Wednesday, December 18, 2013

Frugal Living~Saving Money

I'm taking the rest of the year off to spend the Christmas holiday with my family.  This post is part of my "best of 2013" series.  Have a Merry Christmas!


source~google

Since I became a stay~at~home mom 6 years ago, I've found a few ways to save a few dollars here and there.  My thinking is even if it only saves me a few dollars a month, it adds up to a lot of money over time.  Hubby brings home the paycheck and I find it my job to get creative sometimes to make it stretch.  I'm not complaining about this role, as I desire to be a good steward of what God has blessed us with.  Here's a few things we've done to save money.

Get rid of the cable/satellite dish.  We actually did this before I quit working, and we really don't miss it at all.  We never really watched much TV, so it was actually quite a relief to get rid of this bill.  With the exception of missing NASCAR (our 14 year old loves racing) and a few holiday movies at Christmas time cutting the dish was one of the best things we did for our family.  We still have movie night every Friday which leads me to the next tip....

Use the library.  We get movies for our family night from them.  Our library is part of a group in Wisconsin so if our local library doesn't have a movie we want to watch, we can place a hold on it and it will come from whatever library it is at.  We get lots of books each week, and we also get magazines and music CD's.  Free entertainment!

Save gas by making fewer trips.  I will admit this is an area I am still working on.  Try to do your running on only one day per week.  Get your banking, errands, shopping, library, etc. all in one morning or afternoon.  It will not only save you gas (for our big van this equals big savings sometimes!) but saves you time also!

Stay out of the stores!  When I just run in for eggs or milk, I inevitably find something on sale I just need to buy.  This does NOT save me money!  I am doing once~a~month shopping right now to help in this area.

Go down to one vehicle.  Ouch....did I really just say that?  We have two vehicles, but going down to one is something we've discussed.  I'm still praying that this could happen in the future.  I know this wouldn't work for everyone, but for many (including us!) it could happen with a little creativity.

Get rid of or seriously cut down on cell phones.  Again, did I really say that?  In a world of smart phones and i~everything, we opt out of this.  We have a tracfone that we add minutes to every three months.  We use the cheapest minutes we can.  We use this cell phone for our long distance calls (we don't have a long distance plan on our home phone~another way to save money!), and the few times we need to call someone when we are out.  I am astonished at the prices some people pay for their cell phone service~and the fancy phones.

Think outside the box!  We get our milk, eggs, and butter from a convenience store here in town because they are cheaper than the grocery stores.  We also use dollar stores for some items we know are cheaper there.  I don't care if things are brand name or generic as long as I know they are good!

What are some things you are doing to save money?

Blessings,

7 comments:

  1. Jess,

    These are some really good thrifty tips to follow. My motto has long been stay away from the stores. I try to see if I can possibly make due without until grocery shopping day. It's fun sometimes to step up to the challenge. Another thing that I think would be good for our economy would be to do more trading. We ladies could trade clothes and used products,etc.

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  2. Great tips! I also try to group errands to save money on fuel.

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  3. Jess,
    We are so on the same wavelength. I will try to give a link to this site when I post on Family and Faith Matters. If you ever feel like writing something else on another blog - contact me and we will put you in as a guest blogger.
    We do not have satellite or TV Cable; we try to write down all the little things we need and make one trip; we live with one car while we are down south and have one car up north (however, since I will be marketing my book we have broken down and got me another vehicle); I stay out of stores unless absolutely necessary; we have 1 old cell phone for emergencies that stays with the vehicle.
    So - I love your ideas.
    I stayed home with the kids for 13 years and in that time learned many money saving tips - but am learning more in my "old age" when really I don't need them as much. But I am using God's money wisely. Yahoo.
    Blessings,
    Janis my email is authorjaniscox@gmail.com

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  4. These are great ideas, Jess! After no spending in January and February, we have seen that staying out of stores saves us a lot! Cable...gone! Best decision ever! Cell phones...now that we need to work on! ;)

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  5. I saw your post on the Creative Christian Mama Weekend Whatever link-up. I enjoy these tips -- things like once a month shopping and less trips for gas is a great idea. I definitely plan out my budget to have fewer trips across town and so forth! And quick trips to the grocery store always cost more than they should! I just did a 15 Budget Tips for Eating Real Food on my blog www.honeysweetened.com if you're looking for more tips!

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  6. These are some excellent tips! Everybody could use a little more cash now.

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  7. Love this post! I did a similar one back a month or so ago on ways for SAHM to save money. You can check it out sometime if you want.
    http://jensjourney77.blogspot.com/2013/02/money-savers-and-makers-for-stay-at.html

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