- This topic has 5 replies, 1 voice, and was last updated November 12, 2007 at 8:36 am by .
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Shop alone! I find I buy junk to keep him quiet and other things I
wouldn’t normally buy. And if I go alone I can hit a few stores and
buy the lost leaders in the same amount then when I’m shopping with
kids.
Use the Library! I love looking at the nice magazines in the stores
but feel quilty spending the money (they are not cheap!) Borrowing
books, magazines and DVD’s makes me feel smart! ( I would never spend
$20 for a book that I’ll read once)
Thing ahead! If you celebrate Christmas then you know it comes at the
same time every year. I put money in a jar every pay period for
Christmas presents. And when I see super deals thru the year I buy
it! I did so well this year that I’m hardly going to touch my
Christmas pot since I shopped so well that I may use it for next
Christmas and start saving for a family trip!
Same goes for Summer vacation. I have a “Vacation Pot-Summer 2008”
already started with almost $100 in it! I’ve been selling junk around
the house and putting the cash in the pot. I already have it planned
for what day trips we will take and then it’s nice to grab a $20 for
a day at the beach, pack a lunch and use the $20 for gas and treats!
Then I don’t worry that I won’t have any money to do stuff.
I think the best way to save money is to plan ahead!
— In Budget101_@yahoogroups.com, Herlean
>
> (1) Always shop with a list. This means for groceries, clothes,
etc. No matter where you shop (warehouse club, regular retail
grocery chain, thrift store, etc.) This way, you leave home with
enough money to shop and your prepared list. You don’t distracted by
the “fluff” at the store designed to take you away from your list.
>
> (2) Shop with cash. Not your debit card. Not a credit card.
Hard, cold cash. When you have to actually count out $______ from
your wallet, you are well aware that you spent $_____ amount of
money. It is a proven fact that when you pay via other means, you
spend 20% or more than you would when using cash money.
>
> (3) Use what is in your pantry to make meals. Use a cookbook.
If you don’t know how, learn how to do it. Trial and error, like we
all did. It saves a lot of money over eating out. Start small with
PB&J and work your way up. Eating out for breakfast, lunch and
dinner, even if it a trip to McDonalds or Burger King instead of
sitting down at Applebee’s or Ruby Tuesday, it still adds up.
>
> (4) Make a thermos of coffee, tea, hot chocolate when you head
out. Skip the Starbuck’s run.
>
> (5) Bake your own bread, muffins, etc. instead of going to
Starbucks for them. I made a dozen pumpkin muffins for $1.12 (mix
was on sale) at home. One slice of pumpkin bread at Starbucks is
$2.85.
>
> (6) Hang a clothes line in your laundry toom. It will help save
on laundry costs. Learn to iron. A good investment: A Rowenta
(brand name) iron glides easily over clothes. The cost saved on
using your dryer and pressing the items or steaming them with the
iron is worth it.
>
> (7) Combine trips. Save on gas.
>
> (8) Use public transportation and/or walk when possible – saves
on gas.
>
> (9) If you mail things often, packages and such, have the Post
Office come to you and pick them up. I think you have to include at
least one item Priority Mail, but check http://www.usps.com for details.
>
> (10) Put your food in airtight containers. Crackers, pretzels,
breakfast cereals, oatmeal, dog biscuits, cat treats, etc. will last
longer and you don’t need to replace them because they went “bad”.
>
> (11) Take a cooler of water with you in the car when you go out
to do errands. Pack a sack lunch too. If you are out and hungry,
you are less tempted to hit the drive thru if you have food packed
with you. Thermos makes a stainless steel food container that will
keep hot foods hot or cold foods cold for hours. It is wide-mouthed,
for soups, stews, hot dogs, whatever you want to put into it. Target
sells them for about $15. I recommend the stainless steel version
over the glass-lined. If the glass-lined one breaks, it is shot.
Stainless steel will last for years. I have had a couple of them for
more than 5 years each. $3 a year???? No brainer.
>
> (12) A lot of money is wasted on food. Look at your budget and
spending patterns. We spend a lot of it at the grocery store. We
don’t eat out very often (1-2 times every 3 months maybe). I used
the slow cooker (we have more than one); the pressure cooker (great
tool!!!).
>
> Herlean
>
> sandy miller
> I go to garage sales,yard sales,etc to buy
clothing,grapevine wreaths,things needed for our home and watch
freecycle for any needed furniture,etc.I bring the wreaths home,strip
everything off,wash them and let them dry.Then I go to clearance
sales for things needed to re-furbish the wreaths and then at
Christmas and birthdays I give them as gifts.I decorate a wreath for
every season for each family that I give them to.I also go to second-
hand clothing stores also to buy clothes for our family and can get
some very nice clothes for cheap-especially if I go when they have a
store-wide sack sale for one money.I also go to after Christmas sales
to buy as much as my Christmas gifts for the next Christmas as I can
possibly get.If I find a really neat and great working toy for my
granddaughters at the garage and yard sales that the girls do not
have,I buy it,bring it home and clean it very well(disinfect it too)
and re-furbish it to give to them for their birthdays and
> Christmas.I have stopped buying groceries at our Walmart
superstore and starting going to the mom and pop grocery store here
in town.Yes on some things they are higher than Walmart BUT they have
gas cards that hey have given out to their customers and when you go
to check out they will scan your card before they ring up your
groceries and depending on what you buy,you can end up saving
between .10-.50 per gallon of gas at the gas station they own as well.
> Sandy
>
> DGates
done but we started to stop eating out but once a week instead of
several times a week.We spend under 20 to do this just so mom can get
out. I noticed last week that not only were we paying all our bills
on time or ahead but that we had money left for actually stocking up
at the grocery store on good deals. I now have a pantry full and
freezer full so that I don’t have to necessarily shop every week
besides the milk I need. I’m so happy and christmas will actually be
a joy this year without feeling overwelmed.
>
> Donna Winning and loving it.
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