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Post by Scrapper100 on Jan 5, 2024 22:24:16 GMT
Yes to the library. Each of our different libraries seems to specialize in something a bit different. One has an amazing seed library and a library of things. They have book club kits and various things you might only use a few times but instead can just borrow them, games. I need to go and visit and see if they have anything interesting. I know they have instruments, games, sone electronics, I think they even had a telescope.
I have also taken a few fun classes at ours (forensics and a pine needle basket making). Several have monthly book clubs and others have craft groups for both kids and adults. I need to get back into the habit if going to the knitting/crochet group.
If you have littles most have fun activities for them as well.
Enjoy free or low cost entertainment like free concerts, hiking or walking on trails or at parks. Board games at home or even streaming a movie or borrowing a dvd. Make it even more fun with popcorn or a special treat.
I try and make the every day a bit more special during months I’m doing a no or low spend month. Maybe candles or a special meal not necessarily an expensive meal but one that takes a bit more effort or just a favorite.
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Post by littlemama on Jan 5, 2024 22:27:22 GMT
If you eat out, do takeout instead of dining in.
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Post by Restless Spirit on Jan 5, 2024 22:32:30 GMT
Also, make this the year you reevaluate your insurance. As retirees, we just switched our medical and rx provider. Our home and auto insurance comes up for renewal in April/May. We don’t feel like we are getting the best coverage for the cost and are looking into changing.
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seaexplore
Prolific Pea
Posts: 8,408
Apr 25, 2015 23:57:30 GMT
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Post by seaexplore on Jan 5, 2024 23:29:47 GMT
seaexplore Do you have Target near you? About a month ago I didn’t buy eggs at Costco where I usually get them because no one put them on the list. Since I was at Target anyway, I thought I’d pick up a couple dozen. They had a 30 pack of their Good & Gather large eggs for $4.59! A 24 pack at Costco is $4.69 so Target was the better deal. Not near but in the same town as Costco. I'm heading there Monday and will check. Thanks! That's a STEAL! |
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seaexplore
Prolific Pea
Posts: 8,408
Apr 25, 2015 23:57:30 GMT
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Post by seaexplore on Jan 5, 2024 23:30:36 GMT
We pretty much use Costco as our grocery store and supplement with grocery store stuff as needed. We actually started eating our way thru the freezer after Thanksgiving. Just this week there was NO protein left! So, to Costco we went. Salmon, tilapia, pork loin, chicken breasts, shrimp all found their way home. As well as some quick breakfast stuff for the kids. We were working on the fridge too- so many left overs that we didn't have to cook for 4 days! Pantry got emptied and reorganized yesterday- we're good with pantry stuff for a while. We had to get eggs.... in CA (home of "ethical" animal raising) we paid almost $7 for 18 eggs at Costco and they ONLY had those- none of the 5 dozen packs or the normal 24 packs that we pick up! I about died! We eat lots of eggs here so we needed them. Friends in other states are saying they can get eggs for $1.50/dozen. I haven't seen those prices in YEARS here! A tip for saving at Starbucks if you get frapachino's (I can't spell it)- take a reusable cup (ours are venti size) and order a grande. There's ALWAYS left over in the blender that they dump - this now goes into your cup giving you a little more and the whipped cream fits better. Also, you get 10 cents off your order and 25 stars. I was EVERYTHING on cold. Dryer for everything but ours is gas so it's a little cheaper to run. Get solar- PG&E is RIDICULOUS here- we have been using solar since march 2019 and it paid for itself in march 2022. 20 year life expectancy on our panels. Gas- fill gas cans and take then to the lower mileage car to fill it. We live 45 min from Costco (get all our gas there) and my car gets better mileage at 28-30 mpg so when I fill my car (I'm in the town where Costco is 2x a week) I also fill 12.5 gallons worth of gas cans that we dump into the 16 mpg SUV that doesn't go to that town often. If you have an Aldi near you you might want to check it out. They were cheaper than Costco for a while. They were under $2 a dozen - also in SoCal. I haven’t looked the last few weeks as we haven’t needed any but they have been cheaper along with butter. I am shopping there more often lately. We also do most of our shopping at Sam’s or Costco. No Aldi's in N.Cal yet that I know of. Sigh. I'm keeping my fingers crossed. |
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Post by peasapie on Jan 5, 2024 23:55:21 GMT
I’ve found food and entertainment to be the biggest spending categories for us. We limit going to dinner, and have found a few places we really like that have two-for-one night M-Th. I buy at Costco and break it up into separate freezer bags, and I shop from a list.
It’s cheaper to rent a movie with friends than to see it in a theater, so that’s what we usually do.
I don’t buy much makeup at places like Ulta or Sephora - it’s a feel good splurge but just isn’t worth it for most things. (There are a few items I won’t give up, but that’s a very few.)
We’ve cut back on cable tv channels and expenses and I found I can get $20 back from Verizon since my daughter is a nurse. Also I don’t pay the $17 extra charge for some wire nonsense. They add in a lot of extras.
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Post by Scrapper100 on Jan 6, 2024 0:34:13 GMT
If you have an Aldi near you you might want to check it out. They were cheaper than Costco for a while. They were under $2 a dozen - also in SoCal. I haven’t looked the last few weeks as we haven’t needed any but they have been cheaper along with butter. I am shopping there more often lately. We also do most of our shopping at Sam’s or Costco. No Aldi's in N.Cal yet that I know of. Sigh. I'm keeping my fingers crossed. Sorry you don’t have one. I think I have heard that Trader Joe’s also has them for a good price but I rarely make it there as it’s further. I didn’t get the hype when Aldi first started making its way into our area and it’s taken me a few years to come around but they are usually the cheapest around here on most things. They keep building more here so I hope they start spreading north as well. |
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Post by cecilia on Jan 6, 2024 0:54:22 GMT
I am saving $100 at the start of the month, no questions asked. Rescue/outside dog had a $400+ vet bill last year. Need to make sure I am set for another one that high.
Also switching to all cash and saving coins and $1 bills. Was able to make a large down payment on my dentures using $1 bills.
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Post by crazy4scraps on Jan 6, 2024 3:50:32 GMT
I am saving $100 at the start of the month, no questions asked. Rescue/outside dog had a $400+ vet bill last year. Need to make sure I am set for another one that high. Also switching to all cash and saving coins and $1 bills. Was able to make a large down payment on my dentures using $1 bills. Speaking of paying cash, it’s worth taking the time to ask if there’s a discount for paying in cash or for paying at the time of service at the dentist and at the vet! My former dentist would give us a 10% discount for paying with cash or a check on the day of our appointments. We dropped our dental insurance 20 years ago because it never covered anything. We had been paying $120 a month for dental insurance on the two of us which was $1,440 a year in premiums. Getting a standard cleaning was $159 apiece and we would go every six months, or $572.40 a year after the cash discount. We have pretty healthy teeth and don’t get cavities often, so we would just bank the extra money we would have paid in premiums in case we needed to pay for x-rays or anything else more expensive and we’ve still come out way ahead. Some vets will give a cash discount too if you ask. |
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Post by guzismom on Jan 6, 2024 13:55:15 GMT
I am saving $100 at the start of the month, no questions asked. Rescue/outside dog had a $400+ vet bill last year. Need to make sure I am set for another one that high. Also switching to all cash and saving coins and $1 bills. Was able to make a large down payment on my dentures using $1 bills. Speaking of paying cash, it’s worth taking the time to ask if there’s a discount for paying in cash or for paying at the time of service at the dentist and at the vet! My former dentist would give us a 10% discount for paying with cash or a check on the day of our appointments. We dropped our dental insurance 20 years ago because it never covered anything. We had been paying $120 a month for dental insurance on the two of us which was $1,440 a year in premiums. Getting a standard cleaning was $159 apiece and we would go every six months, or $572.40 a year after the cash discount. We have pretty healthy teeth and don’t get cavities often, so we would just bank the extra money we would have paid in premiums in case we needed to pay for x-rays or anything else more expensive and we’ve still come out way ahead. Some vets will give a cash discount too if you ask. We are foregoing dental and vision insurance in retirement. Any serious issues (like cataracts) are covered under major medical; I think we can afford to pay out of pocket for most dental procedures and to get an eye exam/glasses every year. The costs of those plans can, as you pointed out, exceed the actual cost of the procedures/tests you end up using. And it's not like they pay 100%; our most recent dental insurance, for example, covered at most 50% of things like root canals and bridges. I can't imagine needing a dental/vision procedure that threatens to force me to sell my home or liquidate my assets; but a medical event sure can. This is why WE (we, not you...) have insurance; to cover those catastrophes. Having my teeth cleaned or even, gawd forbid, needing dentures won't wipe me out; but a cancer diagnosis is a different story. |
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Post by dewryce on Jan 6, 2024 14:14:35 GMT
Meal plan. And always have easy to make dinners on hand. When we make something we like frozen, we make at least 2-4 meals worth and freeze them separately. It could be your favorite frozen pizza or or jarred spaghetti sauce. This helps us avoid eating out a lot.
Buy bulk spices. I have favorites from Penzey’s that I’ll happily pay for, but many spices our palettes aren’t refined enough to notice the difference. So I buy the smallest bulk amount available, and typically save several dollars for each spice. If it’s too much for the container it’s easy to freeze and takes next to no room.
Don’t go grocery shopping, or to Target or the like in store if you’re prone to throwing things in the cart on a whim. Do online shopping. Keeping DH out of the grocery stores saves us at least $20 each time.
Buy proteins when they’re on sale and freeze them. You’ll stock up enough that you’re most often eating meat purchased on sale and not purchased at a higher price because you needed it that week. I will admit, our proteins are going on sale a lot less frequently these days, so we try to buy bigger quantities each sale now. There are often weeks we don’t buy any.
Check and see if your job, your school, your bank, AAA have savings programs you can use. DH gets 40% off Brooks shoes from his job in the medical field. His job also offers other discounts. USAA has lots of discounts for members for goods and services. Use a senior citizen’s discount when you can, I know most of us are getting to that point!
And one I always forget to take advantage of, is those websites that give you cash back (like Rakutten) when you shop through their links.
When shopping online, allow items to sit in the cart for a few days to make sure you really want them. This is one way we handle my shopping tendencies when manic. Also, always google for available coupon codes.
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Post by crazy4scraps on Jan 6, 2024 14:23:41 GMT
Speaking of paying cash, it’s worth taking the time to ask if there’s a discount for paying in cash or for paying at the time of service at the dentist and at the vet! My former dentist would give us a 10% discount for paying with cash or a check on the day of our appointments. We dropped our dental insurance 20 years ago because it never covered anything. We had been paying $120 a month for dental insurance on the two of us which was $1,440 a year in premiums. Getting a standard cleaning was $159 apiece and we would go every six months, or $572.40 a year after the cash discount. We have pretty healthy teeth and don’t get cavities often, so we would just bank the extra money we would have paid in premiums in case we needed to pay for x-rays or anything else more expensive and we’ve still come out way ahead. Some vets will give a cash discount too if you ask. We are foregoing dental and vision insurance in retirement. Any serious issues (like cataracts) are covered under major medical; I think we can afford to pay out of pocket for most dental procedures and to get an eye exam/glasses every year. The costs of those plans can, as you pointed out, exceed the actual cost of the procedures/tests you end up using. And it's not like they pay 100%; our most recent dental insurance, for example, covered at most 50% of things like root canals and bridges. I can't imagine needing a dental/vision procedure that threatens to force me to sell my home or liquidate my assets; but a medical event sure can. This is why WE (we, not you...) have insurance; to cover those catastrophes. Having my teeth cleaned or even, gawd forbid, needing dentures won't wipe me out; but a cancer diagnosis is a different story. Oh, I completely agree with you. I wouldn’t go without health insurance, especially at my age when stuff starts going wrong. But the dental insurance covered almost nothing and like you said, no matter what happens with my teeth it’s not going to bankrupt me to get something fixed. |
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Post by dewryce on Jan 6, 2024 14:42:25 GMT
We had trash amnesty the day after Christmas, we're normally allowed 2 bags per week but on amnesty week we can go up to 14 bags. I did a deep clean out of the freezer and got rid of the truly freezer burned stuff/bags of fries etc that had been left open or not sealed properly and re-organized everything else. We have been eating regularly out of that stash since then and I'm proud to say I haven't bought anything but ground beef (I'm picky and will not freeze ground beef. I will own this) and fresh veg since Christmas. I hope to keep going with using what we have as we run out. I'm really good at picking things up when they're a good price but then I forget about them and they get lost in the depths of the deep freeze. I hope as we use up what we have down there that as it gets replaced I can keep a better inventory. I keep our freezer organized by protein type in a narrowish bin, just wide enough to hold one piece of fish, chicken break, set of pork chops, etc. When we buy new (we try and only get it on sale) it gets put in food saver bags, labeled with date, and put in the back of the bin. It’s super easy to make sure you grab the newest protein of each type as you eat it. And to look in the front of bins to see if something needs to be eaten soon so you can add it to your meal plan. Shoe boxes could be a way to try this out and see if it works for you. |
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Rhondito
Pearl Clutcher
MississipPea
Posts: 4,661 
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Post by Rhondito on Jan 6, 2024 16:17:54 GMT
We pretty much stopped ordering delivery for food.. although I only used pizza delivery.. never used Uber Eats or the other services.. but just getting pizza delivered is insane. Even my son who likes his deliveries have stopped. The last time I attempted to order some pizza for 3 of us was over $30!! For CHEAP pizza. I stopped in my tracks and said nope. Another thing is when we would get fast food, Taco Bell used to be our place to get a bunch of tacos cheap.. not anymore.. another $25 for basically nothing for 3 people. If we get fast food.. I get a kids meal.. or just a burger or nuggets.. no fries, maybe a drink depending if we have something at home or if running around. I admit I HATE cooking.. despise it... so I'm trying to be better.. but usually I just opt for easy peasy meals or I know I will burn out quick if I start trying to do the all out cooking and try to make $2 meals. I will fail. I am working on cutting out my Starbucks starting next week. Going to switch to just plain iced tea. (not a coffee drinker.. I love Starbucks Chi) I never get pizza delivered, although I would love to sometimes. I just can't justify the expense. I live under 5 minutes away from the store. I can pick up a pizza for $12ish, but having the same pizza delivered is pushing $25 when I add in a tip - and it's just for me. |
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Post by **GypsyGirl** on Jan 6, 2024 16:26:05 GMT
If you eat out, do takeout instead of dining in. The only thing that really saves is the tip, unless you are switching to a cheaper restaurant as well. We have quit all food delivery and take away from restaurants. The costs of take away are not that much savings and even worse is that the food is lukewarm at best by the time you get home and needs to be reheated. Not much difference from reheating leftovers - other than the cost! |
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Post by cecilia on Jan 6, 2024 16:43:36 GMT
I am saving $100 at the start of the month, no questions asked. Rescue/outside dog had a $400+ vet bill last year. Need to make sure I am set for another one that high. Also switching to all cash and saving coins and $1 bills. Was able to make a large down payment on my dentures using $1 bills. Speaking of paying cash, it’s worth taking the time to ask if there’s a discount for paying in cash or for paying at the time of service at the dentist and at the vet! My former dentist would give us a 10% discount for paying with cash or a check on the day of our appointments. We dropped our dental insurance 20 years ago because it never covered anything. We had been paying $120 a month for dental insurance on the two of us which was $1,440 a year in premiums. Getting a standard cleaning was $159 apiece and we would go every six months, or $572.40 a year after the cash discount. We have pretty healthy teeth and don’t get cavities often, so we would just bank the extra money we would have paid in premiums in case we needed to pay for x-rays or anything else more expensive and we’ve still come out way ahead. Some vets will give a cash discount too if you ask. I didn't get a cash discount because I had to finance the rest of my dentures. I will ask about the cash discount at the vet. I am just glad we have a vet that does house calls. Rescue HATES enclosed spaces. Hates. They did let me make 2 payments last year though, which helped. I had rolled a ton of coins and cashed them in to pay for it. Part of the reason I am saving $100 a month. It was a boogger counting and rolling nearly $300 in coins. (I refuse to use Coinstar and the like due to fees and the like. I would rather count the change and use the fee money somewhere else.) |
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Post by Scrapper100 on Jan 6, 2024 16:47:20 GMT
I need to sign up for rakuttun or whatever it is. Then of course I would have to remember to use it. I use Ibotta but forget to shop through them most of the time and they don’t have coupons for things I use that often any more but a few cents here and there do add up. I try to remember to use it when I shop online at Sam’s or do scan and save them it’s not much but I just leave it there until I can cash out.
Using credit cards with rewards can add up to as long as you don’t overspend with one and pay it off every month. In December discover had an additional 6% back for grocery stores. I rarely shop in grocery stores but did remember a few times and little bonus was nice. They normally have 5% on certain categories and this was the first time I have seen an extra category and for more than 5%.
The other day I looked for coupons for a few things I needed and then found a few other really good ones through the Albertsons/Vons app. Bought some things I would be buying soon but saved quite a bit this way.
While shopping around NYE I found prime ribs on sale at Aldi and they had them marked them down 50% off so their already good sale was a killer deal. Two small prime ribs got added to our now full freezer. So if shopping in person looking for deals is a good way to save.
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Rhondito
Pearl Clutcher
MississipPea
Posts: 4,661
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Post by Rhondito on Jan 6, 2024 16:47:21 GMT
Watch the ads, and buy on sale. I use higher priced cosmetics and skin care. I wait for the coupons and sales, then I stock up. I try to never pay full price. Use store coupons. Use free resources.....like the Library. I read ebooks on the Library website for free. I agree with these. I rarely buy any makeup or skincare at full price, only when I absolutely have to. I subscribe to the email lists of the brands I use so I know when they're having good sales and then buy my staples. Every year for Black Friday my skincare brand always does 50% off so I stock up for the year. Another thing is to use Rakuten, Honey, or other coupon searcher - I have their extensions installed on my browser so it's easy to see if any retailer has an available discount code. I listen to audiobooks and I love using libraries as one of my sources. I have my local library plus got free cards from a couple of other ones so I can use their catalogs too. There's also Hoopla which some libraries offer - it has instant access to books without having to wait in line to borrow and is also free. Again, I have my library and a couple of others I use. And although it's a subscription, probably my most favorite app is Everand (formally Scribd). I pay $8.99/mo and it works basically like a Netflix for books. LOVE LOVE LOVE it! |
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Rhondito
Pearl Clutcher
MississipPea
Posts: 4,661
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Post by Rhondito on Jan 6, 2024 16:51:56 GMT
I need to sign up for rakuttun or whatever it is. Then of course I would have to remember to use it. Here's my referral code if you'd like to use it to sign up. Then you can install the extension on your browser and it'll automatically pop up when you're shopping to let you know you can earn cash back.  (Once you spend $30 in the first 90 days you'll get $30 back.) www.rakuten.com/r/RHONDA2731?eeid=45830 |
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Post by cecilia on Jan 6, 2024 17:01:16 GMT
Meal plan. And always have easy to make dinners on hand. When we make something we like frozen, we make at least 2-4 meals worth and freeze them separately. It could be your favorite frozen pizza or or jarred spaghetti sauce. This helps us avoid eating out a lot. Buy bulk spices. I have favorites from Penzey’s that I’ll happily pay for, but many spices our palettes aren’t refined enough to notice the difference. So I buy the smallest bulk amount available, and typically save several dollars for each spice. If it’s too much for the container it’s easy to freeze and takes next to no room. Don’t go grocery shopping, or to Target or the like in store if you’re prone to throwing things in the cart on a whim. Do online shopping. Keeping DH out of the grocery stores saves us at least $20 each time. Buy proteins when they’re on sale and freeze them. You’ll stock up enough that you’re most often eating meat purchased on sale and not purchased at a higher price because you needed it that week. I will admit, our proteins are going on sale a lot less frequently these days, so we try to buy bigger quantities each sale now. There are often weeks we don’t buy any. Check and see if your job, your school, your bank, AAA have savings programs you can use. DH gets 40% off Brooks shoes from his job in the medical field. His job also offers other discounts. USAA has lots of discounts for members for goods and services. Use a senior citizen’s discount when you can, I know most of us are getting to that point! And one I always forget to take advantage of, is those websites that give you cash back (like Rakutten) when you shop through their links.
When shopping online, allow items to sit in the cart for a few days to make sure you really want them. This is one way we handle my shopping tendencies when manic. Also, always google for available coupon codes. We do the protein on sale and freeze thing. I also give rescue meat once in a while so I buy marked down meat and freeze it. |
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Post by littlemama on Jan 6, 2024 18:15:35 GMT
If you eat out, do takeout instead of dining in. The only thing that really saves is the tip, unless you are switching to a cheaper restaurant as well. We have quit all food delivery and take away from restaurants. The costs of take away are not that much savings and even worse is that the food is lukewarm at best by the time you get home and needs to be reheated. Not much difference from reheating leftovers - other than the cost! It saves on drinks as well. They are now charging $4 just for pop or iced tea and $8-$10 for a basic drink. If I eat at home, I can drink what I have. We live close enough to a lot of restaurants, so typically the food is still warm/hot when we get it home. We do also tend toward less expensive places or places where we can have leftovers and get a second or occasionally a third meal out of it. |
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Post by crazy4scraps on Jan 6, 2024 21:06:12 GMT
We pretty much stopped ordering delivery for food.. although I only used pizza delivery.. never used Uber Eats or the other services.. but just getting pizza delivered is insane. Even my son who likes his deliveries have stopped. The last time I attempted to order some pizza for 3 of us was over $30!! For CHEAP pizza. I stopped in my tracks and said nope. Another thing is when we would get fast food, Taco Bell used to be our place to get a bunch of tacos cheap.. not anymore.. another $25 for basically nothing for 3 people. If we get fast food.. I get a kids meal.. or just a burger or nuggets.. no fries, maybe a drink depending if we have something at home or if running around. I admit I HATE cooking.. despise it... so I'm trying to be better.. but usually I just opt for easy peasy meals or I know I will burn out quick if I start trying to do the all out cooking and try to make $2 meals. I will fail. I am working on cutting out my Starbucks starting next week. Going to switch to just plain iced tea. (not a coffee drinker.. I love Starbucks Chi) I never get pizza delivered, although I would love to sometimes. I just can't justify the expense. I live under 5 minutes away from the store. I can pick up a pizza for $12ish, but having the same pizza delivered is pushing $25 when I add in a tip - and it's just for me. We’ve been making our own at home lately. Costco sells a four pack of 12” crusts with the sauce packets included for about $8, a big two pack of sliced pepperoni for $10-12 and a giant two pack of shredded mozzarella for about $10. The pepperoni and cheese will make more than four pizzas so we usually freeze half of the cheese. You can of course add whatever other kinds of toppings you like. We bake it for 8 minutes in the air fryer and it’s perfect. But if you’re feeling lazy or feeding a crowd, their 18” ginormous take out pizza is still just $9.99. I used to pick up a couple of those when I would host a crop at my house. You really can’t beat that price and it’s decent pizza. |
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Post by crazy4scraps on Jan 6, 2024 21:11:22 GMT
I need to sign up for rakuttun or whatever it is. Then of course I would have to remember to use it. Here's my referral code if you'd like to use it to sign up. Then you can install the extension on your browser and it'll automatically pop up when you're shopping to let you know you can earn cash back. (Once you spend $30 in the first 90 days you'll get $30 back.) www.rakuten.com/r/RHONDA2731?eeid=45830Rakuten is awesome! The only thing with the referrals is that the person being referred needs to actually use it within that first three months. I had DH sign up under my referral and then he didn’t use it until a year later so neither one of us got the referral bonus.  ETA: If you buy craft stuff at Michael’s or JoAnn’s and know exactly what you want, a lot of times there will be cash back through Rakuten but only if you order online. Since I like to shop in store, the rebate doesn’t apply BUT if I order online and pick up in store it does! So I order the stuff I know I want online through Rakuten, use whatever coupons will also apply and then go pick up in store later the same day. Win-win. It works if you are ordering stuff through their bulk PRO program too. The rebate usually isn’t a lot but every little bit helps. Another one is the Honey browser extension, that one has also popped up some deals I didn’t know about. |
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Post by calgaryscrapper on Jan 6, 2024 23:18:06 GMT
We buy the Costco Executive membership card which comes with benefits. Last year our rebate was over two hundred dollars and they also have sales just for Executive members. We have a Costco CIBC credit card. There are no yearly fees and we pay it off every month. We carry very little cash now and everything goes on the card. We signed up for the weekly e-mail to advise us of weekly specials online and in Costco stores. We watch the end of the freezers, aisles and meat department for sales. If they have five dollars off a bag of chicken breasts we find the bag that costs the least and buy it. We take the tenders out of the breasts and put them in a bag for another meal. We then freeze what meat we don’t use right away. We buy a three pack of whole fresh chicken when it is on sale. The next day we cook one of them and freeze the other two chickens. We watch online Gas buddy for fuel prices. Costco prices are always best and we fill up when we are near a Costco. When we go to Costco we also pick up items for family members. We can use the credit anywhere credit cards can be used. Our car insurance, phone bills, house insurance etc go on the card as they give a percentage back in January. In 2022 our rebate was over six hundred dollars. We buy something for less than twenty dollars and take the rest back in cash. We then take the cash to our bank. Our card is paid off every month.
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Post by smasonnc on Jan 7, 2024 15:37:46 GMT
When we were first married, we set strict spending limits. We didn't let small amounts of money get away. For instance, a Coke or snack out of a machine was only $1, but four times a week adds up to $200 a year. It doesn't sound like much until you alter several of these habits and they become $1,000. One dollar here and there adds up fast. A bonus was we eliminated an unhealthy habit.
We refuse to have credit card debt. Interest and fees are crazy. We passed our financial discipline on to our kids. Our family motto is, "Have more than thou showest," because we're all savers.
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Post by LavenderLayoutLady on Jan 7, 2024 15:37:59 GMT
Shop from your cupboard and freezer Yes!
Use Tracfone or another provider for a cell phone that is far cheaper than a contract. You can get unlimited minutes plans. Just keep the data turned off and only turn on and use as needed or use WiFi. I do this! I have a cheap Samsung phone that I bought outright, and I buy yearly service through Tracfone for $200 total. Unlimited calls & messaging. I don't use data, only wifi (though can turn on my data if I need it when I'm out).
Always.
For us the quickest way to save is to cook and eat at home as much as possible. Definitely.
For regular laundry, make sure you are not using too much detergent. Most loads can be cleaned with less than people tend to use, This is true.
I buy powder laundry detergent in bulk from Walmart or Amazon (usually around $25 for 40 Lbs).
I make our coffee at home, Everyday.
Very true. It is so easy to walk into a store and try to fill a boredom hole with something cute That you didn't even know you wanted until that very second.
always have easy to make dinners on hand. Yes!
For us, it's boxes of pasta and jars of sauce. Or frozen lasagna that just needs to be popped into the oven.
protein on sale and freeze thing Here too!
Have to check the manager's special section.
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Post by LavenderLayoutLady on Jan 7, 2024 16:00:04 GMT
For me, simplifying my own life has saved a lot of money.
I know what I like to wear (I'm not adventurous, honestly. Comfort over fashion for me). I buy the same things that I know fit me, over & over again.
I also happen to wear men's tee shirts and jeans. I find them much better quality for the price point. I can shop by waist and inseam sizing, and get a great fit each time. Also, no elastic added to the jeans, which I find makes women's jeans wear out super fast as it breaks down in the wash & dryer. The tee shirts are thicker, and no weird cuts around the upper arms.
I buy the same antiperspirant/deodorant every time. Mitchum men's 48 hr protection gel, unscented. About $6 for a two pack.
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Post by cecilia on Jan 7, 2024 16:59:51 GMT
I am also trying not to eat out much at all. Only place I will is a local coffee shop for poetry night. I have GCs worth $125 so that will last me about 6 weeks.
This month may be tight with extra expenses ($110 total) that I normally don't have. Hopefully by cutting out fast food plus candy and chips (need to do for health anyways) I will be okay.
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Post by sideways on Jan 7, 2024 17:01:36 GMT
Don't have a 15 year old boy hockey player! That kid can eat. I meal plan for the week, trying to use what I have in the freezer. I do stock up on basics at Costco. I freeze any leftovers we don't eat. They make for a quick lunch. If your bill for cable or trash pickup increases, call and ask for a reduction. I've done this successfully. Not to mention the cost of playing hockey! Don’t you just love it when your kid breaks a stick in the middle of a tournament? Especially when the stick is a month old? 😖 Not to change the subject, but don’t get me started on the hockey stank. 🤢 I miss seeing my kid play, but I do like keeping more of our money. |
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Post by crazy4scraps on Jan 7, 2024 18:30:40 GMT
We do a lot of the same things you do RE: Costco, calgaryscrapper. My nephew works at Costco and he told us that only 7% of members order anything online through their website which blows my mind. Costco has SO many great deals through their website. When they do their buy more, save more deals on clothes I comb through those deals because even if it ends up being a little more per item than it would be in store, the buy more discount, the credit card rebate and the free shipping combined negates that and it ends up being cheaper in the long run. I know the brands I like and the sizes that will fit so between myself and DD I can usually hit the quantity needed to get the best deal. |
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