My daughter goes to local county technical high school. The cosmo department does haircuts/style/color for free once a week. You just need to call the school to make an appt. I started doing this when she entered the school 3 years ago and haven't paid for a haircut for either of us since!

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Kathy

When my daugher was in elementary/junior high, she brought her lunch every day. They had a microwave available so she could heat up her lunch (she doesn't like cold sandwiches). In HS, they don't have a microwave available so she has to buy her lunch. I discovered that by tossing our loose change into a jar instead of the bottom of our pockets/purse, she has enough $ for lunch for the week and then some!

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Kathy

Some ways that save are:
Buy from the dollar menu at Fast Foods and plan to cook when you get home. Like that it is just a snack, not a meal that you are buying. I also bought the entertainement coupon book (20.00) and my friends are impressed on how much we are saving. So far, at leadt 5 dollars a week.
The hillbilly house wife site has great ideas on how to spend less on groceries.
I also used vinegar, baking and washing soda. It helps a lot.

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Some banks have chang counting machines that they don't charge to use. It might be worth looking into if you have jars of change at home.

Our grocery store change machine charges eight cents per dollar.

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"Use what talents you possess; the woods would be very silent if no birds sang there except those that sang the best." ~Henry Van Dyke

I read through all the enteries and WOW thats great ladies. I know some of these will be repeat but cant hurt!

Laundry:
*We each use one towel a week. And I use one wash cloth a week for each daycare kid. Better then using paper towels.
*We wear jeans twice (me sometimes more) before washing them.
*Sweatshirts/hoodies that are worn over something get worn handful of times before washing.
*Use 1/2 recommended detergent that I already watered down.
*Use 1/2 teaspoon of fabric softener in downy ball in each load.
*If no liquid fabric softener I use 1/4 of dryer sheet.
*Wash in cold. Spin twice. Lay clothes over rack for while, then throw in dryer for half hour.

Electric Savings:
*When first started checked electric meter every morning. Then recorded the reading, and tried to lower the next day. Was surprising. Some days was 9 and days I washed clothes, or ran dishwasher was 14. It adds up.
*Unplugged lots of things. Cell phone charger, microwave, clock radio (i never use to wake up), any thing with a light that shows its plugged in. Power strio for tv and computer turned off at night.
*AC on 80 and heat on 67.
*Turned hot water heater down a bit.
*Ran dishwasher every other day very full, half detergent and opened to dry.
*Cooked things in batches that way oven was always full, and used once a day instead of multiple times getting to right temperature.

Kids:
*Library for books, movies, our library has book of educational toys you can check out 3 at a time. Has dollhouse, outside toys, big books, science stuff. Very cool!
*Zoo or museum ( free in our town) bring bag lunch and cooler for lunch and snacks.
*Bike rides, walks, parks, lakes, anything free and outside we love.
*School supplies are stocked up on in August. I over buy everything. Its a shame to pay $1 for notebook in January when you can get 10/$1 in August!
*Reuse backpacks/lunchboxes. I never buy character ones, so they cant complain.
*Look for clothes at local thrift store or rummage sales, we also do a friend swap where we all bring clothes from us girls, husbands, kids, etc. that dont fit us and take home what we want. Even if we leave with one thing, hey it helps. Rest usually goes to charity. But last year we had rummage sale and put toward out girls only weekend trip!

Out to Eat:
*Water only to drink.
*Share things ( lots of places have unlimited fries now, so we get one entree and one kid meal and one of them we get a different side then fries and split)
*Kids eat free day.
*Coupons online, or in paper.
*Buffet places are not worth it. $10 for all you can eat....is great if you eat alot! LOL
*Get it to go...save on tip, and can pair up with sides at home. Example there is great bbq chicken we love from local restaurant. If we go and get that with sides, salad bread and the kids meals it can run us $25 easy. I ordered chicken meal to go, came with everything and I added some things from home to be paired with chicken (which we all split at home) and was $7.


Bills:
*Call twice a year to see if any special promotions.
*Get month to month billing for things no contract so you can cancel at anytime no fee and switch to company with lower rate.
*Cancel long distance on phone and use cell.
*Cancel house phone if you have cell ( Some cant do this, I cant because of daycare)
*Budget billing. ( either set up through company and pay same amount every month all year, or set up on own)
*NO ATMS! The fees are crazy!
*Online bills. Save on stamps/envelopes.


Pay down bills:
*Get online account for credit cards. Then at end of week, or whenever you have any extra money (even $2) put toward credit card. This really helps!
*Call to see if they can lower interest rate.
*TRY to pay every month so no interest rate.
*Transfer to account with no interest rate for certain amount of months.

Car:
*Tires inflated properly
*Do not accelerate or brake fast ( gas and brake pads go faster)
*Oil change by book. My old car said every 75,000 miles. I was doing too much! Read manual.
*DO not keep heavy items in car for too long. Dog food, salt, sand. Etc.
*Turn gas nozzle upside down while in car to get last bit that was in tube and nozzle that you paid for anyway!
*Fill up on Wednesday mornings (cheapest day)

Household:
*Use one cup a day, rinse after each use.
*No paper plates, cups, napkins.
*Dust coils on fridge.
*Water plants with bathwater.
*Use plasitc bags from grocery store as garbage bags.
*Request samples/use them!

Thats all I have for now!

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http://mommysavers.com/boards/journa...wjournal&j=184
Amber

I use powdered milk for cooking, baking and keep the reg. jug milk for drinking. It saves ALOT especially with the milk prices souring!

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Tina

Mom to Austin 9/15/95
and to Rachael 7/15/00

This one won't save you a ton of money, but it might help a little. The other day I was out of Campbell's Soup at Hand which I love. I was going on my weekly Target run and really need a lunch I could eat on the go. I had a duh moment...just heat up any other soup and take it with me in a travel coffee mug or in my case I had a tall mug. It worked really well and I don't have to buy additional soups just for on the go.

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Never leave home without a drink (with a screw on top) and a baggie of cereal. When the urge hits to eat.... you have something, when thirst hits your mouth..... you have it already. No need to spend on items you have already with you.

I'm new here and haven't had the chance to read thru all the great ideas. I like what I see so far and I've taken many notes. Forgive me if this hint has been posted already.

We became Friends of the National Zoo (FONZ) for a $55/year family membership (there are more expensive pledges as well with more benefits). The National Zoo has free admission as it is part of the Smithsonian museums. However, they charge you $4.00/hour to park. The membership gives us free parking. PLUS the biggie savings is the membership is reciprocated at MANY other zoos throughout the US. I know it's accepted at the Philadelphia, Baltimore and Portland (Oregon) zoos. You can join and check out the list of reciprocated attractions at Welcome to the NZP | FONZ website

You also benefit from small discounts on merchandise purchased at the zoo gift shops.

I am an avid coupon user- so I just started this money saving idea this month. Whenever I get a receipt (grocery store/dept store/warehouse store etc.) I look at the bottom of the receipt to see how much I saved using coupons etc. I then take half that amount and place into our savings account. Our local grocery store Big Y has sales all the time on buy one- get one free, or buy two get three free. If you buy the items you know you'll need, or always use it works out well. Individually, the upfront price is high, but not when you factor in the "free" ones, they always end up cheaper. Just last night I spent 58.28 and with "free" items and coupons, I saved 34.27, so I came home and transferred into savings $17.00. I figure I would have bought the items anyway- so I might as well save the money and put to good use!