Thrifty Mommy

25 MORE Ways to Save Money

by Karen on October 15th, 2006

After writing the post 25 Ways I Save Money, I realized that the post was simply too easy to write.  It didn’t require any planning.  I was just giving you my everyday techniques.  I realized there are many more simple money saving ideas that I use.  Here are another 25 ways to save money and keep you thinking the thrifty way. 

26.  Shop close out stores.  Many times you can get the same name brands, just at close out prices.  I’m thinking “Big Lots!”. 

27.  Get magazines second-hand from friends and relatives.  I don’t have much time for leisure reading, but I do enjoy looking at magazines when I have the time.  My mom passes down her old Better Homes & Gardens magazines to me.

28.  Borrow books from the library or trade books with a friend. 

29.  Send pictures, notes, and letters through email rather than mailing them.  I love emailing pictures of the kids to relatives and friends.  Everyone gets an update about the kids and it doesn’t cost me anything.

30.  Save on stamps and pay your bills online.  This is free service through most credit unions and some banks and also saves time.

31.   Subscribe to The Grocery Game.  Terri’s list can help you coordinate coupons with the sales.  Many times you will come home with free or almost free products.  If you would like to join, please use my email address as your referral so that I can earn free weeks.  knowhimwell at hotmail dot com  Thanks!)

32.  Don’t smoke.  Smoking increases costs of health and life insurance.  Plus, we all know how expensive cigarettes are!

33.  Check your receipts.  I can’t tell you the amount of times I have been overcharged at the grocery store.  Better yet, watch the prices as they ring up your stuff so that you can avoid wasting time going to the customer service desk.

34.  Pay attention to the front page of a sales paper.  That is usually where they list their best deals to lure you in.

35.  Keep your coupons and coupon books in the car.  As I stated in the previous post,  Top 25 Ways I Save money, you should buy a coupon book . . . BUT if you don’t have it with you, what good is it going to do?  I usually keep my coupons and coupon books in the car. There have been a few instances where my family was out and about and I needed a coupon.  I was really upset when I remembered that the book got taken inside the house.  Errr!

36.  Shop at stores where everything is a dollar; stores such as The Dollar Tree, Everything’s a Dollar, Dollar Duz It, etc.  Sometimes you can find some really great deals in there.  I was at The Dollar Tree recently and found a 12 oz bottle of hand sanitizer for only $1.00!  I also found some name brand hair mousse, nice coloring books, and other good deals.  You just never know what you will find.

37.  Check your toilet for leaks.  Sometimes you can have a leak and not even know it.  In one particular house we lived in, our water bill kept going up every month.  Finally, when it was ridiculously high, I called the water department.  They told me to put a colored kool-aid packet or some food coloring drops in the tank of my toilet.  If the color ran down to the bowl with a few minutes, then I had a leak.  It only took a few seconds for my water to get into the bowl.  Problem solved, but with an outrageous water bill!

38.  Plan your meals at least 1-2 days in advance and put your meat in the refrigerator to thaw.  When you don’t have something in mind for dinner, then you will be more likely to get take out or go out to eat.  Also, if hubby suggests going out, you can tell him that you can’t because the meat will go bad. 

39.  Open blinds during the winter to use the light to warm and give light to your house.  I try to keep mine closed during the summer as much as possible.  The heat is horrible!

40.  Be on the look out for inexpensive entertainment options.  Take your family to the park, to a school or church fall festival, drive around looking at Christmas lights.  Take your wife or husband on a date to a coffee shop, $2 theater, the waterfront.  I’m sure there are cheap ways to find entertainment in your area.  You just have to look for them. 

41.  Don’t buy something just because it’s cheap.  I have done this in the past and regretted it later.  I found my house to be full of crap.  Just because something is 75% off doesn’t mean I need it!

42.  Raise your deductibles on your home owner’s insurance to $1000 or $2500.  You wouldn’t want to claim anything under that amount anyway or you run the risk of being dropped by your carrier.

43.  Treat clothing stains as soon as possible.  Avoid the aggravation of wasting time and money trying to get stains out.  Also, make sure the stain is out before putting it in the dryer.  What a horrible way to ruin an outfit.

44.  Buy crackers, snacks, yogurt, and other food items in containers or large bags, rather than in snack size packages.  I was appalled when I saw that snack size Ritz crackers averaged to be 50 cents a package.  I can buy a whole box for just a few dollars.  Buy the box and separate the snacks into containers or ziploc bags for easy use.

45.  Avoid buying extended warranties on inexpensive items such as car seats, cordless phones, and cameras.  More than likely, you will never use the warranty.  (You may want to consider buying a warranty on computer purchases though.  We always get our money’s worth on those.)

46.  Sign up for rewards programs whenever possible.  I signed up for the Food Lion Extra MVP card.  Periodically I receive checks from Food Lion good for future visits.  CVS also offers Reward Bucks.

47.  Use a Brita filter or other such type filter instead of buying bottled water.  We have been using a Brita filter for years now.  We actually have people come over and complement us on how good our water tastes.

48.  Don’t make impulse purchases.  Have a rule that you will wait at least 24 hours before buying.  Another good rule is to keep your credit cards at home.  Sometimes if you see something and don’t have the money to get it, you’ll simply use your credit card.  That instant gratification will get you!  Keeping your credit cards at home gives you time to think about the purchase and decide if you really need the item.  More than likely you don’t need it or you’ll realize it’s not worth driving back out to the store to get the item.  I think this tip would keep a lot of people out of debt. 

49.  Call your cable company. Find out exactly what is covered on your cable/satellite package.  See if you can’t cut out some channels.  Sometimes you can cut out $10-25 a month on this one.

50.  Watch movies at home.  Rent movies or subscribe to a service like Netflix. 

Well folks.  There you have it.  25 more ways that I save money.  This list certainly wasn’t as easy to compose as the first, but now you have a list of 50 ways.  I want to hear some feedback about how you all are doing on saving money.  Until next time . . .

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POSTED IN: The-Grocery-Game, Top 25, budget, financial matters, frugal living, money saving idea, saving money, shopping, time saving