Hey, everyone! It’s been too long since I’ve posted – my brain has been in too many places lately. But I wanted to take a minute and share some things I’ve been doing lately to save money. When Rylee was born almost 8 months ago, I made the decision to resign my position as Creative Arts Director of Rock Church and become a (mostly) stay at home mom. Don and I had already downsized from our large new home to a very small home to cut our budget and make this move possible, but it has still proven to be difficult to make things work with one income. Now – those of you who know me know that I am nowhere near being a naturally frugal person and I LOVE to shop so it has been difficult for me. Here are a few things that I have done to try and help our budget out…
- I got an account at www.mint.com and got the app for my IPhone. It has helped me keep track of what I am spending – some days I like it and some days I want to chuck my phone in the toilet when it beeps at me saying I’ve spent too much money at Starbucks this week….
- I started working out – I know that sounds weird, but I don’t spend as much time at Target if I work out everyday!
- I started using Coupons. I have never been able to do this successfully but I have found some great resources: did you know that there are sites that scour the coupon inserts and all of the grocery store/drugstore sales and give you a list of how you can use coupons on items that already on sale? AND there are sites where you can order complete coupon inserts or individual coupons for pennies and it saves SO much time and money! I am so excited to see how much I can save. Sooooo… go here, here, here and here and start saving some green yourself!
What have you done to help save your family some cash? Come on, now – I need more ideas!
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I have a love/hate relationship with mint.com too. I always cringe while waiting for the account updates and that ding sound. Sometimes it’s a happy ding, and sometimes It’s a “holy crap we have no money ding.”
Ok, I have to admit that here lately I’ve have NOT been the queen of frugality. Which normally I’m not too bad at. I think it’s just been too long since I’ve made my own money and I’m throwing myself a small party. It’ll be ending soon though….like now. It has to.
Anyways, some ways that I normally save money are:
- Walmart I know it’s one of those stores that most people either hate or love, but the big grocery shopping trips are definitely alot cheaper if you shop there. I’ve done the math and compared. But Target’s clothes and home stuff kicks Walmart’s bootee’!
- Store brands as opposed to name brands. Most halfway intelligent people know this little tip.
- I used to save ALOT of money simply by staying at home. But, since I’m out almost every day of the week now, I’ve been amazed at how much more money here and there I tend to chunk out. (Also, I’ve def. realized that staying at home as much as possible us WAT easier on the daily calorie count.) So I guess the point here is, stay home as much as possible if you wanta ease the the checkbook balance.
- oh yeah, I got to Food Lion for our milk when they are doing the free milk giveaway. Which is most of the time. And when you buy 6 gallons you get the 7th free. (works for us because we drink 3-4 gallons a week.) I’m thinking maybe it would be cheaper for us to just buy a cow
- Geico And I’m not just joking around. Moved our car insurance from Allstate to Geico, saved us $400 buckaroos a year!!! Their commercial is for real!
- I NEVER buy name brand clothes….or anything for that matter. I seriously have never cared about what name is on our clothes. As long as they are cheap but don’t look it, I’m good.
- Goodwill I’ll soon be re-stocking our kids closets with a classy, brand new summer wardrobe from GW. You should too. I’M JUST KIDDING!!!! Made your jaw drop though didn’t I?
ok, that’s all I can think of for now. Not sure if any of these interest anymore, but hey, I shared.Don’t think there was any great money saving revelations.
I know I have more, if they come to me, I’ll fill you in.
You know, I really do talk alot. But I’m sure you’ve figured that out by now.
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Thanks for the links!!
One of my best tips is COOK. So much cheaper than eating out, even at McDonalds (which won’t help with your diet.)
I’ve made up four weekly menu/grocery lists of inexpensive things to fix. I print out a week, add the things we’re out of, and go to the grocery. It helps keep me from making unwise decisions, like planning chicken fahitas because they sound good, or buying tempting looking food at the store. Must stick to list.
The other thing we do is buy bread at the day-old store. I can buy the expensive good-for-you stuff (usually $3.65) for $1.65. I put it in the freezer. We eat a lot of sandwiches and a lot of toast. Considering we use about eight loaves of bread a week, this is a big savings for us.
Have you tried http://www.savingdinner.com? They have free recipes and meal plans.
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Hi Abbye,
Good for you as a stay at home mom. Good for the kids too.
I have spent a few years being the big spender but more years being frugal. I try to save where I can so that I can buy the good stuff when I do want to buy something. Over the years I have picked up a few money saving ideas, so I will share. I’ll start with two.
Most households spend a large portion of the household income,after house and car,on food. Most people also eat too much. The body gets thicker and the wallet gets thinner. It would help most to cut back on portion sizes and back off on the snacks. It’s ok to feel a little hungry. the body will adapt to less food and soon less will feel normal. The grocery bill will go down and so will body weight. I haven’t even touched on the amount of food the average family wastes. That’s another letter.
Tip number two: Gas for the family car can also put a crimp in the budget. Think of all those short trips to the store, bank etc. that we take. They are fuel inefficient. Leave the car in the garage and get on the bicycle. You will save money and get more exercise.Wallet fatter body thinner. Wilmington streets are becoming more bike friendly with bike lanes and paths, so pedal on.
Notice the trend. Some of the obvious money saving ideas provide instant benefits to our health. I have lots more suggestions for the health of wallet and body.
Peace,
Carl
Working out decreases spending? NEVER would’ve thought that!
How have we cut back? Well…. By having less $$ to spend! heh
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