15 less than the other stations, but lately it's been more like $0.05 (they are lower than Fry's which is a Kroger store). Both are convenient for me, so I tend to purchase fuel at one of those stations. Probably would not drive out of my way for them, though, unless I had a larger vehicle (drive a compact car).

Limiting gifts. Most of my friends/relatives are adults. Most of us purchase what we want, when we want it--or can afford it! So a few years ago I began limiting holiday/birthday gifts to children 18 and under, but extend that to unmarried young adults through age 25. I've been doing it for a while, so I don't have a hard number. Best guess is I save about $1,000 or so a year.

 

[Shelly F - Ohio]

Buying and extra Sunday paper to get the coupons

Changed my airfilter in the car to get better gas milage as well as checking the tire pressure.

We are almost out of several of our vitamins just so happens Walgreens emailed me a discount code. Went on line and spent $43.00 and saved $58.00 and did not have to leave my house and I qualified for free shipping.

Avoid running errands at lunch time when traffic is heaviest.

For our Disney trip next month I bought a $25 gift card to House of Blues and it only cost me $2.00.

Making enough food to have left overs. Which not only saves money it saves time.

Due to high gas prices DH company as offered their employees to work from home one day a week. A saving of 60 miles a day!

 

[karice2]

I finally submitted a mileage voucher at work and got $100.

Submitted receipts for gym memberships and got back $159.99

Used a coupon for my favorite Aveeno shower gel while it was on clearance.

Took stock of pantry and planned meals around that.

Going to ask company if I can work from home one day a week, that will save me 124 miles.

Gathered all my CD's to sell.

Selling off items from an old business that are still useful.

Losing more weight to fit in expensive older clothes.

 

[Soarin_04]

We've cut back on so much I'm not sure where else I can cut from! I mean...

* I'm couponing
* We eat out maybe once a month, if that (more like every 2 months)
* We dumped newspaper delivery
* We stopped video on demand in favor of netflix
* Goodwill and Salvos are my best friends for clothes
* I use paperbackswap.com for books or the library
* I buy in bulk, cook in bulk, and freeze
* DH has become the master baker in the house, making all of our bread, and he's branching off into cheese making later this month
* This summer, our garden will provide most of our produce
* My clothesline gets used more than the dryer (although not today in the snow)
* The thermostat gets turned down
* Lights are unplugged
* No more mini-roadtrips or weekends away (which we used to do a few times a year)
* No retail therapy at Target or the Mall (can't remember when I was in a mall last)
* I shop at a store that offers gas points, but only after I've purchased all I can from Aldi's
* My friends and I have gone gift-less (really, do I NEED anything else to dust / take up space?)
* I've really managed my money well to the point that I can roughly guestimate how much I'll have left by the of the week and I've now had that money automatically deposited into my savings.
* No credit card use unless I'm buying something (on sale only!) online.

And I'm sick of all of it. I do it because I don't see the economy improving and because my DH is laid off more than he's on the books lately (construction still sucks in this economy) but I'm sick to death of it.

I keep thinking my parents and grandparents got through the Depression and I'll get through this but what I wouldn't do to take my sons and DH out for a weekend away the way we used to.

 

[bettymae1121]

I'm not specifically doing this to save money, it's more of a "green/healthy/quality" thing, but in the long run it will probably save money too!

I'm expanding my veggie garden this year. The last few years I've had about 12 pots on the side of the house (only place that gets enough full sun) where I've had bell peppers, tomatos, a few hot peppers (for DH mostly) and fresh herbs. Not much room for anything else.

This year DH promisses me he will build a proper garden bed on the side of the house (similar to the garden boxes seen on that thread elswhere on the budget board, only it will have a stone "side" to match the stone border we have for the flower beds in the front of the house) so I'll have more room. I'm thinking of adding cucumber, strawberries (if I can figure out a way to keep the critters from getting them before i do) and carrots, and growing all of it in larger amounts for canning/freezing in the late summer and fall.

Because of the materials we need to get the garden going, it won't save us money this year but we'll enjoy fresh, better quality veggies and herbs right away, and will see savings in the year to come.

 

[happygirl]

cutting back driving
making sure food isn't being wasted.
watching our electric
price matching
hitting thrift stores

 

[gandhmommy]

We live on a budget, don't eat out and try watching what we spend at the store when it comes to clothing etc.. I'm always looking for deals and sales. But the one part that I'm really happy about is come September 2011 the twins will be starting full day Kindergarten and no more daycare!!! Which will be about $1000 in my pocket!!! More trips to Disneyland and saving for another big trip to Disney World in 2012!!!

 

[QVCshopper]

Thanks to someone above, I decided to call Comcast and ask to reduce my bill. One five minute call, and they gave me a $35 discount per month. We have them for cable, Internet, and phone. So thanks!

 

[southern_redhead]

Talked to BellSouth and had them re-do our DirectTV, home phone, and internet to save about $25 a month (didn't change any packages but they reworked the bundle somehow.)

Only buy what I know I'll USE UP at the grocery. I hate to cook, so I buy a bag of frozen chicken or something once a month and then weekly I will under buy on fresh meats. If I use it all up and still need some I drag out a few frozen breasts, but I never end up throwing out ground beef because my mom showed up with a pizza or asked us over for dinner at her house (used to happen a good bit.)

Coupons! I do my darndest to get my hands on a coupon and then match it with a sale. I'd say I've saved $30 a week, over shelf prices, doing that. I'm in the stocking up phase right now, though, so last week I bought 5 bottles of Tide. I got them at a great price and now I won't need detergent for a long, long time

I made the kids try on last summer's clothes. What didn't fit got consigned, what did fit was ironed and put back in the closet to wear. I used to spend over $1200 a season outfitting them. I'd say we've spent $700 this time, much better!

I shop through Mypoints for anything I can. The above mentioned $700 for clothes? $400 of it has been through MP, so I got 1200 pts. I haven't spent the remaining $300 yet. Some are B&M stores so no points there, the rest I'll see if I can get more points on.

M-F I drive home-work and work-home. I live maybe a mile from the school (ODS's school is on the way to the school I work at and the younger two attend...) Talk about saving gas. I used to drive an hour or two each weekend to grocery shop. I hate our WM but now I suck it up and only go out of town once a month, I also pair that trip with something else I need to do (a store ONLY located there, a doctor's appt, date night with DH) so I only use one trip worth of gas.

Pack lunches - for me and the kids. So much easier and way cheaper ($1.25 a kid to eat a school lunch sounds cheap unless your kid throws most of it away and then needs a snack in the afternoon......) For myself, I just dish up some leftovers at dinner and carry them the next day.

We haven't been on an "outing", barring our Spring Break trip, since December. No more eating out, going to the movies, or even renting movies/games (we have Netfix for movies and a PLETHORA of video games of our own!) As a reward for good behavior, and because a few days at the beach last week and then cold, rainy weather and SCHOOL this week has drained us we are going to the movies tomorrow. However, we used to let everyone get a drink/popcorn/candy and we'd see whatever showing. This time it's a matinee time so $2 less pp x 4 people ($8 less) and it's a coke each and ONE large popcorn (so probably $50 less )

Quit coloring my hair. I was coloring it to cover greys (I had a handful after a surgery) but apparently it was a side effect of the anisthetic....I noticed I no longer had greys showing in the grow out. So I dropped the coloring and pocketed $45 a month. I haven't colored since August and still no greys, makes me a happy (and richer LOL) girl!

Washing/cleaning the car at home. I used to go to the touchless car wash and then use the vacuum. $10 a pop. Now I wash it in the driveway and haul the vacuum to the carport. Free

 

[wishesuponastar]

We don't buy cold cuts much but Remind me not to buy cold cuts again, just spent $22 I didn't think it would be that much with getting 1/4 or 1/2 pound of each but it added up! We are going to be making sandwiches for an outing on Sunday so it's much cheaper than going to a restaurant but still. Oh yeah, at least one of the items was a pound of turkey breast at $5.99 lb. so we can use that alot more than one day.

We also stopped buying clothes except for a few new items, using last years.

Didn't renew AAA because if we need it we can always just call up and become a member at that time.

Keeping the thermostat pretty much off all day thanks to warmer temps.

Told DD-13 to walk home from school unless it's raining.