You all know that I love coupons! I use coupons daily in all aspects of my life, but saving money isn’t all about using coupons. I’ve put together a list of other ways my family saves money.
–We use CASH! Paying in Cash has been the most beneficial off all my money saving strategies. Paying with cash hurts and when it’s gone, it’s GONE!
–We avoid going out to eat! Although I love going out to eat, it’s expensive. Don’t get me started on fast food and how crazy the price is for that for junk. I’m not saying we don’t eat it on occasion; sometimes convenience over rules.
–I like to cook and participate in Freezer Cooking Day on a small scale. I can’t tell you how many times grabbing something from the freezer at the last minute has saved me. Oh, last night. I swore I’d taken out the turkey sausage. I just grabbed a container of chicken soup from the freezer and dinner was served!
–We find free or cheap entertainment. I’ve been working on an events/kids fun page which has been very helpful to me. Sunday we will be taking the kids to Portsmouth City Park for the boat races. It’s FREE, outside so the kids can run, and I’ll pack a picnic for lunch.
–We have weekly dinners with friends. We have friends with kids the same age, so we get together on Friday nights at one of our houses for dinner. Everyone contributes to the meal and the kids get to run and play all night. Although there is some cost, it’s minimal and a fun night out for all!
–We drink water! We don’t buy a lot of juice and rarely buy soda. My hubby and I can’t control ourselves if soda’s in the house, so I just don’t buy it! We do drink a lot of milk but the beverage of choice around here is water.
–I avoid too many shopping trips. I LOVE to shop, but I know my weaknesses. I have to be very careful in Target. It’s so easy to walk in an spend $100, so I limit my trips there and go with a list. Unless it’s free or at a rock bottom price, I stay way.
I have a list of other ways we save money, but I thought a Part 2 on Earth Day would be nice. A majority of my money saving strategies are also beneficial to our planet.
How do you save money?
This post is linked to My Coupon Teacher, Madame Deals and Melissa’s Bargain Blog
My husband and I save money a thousand and one different ways. We are on a very tight budget while he is in school, and sometimes it gets to me because all of our friends seem to have all this money to spend. Yet at the same time, often we feel like we're eating & living like kings and queens. We get to eat name brand food, often brand new products to the market, because of couponing. Our apartment in student housing is larger than many of our friends'. We have a great car. Overall, we really are living well, while we are living on a much, much lower budget than all of them. It helps that my husband is even more frugal than I!
Some of the things we do:
– We don't leave anything plugged in when we aren't using it except for the refrigerator and our printer (which is quirky so, we just have to, lol).
– We don't use our heat or AC unless necessary. Last summer we went until August without AC. It helps that our apartment is ground floor so it stays cooler.
– We (hubby especially) even don't use hot water unless necessary.
– We go out once a month on our "anniversary" and use gift cards gotten as gifts, for free through a law school website, or Restaurant.com gift certificates. That is our date night. We really don't eat out any other times.
– We don't have cable or pets (or kids yet, lol)
– We're always on the lookout for ways to save money. We found Photo Stamps cds with a coupon for a free sheet of stamps at Walgreens on clearance for $5. We bought 5 of them and even made a sheet of stamps for my mom of a picture with her & her grandkids and had them sent to her. The stamps came out to be 25c each. We use our Register Rewards to get birthday cards that we'll need to buy anyway.
– We use Swagbucks to buy gifts and printer ink.
– And obviously, we coupon like mad!
The list can just go on and on because really everything we do is the cheapest way possible. Right now it is a necessity but I don't think we'll change how we shop when my husband gets out of school. Just, maybe I'll actually be able to afford new clothes now and then or a Frappucinno 🙂
Oooh, I have a Target problem, too. I go there about 2-3 times/week but I've gotten really good about not overspending.
Love the tips! My friends and I do a game night on Wednesdays. It's usually BYOB and we pick a different game each week that one of us already has. It's cheap and always a blast.
🙂
Sound like you are right on track!
Heather,
I learned that just because friends are out spending money doesn't mean they can afford to. You and your husband are being smart! I know it's tough. I didn't think of using swaybucks for ink. Thanks! We do a lot of the other things you mentioned except we have cable. Gotta have Dora 🙂
Post Grad,
We also play games sometimes. I'd be broke if I went to Target 2-3 times a week. You have better self control than I do!
Coupon teacher,
Thanks!
I love all your ideas! I am so encouraged by others living the frugal/couponing life. Thanks for sharing! We are learning on this road to more frugal living.
It is more than coupons, it is a life change! I look back out how much money we have saved in the past tow years by making little changes. Yes coupons are a big part of it, but there are so many other things that can reduce spending. I love to shop too! But I am learning that there will always be a deal and I don't have to shop every week! Thanks for linking up your post!