Ways to save money

[sak4kat]

How about one meatless meal a week?

That is a great point and one that may go missed.  Reducing meat from the menu is a huge budget saver.  This last fall and winter I started making more dishes with beans and we have breakfast for dinner once a week.  Sometimes I splurge and get turkey bacon or a ham steak but at Aldi I justify that money spent.  One of my daughters favorites now is a black bean burger.  We make them every other week or so and she eats them for lunch and Fend For Yourself dinners.  Lot's of protein in them and they are very filling.

[oldbuddy]

How about one meatless meal a week?

That is a great point and one that may go missed.  Reducing meat from the menu is a huge budget saver.  This last fall and winter I started making more dishes with beans and we have breakfast for dinner once a week.  Sometimes I splurge and get turkey bacon or a ham steak but at Aldi I justify that money spent.  One of my daughters favorites now is a black bean burger.  We make them every other week or so and she eats them for lunch and Fend For Yourself dinners.  Lot's of protein in them and they are very filling.

In the same light, go fishing more often. You get relaxation along with more fish to eat.

[Murina32]

Thank you everyone who posted on this thread! I have found many tips I never even thought about doing to save money.

[kydude55]

tuna and chicken salad dressings sandwiches are inexpensive 2!

[jmc1982]

going out less. use to go out just about every weekend

[squirrelgirl44]

My big thing is eating out less. I used to eat out 4-5 meals a week (at least), down to two. May or may not cut out one more.

[hkckk5]

 
Ways to save money

« on: June 03, 2013, 01:43:26 pm » Message ID: 746767

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I've started to take public transportation to work to save gas and car maintenance. What things are you guys doing to save?

I have cut back on buying junk food or snacks at the grocery store. Not only has it saved me money, I lost some weight. Yes !!

[nmbrown863]

I use coupons. I pay my cell phone bill and 2 of my credit card bills from survey sites. We recently downgraded our cable and got rid of some of the movie channels. And I always turn things off when not in use.

[lutznellie]

Ghost or vampire electricity use can be really draining.  When not using something either turn it off or unplug it. 

[tigerscene]

ways to save money will far as i do is put way few dollors or more each paid day in a little piggy bank till i have noff to have each money each mouth to play with in my not be much each mout i save but it does help out when i did it the most

[gaylasue]

I try to be frugal every chance I get.  I like to cook extra to have leftovers for lunches and dinners.  I coupon and rebate as much as I possibly can.  I group errands together to save on gas (wish we had public transportation where I live!).  Lights and appliances are off and/or unplugged when not in use.  I shop thrift shops for clothing.  I pay in bills so I can save the change (it's amazing how it adds up!).  I bake and sew gifts.

[kingozzy]

I have cut down on eating out and have been taking cash out to use during the week and saving my change

[jonhall37]

i dont go out to eat much....way to costly these days.....and i have the bad "smoking" habit so i roll my own cigs to make it cheaper...alot cheaper!!

[bhiett]

Electricity can be a big expense.  I turn off everything I am not using and set the a/c on 80 degrees when I am not at home.  When just sitting, watching TV, or doing low-energy tasks around the house, I use a small fan and leave the a/c set on a higher temperature than when I am doing more active duties.

[kapeh12]

My general lifestyle has always been in line with money savings, so when things in the economy took a turn for the worse, I really didn't have to change much.

Things I did to help save money a long time ago was cutting myself off, so to speak, with spending.  I found what my needs were and my favorite wants.  I made sure that with a little extra "mad money" allowance was put in my checking register with my paycheck, and everything else got auto-transferred to savings.  Since I never put my full paycheck amount in my checkbook, I mentally think that's all I have to spend, and if I need to dig into savings for something - that's harder to justify.  If I left that money in my checking account, it would be spent.  That alone helps to psych yourself into spending less money.

Recently I've had the opportunity to start a garden.  Hopefully in time I'll get good at growing a garden which will help save on produce (especially once I learn how to preserve the foods).

Last summer I stopped buying bread and started making my own at a fraction of the cost.  I just couldn't justify spending $3 a loaf.  With the electricity included, I think each loaf now costs me about $1.40, plus my house smells sooo good when I bake a new batch every 3 weeks or so.  I'm now looking into other baked goods that I can make that would save the cost of buying.

For meat, I save up Omaha Steak gift cards I get on survey sites and wait for fantastic sales they have and stock up (plus there's the FC Shopping rebate to boot).  Either that or I'll go to a couple local butchers which sell higher quality meat at cheaper prices.

Recently I started researching gift card sales sites.  I use a site called Gift Card Granny which is a router site for several sites that sell and buy gift cards.  Using them you can buy gift cards for several vendors that others don't need anymore at a discount.  Spending $22.50 on a $25 gift card for a place you frequently shop - you just saved $2.50.  Also, if you have gift cards you'll never use, instead of throwing them away, consider selling them to one of those sites.  Gift Card Granny also shows the percentage paid for gift cards sold by the various vendors, so you can sell your partially used card to the vendor paying the highest percentage (you have a $19 left on a card, and a site will pay you $15 to sell it to someone else - not bad).

A tip if you are interested in the gift card sales sites - I just noticed that FusionCash is now offering 0.4% cash back when you buy gift cards with balances over $20 on national brands at Raise.com (check out the FusionCash Mall under Gift Cards).  So if you find a good deal on their site, you'll get a little extra back at FC too - win-win.