Tell me how your family saves money!

[pregcurious]

-Both my husband and I work full-time
-We bundle basic cable with internet.
-I get "free" cell phones on my plan every 2 yrs, and have only basic talk/text. No internet/data transfer. I may get rid of my landline if the cell reception is good at our new house.
-I buy my family's clothes in the off-season and/or on 40%+ sale. My daughter gets basics from Old Navy/Target, and we get hand-me-downs from friends' kids.
-I use a Target Red card.
-Be flexible on groceries, depending on what is on sale.
-Avoid eating out unless it's deliberate/planned. When we do eat out 1x/week, but it's only at inexpensive, kid-friendly places. We make a lot of dinners at home that last 2-3 nights. We also eat a lot of rice out of a huge bag, which is very inexpensive (just invest in a proper rice cooker.)
-If I can't pack a lunch, which is often, I buy frozen meals instead of buying lunch at work.
-Never buy drinks outside the house. I keep tea bags and pay a couple of bucks to have access to a water cooler. I get my husband, who is addicted to coffee, gift certs for Starbucks for holidays, instead of random junk. It makes it clear that it's a treat. He is not as good about not eating out.
-Try to pay off highest interest accruing debt first.
-Drive cars until the cost of maintaining them is prohibitive.
-We renovated our house ourselves, but that may change in our new house because we have a kid who keeps us busy.
-Do your own lawn maintenance.
-Keep dry-cleaning to a minimum.
-Have a low-maintenance hair cut. I get my hair cut 2x a year, and pay about $45 each time.
-I never get manicures/brows waxed etc. For brow waxing, Anastasia sells a small kit. Buy extra cotton strip and wood wands from Amazon, and the little pot of Anastasia wax lasts forever (they don't give you enough cotton strips/wood wands in the kit).

-You have to give yourself some room for a hobby. If that has to be bling, keep a strict budget. Ask for $ into this budget for birthdays/Xmas instead of other gifts. I've found this is the only way to discipline myself, and it forces me to prioritize.

 

[Rosebloom]

I'm sure you've done this, but if not, look into refinancing your mortgage. If your mortgage rate is over 4% you can probably do better. My company lets me just make an amendment to my mortgage for $1,500. Our most recent change got our rate to 3% and paid for itself in savings from our monthly payment in less than a year.

 

[zoebartlett]

This thread is very timely because I just found out that my position will be cut at the end of the school year. We've been having a few discussions lately about where we'd like to scale back.

While we technically have a land line because it was part of our cable and internet bundle, we don't use it. We only use our cell phones, and that works well for us. I'm not sure that we'll cut back the plan we have, but my husband's going to look into this tonight.

We'll downgrade our cable package. Right now, we have HBO but we also watch a lot on Hulu and Netflix streaming, so downgrading the cable shouldn't be a big deal. We have one DVR, which we may return. I wish cable could be a la carte. I hate paying for channels we don't watch.

We have someone clean our house twice per month and I called her this morning to let her know we'd be cutting that down to just once a month. We may need to let her go altogether if needed, but for now, we're hoping this change is sufficient.

We both drive older cars with lots of miles on them. We'll need to replace them in a few years, but for now, we love not having car payments. Keeping up with routine maintenance is important, and neither of our cars have needed major, out of the ordinary work done. That's helped us save a lot.

We used Dave Ramsey's Total Money Makeover book to work on debt reduction, and it's a great resource. I feel like we'll be at the step we're on for a long time, but we've met financial goals along the way, so that's good. Oh and with his plan, you pay off debt in order of total amounts you owe, it's not based on interest percentage rates.

 

[04diamond<3]

This is a great thread! DH and I had to cut back since I quit my job a year and a half ago because of medical issues. The biggest thing we did was downsized. And we're currently saving an extra $400 a month. DH also got a better job making nearly what we were making combined and we got rid of cable. You can get internet for $20 (during promotional period) and then I think it goes to like $60 with comcast? You'll have to double check. We have smart phones so if you want to completely get rid of internet too and just upgrade everyone to a smart phone then you'll have internet on your phones and it goes with you everywhere. DH's work also pays for his phone so our phone bill was cut in half. We only have one car that gets great gas mileage so we only pay about $150 for gas every month. But for us, the big big saver was not going out to eat. When we were working full time we went out all the time because I'd be exhausted after an 11 hour shift of depressed and suicidal insurance agents screaming at me all day.

I think you need to just look at your bank statements (also what we did) and see where your money's going. There's no greater reality check than looking at those numbers. If cooking at home scares you, just look up recipes (I love www.foodnetwork.com ) for inspiration. You'd be surprised at how many good things you can find in your pantry! Also, instead of buying huge steaks, get the chopped up steak. Just little things like that will add up and help.

 

[rubybeth]

Oh, forgot to add that I recommend using Mint.com for tracking expenditures. It helps you see a full financial picture. Not all banks work with it, though, but worth it to sign up and see if your main accounts (checking, savings) work with it.

 

[Dreamer_D]

Last summer we were in the position where we had to "find" $1000 per month for our second child's daycare. Even though my budget told me we had enough cash flow to make it work, after three months it was clear we were dipping into savings each month to actually maintain our lifestyle.. to the tune of $1300 I discovered this when I did the following "fun" budgeting project. We use debit and credit for everything, which leaves a nice paper trail. I looked back over six months of our spending and literally categorized every purchase. From this it was clear we were nickle-and-diming ourselves on coffee, lunches, "cheap" take out, and other silly things like magazines. These luxuries equalled our over spend. So, once we knew the problem we changed our habits and now we make ends meet (though it is not fun at all ). We basically have no money for anything fun. Oh yeah, its so much fun having kids!

Anyways, that is my tip: Knowledge is power! Instead of just estimating what you spend each month, actually look at the cold hard facts by doing what I did and categorizing every last spent penny. It hurts, but it helps.

 

[ForteKitty]

Credit cards are not always bad if you use it smart. I charge everything and pay it off in full each month, even if a transaction is only a few dollars. If you treat it like a debit card, you wont overspend. It helps you keep track of what you buy, and the cash back rewards are awesome. I always welcome free money. Some cc run specials so you can get even more for your rewards if you claim gift cards for a particular store. I always take advantage of that if it suits us.

We purchase a lot of things online, and I found that between Mrrebates, Ebates, and Fatwallet, we get hundreds back each year on things we are already spending money on. All I have to do is shop and check which one offers more money that particular day. Target.com has free shipping and if you have their cc, you get 5% off. If you pair it with one of the cash back sites, you can earn an additional 3-6%, depending on the promotions they run. Saves me gas and the headache of going into a store for supplies, and I get to save money.

I also clean my own house and do my own nails. I'm fortunate to live in a big city where there are lots of groupon/livingsocial/amazonlocal deals for haircuts, so a haircut that normally costs $85 is usually only $40. I snagged two amazing deals for laser hair removal for 6 sessions at $99. I bought a set for my underarms and another set for bikini. It was cheaper than waxing and I'm still hair free after 2 years. Best $200 spent on grooming ever.

 

[webdiva]

Oh ya! I highly recommend lifebooker.com to anyone in a big city, I pay $50 for my haircut and it's $85 regular price!

 

[SB621]

I also clean my own house and do my own nails. I'm fortunate to live in a big city where there are lots of groupon/livingsocial/amazonlocal deals for haircuts, so a haircut that normally costs $85 is usually only $40. I snagged two amazing deals for laser hair removal for 6 sessions at $99. I bought a set for my underarms and another set for bikini. It was cheaper than waxing and I'm still hair free after 2 years. Best $200 spent on grooming ever.

Totally off topic but you only spent $200!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I paid 6x that!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[TooPatient]

I'm sure you've done this, but if not, look into refinancing your mortgage. If your mortgage rate is over 4% you can probably do better. My company lets me just make an amendment to my mortgage for $1,500. Our most recent change got our rate to 3% and paid for itself in savings from our monthly payment in less than a year.

This was a great thing for us last year!
We were able to refinance with no charges, no points, no anything. There was a one time $100 fee that the bank covered.
Saved us over $600/month! (not to mention dropping the interest so we'll be able to pay the house off much faster!)


I roast our coffee instead of buying beans already roasted -- costs $4.99/pound instead of $12.99+/pound
Buy bulk wherever possible. Stock up on stuff that is on sale (that we use and keeps!). Buy a full case at a time (get 10% discount).
I also try to buy clothes out of season on clearance.
I cut SO's hair and got rid of my bangs.
Since his work and my school are in the same direction, we carpool so we've only got one car payment (plus insurance, maintenance, and gas = $$$$ saved!)
Our espresso machine has also been great -- The machine was only $250 (refurbished that was originally $1,000). That along with a good coffee grinder (on sale for $100) means no more stopping for coffee. I'm able to do mochas, lattes, and anything else you'd want.

We're also about to get rid of all cable service.

 

[rosetta]

I thought of some other stuff:

We rarely buy coffee outside, I grind my own beans at home and take coffee in a flask.

We use Quidco for cashback on most Internet purchases.

I called my phone company and threatened to leave. They cut my phone bill in half.

We have a small, very well insulated home

I dont buy books, I use my local library.

I use the Internet hotspot from my cell phone (which has unlimited data) to surf on my iPad. No home Internet needed.

I buy vintage stuff on eBay a lot.

I swapped from buying diamonds to a much cheaper hobby: perfumes. Thats an itch much cheaper to scratch!

 

[wildcat03]

- Ebates/Extrabux/Fatwallet (Referral link to Ebates and Fatwallet and Extrabux). All of these offer cash back when you click through their links to certain online merchants. Almost every online store is on there, including Amazon (which is on Ebates).
- Cash back credit cards. This only works if you don't keep a balance
- Bulk shopping - ONLINE! I order through Amazon. No tempting but unnecessary items like you end up with at Costco/Sam's. I use subscribe and save for the extra discount
- DSL. I call AT&T every year and ask them to match their current advertised price for new customers. I usually come within about $5 of that price.
- Reception only cable ($20/month) or NO cable!
- No home phone
- I have 1 store credit card - the Banana Republic card. I spend enough that I get free hemming, free shipping, etc. I never buy anything full price. My rule is that I only buy it if it's 30% or more off the retail price. And I make sure to use Ebates to click through when I buy things - another 3% back
- Coupons! Bed, Bath and Beyond near me has a HUGE section of hair products, etc. I buy a lot of that stuff there, with a 20% off coupon for all of it!

 

[JaneSmith]

Lower your water heater temperature to the actual temperature you use the water, instead of mixing it with cold water. While it won't make a difference in the energy actually used to heat the water (heating more water to a lower temperature is equivalent to heating less water to a higher temperature), less energy is wasted since heat loss is a function of the temperature difference between the water and the pipes, house, etc.

You should keep your tank at 60 degrees C to kill legionella.

I also clean my own house and do my own nails. I'm fortunate to live in a big city where there are lots of groupon/livingsocial/amazonlocal deals for haircuts, so a haircut that normally costs $85 is usually only $40. I snagged two amazing deals for laser hair removal for 6 sessions at $99. I bought a set for my underarms and another set for bikini. It was cheaper than waxing and I'm still hair free after 2 years. Best $200 spent on grooming ever.

Totally off topic but you only spent $200!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I paid 6x that!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I paid more, and it didn't work.


Great frugality tips everyone!

 

[Christina...]

Christina, I don't have many tips for saving $$$ on pets beyond self-grooming... We have 2 cats and 1 dog so we spend quite a bit on food, vet bills, petsitting when we travel etc. I actually started bathing my dog at home after our very first Petsmart experience. They gave us a $60 bill and when we got home, my dog's eyes were red and swollen. They got worse and by 10 pm she was whining so off we went to the emergency vet. It turned out there was dog shampoo in her eyes that was irritating her, so we paid a hefty vet bill on top of the grooming cost! I was like Thanks but I'll just wash my dog myself from now on!!!

OMG!! I'm so sorry that this happened to you and your dog! I would have been irate too, and probably would have but up a fight to have Pet smart pay for the vet bill! Poor baby, you are probably lucky that he will let you bathe him at all now! Our dog hates baths....loves open water, but not the tub! She has had some really dry skin this year and has really red underarms from scratching. We put her on some doggie benadryl and put a humidifier in the house and it's clearing up, but I had also been putting some bag balm on her underarms and for some reason it made them stink! So DH gave her a bath last night. It was hilarious watching him chase her around the house trying to get her into the tub! After he said that we will NOT be giving up grooming unless I intend to take over the job! He did tell me about a new business in the town next to our that is a DIY dog wash, they supply all the products and a big open area to work in and I guess it's quite inexpensive so I may give that a try.

 

[Christina...]

Many of you have mentioned that you don't have cable or a landline phone, how do you obtain your internet service? Sorry if this is a dumb question, I'm technology challenged.

We still get our internet through the cable company (we work from home, so we have to have it)...contrary to all the "bundles" and whatnot they sell leading you to believe you need 2-3 services, you CAN just get internet by itself!

I didn't know this! I will definitely be giving them a call this week to see what we can do. I actually don't think that I'll miss cable very much, it's usually only on for background noise, and we like to watch the news, which we can stream now anyway. Getting rid of cable seems like a no brainer now! I also talked with hubby about the nest last night and he was really interested in checking into it, so that is his assignment for the week! Thanks so much for the tip!

 

[Christina...]

I know the mention of nixing cable has been done to death, but add us to the list! And keep your Amazon Prime membership! We use it to order things like toilet paper and paper towels in bulk...all shipped for free and no need to fight the crowds at Costco or pay for a membership.

A suggestion for heating/cooling is to check out a Nest. It's a programmable thermostat that "learns" based on what you tell it you need and can adjust itself when there are and aren't people in the home. It may seem like a lot to spend $200 or so on a thermostat, but my friends installed one in June and have already saved $160 over last year's energy costs...and this winter was colder! So in less than a year, it'll pay for itself, and then the savings begin!

Totally second this suggestion. We installed a Nest in September and we love it. We get a daily report of our usage and there is a little green leaf next to energy efficient days. It's sort of become a game with us to get that green leaf!

It also allows you to adjust your heat from your smart phone, so if you are out more than usual you can send a message to the thermostat to turn off the heat. We like to turn the heat on about 10 minutes before we get home so the house has started to heat up again. It has a humidity reader so its easy to keep everything at a good level.

I'm really interested in learning more about this! DH thinks it sounds really great too. We have security cameras that we can control through our phones as well and it's super easy to do so I imagine that this would be similar. We've had really high heating and electric bills this year and haven't been able to determine why so I think that we are going to try the energy audit and then install this device. I'll let you and vc10um know how it works out!

 

[Christina...]

I suck at budgeting so I can't offer advise like some of the other people here. However, I can say that if the money is in the account then I view it as spendable so I have automatic transfers on payday so certain amounts go directly into IRA, 529's, savings and then mutual funds. This way I don't have extra cash in our checking account.

I used to think that I was quite good at it, my dad always said that I could squeeze to nickels and make a quarter....but I don't know what happened. Feeling secure maybe? I really like your idea too and think that it goes well with princess' suggestion. I think I'm going to have to take the checkbook away from DH though, he has a habit of not writing them into the register or telling me about it, so keeping a minimum balance could be risky until he gets in the habit of recording what he spends. We ended up with two overdraft charges just before Christmas and I was SO SO embarrassed explaining to my local convenience store what happened! Better communication between DH and I will definitely help! $27 per overdraft plus whatever the business charged for the returned check, will definitely be encouragement to do so!

 

[Christina...]

Oh, I tweeze! No waxing going on here!

If DH can nix the idea of doing pet grooming at home, than I can refuse home hair removal!! I had a rather traumatic experience with NAIR on a particularly sensitive area a few years ago and ummm.....never never again!!

 

[Christina...]

I know this may sound a little unconventional, but the biggest way we have saved $$ is by owning a family farm. We are able to harvest fresh eggs from our chickens and have several cows that graze on the land. We also rent out the house on the farm to another family. It has become a great tax shelter for us in the end!

DH said this was the best idea in the entire thread!! My dream home is on the water....his is a huge farm where he can he can grow veggies and raise animals. I really hope I win!!

 

[Christina...]

Do you have any suggestions on how to save on vet costs? Do you know of any products that are sold over the counter that are as effective but less expensive than the vet offers? Heart worm pills? Flea and tick treatments? I've also wondered if we could should consider a cheaper alternative for their food, we have her on innova EVO but I wonder if it's any better than many other cheaper alternatives? Have any tips?

I use my humane societies monthly vet clinic for vaccines. So much cheaper than my vet and my vet is fine with his clients using them. I do still maintain ties to a real vet clinic In case something happens. I buy heartworm and flea meds online. I have been meaning to look into pet insurance though... My relatives all seem to be moving towards that option.

As for food... I don't use it but I've heard good things about Kirkland's (costco) new grain free food. Might want to look into it.

If you can't figure out the nail thing, petco will just clip a dogs nails for... I think.... $5

Excellent advice!! I read up about kirklands and it has received some good reviews! We don't have a costco membership nor do we have one near by, we are really rural, but I was talking with my brother and he has an account and thinks that we can purchase online using his his membership and have it all shipped to our home, so I'm going to look into this. If it works then I'm going to purchase a bag and start blending into her food and see how it goes! Thanks so much for the tip!

 

[Christina...]

This is a general tactic, not a specific money-saving tip, but one thing that has helped me tremendously is that I "steal" from myself. On payday, I calculate exactly how much I'll need that pay period to cover bills in an Excel budget sheet, and then I IMMEDIATELY put the remainder into a savings account. It doesn't even get to sit in my bank account for a single day before I've whisked it off to savings. If I don't have it in my account, I'm much less likely to spend it.

I absolutely agree! I think that if we are going to make a budget work we are going to have to do something like this! If it's in my pocket than I think it's mine to spend!! I think the hardest part is getting my son to get on board! We haven't been the best role models when it's come to teaching him about budgeting and the value of saving money. I think it's a very good time to start!

 

[Christina...]

Oh, I tweeze! No waxing going on here!

Ha! Me, too. In fact, I've never had my eyebrows waxed. My mom showed me how to tweeze my brows when I was 12, and I've done it myself ever since.

Christina, I'm glad you started this thread. It's really informative and probably helpful to many of us who are cutting back for any number of reasons. I imagine most of us have nice jewelry because we've figured out ways to conserve in some aspects financially so we can afford the bling we covet! I am happy to share vegetable gardening tips with you, in exchange for some of your knowledge about flower gardening. I think MinousBijoux started a gardening thread last spring. Maybe she will start another one this spring, but if not, I'm sure someone else will, or I am glad to.

I'm really happy that I started this thread too! I can't believe how many fantastic ideas everyone has!!

I think another gardening thread is a great idea. I'm not sure that I would have anything to contribute but I know that I have lots to learn!!

 

[Christina...]

I don't smoke, drink, have pets or kids. This actually saves me more money than anything else I could scrimp on. I stopped work last October and our quality of life has not deteriorated in any way, as we have no big regular expenses.

My other money savers:

No gym memberships (husband runs outside, I sort of waddle)

I cut my hair once a year, my eyebrows are perfect without waxing (I'm not very hairy, it's hereditary, my mother has no body hair at all)

Own manicures, pedicures

I buy nearly all my clothes on sale, opting for high quality instead of quantity)

More great ideas! Thanks rosetta! I find it very reassuring that you don't feel as though your life has been affected in any noticeable by not working. It sounds as though from others here and that I've talked with that they feel that their quality of life improved when they decided to cut out un-necessary expenses and decided to live more simply. I'm hoping very much that it will be the same for us!

 

[Christina...]

There are some great ideas in here!

Sorry to hear about your changing situation, Christina. You have such a great attitude about it.

Thanks Rosebloom! I suppose part of the not freaking out yet is because I know that I can go work and off set the difference. In fact part of me feels that I should be contributing more financially then occupying a more supportive role. I've been surprised though by DH and DS's reaction to me returning to work, I'm sure that is mostly because none of us are that big on change and our family has been happily moving along in this fashion for a long time. I also feel fortunate that we have had so much notice and are able to prepare for changes to come. My heart breaks for the people who go to work one day and find that they no longer have a job to go to. I can't imagine how scary and painful that would be! Our situation is a bit different as this change is due to a decision that we have made and not one that was made for us. So, I think we feel much more in control than if it was pushed on instead of being something that we chose for ourselves. I still have days when I want to throw my coffee cup out the window in frustration, but then I remind myself that this really is the best solution for our family, whether we wanted to have to make it or not.


I'm overwhelmed by all the advice and suggestions! Thank you all so much for the support!!! I haven't even had a chance to read all of the post, and I want to respond to each of you, so I will be back later to start working on it again!! But now....off to take DS to school!

 

[megumic]

Not sure if kids are involved...

We use cloth diapers, which has already saved us a hunk of cash. We also don't buy baby food. We follow a method of feeding LO called baby led weaning and feed LO what we are eating. This saves us a lot.

We also use a health savings account, which is all pretax dollars for healthcare expenses, and we use a pretax commuter fund to partially cover DH's ferry expenses. If these are options, they're definitely worth it.

We are members of BJs, which we find helps save money too. I use their coupons, plus regular coupons and stack them for great deals.

We have a Nest thermostat as well, which we have found helpful to reducing our utility expenses and LOVE that we can adjust the temp from anywhere.

For LO we shop at kids consignment stores and only buy clothes for him if it's a great sale.

We do lots of crockpot meals. Super easy, usually very healthy, and always leftovers for DH to bring lunch the next day.