Money saving ideas (mrstjohnson)

 I shop for groceries online, which saves on gas and really saves on impulse buying.  I sit down with a list and can check my cupboards for things we already have and thus don't need, and check what we've run out of.

I am a freak about not throwing food away - I hate paying for food that doesn't get eaten.  I freeze leftover meals, base meals around things that need to be eaten up and if all else fails, give whatever it is (with a few exceptions) to the dog.  

We don't have a monthly tv bill, we bought a freesat box which was a one-off cost for as many satellite channels as we'll ever need.

We both love to cook, so we only go out to dinner on special occasions.  If for whatever reason neither of us feels like cooking, we get a takeaway and eat at home.

We don't have credit cards, neither one of us believes in spending money we don't have.  We save for things we want, so we do end up spending the money anyway but at least we're not paying interest on it. 

A fun outing for us is taking Ben somewhere new for a long hike, which at most costs a bit in gas and a few quid in parking.  Occasionally we go out to see a film but we're really sort of the boring homebody type.

We do buy a lot of luxuries but we're very aware that they're luxuries and we know that if things get tight for us we can cut them out with no problems. 

ETA:  We don't have a dryer either, which I only regret about twice a year.  I also do laundry on the cool, quick cycles.

I'm doing OK financially too, but I'm basically frugal also so that helps.  I buy store brands a lot and  compare prices/sizes. I don't actually have a budget per se but I have a system ... which works for me.  My money comes in with direct deposit on the first of the month (earlier if the first falls on a weekend) and I sit down and write out all the checks I have to pay and deduct any automatic withdrawals from my account. I toss a chunk into an account in another bank (my Christmas and emergency fund) then what's left is for gas, groceries and incidentals for the rest of the month. It must be working because I never run out of money before I run out of month.

Joyce

I stay out of Walmart. That helps tremendously lol.

Seriously, though, if I decide to get my household stuff and groceries at Walmart at the same time, I end up spending a lot more money and usually have less food than if I'd go to a grocery store. So when I really don't need household items, I stick to the grocery store so I can buy more food to cook throughout the week.

Wow.  I just thought of one that I've been doing for so long that it's second nature.  During the gas "shortage" in the early 70's I started "bundling" my trips.  To this day I dont' just run up to the store.  All my trips are organized around a bunch of places to go, stops to make, things to pick up, etc.  I don't run out of stuff and have to make a quick trip because I plan ahead, and when I need milk, I pick it up on the way to or from something else I've gotta do.

Yesterday is a good example.  I needed to go the 23 miles to pick up my mail, check my storage, etc.  I also did my grocery stops at the same time, filled the gas tank and dropped bills off at the post office.  It's the "extra" trips that add up the cost of gas.

Most of the things mentioned are what we do to keep spending down.  I have always shopped once a week and plan meals in advance based on what's on sale.  We do like to eat out on the weekends but have cut back on that.  I always combine trips to save gas, always have.  When I am shopping at a department store or online.  I will pick up stuff and put it in my cart and just keep looking around.  Most of the time, by the time I am ready to check out, I decide I really don't need most of the things I was going to buy.  It gives me time to think about whether I really need something or was it just an impulse purchase. I spend as much time in the store putting stuff back as I did picking it out. LOL

I have always eaten out at lunch because I really like to get out of the office for an hour.  Now I bring my lunch at least three days a week and go to a nearby park to eat if the weather is nice. I take Twister and he gets a little outing, which he likes too.

*We keep our heat on 60-62 

*We made a deal to only eat out/order out 1-2 times a month now. 

*I now clip coupons like crazy, and we actually use them

*No home phone since there's really no need for it.

*Aldis food shopping!

*Switched the dogs food from Canidae to a different food that's still good, just one I can get from work at cost.

*Buying cheaper shampoo and conditioner even though I loved my Organix brand :(

*I put all of my tips I get from the dog wash in a piggy bank with all the change we collect to just add up!

~We have two weddings this year, one of which we are both in, the other one involves us going away for the weekend to be there so we have to save every penny to afford it. They are back to back too which doesn't help at all. 

 I just wanted to say because I saw someone mention it.. it's basically a myth that something being plugged in pulls electricity even if it's not on. That's not true for lamps, toasters, electronic chargers (i.e. cell phone and laptop..yeah, even laptop chargers, with the box and the light that looks like it's using power? Doesn't. At least not enough to register on my watt-meter, which shows as little as 1 watt per hour), etc.

But things like cable boxes and VCRs? They use almost as much electricity "off" as they do "on'. And DVRs? Forget it. No difference between on and off. But that's because they never actually turn off.

Oh yeah, and my desktop computer uses less than 5 watts per hour in "standby", which is convenient because it turns on much quicker than if it's off..

I will say though that using a laptop while it's plugged in uses way more power than charging it while it's off. I find this strange and worth mentioning. On and plugged in (even if the battery was full when I turned it on), my laptop tends to use about 110-130 watts per hour, the entire time I'm on it. Off and charging, it uses under 60 (I can't remember exactly how much). So needless to say, I try to never use it while it's plugged in.

 Interesting point about the laptops, Chelsea!

I actually save money by going shopping more often... otherwise food tends to spoil with just the two of us here, especially if we're gone all day and only eating at night. If we don't keep some food in the fridge, we spend more by going out in hungry desperation, but if we try to stock up too much on perishables some always ends up going bad. Fortunately we now live almost next door to a grocery store, so it's always convenient to stop by and pick something up on the way to or from other places.

Using less laundry soap is another one we do. We use probably 1/4 of the recommended amount, and it always gets our clothes just as clean and with less icky residue. I don't think most washing machines really rinse as well as I would like them to, especially considering the huge amount of soap that's "recommended" by the soap companies! If you use too much soap, if you rub the fabrics when you're taking them out of the wash, often you can still feel a slippery, soapy residue. Totally gross. I've never had a problem with using too little soap! If anything is uber dirty, a little localized spot remover seems to do the trick!

cakana

DH and I have always been pretty frugal, but I did recently call and cancel HBO off my cable pkg. We never watched it and it had been free for 6 months and then I'd just not paid attention to the bill.

I'm seriously considering doing the same thing.  Right now I have everything that cable offers but I find that 99% of what I watch is either on regular network TV or the expanded basic cable like Lifetime and HGTV. I'm sure if I say *adios* to HBO, Showtime, Cinemax and Starz I'll never miss them.  I will keep the bundle (cable, internet & phone) because it really seems to be cheaper doing that way instead of paying for each of them individually. The only problem I've encountered with the bundling is that when there's a power outage, there's no phone service either and I'm not one to keep a cell charged.  It's usually in the bottom of my purse ... dead.

Joyce

 I do find that most shows that I really want to watch are available in some form or another online, for free :)

My parents do just about everything menitoned above. My mom even puts clothes to dry no matter how cold the weather is. She doesn't hang clothes when there is no sun but other than that the clothes goes out to dry. If it doesn't dry she puts it in the dryer for a little while. My parents have decided to turn of the central heat and are using the chimeny, that has made the house really cold and it makes it hard to get up in the mornings. We don't eat out if we did it was probably twice a year and we are not about to start now. My parents are still trying to decide what  things they want to eliminate or switch. We can't cut off the house phone as my mom is home everyday and we can't cut my dad's or my cell phone because we are the ones that are usually out of the house. We have decided that come spring we will be doing our own garden of veggies. My cousin has a huge lot where we will be able to grow the basic stuff. Its going to be pretty big as its probably going to be 3-4 families that will benefit from that. I will start a compost pile for the fertilizer too for the garden.  

Here's the way I am saving money:

Every time I spend on something that isn't bills, food, or gas, I force myself to take exactly that amount and put it into saving. 

ie, if I want to spend $20 on kitchen gadgets, then I have to put $20 in savings, too.  Makes me think twice if I want to "lose" $40 from my checking account.  If I don't, then I still have $20 in the checking account.  It's working to stop me from impulse spending so far. :)

jennyx0023

*We keep our heat on 60-62 

Okay, this is just insane. 60 degrees is when Californians pull out their down parkas. Brr! 

chelsea_b

jennyx0023

*We keep our heat on 60-62 

 

Okay, this is just insane. 60 degrees is when Californians pull out their down parkas. Brr! 

I have to agree. I'm a big wimp and hate being cold. We have our thermostat set for 70 when we're home. It goes off late at night and comes back on at 4:30 AM and goes off at 6:30 AM. We have a down comforter, so we're toasty when we sleep and the house is warm when I get up at 6. It comes on about 5 PM, so it's nice and warm when I get home from work at 6 too.

chelsea_b

jennyx0023

*We keep our heat on 60-62 

 

Okay, this is just insane. 60 degrees is when Californians pull out their down parkas. Brr! 

haha!! so true. LOL

Alot of the stuff mentioned I do & I always thought 'that's how it was' I was never really the type to be really extravagant & buy lots of stuff. Although I'm guilty when it comes to anything with my dogs, arts or electronics. 

for the dogs, they usually dont get fancy toys very much, they just destroy them too fast. It's good ole tennis balls.  When it warms up I'm all about line drying clothes. I've already got seeds started for snap peas in my mini ( cheap cheap) greenhouse.  Which should pay for itself easily - since i'm not buying already started veggie plants. My work pays for my phone, my BF pays for the Satellite TV because honestly i would miss it, but I can live without it.  I'm planning  HUGE garden again this year & am planning on a drip system to save water. Last year I was watering a lot of grass & weeds & not necessarily my tasty veggies.  

alot of 'extra' stuff or stuff we dont need my BF buys, becuase i just wont. LOL.  Like if he wants the fancy cheese, he buys it. Of course he's way better off financially than I am.  

anything i want for the dogs besides food & vet care I try to make myself.  In fact i try to make everything myself LOL, i have large totes of old clothes that need to be 'recreated'.  I try only to buy $2 fabric if I absouluty NEED to buy some.

 I buy all my car repair parts online & i shop like mad! I got a $20 part the other day for $3! and another part that was $90 at one place i found another & got it for $32.