I feel like I am already a frugal person, but I really want to cut back even more. We buy store brand (mostly), try and get things on sale and we rarely go out to dinner, and if we do we keep it cheap. I still want to live my life, but I want to hear other ways on how to save money, maybe some things I'm not thinking of, so please share!
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A big money saver for us was to limit grocery trips to one per week. If I forgot something, or felt like adding something else to a dish (eg. red pepper to a spaghetti sauce) but don't have that ingredient on hand then I just make due without it. I easily drop $60 every time I'm in the grocery store, even if I'm only going in for one thing.
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@prettylizy: That's a great idea, I can see how that happens, as we do that too!
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@prettylizy: That's what I'm trying to do this new year! I'm notorious for going into the store for 1 item and leaving with 40 or something crazy like that.
@Bao: on a similar thread, I liked that one person's advice of 'just don't buy anything'. That helps me. : ) I don't really have any advice because I'm working on this myself.
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@Jennimac: was there a thread similar to this?
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@Bao: Not completely....I think it was one Mrs. Bee posted about budgeting or something like that.
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@Jennimac: gotcha
ha, yeah I wish I could just not buy anything, if it were only that easy.
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@Bao: I know, right?!? I do havea tendency to shop when I"m bored, so I'm avoiding stores, etc. Ha! We will see how long that lasts.
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http://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-can-i-be-more-frugal
here is the thread that Mrs. Bee started. It had some great tips on there. I enjoyed reading them.
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I've read a few frugal mom blogs where they buy groceries ONCE a month and it's saved them A TON! DH and I would like to start doing that in a few months.
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@runsyellowlites: wow I need to figure out how to do that...I feel like I wouldn't be able to buy anything fresh then...wonder how they work that out.
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There's the old trick to "put your weekly budget of cash in an envelope and only pay for things using the cash in that envelope."
It's more an educational technique than anything else... I do something similar!
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@Jennimac: oh yeah I chimed in on that thread, I didn't read through everything though, so I will go do that now
Thanks!
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@Bao: There was something I pinned on Pinterest and she meal planned for the WHOLE month. It was crazy, but she said it saved money and stress.
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@Jennimac: I need to go look for that!
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@mrbee: I'm going to try a variation of that. I eat out every morning we have early church and I know what it costs, so if I saved that amount for each month and put it in an envelope, then I won't overspend or not have enough money.
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@Bao: I'm totally not ready to do monthly shopping. I don't even know where we'd store all that food! lol
I've read that paying with cash like Mr. Bee suggested helps too! You're less likely to go over budget b/c what you have in your pocket is "all you have" instead of technically having more in the account to cover your card spending.
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Wagon Sr. and I have been trying to implement a new plan, similar to the envelope technique... I get my paycheck every Friday, so when we deposit it, we withdraw $100 cash. That cash has to last us all week until I deposit my next check. This goes for spending money-- groceries, meals out, lunches, little shopping trips at CVS, etc. Gas and trips to Costco for stocking up on essentials don't count. This REALLY helps and it's shocking to see how quickly $100 runs out. I like doing it on Friday so that we can spend a little on the weekend, and if we are running out towards the end of the week, it's during the week so it forces us to pack our lunches and get creative for dinner.
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I try to remember the mantra: use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without.
We price check almost everything on amazon! Baby clothes from consignment stores. Ooh, try going to a natural food store (that are usually way more expensive) for dry goods like rice or pasta and especially for spices.
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We don't have cable. Have you gotten rid of that?
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@mrbee: That's a good idea, I never really thought about doing that. I'll try it out!
@jedeve: ha! I love that mantra, I need to tape that one to the fridge
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@Mrs. Jacks: oh yes! No Netflix either...just internet.
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@Bao: Good job!
I'm trying to think of my other big money savers... Oh, we cook from scratch most of the time, which really saves when you are not dealing with processed foods. We pretty much limit eating out to twice a month which is a huge money saver.You may not like this one, but we keep our house at 60 degrees and night and 62 or so during the day. We just dress warmer.
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@Bao: Oh, I'm calling tomorrow to change our minutes plan for our cellphones. We NEVER use our minutes so it'll save us 10 bucks a month to "downsize". Not much, but still savings!
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I shop a lot at the dollar store. You can get a lot of things there that are the same as other stores, just less expensive. Why am I going to pay $3 for wrapping paper or $5 for a birthday card when I can get all of that stuff for $1.50?
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@Mrs. Jacks: We don't even keep our heat on during the day, and only turn it on at night maybe 3 times a week? We live on the third floor in an apartment, so it stays decent, but it actually gets to around 64-66 at night, but we bundle up too!
@runsyellowlites: We have the lowest amount of minutes they offer, but our bill is still SO much...like almost $200 a month for the two of us. I hate that stupid bill. They keep saying there is no where to cut, but I find that hard to believe!
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@artbee: Yes! I love the dollar store, however, I need to make it a better habit of going there more often. I sometimes just don't make the trip out of convenience, but it is SO worth it.
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@Bao: Boo! We're pretty much in the same place on not really having places to cut. Is it possibly to bundle your internet & phone? I know sometimes that can bring savings.
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@Bao: Sounds like you are doing a lot of the trimming that you can!
We also saved money by bundling our car insurance and home owners if that's an option for you.
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@MrsJacks
I'd give anything to keep our thermostat set to that. My Dh likes it HOT in the house, 73, I am alway too warm.We are starting You Need A Budget in January, it records everything and sets you up to live off last months incone rather than current.
I make a daily trip to the grocery store too, hate it! I wouldn't know how to store a months worth of groceries!
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@runsyellowlites: Our internet is only $35 a month, so I'm not sure if we could get it much cheaper, especially considering how much they already charge me for the phones! Yikes.
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@Mrs. Jacks: Yes we have our car insurance and renters insurance bundled
Yeah...hmm sounds like I've already thought of these things, yet we are still spending so much. Maybe that's just life and I'm never going to get out of this rut...sigh...
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if you have a grocery store you shop at that does a gas savings program, you can buy gift cards at the grocery store for places you're going anyway and the $$ you spend to buy the gift card will count towards your gas savings club spending. gas adds up (esp when you get 14mpg =/ )!! anyway to save on gas in a winner for me =)
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@Bao: yikes! Who is your carrier? We pay $120 a month for 2 phones including data for both.
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@mrs. bird: yes I do this all the time and I save a ton on gas and get a rebate on my credit card for groceries.
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@sunny: what?!! Please tell me who you go through. We have Verizon. It's unlimited data, unlimited texting and 700 minutes.
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@mrs. bird: oh great thinking! DH drives 45 minutes one way and spends a lot on gas, I'm definitely bringing up that idea!
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Love this thread!
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@mrs. bird: I do this! Kroger will sometime do 5x the amount you spend on gift cards, so if you buy $35, you get $175 (is that the correct amount) in gas points. For every 100 points, you get 10 cents off. I am waiting to fill up tomorrow morning after I go to the store.
@Bao: yes, we are doing new things because we. Had. Nothing. In the house at all. Nothing! So, new groceries!
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We save a lot of money by meal planning and making/following grocery lists. I also try to write down what items cost and add everything up before I hit the check out line. I'm less likely to buy extras that way.
ha, yeah I wish I could just not buy anything, if it were only that easy.
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