Tips for Saving Money, Cutting Expenses, etc.
 

I mentioned in another thread that a few of my close friends have been laid off fairly recently, or had to take unpaid time off, reduced hours, etc. It's made me much more aware of how mindlessly I spend money sometimes, so I'm trying to be more careful and find ways to stop being such a spender. I'd love to hear other people's tips and ideas for ways to save, especially on the "everyday" sorts of things.

Some little things I'm trying:

I've been bringing my lunch to work pretty much 4 out of 5 days instead of going out.

I'm making coffee at home more often now and trying to make Starbucks a treat instead of an everyday stop.

I'm trying to utilize the library more often instead of buying books all of the time.

Any GCer's have other things they've been doing to cut back? Thanks!

I buy as many groceries as possible at Target instead of the grocery store. In my area the cereal can be as much as $2 cheaper at Target, and milk is almost $1 cheaper. Everything else is approx .25-.50 cheaper, which adds up really fast for a family of four.

When I was first dating my now husband he was buying EVERYTHING at the grocery store- shampoo, paper towels, cleaning products, trash bags, etc. I broke him of that soooo fast. Needless to say, if any of you bachelor-types out there are buying anything at the grocery store that they also sell at Target (or Wal-Mart, or K-mart, or your discount store of choice) then you are crazy!!! You would be shocked to see how much you save.

I mentioned in the other thread that my husband and I are in a bit of a bind lately because of my injury/lack of jobs out there, but we've been doing a lot of what you listed up thread.

-Keeping our heating/lighting costs down by opening windows/blinds.
-staying in and playing rock band or watching our NetFlix rather than going out
-If we go out, we split meals or take home leftovers
-At least one of us cycles to work every day so we can save cash on gas.
-Library books
-Coupons and double coupons if we have to go to the grocery store
-Aldi (hey, a can of tomatoes is a can of tomatoes)
-Growing our own veg with some friends of ours who have some land...they provide the dirt, we provide hands for weeding.
-The credit cards are on lock down.

I mentioned this in another thread, but a great way to save on the electric bill is to turn off or unplug everything when you're not using it. A phone charger uses electricity even when it's not charging. We unplugged our base this month for our regular phone and my bill went down again. The phone lasted a good week without a charge. Our TV and cable box are also attached to a power strip which we turn off if we're not watching it. We turn off the internet as well.

I also lump all of my errands in an area. That saves time and money.

That's honestly the only reason I get the local paper anymore. (The writing has gone down hill.) They offer a weekend subscription.

And shop the sales. I plan my menus around what meats are on sale that week. I buy the fruit that's on sale, etc. I too have been packing my lunch, not only to save money, but to save calories. It's better to know what I'm eating ahead of time than to wander around the cafeteria trying to find what I can eat. I use my freezer a lot. I used to find that I could buy a package of lunch meat and throw away more than half of it because I couldn't use it all by the time it went bad. So now, I divide it up into individual portions when I buy it and freeze them. You can put frozen lunch meat on a sandwich that's going into a school lunch and it will be thawed by the time the kids have to eat it and I don't buy lunch meat as often.

Thats weird. the target in my town is more expensive than the gorcery store....hmm.

I've always been borderline obsessive about money, so I watch my spending and cut costs anywhere I can.

-Track EVERY penny spent. I have a notebook that is broken down monthly into categories (bills, gas, groceries, going out, food [not groceries], miscellaneous). I write down the date I bought something, what I bought, where I bought it, and how much it cost. I total everything up at the end of the month. It really keeps my spending in check, the first month I did it I realized I had spent $300+ eating out, so I've kept that around $100 since.

-Coupons and grocery shopping at WalMart. The closest grocery store to me is a Harris Teeter a mile away, and WalMart's about 10 miles, but HT is WAY too expensive. I save atleast $20 each time I go to WalMart.

-Entertainment book. It's worth it if you eat out a lot, like me and my boyfriend do. We get to try new restaurants and get good deals at the same time- we each got Italian Ice last weekend for only 43 cents!

-Packing my lunch versus going out. I bring a lunch 4 days a week and eat out one, and on that day I always go to Firehouse Subs for their employer appreciation day (you get free chips and a drink, saves $2).

-Going out one night a weekend. We do a lot more renting movies/drinking wine nights. Trader Joe's has $3 bottles of wine.

2 words: Student. Discount. Even if you're not in school anymore, if you've got your old ID card and you still look like the picture...:cool: I only go to Moe's on SD day (which is today, so I'm tempted). Plus, I eat free at work so whenever I go in, I have my meals there and the caf staff gives the extras to anyone who wants them. I've brought home days worth of meals that way.

Good point! I use my student ID still for discounts at the movies and offer my monthly tanning package.

A few things I do:

* Every paycheck, I put away $75 in a separate account for Christmas gifts / holiday travel. That way, when the holidays roll around, I don't have to worry about finding $300 for airplane tickets and money for gifts.

* Make automatic transfers every 2 wks to a savings account away from my normal bank - this helped me build my emergency money. Ideally you should be saving 10-15% of your income - whether that be your 401K, emergency fund, saving for a car/house down payment, or a combination of them. Most people don't ever stick to budgets and won't save money if it takes EFFORT. If you make the withdrawals automatic, you don't have to think about saving money - it just happens.

* Don't use credit cards if you can't pay the balance off in full every month. Finance charges are invisible money suckers!

Yup yup. I just had a fantabulous Moe's dinner and even saved half my food for lunch tomorrow. 2 meals worth for $5. :D I also get an SD at my hair salon. I usually only go every couple months for a relaxer because I've learned the value of DIY maintenance. I do my own hair and nails.

I cycle out clothes--when the seasons change, I'll put my clothes in a trunk and everything in the trunk comes back out so my wardrobe keeps refreshing itself without my having to buy anything.

I also have a huge bag of clothes I was going to donate, but I just saw a sign in front of Plato's Closet that they are "now buying." A lot of my clothes are stuff that are in nice condition but I either no longer want or they no longer fit. I figure I could make a little money off them and what doesn't sell can still be donated.

The ninety nine cents only store now carries groceries, and produce. You can get bags of lettuce, tomatoes, all sorts of produce for under a buck. Just get there early, before everything is picked over. The .99 sells tons of other stuff, too. Between discount stores and Trader Joe's, I manage to completely avoid the supermarket.

FPU
 

Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University changed my life. I graduated from the 13 week course this past Sunday. I look at money so differently now. I cut coupons, I have a written budget, and I dont use credit cards anymore. We use cash for everything, including gas (yes, it means walking inside to prepay gas instead of swiping the card - but it works). We are following the "envelope" system and once the money in teh envelope is gone, we're SOL until the next payday and the next allotment of money for that type of item. We use 3 envelopes: entertainment, groceries and gas. Cash "hurts" to spend, so it makes you more aware of how much you are spending.

I buy stuff in bulk at Sams Club (only because there is no Costco or BJs in this silly town), and I've started reading the drug store circulars each week to see what the prices on our normal toiletries are there, I used to NEVER shop at drug stores, and for the most part, I only get a few things that are on a super sale. I usually get generic rather than name brand, unless I have coupons which make the name brand cheaper.

My husband is still not working. We moved back in October for me to start the job of my dreams, and i LOVE it. However, the economy is so bad, he cant even get a part time job delivering pizzas right now. The good thing is, the course taught us how to budget, and we're able to easily live on my income right now (which would not have been possible a year ago) which means when he DOES finally get a job - whenever that mgiht be, it's going to be extra money to pay down our debt, and then maybe we can finally start house hunting.


some websites to check out:
www.couponmom.com
www.thecouponclippers.com
www.mytotalmoneymakeover.com
www.daveramsey.com

Has anyone noticed that people are focusing on their health a lot more now than they did a year ago? I've always been a gym geek, but now my friends are focusing on home-cooked meals (since you can control the salt, sugar, and fat you take in), working out, and not drinking as much.

I don't know how much of it's the economy, and how much of it's just us growing up and realizing that the midsection fluff does not go away so easily now! :o

I wish the Target here would sell those kinds of items cheaper!! They are the most expensive, then wal-mart, then kroger. But having said that, it also depends on the item--Wal-Mart sells dog food, women's products, paper products, and toiletries cheaper than Kroger almost always. The Krogers here are currently on this massive kick to compete head to head with walmart and have built Kroger Marketplaces aka Super Krogers all over the place. Plus Kroger will double coupons that are 50 cents or less and walmart does not double coupons (but they do take coupons).

So having said that I do the following to cut costs:
Coupons, coupons, coupons!! Whether they come in the mail, email, discount cards (as long as they are free) or the sunday paper (the only paper we get) I am a believer in coupons. When I shop at Kroger, I often can get savings on the kroger plus card and a coupon on the same item which saves even more.

For the most part we have gone to Kroger & Walmart branded items instead of name brand things like Campbell's, Kraft, etc.

This is a drastic measure for some, but in an effort to both save money and be healthier we no longer buy soft drinks at my house. We drink water (we have a water filter on our kitchen tap and the fridge dispenser so we dont buy bottled), milk, coffee, and kroger or walmart brand sugar free kool-aid, with an occasional buying of orange or cranapple juice.

Instead or ordering pizza or going out to eat once a week, we have cut back and do that once a month. Between pizza orderings we make our own pizzas or buy frozen.

I have cut back on my Sephora, Ulta, & The Body Shop bills (sadly) and have gone to cheaper brands available at walmart, kroger, and drugstores: Olay, Herbal Essences, RoC, Neutrogena, St. Ives, Queen Helene, etc. I didnt realize how expensive my cleanser was until I started cutting back--former cleanser was $32, my new cleanser is $7. I will never give up my Bare Minerals however :)

We also are growing whatever produce we can on our own which cuts costs from buying fresh produce, canned & frozen veggies & fruit, jams, & jellies, herbs, and sunflower seeds. We do canning, freezing, and make our own jams and jellies.

I try to fill up my car at the cheapest places possible which here is usually Kroger with the kroger plus card. In the past two months I've earned two free fill ups!

We are renovating the entire interior of my home and are doing all the work ourselves instead of paying someone to do it. It is slower going, but we have saved so much money by doing it ourselves.

We try our best to pay credit cards off at the end of every month and not carry a balance as well as trying to pay cash when we can instead of charging everything to the credit cards.

Yeah...we are doing that too. We stopped buying liquor. I stopped drinking liquor and drink wine less frequently and try to keep it to one glass when I do drink it. Ordering water with lemon at restaurants instead of a soft drink or alcoholic beverage has also helped cut costs and has helped control weight. it is AMAZING to me how much salt, sugar, fat, and preservatives you can cut out of your food by cooking at home and with fresh ingredients.

I cant believe I forgot this! In the winter we turned our thermostat down to 68 and just layered clothes and blankets. However, My husband, daughter, and I dont do well with heat, and the boys usually could care less but everyone seemed to enjoy it at that level this year. For the summer on most days we have it set on 70, but on really hot days we move it up to 72. Two degrees doesnt seem like much but the electric/gas bill says otherwise. We got rid of our land phone line because everyone in the family now has a cell phone and didnt see the need for it anymore. We also got rid of digital cable and just have regular cable--I really am missing my history international, national geographic, and science channels :( We try hard to turn off tv's and lights too when we leave a room.

I'm fortunate that I have a free gym membership because I volunteer at the place I work out (Boys and Girls Club/community center), but I HAVE noticed that I'm much more conscious of what I'm buying, and I'm definitely making more stuff on my own. Such as: Pancakes. Rather than buying Bisquick, I make from scratch. Rather than buying pizza dough, I make from scratch (took some fiddling with, but I found this great recipe: http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2009/...omemade-pizza/ ). The stuff we're making has less additives in it, and is generally fresher/lower in salt, and I can control the portions. If nothing else, the recession has made me a much better cook!

At least with my friends, it has a lot more to do with keeping busier schedules and seeing how older business associates have aged. I've talked about it with a couple of friends, and we realized that as we've started to work longer (harder) hours, we needed to be in better physical condition. If you're writing a report or drafting a document at 10 pm, you don't want to be lagging. Being in better physical condition helps to deal with those longer, more intellectually-challenging days, at least in my case. Even though I go to the gym at 5:30 am, and sometimes don't get home until 11 pm or later, I still have more energy from 3 pm onwards since I've started the early morning gym trips.

Plus, I think that a reasonable person starts tallying up the calories in those late night take-out meals, or even at business lunches out, and realizes that they should try to cut calories (and costs) as much as possible.

[QUOTE=Jen;1816416
- Generic or store brand over name brand. Wal-Mart sells Equate brand ibuprofen for like 2 bucks. Advil is 6 bucks. It's the same damn stuff in the bottle! Sometimes I find the store brand or generic is actually better than the name brand stuff.[/QUOTE]

So true! Walmart's Equate brand makes a very good triple antibiotic first aid ointment and is so much cheaper than Neosporin. We only buy Equate ibuprofen, acetaminophen, and multivitamins. YOu just cant beat the price difference!

I've noticed a difference in that and better sleep from working out. I've been able to cut back on ambien usage for sleep since I started early morning workouts and my migraines/treximet usage is also less frequent. That in turn saves me money because I'm not refilling as often.

I forgot to mention this in my earlier post: My mom plays the "grocery game".

It's basically a service online - they tell you where to get what coupons and what stores in your area you can go to for redeeming. My mom has come out of CVS with BAGS and BAGS of stuff - deodorants, shampoos, body wash, RAZORS, air fresheners - just tons of stuff, and only paid like $0.30. (yes, that's 30-CENTS)

I believe it's a paid service, but it's saved her a ton of money. She always said she wishes they had that when we were growing up, because I have 3 siblings so our family would go through stuff so quickly. She takes advantage of those and stockpiles everything and when we visit home we 'raid' the stockpile and bring stuff home :D

The Grocery Game

I haven't been doing anything different, I've kind of always been doing these activities as I have grand plans that require quite a bit of funding. I've managed to have some bills taken directly from my paycheck so I have a very accurate idea of what money I have. I received grant and scholarship money last year and paid all my rent up front which at least assures I won't ever worry about being homeless. I had a lease though, and in some places paying up front can bring up strange legal issues, not so much in my case.

I still wouldn't use just cash for big purchases as credit cards provide buyer protection. Just transfer the money immediately and it is the same situation. Also for traveling I can't think of many ways you can pay for a rental car or plane tickets in cash.

I guess I also just like proof of payment for certain situations as well, sure you can get a receipt for cash. I was burned once and was reported to collections as I made a payment and an employee stole the cash, which was a huge hassle to fix.

Equate brand Claritin is only $4 for a 30-day supply. Can't beat that.

Here are some things that I do to save money:

1. Shop for groceries at the store with the best sale that week
2. We live on the border of North and South Carolina, so we drive across to S.Carolina for cheaper gas and other items that may be cheaper
3. Hang out more at home
4. Avoid going to places uptown that we have to pay for parking
5. Top shelf liquor at home rather that watered down drinks out :D
6. Shop at Aldi, Fred's, Family Dollar etc. for household items/supplies
7. Stopped going to get my toes done
8. Do my hair at home unless I want a cut or highlights
9. Buy less groceries (we still try to get healthy smaller meals)
10. Utilize things we already have home instead of buying new stuff...You would be surprised what the seamstress can do to an old outfit in good condition !!!

Great thread!
 

You beat me to it! But I have a "compromise" for sensitive types like me.

I tried the water filter for a while in '03 or '04 after I decided traveling to a special co-op in Atlanta for filtered water from a machine that include radiation, etc. was getting too expensive, ie price & gasoline. The filtered water did not agree with my skin and broke me out terribly, even when I poured it into the Brita pitcher 3 times before drinking.

Fast forward, and the cost of the filtered machines have gone down, and the machines are in more places, ie Publix, Kroger, meaning less gas. This water is delicious and will satisfy. The cost is usually $0.30 - $0.35 per gallon instead of paying much more for bottled water. (I've bought gallons of Publix/Kroger water, then re-used the bottles.)

PS I recommend Glacier machines over others. I don't know why there's a difference, but there clearly is.

I don't know how old you are, but I didn't start experiencing this until the winter of my 27th year; most of my male friends didn't start dealing with resilient midsection fluff until they were about 31/32.

Yeah, like I said I'm not sure if it's a function of getting older or the economy. It's easier to beg off of the late-night food trucks because of trying to eat better than admitting it's because you don't have the money to throw around the way you used to. Most of my business associates are in pretty great shape (I just got lapped by my boss a few days ago); I think that's pretty typical of architects as a whole.

I ran a few miles around 9 yesterday morning, and I was able to stay up until 3 this morning, while being out. I'm feeling pretty good today too, so maybe I'm not dragging like I thought I was.

Target will take a store coupon and a manufacturer coupon for the same item, which can help make it cheaper than your local grocery store or Wal-Mart. My grocery store will do this too.
You can find Target coupons on their website, or sometimes they randomly mail out booklets to people in the mail. There's no real rhyme or reason to who gets the store coupons.
I've also found that I'm able to get a lot of my toiletries at Walgreens for really cheap because you can use the coupons in their ads and stack manufacturer coupons there too. I don't have a lot of time to line up these deals but the people on sites like www.hotcouponworld.com and www.slickdeals.net are able to find those deals. They also have threads dedicated to lots of grocery stores on HCW. There's no cost for either site.
If I had a family, I'd probably be all about buying in bulk, especially since I could practically walk to Cost-Co, but I'd never get everything used in time, nor do I have the space.

I have a question about the Brita pitchers. when you put tap water in the pitcher is fresh water immediate? or does it have to sit a while... btw I love this thread. great information.

It's immediate. It goes through a filter, and what is in the bottom of the pitcher is ready. We love ours!

try e-mealz.com

The best times to get gas are in the early morning or late evening, when it isn't as hot (obviously, this works better during the summer). The gas doesn't evaporate as quickly so you're not paying for fumes.

I took a good, hard look at my family's medical history, and started to seriously cut back on foods that are empty calories or tend to lead to one disease or another. I may love sweet tea, but it's now a treat, not an everyday drink. I can't remember how long it's been since I've willingly bought Coke (of any sort), or even drank it - the "experts" are saying that even diet pop causes problems. Using a teabag squeezer (mine's from Tupperware) allows you to get several cups of tea out of one bag, without the mess. Remember how one packet of sugar was 1 teaspoon? Read the packet - it's now just under a teaspoon. If you can do without the full teaspoon at a restaurant, you can do without it at home.

Our local big grocery store offers fuel perks; you save $.10 a gallon for every $50 increment you spend - and they don't run out at the end of the month. I drove to Nashville on $13.20 worth of gas! :D They also sell gift cards, so if we're going to a restaurant or to a certain store, we get the gift cards first. My mother bought a stove and got an $.80 discount per gallon on gas!

My credit cards all have either miles or points to purchase gift cards - and none of them have fees. The boy always writes out a check for each time he uses his, so it doesn't get out of control.

Most skin care items are as effective in generic as in the high priced ones, although you need to check the ingredients if you have allergies. A dab of white toothpaste from a dollar store actually works better for the occasional zit than the expense creams. I also try not to buy scented liquid soap, so I can mix those litte bits that won't pump out. Okay, one scent isn't bad!

Do some serious bank shopping! My bank was just sold, so while my funds are at the new bank, I'm checking out which can give me more bang for my buck. I also empty my wallet of change every day for one special fund.

Good to see other frugalites!

PS: Who are these experts, anyhow?

Now that my ex-husband is unemployed, I've been trying to give him tips like these. He's just dense and doesn't get it. My son told him "Stop buying Oreos, you can buy lots of pears for the cost of a bag of Oreos". LOL. It was hilarious, to hear a 13 year old boy telling his dad to buy fruit instead of packaged cookies!

I've started buying generic shampoo and it's actually just as good (the one my hairdresser told me to use was expensive).

I ask doctors for samples. My cousin is a doctor -- if he has what I need, he will send them.

I recently changed my diet for health issues and in the process it has saved me money. I went became a mostly vegan vegetarian in July. Not only have I lost 12 pounds, but my cholesterol has gone way down (saving me money from having to be placed on an expensive medication), my thyroid numbers are going up and becoming more stable, saving me money from thyroid medication, AND the diet changes have also boosted my overall mental health to where I am proud to say I am off both anti-depressants and off the Ambien to sleep. My migraines are much less frequent and severe too (saving money there from other medications). I cut out caffiene and soft drinks, in addition to coffee so my daily starbucks habit is no more. We no longer buy fruit juice here. We got out the ole Juiceman Juicer and now make our own juices, fresh with no added sugar or preservatives.


Here recently with the weather being so nice, we've turned off the a/c and opened windows.

I started buying my shampoo and conditioners at walmart, rather than the salon or at Ulta/Sephora. That cut my shampoo/conditioner costs in half.