cutting back and saving money

[Elizabeth86]

What are some of things you have stopped buying that has helped you save money?

 

I feel we are pretty frugal for the most part. Just looking for a few ideas.

[HomeAgain]

Our biggest reductions were in food.  The more we learned how to make at home, the less packaged stuff we bought.  And changing our grocery cart to mostly the perimeter of the store meant we ate denser calories and less overall.  An apple is cheaper and just as filling as a handful of crackers.  Plus there was less trash.

 

The easiest way to determine what to cut is to keep a log of every thing you buy for a month.  You can go look back and see where your extras are.

 

 

Oh - and books!  I now refuse to buy any Newbery award book or topical books.  Our library has quite enough, and I don't need to give up that space in my home.

[SparklyUnicorn]

We never went out to eat THAT often, but that's one area that I cut more when I'm feeling like I gotta save money.  We can easily plunk down 80 bucks or more going out to dinner! 

[Ottakee]

I shop Aldi for 80-90% of my groceries. They have limited choices which helps limit impulse buying and great prices.

[JudoMom]

When I shop alone, have a list, know the budget and keep track of what I'm spending in real time, and cook from scratch more, we save money.

 

Also, staying off Amazon.

[Zinnia]

The library. Man, the library saves us so much. I am about to join a second one for all the books my local library doesn't have.

 

I also am part of a produce coop. 12 families, and twice a year, we go to the big regional farmers market and buy about $180/worth of produce. It fills 12 laundry baskets. Each family goes twice a year, so minimal commitment, and every 2 weeks, I have a basket of produce. Price is excellent, saves me from another trip to the grocery store, and we eat seasonally. All around good for us.

[SparklyUnicorn]

Oh yeah along the lines of budgeting.  One simple thing to do is make a shopping list and stick to it.  I spend way more when I don't do that. 

[Guest]

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Edited October 23, 2017 by Heigh Ho

[Guest]

We dropped out of the extended family holiday gift exchange and holiday meals...too much money for the swap, and the bar bill wasn't seperate from the food bill for the meals.

 

Another saver is renegotiating insurance and trash annually.

[Elizabeth86]

Budget budget budget. For us, it's not about what we stopped buying as much as it is about budgeting for every single purchase.

 

I will say that I am glad that DH quit smoking on our honeymoon. I can't imagine how much money would be flying out the door if he hadn't.

Yeah, it's terrible. My dh smokes and it is a huge waste if money.

[historically accurate]

Some little things:

 

paper products - we use cloth napkins, wool dryer balls, etc. Used cloth diapers when kids were in that stage. I buy Puffs for colds, but I had a friend who would keep a small package of Charmin toilet paper for sickies.

Ziploc bags - I've bought plastic and Pyrex at Goodwill over the years so I can get rid of using most of these.

movies - kids get 1 movie (for all of them) yearly at Easter. Other than that, library only.

books - I keep a list of school books I want to use over the next couple of years and shop used. We each get $3 2x per year at used library sales (so my budget for fun books is just $24 annually). 

DH switched to dollar shave club for his razors. 

girls' tights - kids wear leggings under their dresses; that way they can wear them as pants as well.

 

Groceries: 

No soda (although DH still buys Dr. Pepper on occasion), no juice, no pre-made snacks (I experimented and found recipes for granola bars, cookies, crackers, chip-like things that I can keep in the freezer), no pre-made granola (once again, I found a recipe everyone will eat so I try to make it weekly). I shop at Aldi first and finish at Walmart; I only go to a different grocery store when I have something free or near-free with coupon (maybe 1x every 2-3 months). Sometimes, if I can find a deal, I will use Zaycon for meat purchases. We've also purchased direct from the farmer. I cruise the meat department weekly looking for those mark-down stickers. 

 

Every few months we take a run at one expense. Over the years, we've renegotiated cable (internet & TV), dropped Netflix (cable was almost as cheap with the bundle and we get new shows), switched insurance and cell carriers, transferred credit card balances (working on paying down, but not there yet), dropped and/or found better rates for subscriptions.

 

ETA: most cleaning supplies. I make my own laundry detergent and dishwasher tabs. I use basic cleaning things that I combine to clean. No 409, no Drano, etc. I do buy a daily shower spray because I hate cleaning tubs!

Edited October 23, 2017 by beckyjo

[almondbutterandjelly]

We buy our phones separately from a place like gazelle.  And we use Ting for our monthly phone stuff.  So not counting the initial cost of phones (which varies but is about $200 for a slightly older iphone), we pay about $45 total every month for three phones.  

 

We dropped cable.  We either use netflix or hulu.  We have a roku and an antenna for local programming.  For a month in August or September, we did a free trial of DirectvNow.  So that was awesome free cable for a month.  Good timing, too, when all the shows start new seasons.

 

 

[Annie G]

We use bandanas for napkins and have cloth towels to replace paper towels. We still keep a but of both on hand for when we have guests, and it was HARD breaking dh of the paper towel habit, but over the long run it's saving us money. 

It kind of made us look at other small expenses, too. We can recycle but it's hard to get them on board with it. But dh bought trash bags once and realized we could use half as many if we became better recyclers...boom. Trash bag cost went down. 

Dh and I share a bath towel for 5 days and then we change it.  Saves a lot on laundry vs. using a clean one every time. 

 

Menu planning has been key here. It helps me control the cost of our meals AND it virtually eliminates my need to eat out because I don't have dinner plans. However, implementing a menu plan is a lot harder than making one. It took some diligence. 

 

I cluster errands. Even though I live in a small town where everything is nearby, I cluster errands partly to save gas and partly to avoid temptation. I go to Walmart on Friday morning and that's it. Barring an emergency like needing medication, I'm only there once. And alone. Cuts down on impulse buys. 

 

Track every penny you spend for a few months so you can actually see where it's going. That is probably MOST important. 

[Beth S]

There are lots of personal finance bloggers, who give a nudge of encouragement to succeed in this!  :)

[Janeway]

We have made big cuts and plan to continue this.

 

First, I think preschool was a waste of money. I regret all that we spent on it. We also stopped with the organic foods. We stopped eating out. I managed to convince my husband to stop buy prepared foods..like precut onion. 

[teachermom2834]

We have done much better with the budget over the last couple years. The biggest reason is that our kids cut back on outside activities and we limit our driving.

 

We went from one of those families that has four kids in all kinds of things, some with a 30 minute commute, to just two kids in activities and they are all within a couple miles of the house.

 

I used to think all those things were really important and worth the drive and expense. A relocaton forced us to drop things and reconsider. The difference in our budget is huge. I am now very reluctant to take on activities with a drive or high expenses.

 

My dd does dance, which is not cheap. My ds is in 4H which gets expensive in camps and conferences, so it is not as if our kids do nothing. We are far choosier and the opportunity has to be exceptional to commit to a drive out of our small town.

[mommyoffive]

We have done much better with the budget over the last couple years. The biggest reason is that our kids cut back on outside activities and we limit our driving.

 

We went from one of those families that has four kids in all kinds of things, some with a 30 minute commute, to just two kids in activities and they are all within a couple miles of the house.

 

I used to think all those things were really important and worth the drive and expense. A relocaton forced us to drop things and reconsider. The difference in our budget is huge. I am now very reluctant to take on activities with a drive or high expenses.

 

My dd does dance, which is not cheap. My ds is in 4H which gets expensive in camps and conferences, so it is not as if our kids do nothing. We are far choosier and the opportunity has to be exceptional to commit to a drive out of our small town.

 

That would save us so much money.  So would cutting out vacations. 

[Carol in Cal.]

We buy good, single owner, reliable used cars and keep them long after most people would.

Right now we have three--a 95 little truck, a 98 Camry with 240K miles on it, and a 2001 Mercedes coupe.  

 

I have been planting dwarf fruit trees in our yard for quite a while.  This gives us tons of really great organic produce to use and to share.  It's almost free, too.  You have to water them heavily until the roots are established, but after that they just need water in drought months and fertilizer from time to time.  I save the (unsalted) water from cooking veggies to water them with--that's fertilizer right there, especially for something that cooks for a long time like artichokes.

 

I get to know sales of things that I know I always want.  For instance, Lancome goes on sale at least twice a year at Nordstrom, so that is when I buy lipstick.

 

I try to get the doctor to prescribe OTC stuff so I can pay for it pre-tax with my FSA.

 

I tend to figure out my dream whatever and then decide it's too expensive and then find it or something essentially the same on a garage sale facebook page.  That's how I got my kitchen aide mixer, and my awesome food processor for less than $100 each.  But I do pay for quality that I know will last.  That's why I have All Clad (although I've only ever bought it on sale.)  

 

 

[prairiewindmomma]

A lot of our big savings have come from purchasing quality items and then maintaining them.  Doing household maintenance items has also saved us thousands over the years.  We re-price our insurance every few years, we carry very old phones.  These are all things that everyone talks about, but with the limited time that I have, it is certainly easier than clipping a bazillion coupons and has netted a larger % of savings. 

 

Currently, cooking from a menu and ordering my groceries online for curbside pickup saves us about $100/month.  I don't pick up impulse items this way. Eating out costs my family at least $15 if we order from the dollar menu at Wendy's, and $50 if we do fast casual like Chipotle.  I bought an instant pot so that the days when my schedule falls apart,  I can still cook quickly and easily from home.  (We eat low carb due to health constraints, so sandwiches and pasta are no longer much of an option for us.)

 

That actually raises another good point. I did a lot of things that I supposed to be frugal in my 20s and 30s---made my own bread, used meat sparingly, etc.---and looking back, I would've been better served to eat 50% veggies, and 25% protein.  Maintain your health!

[gardenmom5]

when dh was unemployed -we cut,

cable

newspaper (and now everything is online anyway)

we didn't have a cell phone to start with

 

food is a big expense.  cooking from scratch is generally cheaper, and healthier.

 we made just about everything from scratch. (well, we bought pasta)

no yogurt, spaghetti sauce made from scratch - tastes better and significantly less sugar.

no chocolate chips, no nuts, no juice (which is also full of sugar) - we drank milk and water.

I made brownies from scratch with cocoa powder- there are some good recipes out there.

if you have a bakery outlet for day-old bread, usually good discount.

[OrganicJen]

We don't have cable or any tv type of service. I make most things from scratch including using a grain mill so I dont even buy flour, just grain which is cheaper then I make my own flours. I make most of our clothes so we buy very few clothes and I even weave some of my own fabric and spin the yarn myself from wool. We grow what food on our own that we can.

[Ottakee]

My biggest tip is to stay out of the store. Shop as infrequently as you can.

 

Aldi limits what they offer so that helps with impulses and ours has good produce.

 

I have often purchased paper products and cleaning supplies at walmart.com as they deliver for free and it saves me time, gas, and impulse purchases by staying out of the store.

 

I buy store brands for 90%+ of my shopping and we have not suffered.

 

Our area also has a few discount grocery stores where we can get huge savings on groceries if we are willing to buy different brands, close dated products, etc. Selection is never the same but savings can be huge.

[sheryl]

We don't have cable or any tv type of service. I make most things from scratch including using a grain mill so I dont even buy flour, just grain which is cheaper then I make my own flours. I make most of our clothes so we buy very few clothes and I even weave some of my own fabric and spin the yarn myself from wool. We grow what food on our own that we can.

 

This is so cool.  I'd like to meet you!  :)

[Catwoman]

Yeah, it's terrible. My dh smokes and it is a huge waste if money.

If you want to save money, start with the cigarettes.

 

Seriously.

 

Cigarettes are terrible for your dh's health and also impact the rest of the family, and if you consider how much you could save by not buying the cigarettes, you might not have to economize on many other things.

[katilac]

My biggest tip is to stay out of the store. Shop as infrequently as you can.

 

 

 

This is a big one! 

[lllll]

nm

Edited November 1, 2017 by Catheryn

[regentrude]

I make most of our clothes so we buy very few clothes and I even weave some of my own fabric and spin the yarn myself from wool. 

 

This is absolutely fantastic, and I am sure you love it - but is it actually saving money? My friends who are into fiber arts tell me it is not. They do it because they love it, but they put a lot of money into raw materials and spend an insane amount of time; a pair of socks is 12 hours of knitting with expensive wool. 

 

[Cosmos]

This probably depends on your region, but we save by forgoing trash pickup and just going to the landfill ourselves. We compost and recycle as much as possible, so we don't produce a lot of trash and take a medium-sized bag about once a month. It costs us $10-15 per YEAR instead of $30 a month. We can also drop off recycling and yard waste for no cost at the same time.