What Do You Do to save Money? - Jefferson City,MO

I always buy my kids clothes for next year at the end of the season, on clearance. It's actually cheaper, in my experience, than consignment. I can't really do this with shoes, as I have yet to be able to predict their foot growth- seriously, their feet grow overnight.
I also do little things, like buy meats that are marked down to sell fast and then freeze them. I buy whole chuck roasts on sale and cut them up for stew (which is considerably cheaper than buying precut stew meat). I buy whole chickens and cut them up myself (also much cheaper than buying pre-cut chicken).
I use 1/2 dryer sheets in the dryer rather than a whole sheet. I also use 1/2 less the detergent than it calls for (and it does just as good a job).
When grocery shopping, I always compare price per unit to save money. Usually, the higher the quantity the lower price per unit, but not always.
I do many other things, probably too many to list here, but these are the ones right off the top of my head. :)

I shop the dollar store before going to the grocery store. I save a ton of money on things like douche, hair spray, tortillas, plastic wrap, foil, cleaning products. I don't buy lunch, I take my lunch to work. We've gone solar and are saving about $75 - $100 per month on utilities - yippee!

Lol.... Your popcorn comment got me! My hubby will not eat popcorn any other way than making his own with his "special way" in top of the stove!!!

We live within our means, buy in bulk, stock up when you can. I am brand loyal and I buy quality over quantity.

When I see a deal at my grocery, I stock up. I don't coupon. I don't shop various stores. Ex.. Before thanksgiving and through Christmas, Campbell's Cream of Chicken soup was $1.15-1.75 a can. Right after Christmas it was 2/$1. I bought at least 12 cans because I use it in a lot of recipes. Week before Christmas, pure butter 2/$5... I stocked up because normal price is about $4 each. Shredded cheese all varieties... $1.88.... I scared the check out lady with all my cheese!!! It freezes well!!! Spring water 2/$5 a case of 24... I have 8 cases in my garage. Packages of frozen black eyed peas at $2.47 were 2/$1.... I have at least a dozen packages in my freezer.

So... That's 1 tactic I use. I buy all meats from my butcher who provides for the top notch restaurants in Dallas. He has weekly specials... I stock up. Yesterday I bought prime bone in rib-eyes for $17/# when normal price is $22/#. We cook lots of great steaks.

I do shop Big Lots ( love that store). In our industry, hubby gave me warning that aluminum will go up and it has. I have enough aluminum foil regular and heavy duty for years!! I shop Costco for many Kirkland brands and staples. Our allergy pill Costco brand is 1/2 price... That adds up for 3 of us.

Daughter is in her (our) condo. Costco trips mean stocking her up as well.

Getting more technical, we collect numismatics... ( coins). Hubby follows the market, we buy at prime times. In the past, we've given Morgan Silver dollars as gifts which ran $12-15 each. Now those are wirth $20-30 each! I hope the parents of recipients appreciate that and saved them.

When we need a repair for something at home, we don't "repair" we replace and upgrade therefore there are no long term expenses.

Our primary debt is our mortgage and we have a laughingly 3% interest. my mortgage is less than $900 a month, 4000+ SF home... granted... We don't do escrow so we pay our insurance $3000/year and property taxes $12,000+ per year. We pay $200/mth on the condo HOA. We know those bills are due and they are figured into monthly expenses and paid in full in order to get discounts. We always pay cash to get a discount. You won't believe how many people love cash and will give a substantial duscount to get it.

We do a lot to save money... Delayed gratification when spending and only spend what is needed.

We do not drive hybrid cars. We are in Dallas. We need the power to get on the road, merged and where we need to go without worrying if our power won't maje it. I refuse to compromise our safety and health in regards to our cars. We drive power cars that are pricey but worth it to us. That expense is offset because we don't do big vacations etc

I do shop our electric provider yearly and we stay on a regular contract with both properties yearly... No averaging. We know we will have the $700 water bill at least once a year, $400 electric bill (summer) and in winter a couple of times a $400 gas bill. We plan for those.

Hope that helps a little. I know many people have ways they save. It helps to hear from many sources!!

ETA: one of the biggest!!! My hubby, the businessman MBA/ handyman is not afraid to do jobs himself and get his hands dirty which has saved us loads of money for things such as replacing and upgrading toilets in house and condo ( 6 total), 2 garbage disposals, and so many ceiling fans, I've lost count... Working in our yard himself, building a sidewalk himself, and more. His contributions are unbelievable when it comes to him doing a job vs paying someone. He gladly pays someone if he does not know or understand how to perfectly complete a job.

Buy generic products - they're made in the same place as the name brands 99% of the time. We also don't buy the 100 calorie packs - we make our own. We use virtually no paper towels or paper napkins (we use the washable absorbent cloths for the kitchen and cloth napkins that go right in the washer, taking up virtually no room). This saves a few trees and reduces trash too (which saves money as well as the environment).

Food waste is a big problem for most people - so I make a lot of frittatas, omelets, pasta sauces and stir fry meals. These are a great way to use up half a green pepper that's kind of wrinkly, 6 green beans, and 2 mushrooms, you know?

When we go to the movies, we go to the 3:30 show and then dinner afterwards, rather than rush through dinner and go to the 7:30 show that costs so much more. We don't buy movie snacks. We get discount tickets from AAA in advance, saving additional money. They make good gifts too. AAA offers discounts on a lot of things, and so do other organizations, but most people don't take advantage of them or even know about them.

If we have a museum we love (like the science museum), we have gotten a membership and then used it all year as well as with other sister museums. Saves a ton and supports a good cause.

Buy used when you can. So many resale shops & consignment places have clothes with tags still on them. They are a great place for gifts too.

I open the dishwasher after the rinse cycle and let stuff dry in the air. With plastic items in the dishwasher, stuff doesn't dry anyway.

We switched electric providers to something that locked in our price (after National Grid said they were raising rates 37%), and we signed up for a free energy audit. They replace thermostats and put in energy efficient bulbs for free. For some of these bulbs, it's actually cheaper to leave them on for short periods of time (like 15 minutes) when you leave the room, because the "start-up" wears on the bulb and actually costs more. So we let them educate us about this.

Drive smarter - we have a hybrid and we try to coast up to traffic lights rather than lay on the accelerator and then hit the brakes like a lot of people do.

Compost heap - kitchen waste, soil from house plants, leaves, grass clippings all work double-duty so we don't have to buy garden soil for filling holes or transplanting.

It's a little late for this year, but maybe this will work for next year. Some neighbors do Christmas wrapping paper swaps for "family gifts" vs. "Santa gifts". They wrap their family gifts in one set of paper, then trade that paper roll to another friend, receiving new paper (the neighbor's leftovers) for their Santa gifts. Works great, kids are fooled, saves money. I also have a template thing that lets me make gift bags. Sometimes it's cheaper at the discount stores, but often it's not.

Make coffee at home, take a large washable cup or even a thermos for the 2nd cup. No coffee shop $6 splurges every day for me.

And I never buy bottled water - it's a rip off, it's not regulated like tap water is, and it uses tremendous fossil fuels to make the bottles and transport it. It's a huge budget buster.

Ditto on the dollar store. Lots of good savings there. We did a major thing and downsized homes recently. Tired of paying a mortgage so now we don't have one. Drastic measures but amazing results. Now we are finally able to catch up on saving.

We cook from scratch as much as possible. It really saves money and I can make larger meals which then can freeze into lunches or a second meal later on. I plan weekly meals and go by what's on sale. I shop the dollar store first and can get great deals on basics. I shop at Aldi before the grocery store and have my list of things I can get there that are good quality and much cheaper than regular stores. I use loyalty cards and programs and have saved money and earned freebies that way, by buying things we buy anyway. I love the thrift shops. There are some nice ones around here and I have found many new items with tags still on. I have also gotten various household items either in great shape or vintage that I can fix up. Comcast (aka comcrap) wanted $160/mo for some channels and internet, so we went down to their economy internet (works fine for us) and the $10/mo basic channels with no dvr/hd, and added netlix and hulu plus on our roku. We spend way less and don't seem to miss anything (we are not sports people). We use Redbox for movies and signed up for their texts, which get us free or 2 for 1 movies frequently. My husband fixes almost everything around here. If he does not know how to do it, he will research it and work his way through. This has saved us thousands with our house, electronics, and cars.

I have a hunch everything we do you do already. We make all our meals from scratch, garden in the summer, buy bulk.

•Don't buy new cars.
High car payment s are the worst budget suck EVER!
Buy used, preferably with cash. If you finance them? Pay multiple payments & pay off as fast as possible.

•Quote out insurances periodically

•Negotiate/switch cable, phone, Internet

•Don't carry debt. Sure frees up your cash flow if you're not working 3, 4, 5, 6 "minimum payments" into your budget.

•Pay cash

•Live on less than you make.

Well, I'm a pretty thrifty shopper but not crazy coupons or make my own detergent or anything like that. I only buy things on clearance. I get the same things for groceries and when my husband makes extra money, we take it out in cash and stick it in our lock-box. Make sure you shop around your home/auto insurance with a broker because rates are cyclical and you can save a lot with another company for the same coverage. Good luck.

Debt free? I WISH. But my upbringing for sure made me a naturally frugal person.
Cooking from scratch and avoiding processed/packaged foods is a big one. Buying in bulk when possible. Reusing and repurposing anything and everything, from a nice pickle jar with a good lid to a piece of furniture that can be repainted and used in another room. Packing lunches rather than buying. Always buying kids clothes (especially jackets and coats) a little big so they last longer. Shopping consignment shops, thrift stores and flea markets. Hosting potlucks rather than paying-for-everything dinners and parties. Taking advantage of ANY free entertainment activity (concerts in the park, family museum days, stuff at the library, etc.) Doing whatever garden/landscaping/home improvement projects we can do ourselves reasonably and safely. Checking out books and movies at the library rather than buying. I'm sure there's more but these are the things that come to mind right now :-)

I think I would look at each item in your budget and decide whether it is necessary or could be eliminated or reduced. When you have a budget, it is not necessary to spend all the budgeted money each month. Start an envelope or a savings account so you can put "your savings" into it so you see some reward. Perhaps pick a category that has some flexibility - entertainment. Make swaps - rent a video from Netflix instead of going to the movie theater. We just recently cancelled our home phone- first time in my life I have not had a home phone. It was getting to be an annoyance because the only ones who called on it were solicitors or pollsters -- and I don't miss it at all. I also yearly shop my house and car insurance policies and compare rates. It also gives my company a chance to compete for my business. Good luck!

I buy my son's clothes a year ahead during end of season clearance sales - usually cheaper than consignment.
We drink tap water - not bottled water (horrible for the environment) or soda (horrible for us).
We buy a locally raised lamb and 1/2 a pig from a friend once a year so there is meat in the freezer most of the year.
We don't buy (or eat) prepackaged snacks or really any 'snack' food.
I always pack my son's lunch rather than buying.
We are museum and zoo members - cheaper in the long term than paying admission each time since we go frequently.

Kids clothes shopping is done almost exclusively at a second hand store.

Electronics and durable furniture (eg toddler bed) are bought on Craigslist.

Things like phone cases, car chargers, etc are bought on eBay.

C. Lee-

It won't be enough to run away to mexico with, but you can save a few pennies by-

1. generating less laundry. If you wore a pair of slacks to the office, and didn't get them dirty or sweaty, can you wear them a second time before putting them through the wash or off to the dry cleaner? same is true for linens. We wash our bedding every other week, and towels weekly.
2. get a haircut/ style that is easy to maintain and can go a while between haircuts.
3. avoid paper products/ disposable products. We use actual dishes, napkins, and rags, and run them through the wash.
4. consider using vinegar, dawn and baking soda for your household cleaning needs. They will do the trick nearly every time.

Another thought- make your savings make you money. speak with your financial planner, bank officer, stock broker about high yield accounts, investment opportunities, stocks and bonds with dividend payments.

Best,
F. B.

So many of ours have already been mentioned, and some great ideas that I never even thought of. These are my favorite money saving tips:

1. Buy on clearance. As an example, in October I was able to get brand new swimsuits for my daughter and son at 70% off, hers were $4.48, his were $3.88. That's cheaper than second-hand stores.

2. Use FB garage sale sites in your area to buy home items and toys. You can get furniture and household items very reasonably, just make sure that you check it out well and ask questions before you buy.

3. Barter. I tutor one of my good friends kids in English and history in exchange for family haircuts and my hilights.

4. Use cash only. It makes you think before you buy.

5. Take advantage of rewards programs. It is a pain to carry all of the keychain cards and so on, but it can get you free/cheap items and coupons.

6. Pack school lunches. Healthier and cheaper.

7. Buy in bulk

I love my air popper for popcorn! The 1 lb bags of kernels at grocery store are cheaper than micro popcorn, but I get my popcorn kernels in 12.5 lb bags at Fleet Farm for even less per pound.

I love coffee and make it at home with a standard drip-pot maker. Some of my friends have the k-cup type, but that would be a waste of my time as well as higher cost for my habit. I drink way too much coffee to mess with it cup by cup.

I only use paper plates when we're having a party. Same goes for disposable plastic utensils and cups. I do have a few sturdy plastic forks and spoons that are designated for lunch box use. They generally come home to be washed but if one goes missing it isn't tragic.

I use a solution of 50% white vinegar + 50% dish soap in a spray bottle as a general purpose cleaner. It's amazing for everything from cooking grease to soap scum build up. It even gets rid of many types of laundry stains.

I get $1 glass cleaner from Dollar Tree. I've tried home solutions for windows and mirrors, but they don't live up to my expectations.

I had a coupon a long while back for a free bottle of Dawn foaming dish soap. It was really great for hand wash dishes as well as hand washing, especially when I was working with fats or oils. I didn't want to purchase refills though. It's isn't a special formula, just watered down Dawn. Regular Dawn is cheap, so I refill it myself. The ratio to get foam is 2/3 water + 1/3 Dawn. Put the water in first to avoid making excessive suds while you fill the bottle.

When I buy fresh herbs I almost never need the whole bunch at one time. I chop the rest up and measure it by tablespoons into an ice cube tray, cover with water and freeze. When they are frozen you can put the cubes into a bag. Then when you want some later you can chuck it straight into the pot for many types of dishes, or leave it on a napkin to melt and leave the herb behind.

My husband sees a lot of theater movies, because he is a reviewer. Sometimes he gets a free screener to view at home, but more often he pays. He recently got Moviepass for $30/mo which cut his total spending by as much as $90 per month.

I make saving up actual cash a little more fun. Sometimes I sell things via local FB group and I use a color-in chart to represent my current goal. You can see examples of such savings (and debt payoff) charts at the link below, free to print, or you can make your own to suit your purpose.
http://iwasbrokenowimnot.com/tools/?postTabs=4

We sometimes take a weekend vacation to places on the off season. For example, there is a really big waterpark resort that we like that is super expensive in the summer. It has both indoor and outdoor activities. If you book in the fall or winter, you can get a condo for about the same price as their regular hotel type rooms. Instead of two beds and a mini fridge in one room, we have separate bedrooms and bathrooms, a living room with an amazing view, and a full kitchen which means saving tons by not having to get every meal out. Sure it means the outdoor water parks are closed, but they have four of them indoors and that is just fine.

Several years ago when my first baby was born, my husband's co. went bankrupt and he lost his job. We had no baby clothes because we didn't know the sex. I shopped second hand. I cannot tell you what a waist of money that was. Live and learn. For me its buy new, buy good quality and buy less of it. (I love getting hand -me -downs, but the consignment shops where I live try and get about 60-70% of retail value for used stuff. No thanks)

I was also shocked to find that i saved money buying local organic produce. Turns out it last 3x longer than grocery store produce. Who knew? (but not berries! no way, I'll buy those pesticide laden at costco thank you).

We have a garden and probably spend wayyyy more on that than grocery store produce. We do it because it taste better and we love to do it!

We save money by not going anywhere. With three young kids, we don't vacation unless we stay at my parents house.

Okay okay, I'm not very frugal. My husband thinks I am because I don't want a fancy car, designer purses, or jewelry. I'll deny myself something for a long time making certain I really want to invest in it. But not frugal at all. I value my time and love to save time!

My only real claim to frugality are my my flee market and craigslist furniture finds. About the only thing I love to buy second hand are case goods. You can get great solid wood pieces that were made better and will outlast a lot of the wood furniture you can buy new. I repainted 6 separate pieces to crate two matching sets for my kids' bedrooms.

We save the money before it ever gets deposited in our account. I am talking about investments.

We have money withdrawn for my husband's 401k and his company matches it 50%, we max the amt we can withdraw. Money is automatically withdrawn for IRA's, Mutual funds and life insurance policies on both of us.

We save by paying off our credit card's balance each month. We never carry a balance.

The only debt we have is our modest house payment at 3.25%. Something that we have always done is to buy a home well below the range we qualified for. This has been a major blessing to us...and has given us peace of mind.

I shop at 3 different stores to get more bang for our grocery buck!

We make homemade popcorn too! A scoop of Orville Redenbacher kernels, and a Tbs of olive oil then some salt. Yummmmers!!!! I am always finding stray white puffs around the house..in the couch cushions...near the kids' homework station. It is our family's trademark among their friends.

I make homemade bread and cook from scratch most nights. Soups are on the weekly menu at least once a week.

I love those nights that my heart is screaming easy dinner night, let's go out to eat. But then the frugal mom in me looks at the pantry and freezer and puts together a homecooked meal that everyone ends up raving about. The reward is knowing I fed my family a healthy meal and it probably only cost 2 bucks per person. Cha-ching!!

We make a lot of homemade type gifts for holidays and birthdays.

We have families that give us nice, named brand hand me downs for our younges. We haven't had to buy him clothes FOR YEARS. It has been so lovely of them to outfit him. They love to see him wearing their boys' clothes.

We teach our kids the value of money and they work around the house to earn it. We can pay our son to mow our 1/3 of an acre lot waaaay cheaper than a landscaper. He learns to work and he earns money to pay for "extras" himself. So much good comes from it. All 3 of our kids can do the jobs a housekeeper would do. Some of these jobs are regular chores for our kids and some of them are paid.

We are in a terrible drought in California. We are saving money by being very, very water savvy. It is good for our beautiful state...it is good for our water bill :) We re use towels, sheets, clothes so as to not have to wash them as often. We all know when they are too dingy and need a good wash. But we know one use and on to the dirty clothes hamper is a waste.(and the kids have learned from doing their own laundry that they don't want to put clean clothes back in their hamper. It means their laundry day creeps up sooner)

We buy used cars and either pay cash or look for the best deal like 0% financing for a specified amount of years and pay it off by the deadline.

We try to fix things ourselves or ask a friend for help before calling a repairman. We have a great network of friends and we help each other.

Recently we had to pay for a shared side fence to be replaced. Our neighbor said they would pay half. I shopped around and got 4 bids. We went with the best price/quality fence but opted out of them staining it. It saved us $1000.00. Then last weekend our family took the morning to stain it ourselves. It taught our kids a skill, we worked together as a family and it saved us money. Oh..and it passed off a Boy Scout requirement for our oldest. It looks sooo nice. And, since our kids feel ownership in it they are constantly making comments about how nice the fence looks. It is good to see them have a sense of pride in their work.

Make our money work for us. We use one credit card and it has sky miles. My husband and I are taking a 9 day trip next month to Hawaii. Our flights are free. We buy everything on that credit card then pay it off at the end of the month.

Ok..that was a long post. Hope it gives you a couple things to think about. I know I have picked the brains of many ladies on here from what they have posted.

One wayI save money in my house is instead of spending ATON of money on clothes,shoes, itchen apliances,etc from stores like walmart or target, I take my kids to the local thrift shop. The stuff there is alot cheaper and in almost perfect condition. If you like to read, get a library card instead of buying books new. Also, you can buy food from aldis which is really cheap, especially their fruits and vegetables. I buy healthy food which is alot cheaper and healthier.

I love reading these....

I use Thai deodorant crystal. I think it's between $2-3.00 and it lasts 6+ months. I am still using the crystal I opened in March. I have been using it for about three years now and it works... through weight training....running 3 miles in 90 degrees.....family holidays :-). No stink!

I do most of my gift shopping, clothes shopping, etc on slickdeals=
sky landers starter pack = $9.99
Lands End womens winter parka= $35.99
Sam's club one year membership= free

You have to skim it often and know what you want, but it makes somethings more affordable

ETA: I found a $5 yearly subscription to Food Network Magazine (as a gift for someone this holiday season, usually one magazine is $15)

Keep um comin'!

I buy clothes, furniture and household goods used whenever I can. I borrow if I can, rather than buy (ie library). I only buy groceries, health and beauty products and cleaning products when on sale and stock up. I meal plan and cook from scratch. I use coupons for groceries, restaurants and entertainment. I use energy efficient appliances. I consolidate all of my errands so I don't have to do extra driving. I practice water conservation (selective flushing). I don't own a cell phone. I take advantage of member rewards programs at the stores I like to shop at. I make coffee at home instead of getting take out.

Nothing new to add but I love this thread! Thank you!

We buy a 1/4 cow which comes to $2.36 a pound for roasts, ground beef, stew meat, steaks etc. We also bought 1/2 pig. These items save us about $1200 plus a year.