Your best $ tips & frugal advice!
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great ideas!!! here are a few I can think of...
* in the summer dry you cloths on a line outside... on the hot days it will only take an hour or two and you will save $$$ and energy!
* collect water in a rain barrel and water your garden
* invest in a tap water filter (brita)... no more plastic water bottles!
* shope around online! I find I can buy in bulk on amazon etc. and save a ton of money!
* only keep lights on when you are in the room...
* take shorter, cooler showers, or better yet buy a water saving shower head...
* plan, plan, plan in the spending dept. make an excel spreadsheet of all you expenses and income, and budget!
Good luck!0 -
If you are England and you shop at tesco get a clubcard
I don't spend much there even though I work there haha but i've earnt 7 pounds worth of vouchers in the last couple of months.0 -
I'm a huge fan of the 99c store/Jack's/LotLess. You can get name brand shampoos, toothpastes, some non-perishable food items for 50% - 75% of the price you'd find in your more mainstream stores. I just double check expiration dates and stock up.
Also, even though we're on a budget we want to treat ourself to outings/dinners in our cities/towns - so sign up for a site like Groupon.com (and others). They give major major daily coupon discounts on dining out, salons, spas, or city excursions.0 -
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hands down, the best internet site i have ever found for making cheap meals. I'm not sure of all the nutritional values of it, but it is mostly pretty healthy. www.5dollardinners.com .Her children are allergic to wheat and gluten so she always has an alternative, which end up being a "healthy" version of it.0
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Buy clothes in the sales in the next size up for your kids basic items like jeans/t-shirts/jumpers/underwear never date (my son is 3 and I already have clothes for next year) The younger ones can wear hand me downs with new ones being treats. (it never hurt me or my 2 younger sisters)
Buy Christmas stuff (wrapping paper/cards/decorations) in the January sales (like wise for Halloween themed stuff I got a great spider bowl for £1 a few weeks after Halloween)
Instead of giving shop bought presents make them at home, grandparents love stuff made by grandkids and they can make cards using the ones you got last year! (everyone got home made chutney and cakes at Christmas!)
Only eat in season foods from local sources.
Grow your own if you can.
Plan your grocery shopping and plan your meals as you write your list so you only buy what you need, own brand is just as good as branded, if you don't want to go to shop brand or generic just drop one brand (instead of Heinz or Kellogg's try the cheaper one).
Ask around if you are looking to buy something big (I got a "new" bike for my son from my sister in laws neighbours).
Always check Ebay/Amazon and price check sites before any purchases.
Coupons are brilliant as long as you only buy what you will use (my husband found a coupon for buy one get one free pork chops but he doesn't like pork!!).
When you go out, walk if its local or ride your bike and look out for garage sales someone maybe selling what you are looking for.
Second hand furniture can be painted/cleaned up (and has a lot more character than new).
Switch of your tumble dryer and only use in emergencies line dry everything and invest in clothes horse and put it near a heater (just ventilate that room well) and if you do use the dryer get some dryer balls (they soften your clothes by bashing into them!) instead of dryer sheets.
Don't take your bank/credit card with you when you go out shopping just take cash (you can't spend what you don't have)
If you want to buy the kids a big present split the cost with aunts/uncles/grandparents (we bought my husbands niece a laptop last Christmas and the whole family pitched in cost £350 in total we put in about £30 which we would have spent on her anyway)
Don't buy lunch at work take it with you (easier to calculate calories as well)
If you regularly cook too much freeze it or have it for lunch the next day or use the leftovers as ingredients in a new dish www.leftoverchef.com has some good ideas.
I have loads of ideas so friend me and tell what area you want to save in and I'll give you some ideas!0 -
sorry forgot this one
find out when your local supermarket puts out the reduced items (dented cans/food going out of date tomorrow/today/open multipacks bruised fruit etc) and plan your shopping around that time (I got 5 kit-kats for 20p as there were 5 missing from the pack) again only buy what you will eat/use but remember you can freeze most foods just check the label when you pick it up!0 -
I make my own laundry detergent. It's probably less then 10$ in ingredients while I make the detegerent about every 2 months I haven't bought store stuff since b/4 1/2009.
let me know if you want recipe. super simple. and I find it very relaxing for some reason. about 15 mins. of work.
really no one is too busy to make this.0 -
Saving money is one of my favorite hobbies.
<One thing I always save on is toothbrushes and toothpaste, if you make your 6mth dental appts you always get a new toothbrush and some new toothpaste.
<The other day I transfered a prescription to a new pharamacy, they gave me a $25 gift card, with that in hand and $7.50 in coupons I broght home $32 worth of items at no cost to me. All items that are needed, nothing frivilous. Bandaids, asprin, allergy meds, etc.0 -
dryer sheets - we stopped using these, and instead we bought a bottle of downy, added a bit of water to dilute it and poured it into a spray bottle. we just spray an old washcloth about 2-3 times and toss it in the dryer with the wet clothes. lasts much longer than dryer sheets, and is better for the environment.
This is such a fabulous idea. I've gotta try this. We go through so many dryer sheets and they're so dang expensive!
The only money saving tip I have is to write a weekly shopping list and stick to it! We have a family of 7 and money has to go far every week. I shop at Walmart and Price Chopper in Toronto and for the most part I buy their store brands. Always WAY cheaper than name brands and if you read the packaging, both the store brand and name brand are almost always made in the same plant/factory.
We have meat regularly. I've learned to buy in bulk each week. I factor it into my budget and buy as much as I can and freeze it. I do this with other things like bread/bagels and canned goods and other non-perishables. I like when the only thing I need to buy in a week is produce.0 -
- To reduce water when I shower, I set an alarm for 13 minutes (15 is usually too long or means I dilly-dallied and 10 minutes isn't long enough because sometimes I have to shave or use extra exfoliating routines to take care of my eczema-prone skin, so 13 is my magic number - lol) and try to get out as soon as it goes off, or before. It's like a race against the clock! Literally!
- I shop at my local Kroger and have a card and at least once a month, when I get to 100 points, I save 10 cents per gallon on my gas (that I will ONLY buy at Kroger because it's the cheapest!)
- Before I make any big purchases, I comparison shop... I check Amazon.com, any and all retail stores I can possibly think of, and buy at the cheapest place.
- I read any and all reviews of any product I buy that I haven't bought before so I know I'm not wasting my money.
- I write out everything I need to buy for the next paycheck and overestimate how much it will cost and if it doesn't fit into the paycheck, I weed out the unnecessary (want or don't-need-right-now items) items or reduce certain things if possible (such as, if I'm taking a shopping trip, I'll reduce how much I'm bringing/spending).
- I don't have a credit card so I never spend money I don't have.
- I try to buy any bread I can on the reduced items rack (thanks to navstar for reminding me!) ... most loaves at Kroger are about $4 but I've been able to get them for about $1.25. Also tried my first Kashi cereal this way. $1.25 for a normally $3.99 box!!
- I buy almost all off-brands. They taste the same, people!! :happy:
- I don't buy any piece of clothing unless it's on sale and most of the time I shop the 60%-80% racks because that's where the best deals are. Hello, brand new CUTE flowy top for $4.80? YES, PLEASE!
That's all I can think of for now!!0 -
buy fruit in season and freeze them for smoothies. I just bought a ton of berries. Layer them washed on a cookie sheet and freeze them then put them in a baggy or container for the freezer. If you buy them in season they are cheaper. Same with corn and vegetables.0
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Great ideas everyone! Keep them coming!
If these weren't mentioned yet:
Buy generic whenever possible.
Shop overstock.com/amazon.com for gifts.
KEEP CREDIT CARDS AT HOME for a night out or clothes shopping.
Use consignment stores! You can sell your used (in better condition and usually designer) clothes you don't wear for cash or store credit.
Host clothing (or household goods) swaps! Invite all your friends to bring their used things and trade!0 -
On non-food purchases, I always consider if i *really* want/need whatever item I'm considering. If you leave it on the shelf/rack and walk away for a few minutes, you'll find out if you miss it or not.
Also, when I went vegetarian last October, I started paying a lot more attention to what I eat, and how much I spend on my food! Vegetarian meals are usually less expensive for the prepare at home meal, and it also makes you pay more attention to finding proper nutrition. It's a win-win!0 -
I earn gift certificates for Amazon and use them for gifts it is a great way to stash some extra cash for holidays, birthdays and baby showers. I know people probably see this all the time and roll their eyes but I have made over $200 dollars this year by doing surveys and another $100 from searching the internet.
copy and paste
for surveys
http://tinyurl.com/366oe9a
or for searching the internet
http://tinyurl.com/25xuzbg
also I use mycokerewards to get all my magazine subscriptions and I check out the free sample sites sometimes I get really good things from them as well.0 -
buy fruit in season and freeze them for smoothies. I just bought a ton of berries. Layer them washed on a cookie sheet and freeze them then put them in a baggy or container for the freezer. If you buy them in season they are cheaper. Same with corn and vegetables.
cheaper even still if you can find a place to pick your own berries. even a berry farm if you don't have foraging skills.0 -
Safeway has 1lb of strawberries on sale this week for .99......and they were good looking berries....great ideas ladies...keep them coming. I'm definetly going to try some of these!0
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I've heard from 2 different people that turning off the water heater every day saves loads of money off your electric bill. :flowerforyou:0
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another laundry tip - i buy the arm & hammer powder detergent and use about 1/2 of the recommended amount. my clothes are clean and smell good every single time. i also always wash in cold water and my clothes last longer for it.
shower tip - i've started timing my showers for every day immediately after my workout. by then i've usually worked up a good sweat and a cool shower feels great. no using hot water unnecessarily.0 -
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