Your #1 BEST EVER money saving idea

[smilie]

DH are trying to make some changes and try to eventually get back to only needing one income. So far we've cut back on eating out. I think we save at least $50-$60 a week by bringing lunch to work. I know we can save more. Other ideas we need to put into practice: cut the heat back while we're away from home, go down to basic cable, slim down the grocery budget.

What are your best ways of saving?

 

[Jennifer in MI]

Mine? Stay out of the stores. Stay off the computer. If you must shop, go with a list and WITHOUT kids as often as possible.

 

[bettymae1121]

Stopped buying soda and start making my own ice tea to drink at home rather than buying it pre-made. This saved quite a bit of money on the weekly shoping trip.

Stopped using paper towels and used reusable wash cloths instead. Fot what I spent on one mega Bounty pack, I spent on about 20 good quality wash cloths and haven't bought paper towels in over a year.

Stopped using store bought cleaners and started using baking soda and vinager for most of my cleaning (the baking soda I get mega cheap at Costco in bulk).

Those are probably the biggest savers I can think of right off the bat.

 

[Nayan]

1) Don't buy bottled water
2) Don't buy coffee out
3) Take your lunch to work
4) Shop with a list
5) Don't eat out if you can make the same food at home for much less
6) Leave kids at home. In some cases, husbands too .

 

[DVCBELLE]

Coupons...if you really take the time to look at them and sales ads - you should be able to cut down what you pay for groceries by half! That will mean buying in cycles but it can really make a huge difference in your budget - we used to go with quick trips to the grocery - which cost about $40 for a few essentials two or three times a week - to one big trip every 2 weeks and pay about $50 less for WAY more stuff!!

 

[tinkarooni]

Eat at home, meal planning, cooking from scratch and grocery shopping as infrequently as possible.

I plan a months worth of meals and grocery shop once a month. Most things around here are cooked from scratch. I bake our bread, make our snacks, cookies, cakes, popcorn etc. Being organized has been the key for me. I do work full time as does Dh so it can be done. Our best friends are our breadmaker and crockpot. We eat out maybe one time per month and we get take out one other night. All planned out so that eating out is more of a night out and not just a drive thru, makes the eating out more enjoyable too.

We use cloth napkins, I rarely buy paper towels, I keep them around just for gross clean up jobs (like dog mess). We eat very well, organic low fat foods and I have trimmed the budget immensely this way!

Good Luck!

 

[Ar1el]

1) Don't buy bottled water
2) Don't buy coffee out
3) Take your lunch to work
4) Shop with a list
5) Don't eat out if you can make the same food at home for much less
6) Leave kids at home. In some cases, husbands too .

I agree with leaving the husband at home 100%. We always spend more money when he is with me!!

 

[sdd1841]

...just by calling ANYONE I regularly pay money too. I was able to get significant discounts on cable, phone and internet...ask about bundling, or tell them you are considering changing carriers - they want your business and are willing to cut their rates to keep it. Also - if you do use credit cards - call them too - ask for a lower interest rate. Utilities are hard to get discounted, but call them anyway...they may wave a customer service charge or see if you can lock in a better rate. Let me know how you do - I call every few months just to make sure I am getting the best deal out there.

 

[mblaesing]

Coupons...if you really take the time to look at them and sales ads - you should be able to cut down what you pay for groceries by half! That will mean buying in cycles but it can really make a huge difference in your budget - we used to go with quick trips to the grocery - which cost about $40 for a few essentials two or three times a week - to one big trip every 2 weeks and pay about $50 less for WAY more stuff!!

I am in the Metro Detroit area and I follow a coupon blogger that lists each grocery store in our area every week and what the best deals are in that store. She will also list where to find the coupons for the paper or will link to a legit printable one. This is how I have saved most of the money for our Disney trip over the past year!! She is also on facebook, so her fans will also post deals they find around town!

 

[mrsklamc]

Switching to a credit union. They don't charge PMI if you have less than 20% equity, and they pay us 4% interest on our checking account. No PMI + the reduced interest rate + a 15 year loan rather than a 30 saved us $200,000.

 

[JandJ]

A tip I use often is, when you are in the store and looking at an item, think "Do I really need/want this? How will this make me feel in a day, a week, a month? Will this bring me X dollars worth of joy? How often will I really use this?" Many times when I do this, even if I've been carrying the item around the store for 10 minutes, I'll realize I don't want it after all.

Other things DH and I do:
- Keep a strict budget and stick to it. We've used Quicken for years and I honestly don't know how I'd live without it at this point.
- Don't pay credit card interest. Cards are great when you get rewards, but I look at is this way, if you're paying 18% interest, then that 2% cash back isn't really cash back. Treat your credit cards like cash - if you don't have the cash to pay off that item then don't buy it.
- Get a cheap cell phone and phone plan. I have a 4-year old phone, DH has a $20 Go-phone, and we have a bare-basics plan. I don't understand how people I know who complain they can't make their car payment or afford groceries have these $300 phones and $100+ monthly plans.
- Cut back on cable TV.
- Bring your lunch to work. I refuse to eat fast food and where I work there aren't many other options so I just prefer to bring.
- Always shop with a list and use coupons. Often the store brand is just as good quality and cheaper, even if you have a coupon for the name brand. There are some items to which I am very brand loyal, though.
- Buy local. We buy produce at a local market and save a fortune over the grocery store. Also, buy your spices and specialty items at local ethnic markets. We shop at the Asian, Indian, and Mexican markets a lot. It's much higher quality than what you find at the grocery store and infinitely cheaper. And it's fun to look at all the different food out there and try something new!

I speak as a reformed horrible budgeter who was in a lot of cc debt. You can do little things to make a big difference. I'm so much happier now and I guess I just like to share the ideas that got me happier

 

[leadfootlevi]

Eat at home, meal planning, cooking from scratch and grocery shopping as infrequently as possible.

I plan a months worth of meals and grocery shop once a month. Most things around here are cooked from scratch. I bake our bread, make our snacks, cookies, cakes, popcorn etc. Being organized has been the key for me. I do work full time as does Dh so it can be done. Our best friends are our breadmaker and crockpot. We eat out maybe one time per month and we get take out one other night. All planned out so that eating out is more of a night out and not just a drive thru, makes the eating out more enjoyable too.

We use cloth napkins, I rarely buy paper towels, I keep them around just for gross clean up jobs (like dog mess). We eat very well, organic low fat foods and I have trimmed the budget immensely this way!

Good Luck!

Grocery shopping once per month...how does that work with produce?

I buy whatever meat is on (good) sale that week and make our meal plan based on that. Unfortunately for us, the good sales don't give us enough variety for a whole month's worth of menus.

 

[marie1203]

By far coupons! I am saving about $32 every time we go grocery shopping.

 

[SDSorority]

We use the bare minimum of all of our monthly bills/utilities.

Examples-

**only get the sunday paper and use the coupons. The paper will pay for itself each week.

**get rid of your home phone and only use cell phones

**get rid of your cable bill and only use netflix (we're adding this to our own routine come Christmas!)

**eat/cook at home as much as possible

**become vegetarian beans are SUPER cheap, SUPER EASY to cook with, and TOTALLY yummy (oh, and a great source of protein!). If you don't want to go THAT far- cook a vegetarian meal once or twice a week (or more)

**at home, keep lights off that are not in use, keep your heating set as low as you (and guests...) can stand but still be comfortable, unplug appliances when not in use

**don't use as much washing machine detergent as it says on the bottle. Use about half as much

**clean your sinks, counters, tubs, etc with a mixture of baking soda and vinegar (and some lemon). It works just as well as the chemical cleaners, without the chemicals!!

**meal plan around what's on sale at the grocery each week

**DON'T SKIMP ON THINGS LIKE CAR REPAIRS, HEALTH CHECKUPS/PROCEDURES, NECESSARY HOME REPAIRS, ETC.

 

[threecrazykids]

Eat at home, meal planning, cooking from scratch and grocery shopping as infrequently as possible.

I plan a months worth of meals and grocery shop once a month. Most things around here are cooked from scratch. I bake our bread, make our snacks, cookies, cakes, popcorn etc. Being organized has been the key for me. I do work full time as does Dh so it can be done. Our best friends are our breadmaker and crockpot. We eat out maybe one time per month and we get take out one other night. All planned out so that eating out is more of a night out and not just a drive thru, makes the eating out more enjoyable too.

We use cloth napkins, I rarely buy paper towels, I keep them around just for gross clean up jobs (like dog mess). We eat very well, organic low fat foods and I have trimmed the budget immensely this way!

Good Luck!

Would you be willing to share your monthly menus? I have decided I REALLY want to do this! I may only shop every 2 weeks, but having a whole month of ideas would be REALLY awesome! I have a list on a word document of a ton of dinner ideas (I'd be willing to share) but adding some new ones in the mix would be great!!

 

[smilie]

I have a list on a word document of a ton of dinner ideas (I'd be willing to share)

Please do!!!

 

[threecrazykids]

Please do!!!

How do I "share" a word document on here? Or do I just have to have people PM me their email address and I can send it that way?

 

[bjscheel]

Shop at thrift stores for clothing. If you can find good enough stuff, make a profit on the kids clothes after they wear them by selling for more on eBay than you paid at the thrift.

 

[shortbun]

Shred your own cheese. I WAS buying all shredded because it's handy. When I really compared, it saved me lots by the end of the year.

 

[shortbun]

Buy your spices in the International Food section instead of the spice section. Compare ground cinnamon at $1.39 versus $3.29 and chili powder is amazingly cheap as well as cumin....I grow my own tyme, basil, rosemary, oregano and dry it. I've just kept the old bottles- oh yeah, parsley and chives too!