How to save money today!

[chickensducks&agoose]

1. Cancel your cable, (keep your internet) You don't need to watch that much tv, spend $50 on a used vcr, and get a couple dozen videotapes from your mom, or uncle, or the thrift store, exercise more, watch tv less.

2. Stop buying food at work. Bring a water bottle and a salad/sandwich.

3. Quit drinking soda or beer on weekdays. Water is good enough, and you can afford one or 2 special drinks on the weekend... save calories too!

4. Wax your eyebrows at home, cut your own hair (or let it grow), and instead of buying new beauty products, use up the ones you have.

5. Shorten your showers, and limit baths to once or twice a week, save money on electric/heat, however you heat your water.

6. Get a library card, don't go to bookstores. Borrow, not buy.

7. Throw a blanket over your couch/chair, cheaper to wash that than to get all into cleaning the actual cushions if there's a spill.

8. bake your own bread, cut up your own chicken breasts (don't pay extra to have someone else do it!), and prep and freeze veggies for the whole week, or at least 2 days at a time.

9. No more take out! (or Mc. D's) Or at least limit it to once a week, or twice a month, as little as you can manage.

10. Eat squash. and beans. and oatmeal. eat healthy, cheap foods you can make at home, without a ton of effort, that still taste good.

What are your top ten?

 

[Beekissed]

Welcome to the forum! We had an old thread about this back in the day.....couldn't find it if I tried. You would be amazed at what these folks do to save money......

Make their own toilet paper, sanitary napkins, etc.

Make dairy foods from breastmilk...still amazed at that one!

Recycle anything and everything.

You name it, these folks have tried it!

 

[big brown horse]

Shoot, I missed the dairy foods from breastmilk!!!! Reminds me of a "Girls Behaving Badly" episode...

WELCOME chickensducks&agoose!!

 

[Dace]

1) think before you drive anywhere...combine errands in one trip (why does my 18 yr old not get this?)

2) cook from scratch

3) line dry your laundry

4) make you own laundry soap

5) make your own fabric softener

6) make your own pizza

7) buy cheese in bulk, shred and freeze in smaller sized bags (works well for the above mentioned pizza)

8) do not buy herbs at the grocery store. If you need dill/oregano/basil/whatever for a recipe, go buy a whole plant...same price and you will never have to buy it again

9) plant a garden

10) Plan ahead for dinner....plan a whole week in advance and always start a little bit of prep the day before. Then you can avoid that last minute 'we have to eat out, I don't have anything ready to cook'

 

[FarmerChick]

1. Cancel your cable, (keep your internet) You don't need to watch that much tv, spend $50 on a used vcr, and get a couple dozen videotapes from your mom, or uncle, or the thrift store, exercise more, watch tv less.
No can do. Tony would throw a fit. Directtv I have to keep, but got the cheapest package. No cable here down my road.

2. Stop buying food at work. Bring a water bottle and a salad/sandwich.
Yup--we do this.

3. Quit drinking soda or beer on weekdays. Water is good enough, and you can afford one or 2 special drinks on the weekend... save calories too!Don't drink much beer or soda except for holidays...so saving there and we drink tons of water.----DO NOT ORDER drinks out when eating out. waste of money...order water only.

4. Wax your eyebrows at home, cut your own hair (or let it grow), and instead of buying new beauty products, use up the ones you have.
Too many layers for me to cut. Use a reasonable gal I like. Using up everything is smart!!

5. Shorten your showers, and limit baths to once or twice a week, save money on electric/heat, however you heat your water.Two showers a day at least cause I work a farm. Can't go out in public sometimes with the way I am..LOL...but shorter showers yes.

6. Get a library card, don't go to bookstores. Borrow, not buy.
We trade books and do library etc.

7. Throw a blanket over your couch/chair, cheaper to wash that than to get all into cleaning the actual cushions if there's a spill.
I like the fabric I have on my couch set to show. But spot clean immediately and keep things in good shape. Maintenance is key to keeping things refreshed looking...plus leather couch in living room. Not going to cover that up..love the look! But Nicole can't go near it with food or drink..LOL

8. bake your own bread, cut up your own chicken breasts (don't pay extra to have someone else do it!), and prep and freeze veggies for the whole week, or at least 2 days at a time.
I still buy bread. I tried baking but never came out great. Will try again though ---great idea on pre-packaged anything. buy bulk and cut your own, bag your own, make own mixes, etc.

9. No more take out! (or Mc. D's) Or at least limit it to once a week, or twice a month, as little as you can manage.
rare we go to fast food. so no problem there. Eat out on coupons, buy 1 entree get 1 free, don't order drinks, go to early bird specials etc. and don't go that often!

10. Eat squash. and beans. and oatmeal. eat healthy, cheap foods you can make at home, without a ton of effort, that still taste good.
Always smart! Stay healthy!

What are your top ten?


_____
That was a good top ten.

For me it is changing all lights to CFL gave me great savings per month.

Turn off AC and don't turn on heat until very very necessary.
Use ceiling fans.

Drive in a smart manner when doing errands...combine and conquer all trips.

Stop buying. Just put the wallet down and it stays closed that way!

Shop all sales when grocery shopping, with coupons.

Use cash for my camping trips. No credit cards. Use a credit card for bigger purchases and pay immediately and get rewards.

Cold wash only.

and tons more I do to save....but that is some!

 

[Blackbird]

Ooh, some of these are good ideas.

FC, I think they were just tips, no saying you have to do them. Lol.

 

[Dace]

FC my fave of yours is 'quit buying'
Why is the obvious so often overlooked?!

 

[me&thegals]

1. Get the shortest mortgage possible and pay it off ASAP. The interest saved may add up to the 10s of 1000s! Also, refinance when it makes sense financially.

2. Drive your cars into the ground.

3. Drive very fuel-efficient cars. Ours gets 40 mph, but the latest in its model gets much less. We are driving this baby until we can find a better mpg car at a reasonable price.

4. Grow, hunt, fish and forage for your own food.

5. Make food from scratch.

6. Avoid eating at restaurants.

7. Reprice your insurance premiums regularly. Same with phone bills and health insurance (if not through your employer)

8. Shop at rummage sales, Goodwill, etc. Let people know you are grateful for hand-me-downs.

9. Fix, refurbish or otherwise put up with things that are not in perfect condition. You may buy a lot of time. We bought a $100 couch cover to cover the holes in the old. This so far has bought us 6 years with an old couch rather than purchasing a new one.

10. Ditch the cigarettes. Eliminate or cut back on purchased alcohol. Get rid of the soda. Consider getting rid of the TV, too. Get freebies from the library instead.

 

[xpc]

All very good points, my answers are in line:

1. Cancel your cable, (keep your Internet) You don't need to watch that much tv, spend $50 on a used vcr, and get a couple dozen videotapes from your mom, or uncle, or the thrift store, exercise more, watch tv less.
I canceled my $80 cellphone (2 of them) and my $100 cable TV and bought a second house that had a mortgage of only $177 a month (saved $3).

2. Stop buying food at work. Bring a water bottle and a salad/sandwich.
I did this many years ago and saved at least $50 a week - they had both a cafeteria and roach coach.

3. Quit drinking soda or beer on weekdays. Water is good enough, and you can afford one or 2 special drinks on the weekend... save calories too!
I always drink water - soda tastes funny without whiskey.

4. Wax your eyebrows at home, cut your own hair (or let it grow), and instead of buying new beauty products, use up the ones you have.
Not gonna touch the wax thing but have been cutting my own hair for decades - twice a year I shave my head and then wear a hat on the inbetweens. Last month i stopped shaving and will grow a food harvesting beard until spring.


5. Shorten your showers, and limit baths to once or twice a week, save money on electric/heat, however you heat your water.
Summers more, winter less, I live alone and don't see people but once every two months so it works for me.

6. Get a library card, don't go to bookstores. Borrow, not buy.
I have about $30,000 in books and since getting online in the late 80's I have not bought another. I bought a set of Albert Einstein books in his own handwriting (German) for $1000 a decade ago.

7. Throw a blanket over your couch/chair, cheaper to wash that than to get all into cleaning the actual cushions if there's a spill.
I keep couch and chair throws over my good furniture and take them off every ten years if company were to be allowed to show up. I also keep a blanket over the back of the couch rather than turn up the heat (ha! I have no heat).

8. bake your own bread, cut up your own chicken breasts (don't pay extra to have someone else do it!), and prep and freeze veggies for the whole week, or at least 2 days at a time.
I tried the bread making and whole chicken cutting fiasco a while back and failed miserably, I still buy the skinless boneless breasts and am money ahead, I however do freeze my own veggies.

9. No more take out! (or Mc. D's) Or at least limit it to once a week, or twice a month, as little as you can manage.
Maybe once a month and then no soda, soda is a big ripoff. Unless I go inside and need a whiskey mix and then I get no ice.

10. Eat squash. and beans. and oatmeal. eat healthy, cheap foods you can make at home, without a ton of effort, that still taste good.
No comment on the beans - does generic cheerios count?


What are your top ten?
Live within your means, put money away and forget about it - don't tell anybody especially relatives on how much you are saving because after they spend all their money on big houses, cars, and stainless steel appliances and maxed out all the credit cards and home equity loans they will come looking for you. And if possible never ask anybody for a favor no matter how small or how good of a person, it will cost you 1000 times more than hiring a handy man.

 

[FarmerChick]

Ooh, some of these are good ideas.

FC, I think they were just tips, no saying you have to do them. Lol.

LOL I get it now..LOL