Here are some silly and some practical ways I have found to save money.
1. We budget each month with categories; the secret to a savings account is living below your means, not within them.
2. Costco bulk items are my salvation-- my favorite are the huge bags of rice for $7, the huge bags of flour, the bread, bagels, eggs, and rotisserie chicken. The chicken is already cooked, and it freezes well. *side note... Costco strawberries also taste better than strawberries anywhere else. I promise.**
3. I make my own laundry soap, the recipe is HERE. For $30, I made enough laundry detergent to last us a year and a half. And I like it!
4. For a while, I was making bread. That recipe is HERE. 81 cents for a 2 lb loaf is pretty good.
5. I give my husband haircuts. Luckily, he's very low- maintenance. :)
6. I tried giving myself a haircut... and it actually turned out not too bad! But I don't recommend it unless you're really, really confident with those scissors.
7. For date nights, sometimes Scot and I get a 79 cent Slurpy from Circle K and a Redbox movie... it's a great date for less than $5.
8. For other dates, we find free things to do... did you know that the public library gives out free "culture" passes? You have to be lucky enough to score some, but they equal free trips to the zoo, the botanical gardens, different museums, etc. Or, we go hiking or for walks, or even the occasional bike ride.
9. I sometimes shop at a discount grocery store. For those of you in the Mesa/ Tempe area, I recommend American Discount Foods off of Longmore and Southern. They are admittedly hit-and-miss; sometimes, I'll go in and find tons of stuff I want. Other times, there may be very little. They are worth checking out though, especially for produce! I've scored fruit trays for $2 there.
10. We use a filtered water system, the Brita pitchers, for drinking water. Rather than buying water by the gallon, we use this instead. The water tastes pretty good (and I am picky about my water), is easy to maintain, and washes easily.
11. We don't buy soda. I sometimes cave and buy fruit drinks (like apple juice), but those are not an every grocery trip occurrence.
12. I visit Goodwill and thrift stores every once in a while-- and it is well worth it! Not having grown up going to thrift stores, they are a whole new world for me. I've found everything from a nice dresser buffet for $50, to a matching piece of crystal glassware for my particular set, to serving platters, and more.
13. I sew. No, I'm not talented enough to make our clothes yet (which honestly, can be just as expensive as buying them anyway), but I do use my sewing machine for repairing clothing. I also use it for home crafts, such as a mail catcher I threw together one Saturday. Curtains are a breeze, too.
14. We don't have cable.
15. Scot and I read. The library is free and right down the street.
16. We plan grocery visits so we aren't constantly using extra gas to pick stuff up all the time we forgot.
17. This sounds kind of crazy, but we go looking for movies at Pawn shops. You can often get 5 for $3! And some have good movies, too.
18. We look for adds in the mail to eat out places... for instance, the Mongolian Grill by our house sometimes gives out offers that are good enough to cover one of our dinners.
19. We eat in almost all the time. We only go out when we have money budgeted for it in our "date fund," and even then usually with a coupon.
20. We use the cards at restaurants-- like the Red Robin Royalty card and others. Every ninth burger is free, and you get a free burger during your birthday month.
21. I drink a lot of tea. I get tired of water, and it is a great alternative to *just* water.
22. I use a Swiffer mop but instead of buying the replacement pads, I just use a regular old dishcloth (dedicated to the floor, of course), and a bucket of soapy water.
23. We use power strips for things like the tv, dvd player, wii, and whatever else gets plugged into our entertainment system. By cutting the power to everything while we aren't home, it saves us a lot of money on energy- sapping devices. We are planning on getting a timer for our router as well.
24. When I can, I hang things up to dry instead of using the dryer. Not all the time, because even I don't have that much patience for laundry, but when I can I do.
25. We used old rags instead of paper towels for the longest time, until I finally caved and bought some much to Scot's chagrin. He's getting used to them though... no more freaking out or being the paper towel Nazi. (I love you babe!) :)
26. Scot works on our cars himself. This is an incredible blessing, because I know not everyone knows how (I certainly don't), but that saves us a TON of money. Oil changes, break pad replacements, changing the motor mount or pretty much whatever needs to be done he can do.
27. We don't buy anything on easy payments or credit. Yes, we use a credit card for purchases sometimes because you need some kind of credit history, but we are really using what's actually already in our bank account when it comes down to paying the bill. We also pay the entire balance of the bill at the end of the billing cycle, and this saves a TON of money on interest charges. I hope that makes sense the way I explained it!
28. Back to the cars, Scot uses an app that keeps track of car mileage and tells him when general maintenance things need to be done (spark plugs, new battery, etc.). He pays attention and replaces things before they are broken... and this general maintenance has saved us many headaches and many break downs. Also, one of our budget categories is car repairs, so even when we don't use it for months when something goes wrong, we have the money and aren't caught stressing about how to pay rent that month. Yay for budgeting!
29. We use Chevron gas. I know what you're thinking, "but that's not cheap!" and I know, places like Circle K or Shell have cheaper gas. Know what? Mileage wise, they are not cheaper for your car and gunk up your engine, too. Paying the extra cents at the pump for Chevron actually works out to be cheaper in the long run.
30. We take the time to plan. It is trying for me at times, because sitting down and keeping track of our budget isn't always high on my to- do list, but it is worth it.
I hope some of those were helpful, and if not at least they were amusing, right? You're welcome. *notice how I didn't post a picture of my hair?
Until next time,
Hannah
