Money Saving Tips

[LuxLiving]

I made the majority of our savings/investing automatic.

[mom-from-missouri]

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Buy and stock up when on sale-but only if it won't go out of date.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.

[Ima saver]

Drive more slowly, you will save gas.

[bigsaver]

Use less.

[The Budget Man]

We always purchase plane tickets and accomodation on the internet. Good deals are easy to find.

[Ima saver]

I never pay for a drink out. We either brown bag it or drink water.

[rob62521]

I cook from scratch, make a grocery list and use coupons if appropriate. I shop at Aldi and use my grocery card. I try to use "leftovers" for other meals as well.

I'm with those of you who said don't go to stores so you aren't tempted to buy. Amen! It's so easy to pluck it from the shelf when you are there.

We have different accounts for things -- Christmas Club, Vacation, besides a money market savings account. We save up for things and either pay cash or if we put it on the credit card, pay it off when the bill comes. It seems to make us think harder if we really want or need something than to finance it.

[mom-from-missouri]

My parents and one of my sister in laws make all their own greeting cards. My sister in law is creative and uses things like material scraps and buttons to make a flower on the front, where as my parents use a free card maker from the internet.
The last time I bought a greeting card I spent over $1, so if you send several, making your own would save a lot over time.

[mom-from-missouri]

I reuse gift bags, or make my own.
To make my own for larger items, I use odd pillow cases (or make one from left over fabric). Sometimes I get them at flea markets or garage sales. Dye them and add a draw string. I've done this for several years at family Christmas get to gathers. Its fun to watch how they go to family to family each year and sometimes I get them back a few years later.

Also, I make my own out of paper grocery bags. I take the bag apart, turn the bags inside out, fold down the top and before folding it down the final time, I add handles (baling twin-used of course), glue them in. Re glue the bag. Let it dry, then use fabric cut outs to attach my "pretty" to the front. To make my "pretty" I trace an item from a coloring book onto fabric and glue it on. It may be an angle (using white scraps of fabric) or santa, or even cut outs from old greeting cards or magazines.
This really saves money at Christmas time.
If your grocery store bags don't have huge ads or logos on the front of the bags, then you don't need to turn them inside out. Just fold down, attach handles, fold one more time and go from there.

[Junebaby]

Here's a thought for those of you with a car. Learn to do your own oil changes and rotate your tires yourself. Also, a simple tune-up can be done by anyone with a place to park and a few dollars for new spark plugs. I don't know how to do these myself, but Hubby does! He's done dozens of brake jobs, and even replaced a blown head gasket or two! He knows how to spot most problems in a used car, and while we have bought many used cars these 30 years, there have been some surprises. But all in all, we've saved TONS of money! Each brake job has saved us around $500.00, and the oil change saves minimum $10.00.
You can also replace your own exhaust system.

[mom-from-missouri]

Here's a thought for those of you with a car. Learn to do your own oil changes,................ and the oil change saves minimum $10.00.
You can also replace your own exhaust system.

Are you sure you are saving money doing your own oil changes??? DH thought we were, until he did some research. It is actually around $10 cheaper for us to take our vehicles to jiffy lube or a similar place.

In our area, we can not buy the oil and filter for less than the jiffy lube price and in addition we also have to pay an oil surcharge to turn the old oil back in (you can't just dump oil--it has to go to a special place). Also, while it is in the jiffy lube, they also top off for free the wiper fluids and do a quick free wash and vacume which is worth another few bucks.

Our Jiffy Lube runs monthly specials at $9.99 one-three days a month. You can't even buy the oil for that price.

[Junebaby]

I don't know what our Jiffy Lube charges, but Hubby buys oil on sale even if we don't need it yet. Also, the local dump takes it for free, but only 5 quarts a week per home.

[snafu]

the 1st 10% of any income, no matter the source,no matter the paltry amount, goes to savings.
At the end of the month, any funds less standard retention, is swept to savings.
I avoid paying interest; paid off mortgage in 12 yrs.
No shopping for entertainment; planned purchasing; appliance replacement a/c underway
To avoid waste, all meals have their 'plan-over' potential noted
At the end of each season I list what will be needed; will buy/replace via sale etc. over 6 months.
Will ask merchant when the item will be on sale, whether they give a discount for cash, will buy an appliance from dent/scratch/display section
Made window insulators from hotel black-out liners bought @ auction. Cut to fit, attached with velco tabs. Eliminated the need for AC
Paying strict attention to investment portfolio, double checking anything the newletter or advisor suggests. Takes time but I've been making money!

[maryannsms]

Money saving can be done via various methods such as depositing a certain amount in a savings account or investing in a safe fund. Putting a check on unnecessary expenditures also goes a long way in maintaining a healthy money saving regime. Impulsive shopping, frequent withdrawals, and lack of any long-time investment plan can further hamper any money saving plans. People can invest in life insurance plans, annuities or mutual funds as a way of making compulsory monthly savings. They can also choose to automate the installments or investments for these plans that will insure that the money is not spent elsewhere.

[msmorrisonspeaks]

Spend less than you earn. While this seems obvious, Americans are notorious for doing just the opposite. Stop spending and start saving.