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Ok, so I want to know what everyone's penny pinching tips are.
What do you do to make savings for yourself?
Eg. saving water, food shopping, etc.
I want to live a more frugal life this year - my main new years resolution. DH and I have put together our savings plan for the year which is exciting but I want to be able to save more.
THANKS!
Great thread! I will be watching with interest how to save a few $$ here too! Here are some things I am trying to do...
Remember to turn appliances and things off at the wall or even better, unplug it when not in use.
Don't leave things on like fans/tv/radio ect if you're not in the room
Eat less meat (if you eat meat, it's less expensive and good for the environment!)
Meal plan and write shopping lists and stick to them (we soooo need to do this!)
Don't shop mid week unless you HAVE to, you will usually end up with stuff you don't need, I always do!
Walk where ever you can or use public transport if possible
I will keep on thinking....
Thanks Lilias!
I'm pretty good with the meal planning thing - mainly because I love going through my cookbooks to see what delights I can cook for us this week :)
xxx
This year we need to save as much as possible too:
* well firstly, im going to use up everything in my pantry and fridge and not stock up on "just incase stuff"
I waste so much food it is shameful =(
* unsubscribe to all my online shopping newsletters - I am an online shopping addict
* buy only good quality clothing and not because clothing is cheap and i wont wear
* try to clean out my cupboard and sell whatever i dont need or give to st vinnies
* bake my own bread
oh one tip, my friend always cuts out vouchers and coupons and leaves it in her bag.
This is something else I'd thought of too. We have so many tins and stuff in the pantry, I've made my meal plans with this in mind - and that should save a few nights meals in our grocery shopping too for a month or so!:
Awesome people, keep them coming!
Turn off appliances at the wall. Turn off TV when not in the room, I don't have it on for background noise.
Have shorter showers (4 minutes).
Do my clothes washing in cold water. I do a hot wash with some towels once a week just to flush hot water through the machine.
Reduce my car trips. If I need to go to the shop to get more milk or to the library or playgroup, I will walk.
Make phone calls on my mobile because they are all covered under my cap plan.
Do my grocery shopping online because I can see the totals and I can take things off if I need to. It also prevents me from impulse buying and from buying junk food.
Meal plan, eat less red meat and use common ingredients in the weeks meals.
Op shop is my biggest money saver.
Clothes, toys, furniture. I love op shopping :)
Something I do, that really adds up is put all spare change in a jar & all extra $$ in the bank into savings. You know how there'll be $36 or something? Well I'll put the $6 out of each account onto savings every week/pay. It adds up to $20 - $30 a week sometimes :)
I am a fan of op shops too, but it is something you need to set aside time to do..sometimes some items are becoming more expensive at the oppy. But at Xmas I found a large framed map of "the British Isles", for $10, and I gave that to my parents for Xmas. Also the Salvos have regular discounts, like half price on their clothing, but items tagged with a certain colour price tag.
Take a bottle of water with you always, fill it up with tap water whenever you need to. Save $3+ everytime you don't buy a drink when you are out.
(If you are a snacker) Take snacks with you from home so you don't have the urge to buy overpriced ones
Use your leftovers!!!! Or cook just a little extra to have for lunches the next day. And put the leftovers away as you serve up, this will stop your DH or kids going back for seconds (which is what my DH does).
Look at the daily recommended serving sizes and follow them - 90g of meat is more than enough for most people a day.
Start a veggie patch - even if you're just using styrofoam boxes, you can plant lettuce, capsicum, eggplant, tomatoes etc. Plus getting kids involved in veggie plants gets them eating veggies :)
Buy only what's in season in the fruit/veg shop. This will get you fresher produce and saves money.
Put your credit card in a block of ice.
I have a stash of plastic bottles, filled with water, in my freezer, so I can use them at home, or take them with me. It gets so hot here!
I only ever used to drink bottled water (I dont like the taste of tap water), and it was costing me a fortune. For xmas last year my mum and dad bought me a Brita water filter but its one that sits on your bench and refrigerates the water and everything (they cost about $180 I think). I have saved so much money by not nuying bottled water!!!
We have down lights in our house so I am very consious of turning them off when we arent in the room.
DH works away so I try and allocate one Sunday a week where I do a massive cook up and make about 10 different dishes. I then seperate them into tupperware containers and load them into the freezer. This saves me from impulse buying on fast food when i've had a bad day at work and CBF cooking.
Ive just cleaned out my wardrobe (as we are going backpacking for 9 months in March and I dont want to pack everything). I had sooooo many clothes in my cupboard that dont fit or I dont wear anymore and I have been hoarding them. I have so them all online and made around $500 :)
I also find that when DH and I have a lot of money in the bank - we spend more. When we are broke, we spend next to nothing. I have opened a bank account that we cant transfer money out of online, we both have to go into the bank and sign for it, which stops us taking money out for stupid things.
This year I will save money on food as ill be a backpacker and wont be able to afford to eat!!!! Hahaha just kidding!
Getting the shopping under control is a biggie in this house. I have a 6 week menu plan that gets rotated and I try to shop fortnightly for it.
Obviously fresh fruit/vege milk and bread are an exception but I really notice the difference by doing it this way.
My pie maker is my god send. I save all leftovers even just a couple of teaspoons sometimes. Snap lock bag them and chuck em in the freezer. Once a week or what ever I pull them out and make up "surprise pies" throw on a bag of frozen chips and dinner is sorted for very little.
You would be amazed at how what kids will eat wrapped up in pastry :lol:
Using your microwave to cook too is alot cheaper than the oven or cook top.
I am a member of a savings forum and have found little things like halving the amount of washing powder you use and even cutting dishwasher tablets in half make a difference. My clothes and dishes are still cleaned just as well for half the product.
Vinegar and baking soda is an awesome cleaner and much cheaper than commercial cleaners.
My kids are older but they all call me the lights nazi. If they leave their bedrooms lights on when they arent in there they get 3 chances in one week. If they use all their chances, they lose their bulbs for a week. That one didnt take long to learn :lol:
I have found it the little things that add up so start small and you will see results.
(now to take my own advice after falling off the saving money wagon :shakehead:)
That is a great tip!!!:
I make snacks and lunch for my kids in the morning after breakfast and put them in the fridge. I have a divided tupperware container for each of them that morning tea goes into - the big section is for fruit, the smaller section usually cheese in one and nutrigrain (or rice biscuits or some other carb) in the other. I have the Tupperware sandwich boxes too and make their sandwiches first thing in the morning too. It means we are prepared for anything. If I need to go out suddenly, it is there and saves me a fortune on morning teas and lunches while out. Also if they don't eat it because they aren't hungry or they fall asleep, I put the lid on it and it goes back into the fridge and they eat it later in the day. I don't throw out as much as I was.
If we are ever out and the kids want a 'treat' - I buy them either a 300ml milk from a supermarket (I always carry a pack of straws in my nappy bag) for 70c each or if I am having coffee, I order them a babycino (usually free with adult coffee). So much better for them than juice or flavoured milk and costs next to nothing. They think either is a really great treat. I also have their packed morning teas with us and they often eat those in cafes and other places so all I end up paying for is a coffee. It is soooo much healthier for them.
Grow your own herbs. There is so much you can do with a herb garden and it really doesn't cost much to set it up. Saves a fortune on herbs and makes food so much more interesting. I use my herb garden mainly for salad dressings - I also planted a lemon tree because citrus is incredibly good for you (helps to decrease your blood sugar levels in your blood) and can be used for soooo many things. Lemon and other kinds of citrus trees are more a long term investment because they take a couple of years but if you need to, pot it so you can take it with you if you ever move. Growing things yourself also provides a lot of enjoyment and entertainment.
Use the library. If you are into books, check out your local library before buying anything. Saves a ton on storage space for books as well. I was surprised by what my local library had. My kids also think the library makes a GREAT outing.
Check out your local council website for all the free activities for kids around the place (surprisingly there are heaps).
Don't underestimate how great a pack of sausages, a loaf of bread and a bowl of salad can be for a picnic or BBQ. So much cheaper than take out and quite enjoyable.
Write a budget. This is probably the one thing that helped us save money the most. We know exactly how much money we have to spend and what we have to spend it on at all times. It has helped us so much. It makes us think about whether we really want something or we just think we want it. Also means that our bills are paid on time and life is very stressfree because we know where we are at rather than just guessing all the time.
:rofl: Bahahaha!!!! That's hilarious!!!! But a great idea for older children (and daddies!!):
Start using cash for everything. Make a budget and allocate the cash where needed - into envelopes or jars or whatever. Only spend what cash is available and if you overspend on one thing like the groceries then the money has to come from somewhere else, like the petrol or entertainment. Keep reciepts for everything so you know where your money has gone and make everyone accountable for their spending.
We attempt to use less power for aircon by closing up the windows and blinds early in the day and using fans when we can. Most nights it's cool enough here to be able to turn off the aircon and have just the windows open, and if not, then fans will do the job. (Mind you, I'm really feeling the heat right now, and I have to rely on M to tell me if it's too hot for the children... I'd freeze everyone if it were up to me! What good planning to have my baby at the end of summer!!)
We get our fresh fruit and vegies at the markets - although that does take time and planning and sometimes I just can't get there - and I've stopped being quite so worried about having fresh fruit and vegies everyday... most of the vegies will last out the week (we can supplement about a third of what we eat from our garden) but the fruit goes by about 5 days after I've bought it. Rather than making an extra trip, I just make sure we have tinned fruit (bought on special, or it's more expensive than fresh) and other things to eat until I get to the market again. I also get frozen vegies to tide us over if we run out of vegies.
Vegie garden - we started ours this year and have an abundance of vegies that we use each night. This week our fruit/vegie bill was $29 where it can be anywhere up to $60 usually.
Layby - put what you need on layby. You end up spending less because you're aware that you have things coming, so it makes me work on paying them off instead of buying something that we don't need or have the money for. Using $40 each week on four laybies will get you a lot more for less in the end than buying something every week.
Another one who has a water bottle attached at my hip. Done this for years, even when at work. Everyone would shell out money each day, every few hours for drinks, and I'd just refill my bottle.
Make things from scratch - great way to cook using what you have instead of buying ready to go things, like cake mixes and pasta sauces. If you don't have the things you need already, then it'll cost to start, but it's cheaper in the long run.
what vouchers and coupons? every time i read about shopping coupons, it's usually a US frugal tips site. So are you talking about shopping coupons in AUST?:
this is a good thread, i'm a subscriber to Simply Savings forum too, that has great tips (many of which are in the above posts).
my worst savings faults are
- not menu planning (no matter how many menu planning sheets i download/print out, i just don't get the nuts n bolts of it, to actually make it work)
- going shopping without a list (hopefully this is a symptom of having recently moved house, feeling chaotic, cos when life is going smooth for me, i do use a shopping list).
i've just stopped buying 3 litre bottles of iced coffee, that was my indulgence.
taking water and snacks with me everywhere is something i've adopted in last few years, but most times, i forget to pack something to eat for me.
when stuck out, (snacks have been eaten, or i'm caught short), my make do snacks when out are:
i'm usually in or near a supermarket when it happens, so i go into supermarket
- buy one Twiggy Stick (salami) from Deli section
- buy one slice cheddar cheese from Deli section
- get yogurt tube
- get Apple Yogurt Slice
- banana from fruit section
that sort of thing - to avoid buying junkfood for bilby e.g chips.
I am feeling inspired by Kazbah's suggestion to grow vegies/herbs in styrofoam boxes.
There are websites like Hot Dockets (Shop a Docket) so you can print off the voucher. Then there's the Entertainment book. Then there's the odd voucher that might come with your junk mail.:
My DH and I have lived frugally for years so we can save for things and we have decided to save up for something quite big over the next 18 months and are trying to find more ways to cut down. It's hard because we've covered most things already LOL!
Things that save us money:
* We have a VOIP home phone instead of a normal landline. Last month's phone bill was $8 :D
* We have solar panels on our roof (we were lucky and got them during the government rebate scheme). Our last power bill was $40 :).
* We have a rainwater tank and DH plumbed it to our toilets so when we flush we are using rainwater, not freshwater. It's amazing how much water you use when flushing. It's great when we get our water bill ;).
* We have the cheapest mobile phone plans going around. Unfortunately you can't get that deal anymore (we've had our plans for 10 years and my last mobile bill was $6).
* We meal plan each week and shop at Aldi where we save heaps.
* I usually make double quantities of dinner so we can either eat it two nights in a row or freeze one so that when I can't be bothered cooking I can pull a frozen meal out rather than buying take away.
* We very rarely get take away.
* We have a veggie patch.
* I buy a lot of our kids clothing from Baby & Kids markets. I only choose things that are still in excellent/close to new condition and our kids end up wearing gorgeous designer clothing for a couple of dollars a piece :). I also happily accept hand me downs!
* Most of our furniture is second-hand. We were finally going to upgrade to new this year until our new savings idea came up LOL! I don't mind living with what we have for a bit longer.
There's heaps more, but that's all I can think of at the moment. I'll have to check out those money saving forums!
Here is our interesting and challenging way for saving money: we have one month a year where we do no grocery shopping. At all. No even fresh fruit and veg.
During the year we tend to buy in large quantities from aldi (which is a bit of a drive away for us). And then, things tend to pile up in the cupboard. So for one month, we just make do with what is left in the fridge and cupboard. I make sure that I do have powdered milk for DS and tinned fruit for him. But it makes you be creative with what you have, use things up before their useby date and eat what you have, not what you feel like.
Not for everyone, and not possible unless you have a big pantry that needs cleaning out, but it works for us.
These ideas are all fantastic, thanks so much everyone. It's going well so far!
Subscribing because we are getting our finances in order too - so sick of wasting money. I've just started a thread on the cost of monthly living. Seems like money is on a lot of our minds at the moment.
subbing, ive got a 900 water bill that ive been "avoiding" from 2 moves ago thats just caught up to me :hide::redface: so so glad i sold that bloomin pool!!!
You are already doing lots of what the Simply Savings forum teaches. They also do $21 Challenges, War on Debt Calendars, and heaps of frugal tips how to make your own cleaning products, skin care products, all sorts of ways to save money. Everything people spend money on, they have tips how to do it another cheaper way. And ways to motivate yourself. pdf things to print out, tools to help you budget and achieve different goals. so many frugal ideas. and forums where you speak with other frugal people who get what you're doing.:
you have got excellent frugal infrastructure (the solar power, your loos, your water tank, your vegie patch).
Somehow (very tightly) we manage 2 mortgages, 2 cars and a baby on a minimum wage, and my parttime wage. So here are some of my tips to add, I am always interested in finding more ways too!
I have a spreadsheet of all of my expenses to keep an eye on where money goes
I have a bill calender (printed from excel) all bills are put straight on the calender when they come in.
I never pay full retail price! Know your prices and only I shop sales, and online for the best deals.
I have looked at (almost) all of our bills to find better deals / rates.. have a few more to go on this one!
I dont go to the hairdresser much anymore, and honestly my hair has never been better. All of my colour has grown out and my hair is now long and very healthy. I only get the occassional trim maybe 2 a year.
We have an awesome veggie garden and try to menu plan around seasonal produce and also what we have in the pantry (same principal as the $21 dollar challenge on simple savings)
I make what I can and support handmade markets / sellers.
Op shops - not as great as they used to be.. but sometimes you can still pick up a bargain
Only wash in cold water and we dont own a dryer (and I never have)
I take my own cup for takeaway coffee (my one splurge these days) that way I save 50cents everytime :)
I use vinegar and bicarb for most of the cleaning
I use cloth nappies, but I buy them on special or second hand. I havent paid more than about $18 for every nappy I have.
I still buy quality, for example I buy an expensive bra as I have found its best to buy one good one that 5 c%^p ones and end up spending more. But saying that I know how much they are and I buy them at end of season when they getting rid of the seasons colours and they are half price..
DF and I limit prepacked food and also try and make what we can from scratch
hmmmm thats all I can think of at the moment :)
wow mumma1, you are doing really well.
i can't believe years ago, (before i had bilby), i used to have a Gloria Jeans fancy coffee, each time i went shopping. Cannot imagine splurging like that now.
i totally get the "opshops not as good as they used to be" - the corportisation of opshops is amazing - i see 2nd hand goods, needing mending, stains etc - for prices that are HIGHER than that brand new item in a retail shop! they are money making shops now, not places to sell things cheaply to people in need.
does the spreadsheet help you when some bills are weekly, some fortnightly, some monthly, some quarterly, some annual?
that is the problem i have run into, with past attempts - trying to accomodate all the differing bill timings (not sure how to express that bit).
thanks Gigi, I am constantly surprised how we manage.. and there are times when I wonder where I am going to get the money for the bigger bills.. especially things like rego / insurance. But saying that I know we can certainly tighten our belts even more..
The spreadsheet I have is something I have had going for a few years, and its great to be able to tell what my 'big' months will be and I can plan around that. I dont really have it set up like budget as such (I am still working on that one).. But I can see from it what my average spend is at the supermarket over a 12 month period, and therefore what we spend each month and week iykwim. I do try pay things like electricty each fortnight when I get paid, so pay $50 or $100 on to it so it doesnt hurt as much each quarter.
DF and I are working on clearing our debt bit by bit, and we have also made a big list of all of our debts including the balances and interest rate.. so we know which one to pay off first (the ones with the highest interest rate..) and then once that one is paid off, we still pay the same amount but on to the next debt.. does that make sense?