How do you cut costs?
Find a Conversation
How do you cut costs?
| Thu, 07-15-2004 - 12:34pm |
We are going to have a big cut financially in December and I am worrying myself silly over it. DH says we can make it but I dont see how. How do you guys cut costs on things.I know I spend too much on grocery items but I feel like I am getting by on the minimal. I dont spend on hardly anything. Where can you cut? Tell me how you ladies cut costs. Please detail!
~Mollie

Pages
Molly, here is what helps me.
First off is that we keep track on EVERYTHING we spend! We have a box that holds weekly receipts and when we see unecessary spending we try to correct this.
A big thing could be to make sure windows and doors are well insulated. You can also probably turn your airconditioner up a few notches. You would be suprised at the money this could save you.
I clip coupons for the grocery store and have signed on the grocery store in my area using my card with their online coupons. At the checkout stand they just scan my card and the groceries I added to my card that week get coupon take offs. For instance Bread was 99cents but with and online coupon I got 50 cents more taken off! Usually whatever is onsale can also be given additional discounts if you have signed up. The name of the grocery store I do this at starts with a K and ends with a R. I also compare prices from the two mayjor grocery stores in my area, and will sometimes shop at both places.
I also do the end of season shopping on clothes this really helps keep clothing costs down. Whenever I grocery shop I also put any left over money in a special jar to buy clothes with.
We have canceled out cable and let the kids watch saturday morning cartoons just like we did as a kid. During the week they watch pbs and a channel called :The Tube- the kids watch Mr Ed and Green acres as daily shows. They actually love it and it encourages them to go to bed early on friday night to get up for their shows!
The interned has a ton of recourses as well. Just put in frugal living. Ivillage has Wonderful frugal living boards on parentsplace and parentsoup!! Hope that helps! Good Luck!
Are you a M.O.M-Mom of Many? Find other M.O.M's
I dont even remember the last time I bought clothing for myself. I sell things on Ebay so I can buy baby clothes for Gracie. Our electric bill isnt very high for the size house we have, we only water once every two weeks and the water bill is still expensive. Our mortgage payment kills us and the property taxes are horrible. It may be that we have to sell the house and recover for a few years. Wow.
Im just trying to think of every way to cut back that I can think of and hoping to find some ideas from you guys that I didnt think of.
~Mollie
These are just suggestions, I dont know much about what bills you have and so forth, but here it goes....
*When running errands or such, try and get things done in one place or in the same area, it will save you on gas, which is so high right now and costs a fortune.
*Clip coupons and go on double coupon days if you have them at your store. Try a diffrent store if you can and see if it might be cheaper for you to shop there for food.
*Get rid of any extra fast internet, and cable that you dont really need, being fast and having tons of channles might be a waste of money if you really sont need it.
*Try doing some secret shopping, it will be some extra cash and free food. I do it for a pizza place and have a free pizza dinner almost 3 times a month. I also get shops where I get paid to do things I already do.
Good luck and I am sure you can do it if you try hard and put some effort into it.
Yes molly I do have a budget. here is a typical weeks budget for our family. We also do a budget up to 3 months in advance, you will be able to get a better picture of anything left over.
Gas-35 a week(we only give ourself a certain amount to tempt us not to use it, my Dh works just across the street though so, not for everyone)
Groceries-100 a week( we eat mostly fruits and veggies in our house, we do not buy chips and crackers and such. By the time we are out of the fresh veggie isle we have spent 40 dollars. I would have already looked in paper to see what meat or fish is on sale and planned meals around that...this saves lots!. I buy us one treat like a gallon of sugar free ice cream or serbert since this is our favorite
Sams Club-20 dollars(we do this every week. we might buy toilet paper which is 13 dollars for about 50 rolls. We also buy the huge speggetti noodles. Or we stock up on sugar..laundry detergent or whatever is on sale. We pick one thing each week. Doing this, we have never run out of tp paper or laundry detergent. You have to do your homework though because some things are cheaper at the regular stores.
We pay at least a regular bill a week like phone, car insurance or rent(we are leasing at the moment) All of our bills are ahead by at least a month. We try to pay anything that comes in the mail right away. This also gives us a better idea of what is left over.
I have my purse and in there I give myself about 15 dollars a week. If I see a shirt for someone or pants I buy it right away. I usually don't spend it until it is up to about 45 to 100 dollars. I am really good at finding sells. I know that here for the presidents day sale at jc penny I go with about 200 dollars because they have about 40 racks with clothes for 1.77!! Khols here also has a sale about every 3 months. I have found shirts and pants for 3 dollars. I do not buy anything that is not on sale. Now it is mostly for my kids and Dh, I have this guilt thing where it is hard to buy things for myself.
I buy all of my cleaners at a store we have called the king dollar store. They have mayjor name brands there. I buy lysol and most mayjor cleaners for just one dollar. It is different every week so I try to stock up when I can.
My Dh and I have made a consious decesion to live simply. We just really do not care what other people think most of the time. We don't base our success on the things we have or the car we drive. We both have very materialistic families so sometimes that is hard. But we are the only ones that never need to borrow money from everyone. You just have to soul search and see what you can do without! I never skimp on Groceries though. It is important to me to keep things my children enjoy eating.
Are you a M.O.M-Mom of Many? Find other M.O.M's
I have always shopped at SuperWalmart for everything, they honor ALL competetor ads, so I bring in all other grocery store ads and I match prices on certain things. I do use coupons like crazy, that is a great way to try new things really cheap..
I cut my light bulbs down to 40watt in certain rooms. My hallways are lighted with 25watt. My livingroom is where we gather always, so my living room is still 75watt for reading and game playing...
When we file incometax we always get back so make it a point to pay my auto insur. and life insu. for 1 full year. If you want to keep cable, pay it for a year. I pay for all subscriptions and memberships for a full year as well. That frees up ALOT of money that you didnt realize you spent every mo.
I make my own baby food out of what we eat. I run it in a food processor and add a little formula/milk and viola, she loves it..
I use evaporated milk in my mac and cheese, mashed potatoes, cakes, puddings, so my gallon milk last longer with all the kiddies at home. And the taste is amazing, it is so much creamier than with reg. milk.
We do eat alot of fruit too, but we go to the farmers market. I dont know if you have one there. Have you tried growing your own tomatoes and green beans? They are so easy to grow. I homeschool my kids, so that is a learning exp. for them. It is so fun to see their excitement over something they grew and then got to eat.
We do like to go out to eat, but with a family of 7 it is very expensive. So we have been hitting the buffets, we have several different to choose from here. Seafood, chinese, home cooking, and my kids fav, pizza buffets. Alot of places do kids eat free on certain
nights, that helps too. On tue. nights we have a rest. where the kids eat free called Ryans it is a home cooking rest. It cost us 30.00 for all 7 of us to eat until out hearts content.
We take the kids to the park, the zoo (which is one of my memberships that I pay for with incometax) so my entire family gets in free all year. We go swimming the library.
And all of that is free and they have so much fun.
They like going to the movies too, so we go during the day when it is cheaper, and we stop by the gas station and we all get 2 kinds of candy and put it in our pockets so we dont have to pay the rediculas prices of food in the theater. All we buy is a drink.
Well I think Ive about covered all my ways that I try to cut cost.
I look forward to reading everyones ways they cut cost so maybe I can cut more...
Cyndi (#6 Edd 9/30) Its a girl
As far as clothing, I'm not ashamed to say I do shop at "second time around" and thrift stores for our kids. If you have a good eye, you can find items brand new with the tags still on them! We do buy them a few new outfits at the beginning of the school year, so they can go to school feeling spiffy, and we do buy new socks, undies and shoes, etc, but for jeans and shirts, if you're looking you can find really quality clothes.
In regards to the need to make a little extra money, the post about Ebay selling is right on the money. My husband and I have gotten into it, have been selling only since February of this year and already have made several thousand dollars. We "garage sale" on a regular basis, checking our local weekend paper for community sales. We (mostly he!) go to estate auctions and pick up items for a steal, make sure they work of course, then list them on Ebay. We have also begun thinking about offering our newly acquired expertise in Ebaying, to our local community for a small percentage of the end sale price. We already have one taker for our services, so we'll see how that pans out (DH just found this person yesterday).
I know the fear you are feeling, wondering how you will be able to make it. It can be hard at times, as I think most of society is feeling the pinch of higher costs and lower wage/hours. Another thought is, if you truly find the need, reach out to your community foodbanks. There is no shame in that, when you find yourself needing it. You can repay them by donating back when you are in a position to do so, which will make you feel a little better about the time(s) when you may need it yourself. Have you also thought about refinancing your home to a lower rate? They have 3 and 5 year "arms" out there, that give you a lower interest rate for that specific amount of time. It would lower your monthly mortgage payment, and give you a bit of a break. You could refinance again at the end of that term, when the adjustable rate would go up again. Just a thought.
Good luck to you in finding ways to make staying at home easier!
Carson - SAHM to six (sometimes 7!)
~Mollie
~Mollie
~Mollie
Are you a M.O.M-Mom of Many? Find other M.O.M's
Pages