Tell us how you save money!!!

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Dale

Super Moderator
Staff member
With the economy the way it is, thought it would be nice to share ideas on how we save money. The more money we save the more we can buy plants and seeds for our gardens.

When I brew tea I put a pinch of baking soda in the boiling tea. It draws more of the tea and you can use less tea bags.

And speaking of tea, I brew enough tea to make 3 gallons of tea. That saves me time but also electricity that saves me money. I make a gallon of tea and I put the other brewed tea in 2 quart jars. Dewey my husband is a diabetic and doesn't have sugar in his tea. So when anyone comes over all I have to do is add sugar to the already brewed tea and viola' a pitcher of tea.
 
Diet Pepsi - I'm an addict to the stuff. However, I usually end up drinking 3 of the ltr. bottles a day (give or take) at $1.89 a bottle. So, I've begun buying it in 2 ltr. bottles and pouring it into my 1 ltr. bottles. I get 2 ltrs. for $1.59 and our local convenience store is running them buy 2, get one free. It's cut my Diet Pepsi bill in half, and I'm putting less plastic out there to take up landfills. I am currently using the empty 2 ltr. bottles as starter pots for my seeds.

I've also learned that one of my fav places to shop is Goodwill. I've bought countless name brand outfits in there with store tags still hanging on them for $5 an outfit, and it's a great source for flower pots and such. At a quarter a piece, you can't go wrong.

And Freecycle! I love it! Keeping stuff out of the landfills and getting good stuff for nothing. What a combination!
 
programable thermostat
thrift stores
dollar store products
Shop sales
limit eating out
that's a few
I will add more
 
programable thermostat
use the grill year round
wash in cold water
compost instead of having the yard waste hauled away
 
SassyWVGirl if your convenience store completes their sale, right now Wal-Mart has 2 litre Pepsi products for $1 each. That's a deal!!!
 
I hang clothes to dry if I can.
When running water to do dishes I catch the water until it warms up, and water with the water I catch.
Shop dollar stores
Buy in bulk and freeze.
 
Goodwill my second home. Last year I bought the water saving and energy saving front loading washer and dryer. Save pop cans. Just took in 106 pounds of cans and got $36. Catch my own worms to go fishing and feed my turtle. I'm a coupon clipper! I reuse everything I can. I would hang clothes out to dry but I have 2 people in the house that have allergies. Freecycle is great! I get a lot of wood to build bird houses and other craft stuff from there. Just got rid of our old doggie door on freecycle. All I can think of for now.
 
programmable thermostat
buy in bulk and freeze
limit eating out to once a month
just bought a new grill
shop at Biglots and Dollar stores
I only shop at sales
started my worm bin
started my compst bin
started veggie garden
 
I have had my finances change considerably in the last few years so I have had to change my spending habits. I don't "SHOP" it is a very hard habit to break but you can do it. You will be surprised how you nickle and dime yourself into the poor house. When I really need something I won't buy it unless it is on sale for 50% or more off. When I go to get the item I need I don't wander around the mall, I get what I need and get out and I only use cash, when the purse is empty you can't buy anything else. I use to spend almost every Sat. garage sailing and would spend any where from 30 to $50.00 plus the gas for things I couldn't live without but didn't know I couldn't live without until I saw it.

So my hints are :
Start using only cash
don't buy anything unless you really need it
see how long you can do without something
Try to train yourself out of the SHOPPING habit
 
Try to train yourself out of the SHOPPING habit

Shop with a list & STICK TO IT!
Purchase gas in the mornings & use coupons whenever possible.

Another good one is: don't bring it in the house, unless you get rid of something else - goes for clothes, books, etc - for everything except foodstuffs. DH really stays on me about this one.
 
programmable thermostat
buy in bulk and freeze
limit eating out to once a month
just bought a new grill
shop at Biglots and Dollar stores
I only shop at sales
started my worm bin
started my compst bin
started veggie garden

the veggie garden is a great one , Dor! I grill alot too. When I cook, I cook more than I need and have for lunches and another meal so I don't have to cook every night. This saves money by not using the stove or grill for a little.
 
I must confess we go out to eat a lot but we eat the specials most often. One locally owned restaurant has a breakfast special every day that is grits or hash browns, 1 egg, sausage or 3 slices of bacon, two peices of toast and coffee or tea. All that for $3.65+tax and tip. Often when we have errands to run we go out for the breakfaast special and then have a sandwich or salad for lunch.
 
If any of you live near an Amish community(or Mennonite, etc.)-- they sometimes have their own store and sell their things at reasonable rates. Especially things like spices--are a whole lot cheaper than in the stores--even cheaper than Sams Club--etc.As I've said before --that's where I get most of my canning supplies.
Another thing is the "local" food co-ops. Your county extension can tell you if you have one and when it meets. If you dont live near the co-op store,you have a meeting of people in your area that want to order stuff and you order in bulk. But say you dont need a whole pound of cinnamon ( or whatever)--usually there are enough other people at the meeting that need cinnamon for you to make up a whole #. Then when the orders come ,as many as possible get together and divide up the orders.It takes a little time and effort--but it is well worth it. We usually have a "co-op" meeting in the spring and in the fall here. And they usually have pretty much anything you need--spices, canned goods, dry goods, cleaning stuff--etc.
Around here they have a seed co-op too.
 
Tim has really decided to give vegetarianism his full attention. I will be increasing the size of our garden and it will become our main source of food. We will add a couple hens]( I know not all vegetarians eat eggs) just for eggs. Even thought this is a health issue I can't see why more people don't take control of what they eat. It is so much cheaper than going to the produce market.

My tip: co-op with a friend or neighbor. A lot of times space is tight so if you each grow something a little diff you can swap off.
Buy seeds in bulk and split with someone, you get a better price or start your own seed co-op locally. I have 2 neighbors now that we swap things and it works to all our advantages.
 
Goodwill - go almost every day during lunch
fanatic about cutting off lights we aren't using
grill more in the warmer months
shop for sales
use rainchecks for later purchases
and...my favorite....yard sales!
Been known to find something useful on the side of the road...like enough linoleum to redo a bathroom floor for free.

Just this past weekend my sister and I went to several neighborhood yard sales. I bought 4 cases of canning jars, a complete water bath canning set up and woven baskets for $20; a brand new heavy duty charcoal/wood smoker for $20; My sis got a brand new folding Coleman type camping picnic table (with an umbrella!) for $10 and the most unbelieveable deal of the day...an immaculate, like brand new condition Schwinn AirDyne for $50.
 
Speedway. I know this sounds nuts and many have laughed at me for this. But our local convenience store, Speedway, has started the Speedy Rewards program. So, whatever you buy there you get points for, and since it's only 2 blocks from my house, and about the only place in my little town to get gasoline, cigs, and Diet Pepsi on the run, I shop there daily. So, these points are redeemable for various items either in the store, or gift cards to other stores. You rack up points by buying merchandise, gasoline, or gift cards. So each week, I buy a $50 gift card (1000 pts.) and use it all week until it runs out. I also get points each time I use that cards which racks up more points for me. So, in the fall, on my bathroom remodel, not wanting to go in debt, I started buying an additional Lowe's card there at Speedway (500 pts. each). By the time I got to the point of actually doing my bathroom job, I had enough points to get $225 in free Lowe's gift cards. I then took them to Lowe's with me, asked if they had any project starter cards that week. The girl told me that they didn't but they did have a $10 off a $50 purchase printing out on the register reciept. So, I stood there ringing up my order $50 at a time, using a coupon for the $10 off it, and then did it again and again until I had paid for all my merchandise and saved that $10 for each and every $50 I spent. I ended up saving almost $300 just on that. So, my bathroom remodel totalled up around $525 less than it would have if not for Speedway.

Now I'm saving my Speedway points for more Lowe's cards to be used on my garden plans. I even cashed some in for gift cards to Gamestop for the kids for Christmas. I love Speedway!!!
 
We have reward cards for every where. Clothes, groceries, coffee, ice cream. Oh and coupon and freebie surfing. Wow! The things you can get for free. Mostly sample size but they are everythingfrom alergy to zip lock baggies. I get a lot of free diet snacks that way that I have sent right to work;) Last week got 2 free Kashi dinners. thay were really good too!
 
I hang clothes to dry if I can.


I do too! And for some reason it seems to annoy people. I don't know if because I do it they think they have to, too, or if they think it's tacky to have a clothes line or what. Only that when I talk about hanging my clothes on the line, people try and argue me out of doing it.

Besides saving money, I really like the smell.
 
I always use my clothesline, it really keeps the ELECTRIC dryer bill down.
Turn your water heater down a few degrees.
Use CF bulbs
I LOVE my on demand water heater, it only heats when you use hot water
 
Speedway. I know this sounds nuts and many have laughed at me for this. But our local convenience store, Speedway, has started the Speedy Rewards program. So, whatever you buy there you get points for...

Be very careful of any store's "reward points" program. They're often a rip-off...

Here's what you need to do to find it if it's worthwhile.

1) Figure out how many points you get for each dollar you spend.

2) Figure out how much the reward you want will cost in points.

So, let's say it costs 1,000 points, and to get that many you'll have to spend $1,000.

3) Figure out how much the reward you want costs. (Let's say it's a $50 gift card)

4) Now, the important part... Figure out whether or not spending $1,000 at that particular store will cost you more or less than $50.

In this case, you need to ask yourself whether or not you'd save over $50 by buying those same items at another store, or warehouse club etc.

Also factor your time and gas costs in too. Spending 45 minutes extra time and $3 worth of gas to save to save $4 probably isn't worth it.

But at least do the math and figure it out. If it's a store you like, and they have products you use, then it's probably worthwhile. But at least take a look and see. They use terms like "points" to confuse folks and hope they won't do the math.

I recall one club that made a big deal out of it's point reward system. You get 1 point for each dollar spent, etc etc. When I did the math, I found out that it was a 1% discount, if you went through the hassle of the program. When I pointed that out to the salesman, "So, that works out to a whopping 1%, right?" you should have heard him stutter and stammer.

To be honest, I much prefer simply shopping for the best price to start with, and avoiding rebates and bonus points and cach back etc. I think that one of the main reasons CompUSA went bankrupt is because every time you saw a good price, it was always "with rebate", and you could go over to Costco and buy the same item at the same price, without the rebate hassle.
 


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