Top Ideas for Saving Money Daily - Page 10

Meghan&Noah'sMom · 02-15-2007, 07:54 AM

There are so many great ideas on this thread! I love rereading them every few days and finding a new idea to try!

While I already did quite a few of these ideas (husband taking lunches to work, cutting kids hair at home etc) I started thinking about what things I do already on a regular basis that haven't been mentioned- at least I don't think they've been mentioned.

1. On the weekends our kids love to go out and do family things the zoo etc, so we challenge ourselves to see how many free next to free things we can find to do. Some of them are basic like pop some popcorn and dust off an old movie we haven't watched in a while, visiting a different library or having family game night. Our library system offers free admission to museums, zoo's, and art galleries, so we make sure to "check out" our passes and each weekend we hit a different museum.

On the rare weekends when we want to do something that costs money, we set a limit of $10 and brainstorm for ideas. Maybe then we grab ice cream and head to a new park to play at, or hop in the car and explore a new city stopping at a diner for lunch or a snack. The kids think it's great and have even started coming up with their own ideas.

2. I buy meat in bulk, cut it up and freeze it in portions that accomodate our family. At Sam's you can get a whole pork loin for about $30- I can usually get two roasts, several pork chop meals and have some left over to chop up for rice or sweet and sour pork out of one pork loin. AND have leftovers from each meal to boot.

3. I freeze individual portions of leftover for lunches or dinners in a pinch. A lot of times if we forgot to pack a lunch for my husband or the dinner from night before didnt' produce any leftover's he'll just grab one of those and he's good to go.

4. When we eat at McDonalds or Wendy's we don't buy the kids' meals. At McDonalds we get them the chicken nugget value meal and they split it. Way cheaper and we just throw the toys away so.....At places like Wendy's they order off the dollar menu. By doing this our family of four is able to eat out for less than $10 ($6.84 if we eat at Wendy's!) This is also a great $10 family weekend activity!

5. I get my haircut at Fantastic Sam's for $10.99 with a coupon. I actually like them better than the high end salon I used to go to and I still have a trendy style! I can go more often (every 4 weeks vs every 7-8 weeks), get their styling products for my hair and STILL spend less than at the salon I used to go to for just a haircut. Plus they have a punch card- every 5 haircuts you get a free bottle of shampoo- all I need to do is buy the conditioner!

6. Ditto #5 for getting my hair foiled. While lately I've been coloring my hair at home, I have had Fantastic Sam's foil my hair many times- again, I can go more often (every 8-10 weeks vs 12-16) and spend less. Often times they have coupons- a partial foil for $20. At my old salon I paid $75 for a partial foil. ouch.

7. I am a scrap-a-holic, so I make sure to use my Michael's and JoAnn coupons to buy my tools (Making Memories tag maker etc) instead of buying them at Archivers or my local scrapbooking store. I figure if I was already planning on spending $24 for a tag maker or notch maker and end up only spending $17, I can then spend the difference at my local scrapbooking store for a crop or paper without feeling guilty and STILL come out ahead!

8. I LOVE coffee but can't stomach spending $5 for one at Caribou or Starbucks so I learned to make my two favorite ones at home. The ingredients cost me all of $4 up front, but last me at least two weeks! (add up all the gas I'm saving, too and it's really a deal!)

9. I use my Walgreens rebate money as date money with my husband. We can enjoy a night out without cutting into the family budget!

10. We have our own computer business, and for some things we barter instead of charging the person. For example our accountant. He gets free computer service, we get free tax and accounting services. Our babysitter's parents get free computer help, we get free babysitting.

11. We buy prepaid gas cards to purchase our gas. SA has a program if you buy their prepaid gas card you get 3 cents off per gallon. Since I like to pay at the pump, and there's usually a SA wherever I am, this works out great! Plus it's a great way to keep track of your gas budget.

Sorry it was such a long post. But I have found with those few things I have saved my family thousands of dollars a year. I know switching from my high end salon to Fantastic Sam's I have saved $500 alone. $800 in coffee's... you get my point!

vsherlock · **Cook more and eat out less**

The biggest way I have found to save money is by cooking more and eating out less often. In addition to this daily way of saving money I have been trying to write to one company a day about their product. Also, checking out their websites. Many websites offer coupons you can print or special offers. For instance Crest has it where you fill out a short survey and they send you a coupon for $3.00 the cost of a tube of toothpaste. This really works, you don't have to sign up for any stupid offer, you all know what I'm talking about, those surveys where you have a zillion bubbles to fill in.

phoward336 · **Coffee drinks**

Jenn -

Would you share your coffee making methods with us? I know I hate spending $4 a drink also and would love some tips on how to make a good coffee drink at home!

Pam
WAHM to 2

AFIRKINS · 02-17-2007, 09:28 PM

I read this really cute idea in Real Simple. Every time you and your DH are intimate put $1 in a jar and save it up until you get enough money to go on a nice vacation. There was one couple that went on a cruise. I thought that was a different idea!!!

Sun11598 · 02-17-2007, 09:30 PM

With 2 little ones in the house it would take a long time to save up for a cruise! LOL

halfgreekmom · 02-19-2007, 09:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jaxdaisy

One thing I have started doing recently to save money is packing a small cooler with drinks and snacks in the car when I know we are going to be out for a while. That minimizes us from stopping somewhere and picking up something quick to drink or eat.

I got that tip on another thread and boy has it been a great idea. I pack juice boxes, goldfish crackers, pretzels, peanutbutter crackers and other snack for the kids and me. I know that I have saved at least 20.00 this week.

daycaremom · **buy second hand**

My ds is 15 and does 3-4 sports per year. The costs for the registration alone is expensive. So I shop the thrift stores, sales, garage sales, etc. I always find affordable clothing, skis, etc., for them this way instead of buying all brand new. One thing I found is great, I look for sports clothing, jackets, etc. in the school colors. My ds always loves everything I get and some of the other kids even ask where he gets the clothing! Ex.: I just bought a almost new black with orange Nike wind jacket for $9.00 at Goodwill! This is usually a very expensive jacket. My ds school colors are black and orange. I already have a almost new condition high school letter jacket for my 11 year old dd! I paid $5 for it.
I think this is really something to keep your eyes out for as the kids get older. Just because sports can get expensive. I also try to pass the used sports shoes, baseball gloves, etc. down to my day care kids going into sports. Because it all adds up too quickly!

Meghan&Noah'sMom · 02-20-2007, 10:36 AM

[FONT="Comic Sans MS" Sure Pam!

Right now my favorite coffee to make at home is a spin off of Caribou's Carmel High rise. Coffee (I use either Folger's Gourmet Breakfast Blend or Vanilla Biscotti just because that's what we drink), 1-2 teaspoons Kraft Carmel Sauce in the squeeze tube, two teaspoons Vanilla creamer (liquid or powdered) combined in your mug. Top with Reddi Whip and a drizzle of more carmel. YUM!

I drink it hot or over ice, my even husband adds shaved Hershey Bar's to his whip cream and carmel topping.

Just a side note: I have tried dark roasts and Millstone's Peppermint as the coffee base- doesn't work quite as well. The dark roast leaves a different taste and the peppermint and carmel just don't go well together.

But! Millstone's Peppermint Coffee, a couple teaspoons of half and half, Reddi Whip and crushed peppermint pinwheel candies on top is a yummy drink too!

You can also take your coffee, a hefty dose of liquid creamer (powdered creamer doesn't work well here) and pour over ice. So simple yet so tasty!

When you're first making them it can be painful to fork out $10-$15 up front for the ingredients, but when you break it down, it ends up being about 50 cents per mug and we use BIG mugs. SOOOO much better than $3.95- $4.95 per cup! (We usually get two weeks worth of coffees from the carmel and Reddi Whip) (We're still on the same bag of pinwheel candy that I bought at Thanksgiving)

Anyway, those are my current coffees. Kraft, Pampered Chef and All Recipes have great coffee ideas on their websites- I love to nose around and get ideas there. (Pampered Chef has an awesome Chilled Vanilla Latte recipe that you make by the pitcher and All recipes has some Irish Cream coffees that sound delicious that I am gearing up to try.)

Hope this helps!

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Meghan&Noah'sMom · 02-20-2007, 10:41 AM

Oh, I should add that for us it works better to get the huge bottle of liquid creamer, more economical and lasts us two weeks. And I don't always factor in the cost of coffee when I break down the cost per mug because regardless we'd be buying coffee- it's a staple in our house!

phoward336 · **coffee drinks**

Thanks Jenn - they sound yummy! I'm going to try to
Caramel drink tomorrow!

Pam