Looking to get creative on ways to save money outside of trying to lower my monthly phone bill or something.
What is a spending habit maybe you had before but no longer have that saves you a lot of money. Such as, not eating out, couponing, buying used, etc.
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I don't buy as many clothes.
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Are you a Sbux drinker? Cutting that habit would be a big savings....
We don't buy lunch, breakfast, etc.
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Biggest saver is to not eat out for lunch. That would save us close to $500/mo
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Pack lunch every day
Stay away from Target (no joke!)
Stop buying so many "snack" foods at the grocery store
Instead of movies and such check out your local city for free events they are offering.
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We make coffee at home - that saves us about $100 per month. We rarely eat out for breakfast/lunch/dinner during the week too. Any coffee/lunch purchases are usually through our personal discretionary spending. Limiting ATM withdrawals and grocery trips help too!
Also, because we chose to live in a central location, we rarely use the car (DH bikes/walks to work and i'll be WFH after mat leave) and have been able to lower our car insurance to the absolute lowest rate.
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Not eating out a lone saves us hundreds! Damn convenience!
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I would probably save a ton of money if I cancelled my Amazon Prime membership. It just makes it SO EASY to make impulse purchases.
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Drink most of our coffee at work for free, use Trader Joe's organic free trade beans for home coffee, never buy coffeeshop drinks (or if we need caffeine when we're out of the house, we get a cup of drip rather than a latte or whatever)
Switched our phone carrier to Republic Wireless, so now we pay $40 total/month for both our phone plans
Stopped seeing movies in the theater (we have an excellent big TV and wired surround sound at home) and just get the discs on Netflix (though since having LO we stopped even doing that, and just use Redbox or rent from Amazon streaming if we want to see a new movie)
Never purchase anything new for LO, instead looking on Buy Nothing, asking friends with older babies if they have stuff to pass along, or Goodwill
Buying alcohol from Costco, like a six pack of bottles of gin, and making it last a while, rather than paying bar prices for cocktails
Cloth diapering and breastfeeding have saved us a ton of money, though those don't work out for everybody
DH's frugality tip is when he sees a new video game he wants, that's the time to purchase the previous version of the game (this same advice could apply to last season's fashion trends or whatever)
There's more stuff I'm not thinking about right now... we focus on thriftiness a lot. It's fun.
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We've been better about not eating out, but there's room for improvement. I love eating out though!
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- I eat a high protein breakfast every morning. Sounds simple but it helps me avoid spending money when 'I'm so hungry I could die' feeling starts.
- I budget in all my free spending & I don't deny myself that sbux 2x a week but I do know how much I'm spending on it. And when I hit the limit I set, that's it. Same goes for eating out.
- I pack my lunch. And snacks.
- I price match at least half my grocery bill every time I shop (if not more). I don't buy certain stuff until I know it's the lowest it goes & then stock up.
- I try really hard to only shop 2x a month. I do have plenty of pasta & sauce in my cupboard if we ever run low on food before its time to shop again.
- I portion my meat out and freeze it so I don't over-cook. (I follow 3oz for adults and 1-2oz for kids so each portion has 8-9oz).
- don't have cable
- only shop for clothes for the boys when they need new sizes for the season. And i totally sign up for the emails (have them set to your junk mail so you don't have to see them until you need them). And I never shop for myself - no makeup, clothes, shoes, accessories etc. But that's a personal choice cuz I just don't find it necessary. You do you.)Honestly it's more of being aware of where your money is going and setting priorities as to where you want your money to go. Once you know that it's basically half the battle.
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I buy many, many things on ebay (some pre-owned, some new), including clothes and shoes for myself and LO, handbags, and baby/kid gear. I get really incredible deals.
Then I turn around and sell them when we're done using them. Sometimes I get back the same or even more than what I paid.
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@Zbug: ME TOO. I love eating out so much!
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@Truth Bombs: Yes, me as well.
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Taking public transit to work, packing our lunches, making our coffee at home or drinking what's provided at work, buying all pet meds, food, and treats on the internet, taking the time to price match stuff, only buying clothes on sale AND with a coupon code.
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Packing lunch.
Renting a movie on Amazon (or Redbox), or finding a movie on Netflix/Prime + popcorn after Evan goes to bed on the weekends for a date night...not as fancy as going out to a movie theatre, but is *significantly* cheaper.
Buying Evan's clothes (and stocking up baby sister) at consignment shops/events. I really can't justify buying new clothes (except for special occasions) that they'll grow out of so fast. If you know the right places you can get barely worn clothes in nice brands for a fraction (there's a place by my IL's house that always has a ton of Baby Gap, for example, some of it still with tags.
For us, strict meal planning/grocery list. I cut my grocery bill down a lot just by making a point to make a meal plan and write up a specific list, and stick to it (no impulse purchases).
Grocery store outlets/discount grocery stores, if you have them. We have an Aldi and a place just called Discount Grocery Outlet. The latter is stocked with overstock from grocery stores. The produce is sometime sketchy, and you have to keep an eye on expiration dates, but I've found they are particularly good for things like non-perishable canned foods.
We cut cable several years ago, and hardly missed it (D wished we could watch live sports, but that was it). We were fine with Netflix, Amazon, and Hulu Plus. We have satellite now, but only because my mom moved in with us over the summer and insists on having (and paying) for it, because she's a HUGE football fan (and loves watching the local news).
And I know this one isn't feasible for most people, but we downsized to one car, which I drive, and D rides his bike to work (that's his industry, anyway). It wasn't exactly intentional...I totaled my car, but we didn't replace it. D works 4 miles from home, so it's totally doable for him (plus he gets credits from his job for biking, with which he can buy things his company sells, like fancy bikes and equipment). We save over $200/month just in gas/insurance.
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I could probably cut back on starbucks. I'll start there!
@ms.line: where do you buy your pet food online? -
@Truth Bombs: I like to think that frequent trips to Target would be far worse!
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packing lunch! If only DH would get on board a little bit more, it would save us soooo much money!
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I buy SO much stuff secondhand- furniture, cars, baby stuff. Definitely clothes from Goodwill
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We totally spend more now than we ever did since we have LO. We weren't big spenders before, but now I find myself getting convenience items A LOT.
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@Eko: We buy Taste of the Wild for our dog, and it's actually cheapest on Amazon! I've also used PetFlow and Chewy and had good luck with both.
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@blackbird: Yes I definitely go to Target WAY WAY less now that I have Amazon Prime so you're probably right. But man, I make a lot of impulse buys on the damn Amazon app
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Most of DD's toys I got from local FB resell group
If I can cancel Amazon Prime, not go to Target, and cancel cable, that will save me so much money! But I don't have the willpower for the first 2 (and I do need Target for house supplies). And DH is the one that can't give up cable!
I also agree that when we don't eat out/get sbux/pack lunch, we save so much!
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@Truth Bombs: this!!!
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@ms.line: @Eko: we use Amazon subscribe and save for our dog food as well.
I let stuff sit in my Amazon /wish list cart for ages until the price goes down. I'm not a impulse shopper though!
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meal planning and only buying what we need, using cash for spending money, and buying mostly used clothes for the kids!
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Not a way to save money. But I resell everything I can on FB, eBay, etc if we don't use it.
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Packing lunches
Price-matching/buying only on sale
Shopping secondhand for the kids
Making coffee at home (could be better at this)
Cancelling our cable
Avoiding doing laundry, etc at peak energy times (its cheaper here between 7pm and 7am) -
I buy the girls clothes and my clothes used as much as I can. But for certain things I won't if I want it to be a certain quality/last. I buy food, especially meat in bulk.
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@Eko: meal planning and "plan-overs" -- using the leftovers from one meal as the base for the next meal.
Examples: pot roast one day, pot roast mushroom soup the next.
Pork roast one day, pork enchiladas the next.
Making soup and freezing at least a quart of the leftovers.Turning fruit that's starting to get mushy into jam or jelly (much easier than you think, and you can refrigerate it rather than process it.)
It's also helpful to figure out a "target price" for core staples (dishwashing tabs, detergent, trash bags, applesauce pouches, fruit leather, etc.) and stocking up when you see a good price or have an awesome coupon code.
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Using Amazon subscribe and save for household goods, diapers, etc. we get the 15-20% discount every month.
Secondhand or Buy Nothing group for most baby things. Or mentioning to grandmas that there is something we need
Grocery shopping with meal planning every two weeks (less impulse purchases). I buy staple goods like eggs, milk, butter, bread, coffee at Grocery Outlet. It's amazing. We both pack or lunches everyday and make coffee at home or have it at work
Our date nights are typically take out and a movie on Netflix. It's been a fun Friday tradition because we are new to the area we live and there are a ton of ethnic restaurants.
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