Richie and I are definitely not professional at saving money and cutting corners, but we have picked up a few helpful tricks here and there. Last year I did a similar post, so excuse me if I repeat myself, but saving money is just something that has been occupying my thoughts these days, so blogging about it seemed like a good place to start. I would love to hear your money saving tips and tricks too!
*I've learned to cut Richie's hair, and am getting better at it!
*We use grocery bags for our garbages, except our big kitchen one
*We wash and re-use all of our ziplocks
*We try and wait as long as we can to turn our heat on and just use a space heater. It works very well!
*In the winter, we buy window sealing kits at wal-mart for $10 and seal our windows to keep the heat in. For $10, you can seal more than 10 windows and it really helps!
*If at all possible, air dry some loads of laundry
*If you haven't already made a budget, MAKE ONE!!! We have an entertainment category so that we don't get too burned out, but we keep it very low. If we have any fun, cheap dates, I usually post about them. However, I found this really cute website through a friend's blog and it's all about romantic, fun and CHEAP dates! Check it out! http://loveactually-blog.blogspot.com/
*Instead of buying books that I want, or work out videos, or baby videos for Miles,or renting movies on the weekend, I just check them out at the library for free! Fabulous!
*I make Miles' baby food. It's SO much cheaper, it's incredible. And it's healthier for your baby! I've found it's not even that much more work. There are a lot of websites and places to go to find out more about it, but basically you just cook the fruit or veggie how you want, blend it up, then freeze it in ice cube trays! ta-da!
*I learned a little about canning recently and have already seen the benefits! I use the fruit I bottled frequently to make food for Miles. So much cheaper!
*Lately, we've tried only doing 1 major grocery shopping trip a month. We go to Idaho Falls to Winco where you can buy many things in bulk for cheaper. Before I go, I plan meals for the month, write a shopping list, categorize it (which makes shopping faster) and then look online for coupons for things I'm buying. There are plenty of sites out there if you google coupons that can help you save money. But it's important to remember that even though you have a coupon, it may not be saving you money! Sometimes if I have a coupon, I'll immediately want to buy something, but it's usually something I would never have bought in the first place. Also, when at the grocery store, never go hungry, stick to your list and make sure you look on the bottom shelves. Stores will stock higher priced items at your eye level. If you just look down more often, there are usually cheaper, comparable products.
*Richie may laugh and think it's weird, but I save all our wrapping paper, tissue paper, bags and boxes. It comes in so handy!! If I don't use it to wrap a present, I can use it as cushion to ship things, or for crafts.
*Use it up!!! Our society is SO wasteful, it drives me nuts. Before you throw something out, ask yourself "Is there anything else I could use this for", if there is, keep it. I'm not suggesting you become a pack rat (that also drives me nuts), but if you have some place to keep something that will be useful in the near future, don't get rid of it.
*Recycle! I know this doesn't really save money, but it makes me feel like I am! I recently started recycling our plastics and papers since there are bins not too far from our house. I'm not an all out 'go green' person by any means, but if there is something that I can easily do to help the environment, why not??
*Make presents for people instead of buying them! Richie's family always makes their own Christmas presents for each other, and while it's a lot harder, the gifts always have so much more meaning behind them. Here are some gift ideas for your significant other that Richie and I have done for each other in the past to help get your ideas flowing:
*Crochet a scarf
*Make an "I love you because" jar. Just get any type of jar you want, you can even decorate it, and then fill it with slips of paper, each with a reason why you love that person.
*When we were engaged, I deep cleaned Richie's old van for Valentine's Day. That is still his favorite present
*I got a frame with a couple different areas for pictures. I put 2 pictures of us in it, and then used the rest of the space to type in lines and dates from my journal when I wrote about Richie and how much I loved him.
*Last Christmas, we didn't really get each other any thing because we were saving for the best Christmas present ever...MILES!
*For our 2nd anniversary, I made him a board game called "LOVELAND".
*Here's an obvious one, but one that my dad can tell you I struggled with growing up. If you're not in the room, turn off the light!! Or if you're not using the appliance, un-plug it!!
*If your community or school has a group garden, utilize it! BYU-Idaho has a student garden and Richie and I benefited from that a lot last summer. You just weed for a while and help maintain the garden, and then get to take some of the produce. Such a deal! If your community doesn't have a group garden, you could always ask local farmers if you could glean potatoes or other veggies. Richie and I have never done that before, but heard it's useful.
*If you're thinking about selling some belongings on ebay to make a quick buck, think first. Over half of the things listed on ebay don't sell. And if your item doesn't sell, you still have to pay listing fees. If it does sell, you have to pay listing fees and a final value amount fee, which is basically a percentage of what you made. And then if you have offered free shipping, that cuts in to your profit as well. While ebay can be a valuable tool to make money, be careful. In a lot of cases, I think people could actually benefit more from just having a garage sale.
*Speaking of garage sells, go to them! And thrift stores! And discount websites, especially local ones like craigslist or byui bulletin board or blogsales online. I've already found 2 awesome Christmas presents for Richie for $6. There are so many useful things there that you can make work for you on your tight budget.
Well, there are some tips that we've benefited from. Maybe they'll help you too! Post some more of your tips to please! The biggest thing and hardest thing for me lately is that I see all these crafty ideas, or ways to make something on a budget. But truth be told, it's cheaper just not to do it at all. Saying no to creating, baking or crafting something is really hard for my these days, but I just have to remember that it's cheaper just to wait. Because if I wait, then I usually find the 'craving' goes away and I realize I don't need 'it'. Ahhh, one day when I'm a skillionaire I'm just going to buy out craft stores and home improvement stores and go nuts. I think I'll have to thank my mom for this trait. "It's a blessing....and a curse". -Mr. Monk.
And the best advice of all:
"When faced with the choice to buy, consume, or engage in worldly things and activities, we all need to learn to say to one another, "we can't afford it, even though we want it!" or "We can afford it, but we don't need it- and we really don't even want it!"" -Robert D. Hales
-Becoming Provident Providers Temporally and Spiritually- May 2009 Ensign
(This talk is fabulous to read over and over again. I wanted to put so many more quotes in here, but you'll just have to re-read it for yourself!)
