we buy fruit veg from growers rather than supermarket
a lso we buy in large bulk anything on sale
example
pasta sauce 1.50 a jar we would stock up on 10 jars.. we make our own lunches and make our own recess food for kids too. We don't buy drinks at shops we take bottled home filtered water.
I shop at Lifeline! That's just snugglybean style though!
We ride bikes everywhere. Even when we had a car, it saves SO much!
We very rarely buy food when we're out, always take lunch to work - usually leftovers from a previous night's dinner.
We brew our own beer, and make our own snack foods (dips, chips, toasted nuts etc)
We're vegetarian, which can be a LOT cheaper than eating meat (my food blog is coming soon, I promise!) even if you only do it once a week, you may notice. When we did eat meat, we ate the el cheapo cuts and cooked them with heaps of vegies and beans and stuff.
Most of our food comes from markets.
Always buy your toiletries from the chemist, when theey're on special. Their specials are heaps better than the supermarkets.
Use re-usable items where you can, e.g. hankies instead of tissues (we own a tissue box but it's just because I made a stunning tissue box cover and I like to show it off!)
Furnish your house with kerbside collection - this also saves on potential renovation costs, as you have to keep your decor old to match the furniture!)
Get down to the library, newspapers, magazines, DVDs, CDs. Also some awesome books on DIY, and just fun to read.
We're actually not on a tight budget at all. I just like to live this way. Snuggly Style!
we buy meat in bulk,
i plan out our meals each week and take a shopping list to the supermarket so i dont buy things i dont need!
i buy homebrand nappies coz i find they are just as good as the expensive ones!
We dont have many options where we live, but I do get amazing savings from online chemists - just got 2 for 1 for pregnancy vitamins last night. Also when I was saving for a deposit I started with a direct debit to a savings account of $50 a month then slowly increased it. I set up for the statements to come only every 3 months so that I forgot about the money accruing and wasn't tempted.
I definately buy in bulk when things are on sale - its a large outlay on the day but means you don't have to buy for ages.
If you buy magazines regularly most times it is cheaper to sign up for a subscription and have it delivered to your door - however this isn't good for the newsagencies...
I plan my meals, and use leftovers as much as possible (eg broccoli & cauliflower on Sat night, cauliflower & broccoli cheese last night) in other meals.
I grow my own veg as much as possible - it's also a good way to learn to cook what's in season. In season veg/fruit are so much cheaper than "out-of-season" stuff. Learn to use a range of veggies - we have silverbeet risotto a bit now ...
For meat, we only serve around 90g/person when we eat it. We have our own chooks and sell the excess eggs @ work, we make enough from this to pay for their grain, they also eat a lot of leftover veg. We use their poop in the veggie patch and make up a fertiliser "tea" from it for everything else as well.
Wash in cold water, line dry where possible (I have an airing rack out on my flat roof that I hang the washing on, it's the only place with sun!)
Oh, and use cloth nappies. It costs a bit to get set up, but once you're set up, you have no need to buy any other nappies! So nice to not have to budget that extra $20/week! Also use cloth wipes with water, kinder on bub's butt and can recycle - I've cut up old flanno sheets & PJs to make some, or bought a pack of 10 washers from spotlight for $5 - bought them when Pip was a newborn and still using them.
YES i wash in cod water too!
for my electricity/gas i have a card that i pay $20 a fortnight into so by time the bill comes im usually on top of it already and sometimes i have even been in front!
we've also set our bills up so that we paid extra, were now plenty of credit on all of them, we pay more on the gas in autumn to get ready for winter(heating) and more for electricty getting ready for summer (A/C)
we buy meat in bulk
shopping at aldi has saved us heaps!!
cloth nappies and wipes
We also pay extra on things such as electricity, rates and mobile phone (but we stopped the extra on the phone as they lost $180 worth of payments and i fought and fought to get it back).
I like to shop weekly as i find for us this works better, i take a list and i buy what is on that list nothing more nothing less.
* Buy things in bulk (flour,sugar,rice)...might be more expensive to start with but in the long run it is cheaper!
* Buy things such as toilet paper,tissues, washing powders/detergents from places like BIGW they are cheaper.
*Shop at the end of the week as most supermarkets have all of their sales rolled out by the end of the week.
* Never shop when you are hungry.
* Don't forget to look at the bottom shelves...they usually have some good bargains down there :-)
* Buy things that are on special when ever possible
* Shampoo/Conditioner are also cheaper if purchased in the bigger sizes.
* Go to the markets for fresh fruit and vegie
* Buy meat in bulk ...although you need a chest freezer to do this
* Buy bread when they have the 2 for 1 price and freeze them.
* Dont always buy brand names, they arent always the best.
* Know your budget and stick to it.
* Use layby system when ever you can for things you might want but dont need now (when they are on special of course)
* Take lunches to work...use left overs for this
* Shop at Aldi if you have one close by ...you will be surprised with how much more you get for your money
These are all little tips on money saving ideas...hopefully some of these will be helpful.
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