After a conversation with a friend the other day about budgeting and frugality, I decided to write a list of fifty simple ways that anyone could save a little cash...because as the saying goes, "A penny saved is a penny earned".
And who doesn't want to earn a few more pennies? Enjoy!
1.
Pre-plan: Plan meals in advance—freeze meals when
you have time or use the crock pot on busy days so you are not temped to eat
out or buy fast food;
Also—when going to
sporting events, don’t buy concessions—bring your own. Check out this great
site for slow cooker freezer meals:
http://wp.sixsistersstuff.com/?s=slow+cooker+freezer+meals
4.
Skip Starbucks
and make your own coffee.
5.
Cook as much as possible
from scratch. Don’t buy
pre-packaged, convenience foods.
6.
Compare grocery
stores and shop at the one that gives quality with the best value. Plus…always check the damaged
stock—usually in a special area and greatly reduced.
7.
Shop at discount
food stores (i.e. ALDI) for staples like flour, sugar, crackers and
cereal—you’ll never notice a difference in these
8.
Limit shopping
time. Only visit the grocery
store two times per month or whatever works for you. Do the same with the discount store visits. When you run out of something, just do
without until the next shopping time.
9.
Get to know a
farmer and buy ¼ or ½ of a cow. Freeze the beef cuts and use when
needed. This is much cheaper than
buying beef at the grocery.
10. Have your kids take their own lunch to
school in reusable containers.
11. Never buy individually packed items
like puddings, applesauce, fruit, and peanut butter. Just purchase tiny Tupperware containers and package your
own.
12. Buy “baggies” for storing food, not Ziplocs. With the non-Ziplock type bags, you get
almost double to triple for a fraction of the cost. Better yet, use Tupperware type containers.
13. Reduce paper products—use real plates,
cloth napkins, and rags instead of paper towel
14. When traveling, check for rates of other
motels and mention these rates when calling your chosen motels—they will
often reduce their rates to be more competitive.
15. When planting a garden or flowers, start
the plants from seed inside and transfer to soil when the weather permits.
16. When you have purchased something with
which you are dissatisfied, return it. Many places take things back without a receipt by tracking
your credit card purchases at their store.
20. Cancel cable/dish network or suspend
for a season
21. Don’t go to the mall. Shop for quality items at Target, Wal-Mart,
Kohl’s. You can often get
everything you need at these one-stop shops and avoid entering lots of stores.
22. Shop for kids clothes and toys at
second-hand stores and garage sales.
There are lots of treasures for the finding at much less cost than new. Young
kids don’t really care if they have name brands.
24. Minimize clothes. Your kids only need 2-3 pairs of jeans
and 2 pair of shoes; tennis shoes and church shoes.
25. Shop online and minimize impulse buying
while comparing prices to get the best deal.
26. Save school supplies from year to year and
salvage needed items for younger children.
28. When shopping for a specific item, find one
with a slight defect or some damage.
Then, when checking out, ask the cashier it they could take 10 to 15 %
off the article because it is defective.
This almost always works and when it doesn’t, I don’t buy the item.
29. When you are impressed with a product,
write a letter, complimenting the company. More often than not, the company will send you free products
or good coupons. When you are
disappointed in a product, send a complaint letter; you will often get free
products for this too.
30. Go to auctions and furniture overstock
sales for furniture and be creative.
Could you use two matching footboards for a head board and
footboard? Could that buffet top
become a bookcase?
31. Take good care of what you have and teach
your children to do the same.
No need to replace what you already own if all is in good shape.
32. When filling up with gas, pay at the pump
so you won’t be tempted to buy a soda or snack when paying inside.
33. Skip manicures and paint your own nails—or
don’t.
34. Take inventory. Knowing what clothes, food, and toys you
have will save you money when shopping.
This way you won’t buy duplicates.
35. Use your local library liberally.
36. Cut your own kids’ hair while they will
still let you.
37. Play together as a family with things that
don’t plug in. Read a book, play
a board game, or take a bike ride rather than paying for entertainment.
39. Check out places like Salvation Army and
Goodwill when shopping for specific item like furniture, games, costumes, and
toys.
40. At Christmas time, be creative with gift
giving. Set a limit for each
child—maybe one larger gift or a theme of smaller, second-hand gifts (i.e. several
small things at goodwill will outfit a dollhouse)
41. Shop for children’s birthday parties in
bulk right after Christmas (or any other time you can find toys on
clearance). Then, create a gift
room for these items and let the children “shop” every time they receive a
birthday invitation. This saves
LOTS of money and time! Do the same thing for Halloween costumes right after
Halloween.
42. Have children make gifts for each other,
or give coupons of time, playing, helping, etc.
43. For baby showers, give or make the same
gift for everyone. Have several on hand so you don’t have to go shopping
each time.
44. Give non-monetary gifts of regular
prayer for someone, poems, drawings, promised time together, notes of
appreciation.
45. Keep track of expenses. You can do this with a computer
program like “Quicken”
http://quicken.intuit.com/.
Keep track of expenses and do a
monthly output sheet with this.
46. Frame children’s artwork for decorating. Buy
frames at Goodwill or rummage sales.
47. Always buy used cars.
48. Always pay cash for cars. By doing this, you will pay less
for your vehicle because you will only spend the money that you have. When you take out a loan for a car, you
will often buy more car than you need.
50. Donate unused items to charity
organizations like Goodwill or Salvation Army. Keep a detailed list of donation (and get a receipt at drop
off). Goodwill’s valuation guide is surprisingly generous with its estimates:
Send the list in with your taxes to
get a nice deduction. This is much
easier and more profitable than having your own garage sale.
The plans of the diligent lead to profit
as surely as haste leads to poverty.
Proverbs 21:5
