Great Money Saving Tips!

Money Saving Tips

We have two choices concerning money issues. Earn more or spend less. Or both. Many, many families are living paycheck to paycheck or borrowing money they may not know how to pay back. The tips I want to share are ways to help you save money.

Food

• Eat out less often. When you do, use coupons or order daily specials when at all possible. If you have young children visit those restaurants that have free kids meals.
• Limit the use of convenience foods.
• Read the grocery store circular before going shopping.
• Buy the loss leader (items that are priced low to get shoppers in the store).
• Clip manufacturer and store coupons and combine them with double (or triple) coupon days. Make sure you know the rules for your store.
• Don't shop hungry.
• Make a list and stick to it, deviating only with extremely good buys.
• Investigate a big box store (Costco, Sam's) and decide if the membership price is worth the deals on food and other items.

Clothes

• Yard sales. The absolute best place to buy clothes that are barely used or even new. Usually priced to sell. Examine each item to make sure zippers and buttons work and no stains are present. Prices are often negotiable. When you find a great deal, stock up! If you spend $1 on something that doesn't fit and save yourself $50 by buying other used  merchandise the money saved is worth it.

• Thrift stores. Find the best stores in your area and stop by as often as you can. Make a list of items and sizes you will need in the future. Some thrift stores have special sale days or racks. These stores also usually have furniture, home decor, toys and videos for sale.

• Buying new. If you have to buy new, watch for sales and shop at stores that honor customer loyalty with rewards or discounts. Save gas and order online if you can easily judge sizes and fit.

CVS/Drugstore Rewards

There are blogs devoted to playing the "drugstore game." Customers are rewarded "dollars" for buying certain items, with the "dollars" to be used at a future purchase. 

This past Thanksgiving I went to my CVS store and bought $120 worth of items and received $120 in Extracare Bucks, making my next purchases free! If you pair these sales with manufacturer and drugstore coupons it is possible to even make money!

Ask questions! Recently I had $12 worth of Extracare Bucks that had expired a day earlier and I asked the cashier if I could still use them. She said yes. Most days I would have been too shy to ask.

Craigslist

Here is a tremendous resource to help you buy and sell everything from furniture to cars to services. This includes help wanted listings, apartment and home listings, personals and more. My husband just bought us a practically new, still under warranty wii for $40. The key is checking often on those categories that you're most interested in.

Bartering. In today's economy more people are willing to barter in exchange for goods

or services. We have bartered painting services for piano lessons, lawn care, vacation rental and therapy for our kids. You won't know until you ask!

Today we are all blessed to have access to an over abundance of money saving resources through the internet. There are ways to save money in practically every area of our lives. And somewhere on the net is someone dying to tell you how to do it! Read, research and invest some time in learning what works best for your family.

Want to see some of my yard sale finds? Click here and here. Want to know how my daughter had her dream wedding for only $5000? Check out the tab on frugal living (under my blog header) to find more ways to stretch your money.

photo credit

Linking with The Not so Ugly Ducklings