My fiance and I decided that I will stop working at the end of the year so I can focus on my career and finally start a graduate program. I'm not crazy about my job, but it pays really well. Just the fact that we are going to have a few hundred dollars less each week when I stop working makes me very nervous! So we know that we have to save money like crazy this year, which means we have to make MANY sacrifices... no more careless spending!
I added up all of our monthly expenses and was amazed at how much money we
waste spend! So I started looking for ways to save us a bit of money, and these are the things that actually worked for us (in no particular order):
1.
Record your expenses/income- writing everything down has allowed me to see where I'm spending more money and cut unnecessary expenses. Also, part of my paycheck gets directly deposited in my bank account every two weeks and I get the rest in cash every week. One mistake I used to make was put all the cash in my wallet and since I didn't keep a record of what was coming in and going out, I would spend too much! Recording my expenses and income allows me to control them!!
2.
Making a budget- Once you record your expenses and income, you can figure out how much you'll need to put aside from your pay checks. I also have a grocery budget now and it has changed my shopping habits so much! I have a menu plan and make a grocery list with only the things I need, if there's money from our budget left after buying what's on the list I'll get something extra like a box of triple chocolate chip cookies! :P
3.
Couponing- Now I don't go to the extreme like those people in that TV show, but using a few coupons every week saves me a few bucks. Even if it's only $5, that's a gallon of gas!!
4.
Change grocery store!- This one was really hard for me! I got used to doing our grocery shopping at Trader Joe's since it's right accross the street from my job and it was convenient to just go there. But even though I LOVE their stuff, I was spending too much money! Another reason why I changed grocery stores was because at Trader Joe's I can't use all the coupons I'd like, since they don't carry many of the products. I really miss my TJ food, but it saved me about $100 a month! (And I'm still making the same type of food).
5
. Low income programs- My utility bills are reasonable except for my gas bill!!! I was paying at least $50 a month, which is way more than what my mom pays for a family twice as big as ours. So I called my gas company, they checked for leaks and also told me I qualified for a low income program. The program I applied for saves me at least 30-50% every month!
6.
Downgrade- I also realized that I was paying too much for our internet. It turns out that since my contract ended a few months ago, my internet company switched my plan to a more expensive one! I downgraded the plan and saved $10 a month.
7.
Shop at the dollar store- The 99cent stores carries tons of groceries nowadays! I even found organic asparagus there once!! You could easily buy half of your shopping list there for half the money!
8.
Change shopping habits- Whenever we go to Target we spend too much money!! so we decided to go there only once a month instead of our weekly shopping trips. I'm sure this will save us at leas $100 a month!!! yeah, we kinda go crazy every time we get to Target! lol Also, our dates consisted of movies at the mall, which meant there was some shopping around after the movie. We are going out on dates only twice a month and for dinner only! No more mall= no temptation to buy! Lastly, instead of having "Sushi Sunday" every week, we are doing it every other week, that's about $60 savings per month!!
9.
The envelope method- I use this to keep my grocery budget. I put $60 in an envelope every week, if there is anything leftover it goes back in the envelope so we have a little extra just in case we go over budget! Also, I make sure this is the only money I take with me, which forces me to keep my budget!
10.
Use what you have- This applies to many things. I make sure I use things I already have in my kitchen when planning our dinner menu, this means less things to buy! Also, we love movies and used to buy at least one every week we went to Target, but now have decided to wait until they are available on Netflix (unless it's one that we
really want to buy). We already pay for Netflix, so we might as well use it! And lastly, I know I won't be buying clothes any time soon, so I make sure I go through my closet at least twice a month looking for those things I haven't worn in a while. The whole "I didn't remember I had this!" feeling never gets old :)
We will be saving about $250-$300 (hopefully more!) a month if we keep this up!! Which will hopefully allow us to have a good savings account by the end of the year!
How about you, what are some ways you and your family save money???
MJ
