Only buy what you have to have. My body has to have water to live. Not soda or liquor. I need good food, not chips. having cable isn't necessary to stay alive.....
I cook from scratch, feeze leftovers to avoid waste.
Take advantage of Aldi's, bulk shopping stores-Amish & Mennonite ones are wonderful, Dollar Stores...
Buy and stock up when on sale-but only if it won't go out of date. Shampoo is a good stock up item. Eggs are not.
Bake if you can. My local store wants $3.98 for a loaf of bread. I can buy Always Save frozen dough, 5 to a pack and bake my own for $2.98. Or, for about 39 cents each, I can make my own from stratch.
Beans, potatoes, and rice--cheap and will fill you up.
Check the section of your grocery store where they keep items that are packaged in larger sizes. I buy peanut butter a gallon at a time. It keeps and is cheaper that way. Applesauce is another one-you can freeze it,
Garden and perserve what you can thru drying, freezing and canning.
Pay bills online for discounts and to save on postage and cost of envelopes.
Use free services from library instead of going to movies....
line dry clothes
reuse items--my metal feed scoop broke, so I am using a cut down bleach bottle till DH friend welds it back for me. A cake pan with a hole in the bottom started some of my seedlings for my garden this year--the plastic top for it acted like a green house, and it was cheaper than using jiffy peat pots
check out the free section & barter section on craigslist.org
garage sale--shop them and have one for what you don't need
combine trips to save on fuel. walk or bike when you can.
recycle--office depot gives you a free package of paper when you bring in 3 empty ink cartridges. Other companies on line give you cash back for them.
buy used when you can
learn to trim your families hair yourself between major cuts--that one saves me about $30 every 6-8 weeks
don't charge save and pay cash for it
don't always buy name brand. esp on clothing and shoe items for kids who will outgrow it quickly.
buy off season for good deals. I am now shopping ebay for a winter coat for DD #3. DD #4 and #5 will have hand me down coats this winter but the one in the middle needs a new one. 2 winters ago I got swim suits for $1 at Kmart right after Thanksgiving.
We like to cook outside over an open fire during the summer. Requires no fuel, no charcoal--just downed limbs from the yard and fence row. Kids love the time to roast marshmellows and cook hotdogs--basically a free night.
On supper hot days or evenings, instead of cranking the AC, go to the library or other free public area for a couple of hours.
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