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Sorry this is a little late, we've been out of town. I thought a good question this week would be a saving money question. Right now most of us are in the "starving student" phase and if you're not then we're all in the "young children" phase and if your husband isn't in school then I'm guessing he is probably just starting out in his job. So we are all trying to save money for the future. A nice house, the kids' missions and college, gas... haha!So whether it's clipping coupons, shopping sales, having a budget laid out, buying in bulk, or whatever, what do you do to save money?
6 comments:
This is a great question, Cassi! We have a budget that we try to stick to pretty closely and one thing that has really helped us is having an "allowance." It's pretty dorky that we give ourselves money, but if we set aside a small amount each month for my husband and myself and that is what we have to use for clothes/eating out/whatever we want. Then, we always end up saving money in the long run because then we're not just buying that stuff anyway without keeping track of it. And, even though we don't set aside a ton, it's always fun to have a little shopping money!
I completely agree with you Bridget! You have to have just a little spending money. Another thing that I've found that helps is 1. not going grocery shopping when I'm hungry, and 2. make a shopping list. I try to get things on sale, but overall I just try super hard to stick to my list. Grocery shopping gets so expensive, so it helps when you don't just do impulse buys.
We have a budget as well but we frequently go over budget which is no good! I agree, grocery shopping gets really expensive and I'm always going over budget. I was watching the news on saving money on food the other day and there was a woman who ground her own wheat to make bread instead of just buying flour. It is much less to buy the grain then to buy the flour. I need a good bread recipe, though, one that is also good for sandwiches. I know it is also good to try to grow your own food as much as possible. Tomatoes are always so hard for me to buy because they are pricey. I'm trying to grow four plants in four separate pots on my front porch. I also want to try doing lettuce and green peppers. They are easily done in a long rectangle pot and they don't need direct sun all the time. The gas thing is what really has me worried. Rumors of gas prices soaring to $15 a gallon within a year or two is just outrageous! We have a gas economic car right now but we are trying to save for another one so we can sell our truck which guzzles the gas like no other (Dave's commuter). Another suggestion from the news was to replace meat with beans a couple times a week. I hardly buy meat anymore unless it is 50% off. Beans are cheap and are a good source of protein. I'm going to start trying these things.
We've started making our own bread, using the breadmaker and our own ingredients(vs the mix, which saves you no money). my sister actually has a wheat grinder and makes her own wheat flour--she says her bread ends up being about 85 cents per loaf. not too bad!
we are also very concerned about gas consumption, and the way we're handling it this summer is to have geoff use his scooter for work. he also rides his bike too (12 miles each way, so it counts as a workout!) once the weather turns, though--obviously that won't be an option!
I make my own bread, and after all the ingredient, I'm not sure it saves much money, but does taste so good. I do grind my own wheat weekly. Make bean burros for dinner, costs me $2.20 if I make my own refried beans and whole wheat tortillas. Awesome and is so so so good. Scan grocery stores for discounted meats and freeze. Cut cable tv. I think we watch far less because there's nothing on! Don't buy frozen or prepared foods. Bad for you and your budget. We have chickens to provide 2-4 eggs a day(not feasable for all people). Breakfast for dinner, cheap. Drink water with all meals except breakfast. We don't use juice here hardly at all. It's expensive and my kids have learned to just drink water. No soda, packaged cookies or snacks. If you want a treat you will have to make it homemade and it is likely that you won't want to so it saves you money and calories. I just realized, we're pretty cheap! Ha! And we have 4 kids! Thanks for the other suggestions!
I know it's a late comment, but all these comments are terrific! Very useful. One thing we are doing this year is moving closer to school. Eric will walk to his classes and we won't have to fill up the van every week. Also, it's close to all the kid activities-accross the street from a huge park, the library and YMCA is half a mile away, grocry markets within a mile, and most of the other student families live nearby for support. The rent is a little higher, but without the $300 hole in our budget for gas we can make the higher rent.
As for being able to save money we have a high yeilding online savings account linked with our checking account (HSBC Direct, ING, WaMu, etc). I think we have a 3.5% APY. It is a great incentive to keep money in there and resist the temptation to use it.
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