Your best ever money saving tips

Anyone cut the cord from cable? I have looked into that, just going to antennae and internet. I spend about $110 per month for freaking TV and I barely watch it anymore.

What would be the best alternatives?

I have.

For me I made a list of all the TV shows I watch and 80% of them were OTA (over the air). In other words, I was paying $150 per month for 20% of my shows.

Of those, I could get most through Hulu or Netflix (though I had to wait until much later).

One of the hidden bonuses is after a year I don't even watch that much TV. And shows that I thought I "couldn't miss" I actually can and don't mind at all.

Anyone cut the cord from cable? I have looked into that, just going to antennae and internet. I spend about $110 per month for freaking TV and I barely watch it anymore.

What would be the best alternatives?

Netflix and torrents.

I've been without cable for 3 years now. It's awesome. I pay $7.99/month for Netflix and Hulu Plus streamed through your device of choice, and I have a gigantic antennae in my attic that gets 50 channels from the Milwaukee/Chicago area.

I seriously have not missed cable for 5 seconds.

Anyone cut the cord from cable? I have looked into that, just going to antennae and internet. I spend about $110 per month for freaking TV and I barely watch it anymore.

What would be the best alternatives?

I have.

For me I made a list of all the TV shows I watch and 80% of them were OTA (over the air). In other words, I was paying $150 per month for 20% of my shows.

Of those, I could get most through Hulu or Netflix (though I had to wait until much later).

One of the hidden bonuses is after a year I don't even watch that much TV. And shows that I thought I "couldn't miss" I actually can and don't mind at all.

Also... that part in bold. I love some couch/tv time, but no longer feel like i "need" to get to that couch for any reason... ever. Unless there's a naked man or cheese on it or something, I have better things to do with my time.

Buy bottle water by the case!!

Is there some reason your free tap water isn't good enough?

Anyone cut the cord from cable? I have looked into that, just going to antennae and internet. I spend about $110 per month for freaking TV and I barely watch it anymore.

What would be the best alternatives?

I have.

For me I made a list of all the TV shows I watch and 80% of them were OTA (over the air). In other words, I was paying $150 per month for 20% of my shows.

Of those, I could get most through Hulu or Netflix (though I had to wait until much later).

One of the hidden bonuses is after a year I don't even watch that much TV. And shows that I thought I "couldn't miss" I actually can and don't mind at all.

Also... that part in bold. I love some couch/tv time, but no longer feel like i "need" to get to that couch for any reason... ever. Unless there's a naked man or cheese on it or something, I have better things to do with my time.

Hmmm...cheese you say...it looks like you're taken otherwise I'd be sitting on your couch with nothing but a plate of cheese

Another more general tip, which actually applies in all walks of life - don't focus on the margins when you don't have the big stuff right yet.

If you are paying 9% interest on a $800,000 mortgage for a house you don't need, you shouldn't be fretting about incandescent vs. CFL light bulbs. If you are paying 20% interest on $20,000 of credit card debt, you shouldn't be fretting about choosing a savings account with 0.8% or 0.85% interest. If you are driving a Humvee H2 just to take little Timmy to school half a mile away, you shouldn't be clipping 10% coupons for your morning soy-chai-skinny-latte-whatever.

Those secondary items will undoubtedly save you a little bit of money, but you are hemorrhaging money on the big stuff, making fixing the little things little but *kitten*.

Anyone cut the cord from cable? I have looked into that, just going to antennae and internet. I spend about $110 per month for freaking TV and I barely watch it anymore.

What would be the best alternatives?

I never even signed up for cable in my house. My TV is hooked up to my computer, where I can find *any* movie or tv series to either stream or download (for free). Who needs cable when you have the Internets & Netflix?!

Anyone cut the cord from cable? I have looked into that, just going to antennae and internet. I spend about $110 per month for freaking TV and I barely watch it anymore.

I don't know anything about the best alternatives. I haven't had cable for 2 years now, and have not missed it at all. Although I'm probably weird in that I do not even receive local channels. I have a hand me down TV and haven't bothered to get a box so that I can access local channels. My husband and I sometimes don't even turn on our TV for a month at a stretch. This month we've already watched 3 DVDs from the library on it...which is rare. But that's just because we have been trapped indoors due to snow/ice.

1. Bike it out - Bikes cost $100 at walmart and they already assembled. I ride mine everyday for three to four months and it pretty much paid for itself, plus my thighs and glutes are firmer.

2. No frills stores are your friends. I love stores like Aldi's and Save A Lot, such affordable food! Sometimes they carry name brands, I once got a few boxes of Cap N Crunch for $1.59 each!

3. Get your meat from meat supermarkets. Down here we have Western Beef , Penn Dutch, and Broward Meat and Fish. The meat comes in larger packages and is cheaper in the long run.

4. If you have internet then you do not need TV, you can download The Bad Girls Club if you really want to watch it. How many times have you flipped through the TV on Sunday and said 'There ain't nothing on."

5. Buy Shout Color catchers and wash your clothes in large loads. It saves water and if you go to the laundromat this prevents you from having to use separate dryers.

I set up an external savings account (separate from my regular checking/savings bank), and transfer money every pay period into separate savings funds ("emergency fund", "newer car fund", etc.), and it automatically withdraws every paycheck.

I LOVE it, because financial self control is a work in progress for me, and this way it takes the money out and puts it in savings before I even see it in my checking account, it's fantastic.

YOU TOOK MY ANSWER!

congratulations, though. I find it fantastic, too :-)

i do this as well

money is taken out of each paycheck before i even see it. some goes to 401K, some to Roght IRA some to savings (untill my safety net is large enough, then more will simply go into ira)

its much easier to save when you pay yourself first.

dont bank on saving what ever is elft at the end of the month. save at the begining and then budget the rest accordingly

I do a lot of basic ones, but these are the little ones that have made a difference for me. I'm one of those people who forgets the small things sometimes, so I do these because little things add up!

Food:
Make my own sauces and dressings
Make a meal plan for the week
Listen to the tips from Melissa d'Arabian (and follow her $10 meals. So YUMMY!)
Make large batches of things that reheat well
I invested in some large tupperware for my fridge, pantry and freezer. They're labeled. So I can see EVERYTHING I have.
I don't eat meat everyday (it might not be in every state, but here, it's EXPENSIVE. Especially beef.)
Get a Costco or Sam's club membership. Even if you buy produce somewhere else, the staple items are nice to have in bulk.

House:
I make all my own cleaning products
We use energy efficient light bulbs
We turn off the water when we're rinsing not something in the shower
I make my own candles
I make my own box organizers (for makeup, my desk, etc) out of old cereal boxes.

Personal:
I make all my own skin/hair/nail products (and have a weekly spa day!)
I cut my own hair (the CreaClip is probably one of the best investments I've ever made)
I learned how to sew, so I can tailor my own old and too big, or thrift store and doesn't fit right, clothes (youtube is a great place to learn the basics)

Fun:
If I want something frivolous, I wait for a sale or a deal. If I want it bad enough, I'll be able to wait.
I don't buy a video game unless I can replay it (and luckily Steam has LOTS of sales)
I try to make sure I read one book a week. Not only does that keep me busy, but it gives me a treat at the end of each week (and Kindle books are still pretty cheap!).

Thanks for the great ideas! Here are some of mine:

I use Kroger iwireless for my cell phone. I spend about $28.00 a month for 200 talk min, unlimited texting and 200 mb internet. I have a smart phone so I switch to wifi at home and where ever it is offered while I'm out and about. With points from my Kroger card I earn 20 minutes added to my talk time.

I cook from scratch and I try to plan meals around local sales and clearance item..

I make my own laundry soap (recipe from www.duggarfamily.com)

I shop second hand for most of our clothing and hit off season sales.

I signed up at bookbub for free ebooks for my kindle.

-make laundry detergent and cleaning products (it's also more environmentally friendly and cruelty-free)
-sale items & coupons
-most importantly, create a monthly budget in an excel spreadsheet and stick to it!

I have a good one. Don't give Uncle Sam more of your paycheck than he's entitled to.

Or anywhere for that matter. LOL