Last Saturday, I spoke at the Money Wi$e Women Conference in my hometown of Bellingham, WA. It was so empowering. My speech was well-received and it was awe-inspiring to hear the other speakers at the conference. Everyone was great. My blog post about the day is here.
I think we all know (at this point) that our current economical situation isn’t going to change overnight. So I need to be the one that makes a change to create my “new normal” (see blog post here on my “new normal”). It was an honor to hear Marcia Brixey, author of The Money Therapi$t, speak at the conference too. Motivating, to say the least and, of course, I picked up a couple copies of her book.
The Money Therapi$t: A Woman’s Guide to Creating a Healthy Financial Life offers women of every financial strata the advice, tips, and solutions they need to get out of debt, create a budget, spend wisely, and save money. Marcia’s empowering, you-can-do-it attitude and helpful tools and resources encourage and inspire women to achieve financial fitness. With information on organizing financial records, getting out of credit card debt, safeguarding against identity theft, and taking advantage of interest through automatic deductions, The Money Therapist is the first step to achieving financial peace of mind.
You can purchase the book here or WIN THE BOOK! Whoo hoo!Just post a comment below and tell what your best money saving tip is! I am so excited to read all of your comments. I’ll randomly pick a lucky winner on Wednesday, March 31st.
I am a coupon girl. I love, love, LOVE to get paid to buy groceries 🙂
My best money saving tip would be the Snowball philosophy…Start with a list of your debt in order from smallest to biggest. Make minimum payments on all of the debts except your smallest one, continue sending in bigger payments until you knock it out! Then move onto the next debt. It’s really helped me and I can’t believe I couldn’t think to do it before!
I wish we could use a scooter, but our only route to town is on a stretch of State Road where the speed limit is 45 to 55 MPH, and I don’t think a scooter can get to those speeds. Bummer…scooters are so cute too!
The change idea is a great one – round up for savings – and it’s such a small amount that it doesn’t seem like much but over time, it really can (And will and does!) make a difference.
Oh man, I wish we still had a drive in in Bellingham. I LOVE the drive in – and it saved so much money with the snack factor.
Brilliant! Had never heard of this idea. Love it
Wow, that is a LOT of money …
We cook a bunch of meals on Monday and eat leftovers all week. By Friday, I’m a bit over it but it’s a good way to get all the veggies in too! =)
Surge protectors are a great idea – nice tip.
She was great – a real passion for helping women. It came through in everything she said.
We purchased a scooter for in-town trips and that really saves a mini fortune throughout the summer for sure…
Budgeting and money management has been a topic on my mind a lot lately and was so excited to see your post about it!! Here are a few tips that have really helped me:
1 – I will echo a few others here and suggest making your own meals including lunch for work. When my husband was in grad school we went 9 months without eating out! This was difficult in the beginning with our “date nights” but once a week I made a special dinner and ate by candlelight. It was really fun to try new cooking techniques and it was quite romantic to boot! Taking the time to develop my skills in cooking/baking not only helped my family during a financial crunch time, I also have these skills that I can teach to my children to help prepare them for the future and help them become more self-sufficient!
2 – Pay yourself first! When pay day rolls around, we take 10% of our net pay and split it into 2 different savings accounts. Two-thirds of that amount goes into one savings account that we don’t dip into unless it is an emergency or until we have enough saved up for our large purchase we are saving up for (right now that would be a down payment on a house!), and one-third of the amount goes into a second savings account that we use for unexpected or less often purchases like car repairs. Most people don’t need to split them up, but this helps us out because we can see the progress we are making on saving up for our home while we still have money set aside that we can use for other purchases.
3 – Save your change! It is a rare occasion that I pay in cash, so I am talking about saving your change from your debit card/checking account. Now, some banks will do this for you, but mine doesn’t so I keep track of it on my own. I have actually been doing this for about 10 years now and it is crazy how fast it all adds up! What I do is I document in my checkbook registry the purchase I made and then in the balance column I put down the amount I spent rounded up to the nearest dollar and then I write down the difference in the deposit column. I write my whole registry in pen and the change in pencil so I can keep it strait. For example: I just paid my cell phone bill which was $56.45, so in the balance column I deduct $57.00 from my balance and I added 55 cents to my running total of change! Over the past month I have saved up almost $17 just in change! Every six months we take the saved up change and make an extra payment towards our debt. If you don’t have any debt you could use that change to treat yourself to something nice like a vacation or extra holiday/birthday money! My parents have been doing this for years and have used this money to build a new deck, take a trip to Europe, and just recently bought two new wave runners!
Whew…sorry that was soon long! Financial freedom has really been on my mind a lot lately and I loved reading all the fantastic advice and comments, a few of which I will be implementing into my routine so thanks everyone!
I am really interested in trying this, I’ve been thinking about it for a while now. I also want to do a lot of canning with my Mom this year. She lives on the family farm and they grow tons of fruit and veg.
Oh I was going to post about recipezaar.com, they have tons of recipes, just do a search for OAMC (once a month cooking)
When we are wanting to have a night out and see a movie we go to the drive in instead of the theater. Seeing one movie in a theater can run anywhere from $7-$13 per person (not including drinks and snacks) and we get to see two movies for $6 per person at the drive in!
A-M:
Thanks for asking. Anyone can cut and paste these links into their browser to view the information.
The video blog post is here:
http://www.indiebusinessblog.c…
The NPR interview is here:
http://www.indiebusinessblog.c…
Thanks for allowing me to share.
dM
I love to buy food in BULK and do a “Once a Month Cooking” Session!!!!! It may be somewhat torturous for that 1 cooking day…but boy oh boy does it make the rest of the month a breeze! I buy what’s on sale that week ($1.99/lb chicken breast, ground beef..etc.)–its really saves on time and money:D My favorite book is “Fix, Freeze, Feast”….awesome recipes.
Using cash instead of a credit card while shopping. When the cash is gone, I’m done! Plus, watching my wallet get thinner helps me be a wise shopper.
I hate to waste even a drop of any of my precious oils. The solid oils come in plastic bags, inside a cardboard box instead of the plastic buckets.
It can be painful to get every ounce of oil out of the bag.
I take that bag and pop it in the freezer. The next time I make soap I put a little air in the bag and rap it with my spoon. The frozen oil will simply fall to the bottom of the bag and easily pour out with very little oil wasted.
And that’s my saving tip of the day
Have 10% automatically taken out of your paycheck and placed in a savings account…It really adds up!
Take a to go mug full of coffee in the morning and avoid the “Latte” habit…4.00 day times 360=$1440!!! each year!
Oh I’d LOVE that book. I need to get my $ together!
My BEST money saving tip is to don’t buy packaged food. Why are you buying broccoli and peppers already cut? You can do that yourself for less money and very little extra time.
I make the meals myself. I started off using the Frozen Assets Cookbooks. There was great information and good recipes. I then moved on to 30 Day Gourmet’s Freezer Cooking Manual. It’s AWESOME! I love that they break down the recipes into how many servings (they do the math for you). So you can make 4 servings or 24. The website is also fantastic and has a good forum with stories of experience/disasters and lots more recipes. I also use the Once a Month Cookbook . After doing this for a while now I look at any new recipe and think of the freezing possibilities. Instead of doing one fig cooking day you can start by doubling or tripling recipes for a week or two. It’s just as easy to make 2 or 3 lasagna’s as it is 1 and the others go in the freezer for another day (or to give someone in need). It’s also a great idea for a baby shower especially if it’s not the first child. Have everyone bring a frozen meal. This stocks the new mom’s freezer so she doesn’t need to worry or stress about meals after the baby is born for a month or so until she’s back on her feet.
My two largest expenses other than rent are gas and eating. There isn’t much I can do to save on gas, I already walk when I can and car pool. So when it comes to food I do my very best to eat at home. You don’t realize just how much everything adds up when you eat out. I don’t sacrifice good quality food I still shop primarily at Trader Joe’s and buy organic food but I still save a ton rather than eating out. And a lot healthier too!
Our first change was to start going to the local library for books and movies, they usually have new releases and they are FREE! Then, we stopped eating out and started taking lunch to work. From there we focused on what to do around the house. We use surge protectors for the entertainment center, office, and even in the kitchen. We turn them off when we are done for the day and it really has saved on our electric bill.
I love Marcia and got the pleasure of hearing her speak at another event.
I clip coupons alot, and shop around for better prices. I also make a some of our food from scratch. It really saves in the long run.
Some great tips already, but here are a few, partly in response to what others posted.
Use the library, then if you read a keeper you can look for one to buy at less than full cost.
Stop buying “wants” and only buy “needs”.
Only use your credit card when you already have the money to pay it off and keep an zero balance.
I agree with Laurie about growing one’s food. Even a little container garden can save you tons of money, esp if you grow your own high-end herbs. 🙂 We love organic and fresh foods, but organic can be a bit pricey, and fresh would mean having to make an extra drive out to the farmers market on the weekend…but if you grow your own, you can just walk 100 ft (ok, 100 ft for us, but probably less for most people) to pick the absolutely freshest produce from your own garden. And when you have fresh produce, the meals all taste better and we’ve gotten to a point now where we rarely want to go out because even the classy restaurants’ food don’t taste as good as what dh makes with our own veggies.
We also save money by trying to use only one car as much as possible. If the boys and I need to go to town for something, we’ll try and go in with dh (he has to go in to work anyway). We also plan errand-running such that we do them while we’re out already and not have to make extra trips.
It looks like most of the tips I would mention have already been listed, which is wonderful! About a year ago, I signed up with paperbackswap.com, listed a bunch of books that I bought cheaply at a used book sale, and have been swapping books ever since. I can list books I’m interested in, and when they become available, they’re shipped to me as long as I have a credit to use. The only cost is the shipping out of any books I have that someone else wants. So not as cheap as a library but waaaay cheaper than buying all these books I’m interested in, even used.
Plus, I love couponing matched with weekly sales. Yesterday’s shopping trip netted me $100 worth of groceries for $27. Just love that!
the only tip I have is boring but it works. When I go grocery shopping I do a search for a particular item that I need. I dont subscribe to these coupon places cause you get to many emails. But if you search for one item at a time you usually get it. I’ve done this so many times and once at the grocery store I saved 36.00 in coupons!!!! Boring tip but it works great!
Jan
The only tip I have is I search for coupons. I do a search for that one item I need and usually get it. I dont like to join all these coupon places cause you get to many emails but if you search for the one item you are looking for you usually find it. I saved 36.00 once at the grocery store doing this!!!! Boring tip but it works great!
Jan
Coupon poker? Love that idea – how funny and fun. That’s a good one.
We use Freecycle.org and got our air conditioner and one small mini fridge for the soap studio off of it. Major scores!
My husband and I talk about buying decisions over $150 to make sure we’re both on the same page with that type of investment. I also think about purchases with “How many hours will this cost me to buy?” and do the math (dividing my take home pay into the purchase price). Sometimes, that is enough to make me not buy whatever it is I’m thinking about!
A list – simple and totally doable – and easy to overlook and forget. Thanks for the reminder.
Wow. You are so right. It is important to be involved with the finances even if you’re not the one that is signing the checks and balancing the family budget. My husband and I have a household budget that we review together and it’s huge peace of mind to know where and how our household expenses are being spent and saved.
These are great suggestions – love ’em! And, if you pop back in, please post the direct links to your radio interview and blog posts on your philosophy around coupon clipping and strategies around it. I loved those posts and interview.
I do this too and it’s a great idea. I need to be more religious about it for sure …
Milk powder – good one! I need to get some milk powder for our house. My Mom did this (so one does wonder why I didn’t remember this great idea). =)
This is a GREAT suggestion. I’ve had money pulled from my checking account since when I was 16 to go into savings and investment (some months was just $5 but still something) and little amounts of incremental effort when it comes to savings do add up over years and years. Kudos to you two.
Coupons have been mentioned a few times, but my friends and I have finally found a way to make our social visits even more interesting. We use to get together for lunch at least once every few weeks. Now with the economy the way it is and everyone tightening their belts, we get together in the evenings and play “Coupon Poker”. It gives us a time to relax, catch up, and it keeps us on the lookout for more valuable/usable coupons. Plus, we exchange goods and talents (I make soap, Jane makes an awesome tea blend…). Sometimes, it’s hard to remember that other people are doing exactly what your household is doing and both would benefit from a bit of cooperation.
It’s like buying it on sale if you’re saving money, right? That sounds like a tip to me!
We do Freecycle.org! You can give & get so many useful things! We also use Craigslist.
Good suggestion. My Dad taught me that trick as well. He could make a box of macaroni and cheese last a week that way! =)
Good one! My rule is never to buy something on sale that I wouldn’t buy full price. I have this tendency to go “Oh, it’s on sale. It’s fine that it doesn’t fit right/has an offputting color/isn’t all that flattering because it’s half price!” so in addition to never liking to pay full price, I won’t buy it on sale if it doesn’t look good (I don’t care about last year’s style either … I just care about fit!) =)
Are you using one of those Dream Dinner type service places or doing this all on your own at home? If you’re doing it at home, I’d love to know what cookbooks you’re following. I’ve often thought about doing this but then was overwhelmed with the logistics. =)
Wow, only having to buy perishables will save you a mini fortune on your grocery bill every week. Great suggestion.
The Ooma system works through your cable internet. It’s a VOIP system. The best part is that you purchase the system, and then you don’t have to pay for phone service anymore. We did this for our house phone. The fancy cable costs less for the whole month than 3 dinners out. Just dinners! Think about that. Staying home and watching movies on cable is much cheaper than going out.
I’ve never heard of them before. Thanks for the recommendation. Any type of continuing education is a great idea. After all, managing money and household budgets doesn’t come naturally so it’s good to learn from the experts.
I totally believe that you eat way better with you making your own food and then freezing it. It’s such a good idea to prep this way – healthier for your waistline, your heart and your wallets =)
No TV here either and I don’t miss it at all =)
A budget is a great idea for anything. One thing with ‘free shipping’ is that I often will add the same items into my shopping cart at a ‘free shipping’ place and another similar shop and often, the place with the shipping ends up being cheaper because the price of shipping wasn’t hidden or added into the ‘free shipping’ products. So, I always compare shopping cart to shopping cart for larger purchases like that. I agree – I am not a fan of giving my money to UPS either. =))
Wow, you are committed to saving money. You do a lot to improve your financial options – the grinding your own wheat berries sounds intriguing. I’ve recently become mildly obsessed with wheat berries (instead of oatmeal and in salads) and I read online that you could use them for making your own flour. I’m even more tempted to try it now. =)
Yes, making your own personal care products does save money over the long term for sure. And, the growing your own produce is a fantastic idea that not only can save money, encourage you to eat more fruits and veggies but also is a great way to deepen the bond within your family.
Great suggestions – all of them. I hadn’t thought of using the shower water for the dehumidifier or the toilet bowl but anything that saves on utility bills is something worth exploring more.
We don’t have any cable or tv hook up at all. I hate the time sink that so much of the programming can turn into and being self-employed means that I’m always short of time anyways, so I haven’t had a TV hooked up in any house I’ve ever lived in.
Agree for sure. Our library allows us to put books on hold so I can just through the NYTimes Best Seller list and put all of the books on hold that I’m interested in and when they’re available, the library emails me and I have a week to go pick them up. It’s a great system and I get to read a lot of the new books for free that way.
Wow! That is serious self-discipline. I would have a hard time with the week per $50 (what if the item was gone? eeek!) so kudos to you for being so disciplined with your long term financial future.
I agree with you about thrifting. We buy a lot of our dishware for the retail store (Otion) at Goodwill and Value Village. We go through so many clear mugs and spoons at Otion… =)
Don’t you love the bulk bins? They have them for spices at our local grocery store and it is so nice to not have to buy a huge expensive thing of spices if all you need is a teaspoon of something. $.50 versus $8 for a jar of spice that will just get old in my cupboard. =)
Interesting about fancy cable instead of going out – I hadn’t thought of that before! And, I’ll have to check into the Ooma telephone system. It sounds interesting.
You are so right – the weeknights are the easiest time to be lax about eating out because we’re always so pressed for time. I usually make a huge thing of something (chili, lasagna etc…) on Monday and then we eat leftovers most of the week. That’s such a great suggestion.
My money saving tips are to pay myself first, buy in bulk from Costco, and I try my best not to make impulse buys. I’m also one of those people who takes sometimes up to years to buy anything over $100 so that helps me from spending too much. No matter what my income is, I always seem to take a long time on an over $100 decision. I recycle cans and bottles and Albertson’s and then use the cash vouchers towards groceries. Those are just a few I can think of.
The interest rate saving tip is such a big one. It is incredible how much fees and interest rates payments can add up quickly. Your strategy of paying the highest rate card off and then moving to the others sounds like a very practical one.
I’ve wanted to read that book for a long time. Thanks for the recommendation.
The grocery store is definitely a place that you can save. Donna Maria (Indie Beauty Network) did a great post series a while back about how she saved like 80% at the grocery store by becoming a coupon clipper. She also had a guest on one of her radio shows about it.
I also love to use Paperbackbookswap (online). You post the books that you have to trade and for the price of shipping (like goodreads), you get to extend the life of your book. I’m also a huge fan of the library.
I think the best advive I’ve ever gotten is don’t spend more than you make and you’ll always have money.
Well a tried and true helping hand when it comes to saving money is limit your shopping. Buy only what is on the LIST! Do your ordering all together once a month or once every two months if possible!
Make a list and check it twice! When it comes to soaping supplies make a list each of the items needed. Title columns, Oils Bases, Colorants, Fragrances, Exfoliants etc. and under each put what you need.
Just before placing the order go thru your supplies to be sure you need the item! No impulse shopping as this helps avoid the temptation purchases of supplies you do not have a plan for, and also makes shipping expenses count. Pamela
Please, please, get involved in your family’s finances. I was stupid enough to let my dislike of all things financial get in the way. As a result, I woke up one day having to pay my husband’s debts in order to avoid bankruptcy. Since then, I took control and things got way better. I sold my big house and bought something smaller, fitting for 3. Costs a lot less to maintain: smaller electricity bills, less paint, less everything but more time to make soap. I have only one credit card, I don’t buy pre-prepared things, I use coupons and I trade with my neighbours. And instead of buying expensives gifts for my loved ones, I give them time and do fun activities with them.
Use coupons and cash.
Coupons. Contrary to popular belief, there are coupons out there for healthful food items. You just have to keep an eye out for them. Sometimes, grocers have coupon stickers on items that offer discounts on the spot. For example, yesterday, I purchased two quarts of Organic Valley Farms milk. Each container had a .75¢ coupon stuck to it. The regular price of each was $2.50. Since it was triple coupon weekend at the store, I paid 50¢ for $5.00 worth of organic milk! That’s $4.50 more in my pocket, without even trying — just being on the lookout for the bargain. As you shop, keep an eye out for opportunities to use coupons. If you’re more industrious, clip them in the Sunday paper and in inserts that come in the mail. By clipping coupons, I save hundreds of dollars a year!
Cash. Another tip is to use cash for non-business purchases. Forget using credit cards — we ditched ours years ago and are debt free, except for the mortgage. (No car payments either.)
When I say use cash, I don’t mean a debit card either. I mean green dollar bills. You’ll be amazed at how many more of them you will hold onto if they actually have to slip through your fingers with each purchase. It’s easy to swipe a card, and when we do, it doesn’t feel like we are spending that much, when we really are. But when you have to actually count out the dollar bills, you’ll think twice before putting them in someone else’s hands!
I withdraw a certain amount of money from our checking account each Sunday or Monday. I use it for all of that week’s home-related purchases — food, toiletries, personal items, clothing — everything except home repairs and maintenance. I always take out less than I think I’ll need to really challenge myself. I am rarely out of cash at the end of the week, and I have not even touched the ATM. I hold onto a lot of money this way.
There are only 4 things you can do with money: spend it, save it, invest it or donate it. Because I spend with coupons and cash, I have more left to save, invest and donate!!
Thanks for the opportunity to share, and I hope these tips are helpful.
dM
My favorite money-saving tip is waiting a week before making that purchase that you’ve been eying. If you really don’t want it, or need it, usually you’ll forget about it in a week. It definitely weeds out erroneous purchases.
I try to buy larger quantities (bulk) whenever I can. I also like to always have milk powder on hand so that when I run out I don’t have to get expensive milk at a corner shop (convenient but often a lot more expensive). We don’t live a glamorous life but we have no debt, we live within our means, I think that’s important too as credit card interest is a huge black hole for money, no credit card debt = saving money.
My best money saving tip is to just pay myself first. While working, I had an automatic debit set up so that a portion went straight to savings prior to me ever getting my paycheck. Now that I am unemployed (I was laid off), when I receive my unemployment check, I still pay myself first. It may only be $20 or $40 every 2 weeks, but I’ve still managed to save quite a bit. And, I never notice the money is gone. I always have a nice savings cushion and it hasn’t hurt my pocket book one little bit.
My best money saving tip would have to be transfer a certain amount of money into your savings account as soon as your paycheck hits the bank. Hubby and I decided that we wanted to save at least 5k a year. So when I get paid (twice a month) I transfer 100 over, when he gets paid (every week) I transfer 50 over. We don’t even miss it in our bank account, and it really adds up. We just pretend that it isn’t even there, so we aren’t tempted to spend it. You know the saying “You spend what you earn”, it is very true!
I have no money-saving tips. Which is why I probably need this book. Actually I try to buy the expensive things I want on ebay or craigs list. I’m still spending money just not as much. That’s kind of good, right?
My reality in Brazil (as a third world country) is different from the others. But I will try to express myself:
My tip to save is always re-use the food. For example, when the rice is up, or is it “tasteless” I make cookies with it. Another example is to make the bread pudding with already hardened. They are delicious!
well, i have been on a starvation diet of not spending for awhile now, but one decision I made about 3 years ago in my personal spending habits was this: Never buy clothes full price….again. Ever. with so many great sales out there, why pay full price. my ego is not so big that i can’t wear last season’s styles with a loss of dignity and pride that i didn’t cave to someone else’s ideas that This Year, we are going to Jack the consumer around one more time by raising or lowering hemlines + or – x amount of inches, or change what is cool in jeans; skinny leg or flared, tight or baggy. Stick to a classic line of clothes and those are basically timeless. Last week on Good Morning America they showed 4 classics that never go out of style: 1) The Bomber Jacket, 2) Esperadilles (gag, I hate them) 3) Big Blouses; some bigger, some smaller and I think 4) some skinny legged jeans? I was elated to see slightly chunky models as well 🙂 lol.
I’ve been doing freezer meals for just over a year now and it’s been a huge savings. I spend 1 day cooking and make enough meals for an entire month. The grocery bills are way down. No more meals out, just pull something out of the freezer in the morning and cook at night. Throw together a side and you’re done. That’s less food wasted (thrown out), no more fast foods or stressing what to make and most important MORE FAMILY TIME.
I’ve been doing meal planning and coupon shopping for a couple of months now and these have made a big impact already. Looking ahead to April, I think we’ll be able to get by with buying just the perishables. The rest is stockpiled.
Do as a lot of you already do….go to the librairy instead of buying books, buy in bulk, try to cook more, we don’t have TV (yes we exist..haha), try to look to buy when it is on sale….
My money saving tip in regards to soap making would be to have a budget of the supplies you intend to spend, and always look sales and free shipping. I have no choice but to use credit cards since most of my suppliers are out of state, but I much rather purchase $10 more on supplies than it to go to FedEx or UPS.
One of the ways we have saved money is by cooking our own foods. They’re cheaper, healthier, and even taste much better than processed and packaged foods. We even grind our own wheat berries for bread, tortillas, pasta, etc. I quit buying paper towels, napkins, plates and cups. Not only do we save bunches at the store, we are doing our share to keep things out of the landfills. Then, I started making my own personal hygeine products: soap, deodorant, toothpaste, lotions, etc. I know exactly what is in them, and they cost fractions of what I pay a manufacturer to produce. My husband and daughter grow a majority of our produce. It, again saves us money, but also gives them “dad & daughter time.” We also grow organically, so we are not getting all the chemicals that we would be getiing elsewhere. Lastly, we watch our thermostat. In the winter, we keep it at 60-65 (which, in TX shouldn’t be too bad) and in the summer, we keep it 75-80 (which, in TX could be unbearable for some). We just dress appropriately for the weather and go with the flow – although it does make going into any buildings uncomfortable…they’re even too hot or too cold).
Don’t pay others to do things when you can do them yourself!
We are putting down new laminate flooring in our house and with the materials bought on clearance, and DH doing all the work (I ripped up carpet and pulled staples from the sub-floor) it costs about 1/4 of what it would otherwise.
At the same time- know when it’s better to pay someone. We needed to replace the door and had a contractor come do it, we shopped around for price and experience, but we knew we didn’t have the skills to do that correctly, safely, and so that it wouldn’t have to be done again.
It’s not a huge money saver, but it’s been saving a bit, and makes me feel better to be saving water. I have a bucket in the shower and we use it to catch the water while we wait for it to be hot, then that water gets dumped into the toilet tank the next time it is flushed. We do the same with our dehumidifer water. Only a small difference, but it’s been noticeable on the utility bills (and probably more in arid climates where water costs are high… out here water isn’t really an issue)
My last one- get rid of cable. A digital TV can recieve free HD channels, and there is a good amount on broadcast television (enough that I still watch too much TV…). We got a “deal” on cable, so we got it and plan to cancel it at the end of the year. After 3 years without it, I was excited for HGTV, Travel, and FOOD, but now, after 3 months with it- I feel that I’ve seen it all and the programs are just repeating essentially the same thing. Cable will definetly not be renewed, there is just no point for me.
the library saves me the most money – i love to read and learn and could spend thousands on books.
I am vulnerable to impulse buys so these days, I make myself write three reasons why I think I really “need” something, and wait a week for each fifty dollars it costs before buying. I have found that some things I really “needed” were really items that I wanted on impulse and later decided I didn’t actually need.
Growing a lot of my food definitely saves me money, but I think thrifting may save me more. I recently bought a very nice linen dress to wear to my uncle’s wedding for $5 at Goodwill. I also buy fabric & ribbon to use in my products, occasional gifts, everyday clothes to wear around the homestead (why buy something new that is shortly going to have garden mud all over it, or worse!), dishes, wine glasses, tablecloths… all for a fraction of the cost.
Planning and buying in bulk go hand in hand and its the only way to keep everything balanced at my home 🙂
Having spent the last 7 years as the sole financial provider for my family of three, I have lots of money-saving rituals. I eat lunch I’ve brought from home; I shop at Costco for as much as I can (using the executive plan, which gives money back at the end of the year); we pay for fancy cable instead of going out (much cheaper! even for expensive cable); we have an Ooma telephone system at home; my cell phone is my business phone, so it’s tax-deductible. I can go on and on.
I asked my husband for his best money-saving tip and he responded with, “Don’t spend money.” Easier said than done! Here are a few I’ve picked up:
1. Pay yourself first. Set an amount you want to save each month, and pay your savings account before you pay bills. Start small but do it – you’ll be able to use this financial cushion later if needed.
2. Use your local library! Instead of buying magazines, newspapers, or books, try out the library.
3. Consider increasing your auto insurance deductible. If you currently have $100 or $250 as a deductible, see what would happen to your overall rates if you increased that amount.
4. Take your lunch to work. Even if you only do this one more day a week than you do right now, you’ll still end up with a little more cash on hand.
5. If something unexpected comes up and you can’t pay your mortgage, car payment, rent, etc., look into your state and local government resources. The United Way frequently has relatively unadvertised assistance programs they can refer you to as well.
6. Check out Angel Food Ministries (http://www.angelfoodministries.com). My husband and I, my parents, and our friends have all used this site at one point or other. Basically, you can buy a week of food for four people for $30. They operate in 44 states and will assist anyone regardless of income, gender, or religion. They also accept food stamps.
Cook ahead so you don’t feel tempted to eat out on weeknights! I usually cook tomorrow’s dinner tonight when I can so that I am often just heating and eating instead of ordering out. If I know that all I have to do it throw dinner in the microwave I’m more likely to eat what I bought and save money!
Interest on credit cards is the BIGGEST waste of money. It sickens me that the banks have no porblem taking thousands of dollars from a purchase that costed hundreds if you just pay the minimum. My tip is how to get rid of credit card debt, and stop giving away money to banks.
1. Stop putting things on the card.
2. Choose the cc with the highest interest rate.
3. Choose an amount that you can afford to pay on that card that is a little more than the minimum. Let’s say your minimum is $145 and you can afford $150.
4. Pay this chosen amount from here on out until that card is paid off, regardless of the minimum. So you would pay $150 per month to this one card. And pay the minimum for the rest.
5. When that card is paid off, take your $150 and add it to what you’ve been paying on your card with the 2nd highest rate. If you were paying $100 per month, you will now pay $250 per month. The beauty of this method is that you are always keeping a steady pay flow to the debt but never really leaving the affordable amount you chose at the beginning.
This method may take a few months or years, but if you stick to it, you will rapidly reduce your credit card debt and pay alot less interest to banks.
Live as though you make less than you actually make. Millions of others already make less than you. Read “The Millionaire Next Door” to find out how those who have become affluent live their lives.
NB: I have no financial interest in the book nor any connection to either of the authors.
My advice is to live within your means. Our family quit using credit cards about 3 years ago. The first couple of months it is hard, because we as a society are so used to immediate gratification. But it is learning to plan for your purchases and our family is within a year of being debt free, which feels great! Also with a little planning you can save lots of money on food by watching grocery store sales and not eating out very often.
My family and I love to read but buying books becomes prohibitively expensive. Unless I totally love the book I will pay full price. For all others, I buy books from goodreads swap and all I pay is shipping! i get a lovely 2nd hand book at the fraction of the price.
My best money saving tip is actually a resource for people who may be on the lower end of the class spectrum (like me). Lutheran Social Services offers classes, one on one consultations, a debt management program, and other really helpful ways to get on/back on track with money. They are either free of charge or very low in cost. This resource has saved me a lot of stress and has helped me to rebuild my credit. And don’t let the name stop you; it doesn’t matter at all whether you are Lutheran or even Christian, and they don’t even mention religion.
Get back to basics then buy them in bulk (Sams Club, BJs, and Costco are good for this just don’t be tempted by all the other stuff) we would have not been able to survive if we hadn’t done this. No more processed food, frozen entrees or pre-prepared anything, we buy in bulk, chop it down into little packages freeze what we don’t need immediately. No more “rice a roni” we buy our dry goods in bulk, rice, flour, sugar, spices etc and make our own. Our grocery bill for two-three weeks is half of that than one weeks worth of groceries at the grocery store that most of our friends and family still shop at. We’re probably eating healthier for it too!