Some Simple Tricks for Saving Money

[bmoss85]

making a grocery list has helped my family out alot. we're saving $400 a month on grocerys now. now if i could teach my wife not spend money just because its there we would save alot more money. we've also cut back on eating out.

i almost bought quicken today, i might go buy it next time im off. between my wife and I we spend alot of money that we dont keep track of where its going.

 

[LilMissMkIII]

Some of my fave cheap receipes from the 4 Ingredients book:

Pie and baked potatoes:

PIE:

300g chicken, diced
Can of condensed soup (we use cream of chicken, or cream of chicken and mushroom)
frozen pastry.

Cook chicken, add soup. Line a pie tin with short crust, put chicken in, top with puff patry. Bake for 30 mins.

Optional - add some veggies to the chicken mixture.

BAKED POTATOES:

4-5 large potatoes.

Dice them up, add a little bit of oil and some fresh herbs. Bake for 45 mins.

Beef Stroganoff

1kg chuck steak (this is CHEAP!)
1 can cream of mushroom soup.
1 can cliced mushrooms
3/4 cup sour cream.

Cook steak. Add in soup and mushrooms. Cooks some pasta. Add sour cream to steak 5 mins before stirring.

Optional - add fresh mushrooms

Will add a few more when I get home

 

[mkiiSupraMan18]

OK. I've been debating getting something like Quicken for a few years now...

Can someone explain to me how they go about setting it up?

I don't do the finances in my house, my wife does. I get an allowance and not a penny more (unless I pre-approve it w/ the wife).




My tips:
-We have a 3 bedroom house w/ us and the kid, I let an old classmate stay with us while she's looking for an apartment. She's helping with groceries, gives us 'rent', and is always willing to help watch the kid between the time I leave for work and my wife gets home, or vice versa. We don't count on her giving us any money, but what she gives us we add to our monthly payments. ($800, so far) She thinks she's getting off super cheap, and we're knocking YEARS and TENS OF THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS, off of our mortgage! HA!

-Also, my wife and I work opposite shifts (no time overlaps) so we don't have to pay for childcare. ($250++/wk)

-Any money that I want to SPEND on my car(s) I have to MAKE from cars (engine swaps, headgasket jobs, odds'n'ends) so the budget isn't effected at all.

-Our one credit card we had debt on, we switched to a 0% interest card until like 01/2010... our monthly payment isn't much more than our 'minimum payment' was, and we're back to paying off our rewards card every month.

-We never pay the minimum on anything... student loans, mortgage, car loans, CC's, etc... If the bill is $141.34, we pay $150+. We wont miss $8/month, and it all goes towards the principal, which will eventually eat away an entire month's payment.

*edit*
also, so far EVERYTHING recipe wise on the Campbell's soup cans is good, if not awesome. They're usually super cheap and feed our household for 2 days.

 

[phoenix6]

I also forgot to mention, Serena is gonna be here in less than a month living with me so were gonna have to toss it all together later on.

Other tips - Energy Saving light bulbs. I got some of the GE ones, 26 watts that output the same light as a normal 100 watt, I saw my energy bill drop a little.

- Its getting colder outside, but not too cold in some areas.... Open your windows. Ive had JUST my windows open for the past week, its been wonderful in here, Fans on, just 2 (ceiling and floor) and I come home to a nice 75º in here. Needless to say, my next bill, is gonna be so cheap its ridiculous.

- Find alternate means of income, short burst, nothing major.
for example, right now I have a little invested in the stock market (scary huh?) and Ive got a few other means of an extra $20 a week to $50 a week, you would be surprised how far that actually carries you if you dont splooge all your cash?

- Going out to eat wastes gas, so does going to places you dont need to, get a DD gas saver if possible (use craigslist), I can go almost 2 weeks without needing to fill my 1.8 94 Celica (27 - 28mpg, 14 gal tank)

- Try to get an account that automatically rounds up your spending and puts the rest in savings. Ex: You charge $3.50, $0.50 is desposited into savings. (Wachovia is who I have, they transfer a dollar for every transaction on my card)


Ill think of more in a little while.



EDIT: DT - Yes, Aldi. FUCKING AMAZING!! That place is dirt cheap and its wonderful, like I said, majority of the time, $50 - $75 and Im fed for a month or MORE. I havent been in over a month and my roommate just moved out last week, we were both eating from that last visit ($75) and I still can go another week or 2.

 

[Kai]

I can vouch for Aldi - sure most of it is non-brand name stuff, but the quality is pretty good, and sometimes even better!

I shop at LIDL here, which is the same thing, just with one letter difference

 

[bmoss85]

i think im gonna start buying my kids diapers in bulk to save some money. im spending $250-300 a month between the 2 of them. i hope if i go to costco or something and buy really big boxes it'll save some money in the long run.

 

[WetBoostedDreams]

Little things like turning off lights/TV/etc. and keeping the thermostat a few degrees higher in the summer and lower in the winter make a big difference. Even when it was 100 degrees outside my electric bill didn't get over $20-$25. Granted, I have a small 1-bed. apartment, but I know people in similar structures who spend a lot more.

People say it all the time, but cutting back on unnecessary trips really helps. I commute 12-13 miles to work (each way) and live in a tiny little town so I make sure to do all my errands and shopping before I head home. I spend about $120-$140/mo. in gas and drive a beat-up 91 Celica as a daily.

Look at your cable/internet/phone/cell phone bills. Do you really need the extra features/channels/speed? Those upgrades are expensive.

I'm with mkiiSupraman18, definitely make more than the minimum payments if you can. I also transferred my credit card balance to a card with a 0% interest rate.

A good rule of thumb to follow: I you don't have the money for something, you can't afford it. Simple as that. The money that you're counting on next week or the week after to pay off the credit card may end up going to something else, or you may have forgotten you've already allocated it to that payment.

 

[mkiiSupraMan18]

^ HOLY CRAPP! Are you atleast breast feeding? lol

 

[WetBoostedDreams]

i think im gonna start buying my kids diapers in bulk to save some money. im spending $250-300 a month between the 2 of them. i hope if i go to costco or something and buy really big boxes it'll save some money in the long run.

What about buying reusable cloth diapers? That's what my parents used for me and my sister. Not only are you saving hundreds of dollars a month, but you're also keeping all that waste out of landfills. No, I'm not a tree-hugger, but I am conscious of those things.

 

[bmoss85]

never thought about using any kind of cloth diapers. my kids are 1 and 2 so they are on regular milk.

 

[LilMissMkIII]

We buy nappies (diapers) in bulk. 1 box will last our daughter a month, and save us around $50

We are also going to make her baby food at home, rather than buying the pre-prepared stuff.

It will be WAAAAYYYYY cheaper, and also better for her

We also ONLY buy clothes at the seasonal sales, and layby as much as we can, so instead of paying hundreds in one hit, we can spread the payments over 3 months.

Layby is also great for Christmas... I already have ALL my Christmas shopping done, and all I am paying is about $10 a week

 

[mkiiSupraMan18]

We buy nappies (diapers) in bulk. 1 box will last our daughter a month, and save us around $50

We just buy one BIG box of a size bigger than what he wears and use it. Who cares if the back of his diaper goes up to his shoulders? the sh*t isn't gonna get all over his clothes, I can promise you that. :icon_bigg

Plus, we're not stuck w/ half a box of diapers that we wont use for a few years (hopefully). lol

 

[Supracentral]

A note about using quicken.

Put all your planned and recurring bills into it, and USE THE CALENDAR FEATURE!

It graphs available cash, here's an example.

You're looking at it and you realize, damn, at my low point I've got $1,200! I can go spend $1000 on whatever the hell I want:

But put a placeholder transaction in, and see what the effect of it is in the future. You know you won't go below $0 this month, you're fine.

But move forward to next month and you get this:

This makes planning easy. Trust me. You can put placeholders in for all the things you want to spend money on. As you enter bills and real transactions, you can see what shape you'll be in months into the future.

And estimate all bills high and all income low for planning purposes.

You'll be very glad you did.

 

[Isphius]

work at a dunkin donuts or similar restaurant or get to know someone REALLY there I live with my girlfriend, her brother and his GF in a 2br. He works at DD and brings home cleaning supplies, cups and lids for when you leave the house, toilet paper, bagels, cream cheese, milk, salt and pepper, mops, brooms, bottle water and drinks, tea, coffee, sugar, rags all kinds of little things that save us a ton of money. We dont use a lot of it, so they dont notice. And most of the food products are trash anyways. They throw out a lot of bread stuff, expired milk, etc so by taking it were just reducing the amt of trash Also, get a membership to a sams club or BJs type of place. Getting things in bulk does go a long way. Esp things like pasta, cereal, premade frozen crap, and things that do not expire. We got through quit a bit of food with 4 young adults.

 

[suprarx7nut]

This thread just convinced me to be more careful with my small purchases.

It is really easy to spend a few dollars on lunch on campus cuz its easy, but when I can make a snack for 1.00 that fills me better than 4 dollars there...

Good tips here.

 

[s000pra89T]

Along with setting it a few degrees higher/lower than normal, a programmable thermostat helps as well. While you're at work, the house doesn't need to be cooled/heated with nobody there. From x time frame, have it set higher/lower than normal...then about 30 minutes before your scheduled time you come home, have it set to your acceptable living climate.


My killer is food....I always gotta have a good eat! :icon_razz DT or anyone....any more easy-to-make recipes you guys suggest?

 

[fixitman04]

life on the road limits what i can do for food

loaf of bread
pkg bologna
mayo
pb&j
dollar store cereal
half gal milk
couple cases sams diet pop
case of water(not an option...drink local tap water several times a day in different markets, not good idea)

like what 25 bucks? gets me thru the week...fortunately i still like these foods, guess i never grew up.(and i love ramen too, best stuff in the workd, but can't make it on the truck)

eat in truckstops, and you can easily be at 45 bucks a day...i only eat off the truck couple of times a week.not that this applies to most of you...

get a 12v crock pot and bolt it down in your sleeper. you can crock pot(slow cook)anything from roast to stew while you drive. there are also a few good engine-top cook books out there...some of the recipes in them are hella delicious if you forget the fact that your truck is doing the work for you( but then again why not it provides a decent living for you....think of it as your provider and you will be fine)

manifold steaks and baked taters are great.

 

[Big Wang Bandit]

I dont make a lot of money, and I live at home. Its sometimes pretty tough in that situation sometimes as well.

I invested in a gas saving car

I ride my bike a whole lot more, sometimes i ride it the 22 mile round trip to work.

Dont eat out constantly, but don't starve yourself.

Find the cheap places in town! I found a taqueria in a Mexican market, 4.50 for my vegitarian super burrito. so fucking good, its huge, the price to taste ration is thru the roof.

Just spend smart I guess.

 

[NgoFcukinWay]

Some good tips here. I'll try out that $1 in a jar thing (even though I hardly carry cash on me).

Food's really the big hit on my wallet (besides the Supra). 4 days a week, I'm usually at school/work for 10 hours so it's hard to make something for lunch unless it's nuke-able in the microwave and ~$7/day adds up real fast when you eat out for lunch. I'll see if we're allowed a crock pot or a George Foreman Grill at work, if not, I'll invest for one at home as I've been meaning to buy one lately.

BTW, who offers a high interest savings account? I've got Wamu (now Chase) as my default bank, and their interest for savings suck. At least for me anyways.

 

[Supracentral]

Some good tips here. I'll try out that $1 in a jar thing (even though I hardly carry cash on me).

Depending on what "financial league" you are in, you can adjust that $1 to what suits you. If you're really just scrimping by, do it only with change. If you're doing very well, set it at $10 and drop the $5's and $1's into the jar. You'll be stunned by how much is in that jar a year later, and you won't miss it a bit.

Food's really the big hit on my wallet (besides the Supra). 4 days a week, I'm usually at school/work for 10 hours so it's hard to make something for lunch unless it's nuke-able in the microwave and ~$7/day adds up real fast when you eat out for lunch. I'll see if we're allowed a crock pot or a George Foreman Grill at work, if not, I'll invest for one at home as I've been meaning to buy one lately.

I have a small refrigerator in my office I keep cans of Ultra Slim Fast chocolate shakes. That's all I eat for lunch anymore. It's saved me money, and I've dropped from 237 lbs down to 217 in a couple of months. It's better for my health and better for my wallet.

BTW, who offers a high interest savings account? I've got Wamu (now Chase) as my default bank, and their interest for savings suck. At least for me anyways.

Take a look at this thread first. If you are debt free, then we can talk about savings. If you aren't that thread explains why saving money is a loser for you right now.