11/18/08
Being frugal
Random post here. I'd like to consider myself a frugal person....but lately I have been feeling inspired and encouraged to look for more ways to save time/money or anything else that helps make living "in the world" easier....so I'm asking for your ideas. By no means feel pressure to contribute, but if you have any amazing things you do to save money or be frugal (no matter how crazy) pass along here!
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7 comments:
Coupon shopping! I haven't figured it out yet but my mom and sisters are big into it. For the life of me I can't understand how you can go to Albertsons and "buy"...20 boxes of cereal, 10 Gillet razors, 2 cases of Campbell's soup...and the grocery store pays you money back! The catch is that you have to be organized, buy 5 Sunday newspapers...and then shop till you drop. It's great for food storage.
fill your milk half way real milk, half powdered, sit overnight... i can't tell the difference. :O)
We craigs list a lot of things that we would D.I.
It's a great way to earn money. LOVE Tiniel's idea, I do it as well....but the kid's don't know. Hee Hee
I'm not sure where you live, exactly, but we live pretty much in downtown Seattle (.5 miles to downtown from our apartment). So...
1) we own only 1 car. Jacob takes the bus/walks/bikes to work (depending on the weather). That cuts us back in insurance, maintenance, and gas. And Jacob stays in good shape and gets to enjoy 10-20 minutes of winding up or down to and from work (he usually listens to conference talks - ah, there's the saving time part).
2) We share a cell phone. We have a land line but not long distance, no call waiting, nothing fancy. Simply for local calls and emergencies. Pretty much, whoever is going "out and about" takes the cell in case of emergencies, and we call long-distance to family and friends on the weekends.
3) This is a new one: we decided to have rice + beans for dinner once a week. That way, we get used to cooking with and rotating our food storage. We also think it's a great way to save $ on a meal, and to remember to be grateful that most of the world survives on rice + beans and we're lucky to have much more variety, including meat if we want, during the rest of the week.
4) We turn off lights in rooms we aren't occupying. We turn of the heater when we leave the house. And before I was staying at home all day, we had put everything plugged into a strip and turned it off (ie TV, DVD player, Lamps etc.) when we weren't home. We do it more for the energy conservation that to save on our bill anyway...
5) I try to plan at least a whole week's worth of meals so I only take 1 trip to the grocery store each week. Also, try to run other errands that same day. It saves gas and it truly saves my time.
6) I've more recently decided to NOT buy things just because I find a good "deal". Half the time I get excited about a bargain (think clothes) and then I never end up wearing it. I'd rather have fewer clothes that I love than a bunch I don't wear that take up space in my closet. (I am a minimalist)
There's my 2 cents :)
I try to plan meals in advance, so I only have to go to the store once or twice a month . . . with a list in hand of what I need. It helps cut down on all those "extras" we always buy when shopping!
Nothing amazing, but we swap with another couple for "date nights".
Another great tip is don't buy anything unless you have cash. We save up for everything, then we never feel guilty about spending. We put money aside each month for Christmas, vacations, auto expenses, and birthdays. Then, we never have to charge anything and we know we aren't living beyond our means or what we can really afford. I also have heard of using envelopes of cash for bills. When your grocery money is gone, it's gone. It would help from overspending.
Menu planning and going to the store as little as possible, gives you less time to do impulse buying.
Using Craiglist or borrowing/trading things with others nearby.
Utilizing the library. We don't buy books or even rent movies. The library gives us all of this for free.
The mantra we live by in our house? "Fix it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without."
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