When I was in college, I had a job teaching dance classes at a local studio. It was the best job I've ever had; I was doing what I loved, plus I made $20/hour doing it. Even better? I had accepted the job even though I didn't need too, meaning I was free to spend absolutely every dime I earned.
And spend I did.
Every month, I cleared about $800 dollars. And every month, I would cash my check and head straight to the mall (the glorious, brand new mall with all my favorite stores just a short drive from campus). It wasn't uncommon for me to drop my entire paycheck on just a handful of items. Suffice it to say, I was one of the best dressed college seniors I've ever known.
Sadly, those days are O-V-E-R. 
I'm now a news producer, married to a sheriff's deputy: we don't make a lot of money. Plus, we have bigger financial goals than splurging on a new outfit (or six) from Lilly Pulitzer (though, Lord knows, I've tried to persuade DH that should be one of our goals!).
I've actually learned that blogging can be rather profitable; there are a ton of websites out there that teach you to coupon like a pro, make a little extra money (doing surveys, reviewing products) on the side, and help you stretch any size budget to the limits.
At a time when the national unemployment rate still hovers precariously close to 10%, it seems like just about everyone has a secret for saving money. I want to hear yours!
So tell me...
The more "out of the box", the better!
I used to this when I had my first job and I do miss it. Although I wouldn't trade the kids for the world I do miss those shopping sprees
Great question. We used the grocery game for awhile (www.thegrocerygame.com). We paid $10 every other month for this service that matched the weekly ad with coupons and told us when things were free, really cheap (less than a $1), or not a good deal. And we buy 2 or 3 Sunday papers so we can stock up. A week of groceries at our house is usually $50 or less (including fresh fruits and veggies).
We don't use the grocery game anymore. We've figured a similar system that works for us-- making the list of what we need (or want) from the store, going through the ads online to see what's on sale, and then going through our coupons to see what we have that matches. Thankfully my husband helps with a lot of this. I couldn't do it on my own and work.
We also save money by joining our public pools ($10/person/year) than a fancy private one like the YMCA or a swim/tennis club. Our public community centers also have very basic gyms that cost $25/person/year, but we skip the gym altogether usually and just go on walks or run around the park as a family.
And we're getting ready to ditch the DVR and satellite, which will save us $70 a month. Eric hooked our computer to our TV, so we can watch anything we miss on HULU and have it show on the TV screen. We're being extra frugal right now though b/c I'm planning an extended unpaid maternity leave (taking the rest of the school year off after having the baby and returning in August to start the new school year).
I'm curious to see other people's suggestions for saving money.
Here's what DH & I are doing to increase our savings.
Look at what your net income is.
Look at what your fixed costs are (i.e. House, Car, Student Loans, etc)
Look at what your other consistent costs are (i.e. groceries, utilities, cell phone, cable, etc)
Look at what your savings goals are
Net your "net income" from all your "expense" items. If you come out negative, re-evaluate your expenses. Can you cut groceries by shopping local farmers markets? Can you cut your phone bill by only having a cell phone? Can you cut your cell phone by living without internet?
Then once you have a budget, set up penalities for exceeding it. If you say you are saving 10%, and decide you cannot live without Lily this month - make that purchase cost you in having to save 5% in addition to an extra 10% to make up for the splurge this month.
If all else fails, look at it like a food diet... Yes, you splurged today, but tomorrow is a new day...
Ooo...this is a great post! I don't have any great money saving tips but I can't wait to read other's responses!!
So far I've been pretty limited on 'success' in money saving. But this is what I know thus far.
Coffee stops are a problem, including the Iced coffee addiction I have summertime.
So I got a iced coffee-looking plastic cup from Starbucks (which includes dishwasher safe top and straw to match),, and I make two big pots of coffee a month and pour the coffee into a empty milk gallon jug. Then everyday I take a bit of ice, a bit of the coffee, some splenda packets and a lil sugar free carmel toriani dab and I'm off. No more unwanted donuts or bagels:)
Sounds like our budget - lol. I work at a gym and I'm going to college, and my husband is a pastor...so our budget is tight! My tip is pretty simple, but it works great for us - menu planning! I was amazed at how much I was able to keep our budget down just by planning our meals and making a shopping list around that. I blogged about it recently: http://justamandaslife.blogspot.com/2010/06/manic-mommy-monday-one-day-late-meal.html
great blog idea!
i like to think i'm pretty frugal and green...and often those things go well together, so a double reason to do it
to grow our savings i round every check i write up to the nearest $10
so if i write a check for $34.99 i actually write out $40 from the account--automatic deposit in the "secret" savings accound of $6.01...this really adds up after awhile (thousands in a few years) and makes the math easier
course--if you are neurotic about the balance being exact..not for you--but i check my statement every month to make sure all is correct
and since it's "secret" i don't count it as spendable money--it's actually our "disney fund"
i also charge all of our gas and groceries and other "spends" on a credit card that gives me 2% cash back and then pay the card off each month like a bill
this might not work for some either as they would over spend on a credit card...but works well for us--last year i made back $356 of free money!
i buy most "stuff" second hand
clothes, shoes, coats, etc...this saves us thousands and thousands of dollars--and i don't think we look "poorly" dressed...we get some really nice things
plus--it's better for the environment
we also use rags around the house for cleaning and throw them in a bin and wash them once a week--no paper towels
we use vinegar and water to clean most everything
two toilet paper squares work just right for a tissue--who needs kleenex?
we buy a lot of food in bulk and don't get a lot of processed foods
coupons don't really help us b/c i don't really buy that kind of food..but i do watch for good sales and stock up when the prices are right
we almost never eat out and if we are going for a long trip we pack peanut butter, a loaf of bread and bananas in the car for the trip
a peanut butter banana sandwhich is good, not too messy for the kids to eat in the car and saves us a lot of money
we use stainless steel for water and bring our lunches to work
i make myself wait at least 24 hours before buying something i suddenly think i need
hmmm--there are more..just can't think of them
Nothing to out of the box, but I buy store brand food. And if we order pizza it is the $5 pizza from Little Ceasers. Usually they get frozen pizza though.
Have a huge yard sale. It's summer and I am sure with all the money you have spent on the awesome stylish clothes you could have a great sale. I have a yard sale every summer and bank at least $400!
We have also just turned off our house and use just cell phones know. Also, take another long look at your insurance coverage(car & house) you may be surprised how much you can save if you just shop around.
Another HUGE saver for my family is the grocery shopping. I get each weeks sales flyer and I only buy what is on sale that week. If it's ground beef, then we have tacos, hamburgers and spagetti. If it's chicken and pork chops then we have chicken pastry, chicken pot pie and chops on the grill.
Remember shop the sales & not your stomach!
Good Luck!
I have nothing fancier than coupons and shopping at Kohl's clearance racks when they send me 15% off cards! :-D
Oy. I could use this advice. Hubby and I are horrible spenders!!
Hmmm.
I don't think I have anything new to add, but I'll give it a go.
We don't have any credit cards or any car payments. We negotiate our lease every year and get a decent deal. I allow myself a certain amount of money for fun stuff each month and it usually ends up being spent on clothes. I plan our meals according to what's on sale at the grocery store and stock up during sales/use coupons, but that's all basic knowledge kind of stuff, so... : /
We never go out and if we do our babysitters are free. And I color my own hair. So I guess that helps a teeny bit.
I loathe credit cards and refuse to finance anything. It'll happen with a house one day, but when it comes to electronics and fun stuff? Oh HELL no. I can't say I don't feel a twinge of jealousy when I see a friend with a Chanel bag thanks to her handydandy Mastercard, but then I remember that with finance charges she is going to end up paying double for it.
Ooops. Novel. Sorry. :p
I envy anyone who has ever had that kind of extra money to go on a shopping spree. I never have.
I loved this post. I am currently unemployed and discouraged especially after the news I learned today. You can read about it on my blog today.
We use coupons coupons coupons, limit our eating out to maybe 1-2 times per month if at all, we don't go to the movies anymore (that used to be a favorite of mine at least once a week) but the prices they charge nowdays just don't fit in the budget. So we use Redbox or just DVR what we want to watch on TV. Instead of hubby grabbing lunch out everyday, we now pack his lunch. We have saved a bunch of money by doing these things but we need to cut back even more. It's going on 10 months since I was employed and its getting tougher to make ends meet. And it seems like everything is breaking and falling apart now. UGh! Very frustrating!
Anyway, thanks for writing this post.
I'm on the coupon bandwagon and like websites like Hip2Save.com, etc. Plus DH is very thrifty, any time I think we need XYZ he'll keep his eye out on craigslist and he's pretty good at getting high quality stuff on there.
But (although unpopular with some money savers)... DH and I put everything on our credit card. At the end of the month we pay it off completely but we review the receipts and categorize every purchase (gas, food, eating out, house, clothing, dog, etc). I put it into a spreadsheet each month to see how close we are to our budgeted amounts.
Towards the end of the month if I feel like going out to eat, I'll pull up our online credit card statement and tally up how much we've spent in that category. If we're close to our limit I suck it up and make dinner. Same for all the other categories.
Also at the end of the month we look at how much we have left in our checking account after all our bills are paid and pay checks are received. We have several ING bank accounts that we divy-up the excess. 50% into long term savings (which we don't touch), 35% into our "slush fund" (for things like car insurance, life insurance, medical bills, and other random big ticket items) and the remaining 15% into our vacation fund.
Works for us!
I am an avid couponer! We are on one income as I am a SAHM. It's not easy & things can get really tight at times.
We only eat out a couple times a month & most times we have coupons for where we are going. I keep our grocery budget to under $80/wk for our family of 3. My husband packs lunch every day except Friday's where he can eat out but it has to be kept under $10.
I play the drugstore game & pretty much get all of our toiletries & much more for pennies on the dollar from CVS & Walgreens. We are so stocked up that our bathroom cabinet is overflowing!
The rest is just stocking up with coupons when I find a great deal on food or toiletry items that we use so that we never have to pay full price!
Really like your website - thanks for stopping by mine!
:-)
Great tips everyone thank you. I am following yout blog and I would love you follow mine www.sockoes.com
Not a money saving tip, but I have some bloggy awards for you!
http://twomonkeysawashtub.blogspot.com/2010/06/yeah-bloggy-awards.html
I'm relatively tall and sometimes have a hard time finding clothes at traditional outfitters that work for me, so I scour fashion boutique sale sites like Ruelala, Gilt, HauteLook, Ideeli, etc. for 80% deals on nicer, longer-lasting designer clothes and housewares (I recently got an entire DKNY bedding set that retails on their site for nearly $800 for $127 including shipping). We also have a local co-op deliver a box of food to our house on Thursdays. Not only does it help by pre-packaging serving sizes (so we don't buy 4 lbs of carrots and end up throwing out 3lbs when they go bad), but we eat fresh, local, in-season, and that tends to be a lot cheaper. Plus fewer trips to our local Whole Foods = fewer impulse buys! ;-)
800$!? lol yea I bet you were very well dressed!
<< everybody had good tips!
I've tried the couponing and all but the best thing I found to keep the budget is to stay away from stores unless its an emergency. If I don't go to stores or shop online, I don't spend money and am perfectly happy (most of the time).