Location: In the Land of Golden Warmth, Surrounded by Majestic Mountains, Inspired by Desert and Ocean, Cocooned in Love
Posts: 2,944
Ways to save $5
I thought we could all pitch in here and come up with ideas that save $5-$10. Applying 10-20 money saving ideas a month could save $100!
Here are some we do or are trying to do:
Skip little treats when we are out. (Which means we always take water bottles with us, and snacks for longer outings.)
Never get any beverage but water when we do eat out.
Line dry all clothing for a month.
Bake more simple treats; find recipes using oil instead of butter, recipes that don't call for exotic ingredients or chocolate (vanilla sugar cookies vs. chocolate chip cookies).
Cut convenience; buy 5 pounds of carrots vs. 5 bags of baby carrots.
Join a co-op (either local or something like Azure Standard).
Make one easy gift a month.
Don't buy annuals or even cut flowers.
Make greeting cards from what you have at home.
Wrap gifts in decorated white paper. Reams of white paper are cheap from online art supply stores, and they are multi-purpose. Newsprint ends or butcher paper could be used as well.
Put the word out. I mentioned to my MIL that we bought a display bookcase/big book holder for a steal at the thrift store, and she brought me 8 big books to use with the boys. When she realized that DS#2 is at the early reader stage she gave us about 40 of the beginning reading books she had for her classroom.
Stay home.
Use what you have.
Please add more!
__________________
Peace,
Kimberly...walking my path; loving, living and learning with an amazing man and two incredible boys.
cut some ingredients - when we make iced tea (saves us from buying soda!!) we use 1 less tea bag than we used to, and have cut the sugar by 1/2 cup as well. Not going to save $5 per gallon, but it does add up!
buy generics of foods that you can (there's some that just don't have a comparison!)
Use your library instead of netflix or trade movies with friends. Same with paperback swap (shipping costs do add up, but it's nice when you want a book to keep or as a gift - dd just spent $8 last week mailing out books!!).
__________________
Allison mama to:
DH (lol), Chrissy 15, Mikhail 12, Kiera 10, Kivett 8, Aislinn 6, Alannah 3, and fresh from the oven Kian Oliver-Bell 11/15/07
Location: if this were the wrong decision you'd already know it
Posts: 40,858
We went to the old house and put the thermostat 15 degrees higher and turned the hot water heater way down.
Stupid house. Got an electric bill for $139 for last month over there
The realtors aren't supposed to be turning our AC down and leaving our lights on!
Sorry - tangent
drink coffee at home - that's a big one for me
have DH pick up groceries on the way home (no extra errands)
rent from redbox ($1) and return on time instead of on demand movies
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Location: In the Land of Golden Warmth, Surrounded by Majestic Mountains, Inspired by Desert and Ocean, Cocooned in Love
Posts: 2,944
If your pets are overweight stop overfeeding and save on pet food.
Rethink expensive pet food vs. "cheap" pet food. My dog eats expensive stuff, but only needs 2 cups a day, vs. 6 cups of the cheaper stuff.
Feed kibble rather than wet food. My vet explained recently that all wet/moist food is designed to be supplemental and that kibble meets all nutritional needs. If your pet prefers wet food, add very hot water to kibble and let sit for 15 minutes (this is also good for older pets).
Read the newspaper online (and some magazines too).
Have a "no drive" day at least one day a week, then stretch it to 2, 3, 4...
Learn to eat porridges for breakfast. Cornmeal mush, rice porridge, and oatmeal are only pennies a serving.
(red clover tea anyone?)
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