Favorite Everyday Savings Trick

I have noticed a lot of things that save money are also good for the environment. So instead of saying "I keep my house hot because I'm a tight wad" I can say I do it to help the environment

I also wash in cold water too. Never really thought about why. I figure it will keep anything from bleeding. I do completely full loads too, so I tend to mix a little more than I should.

It's amazing what we can do for the environment if we put our minds to it. I have beans and peas growing in the garden, not ready yet, hopefully one day will have loads more vegies.

I have a machine that weighs the load so means I can separate my whites and coloureds and not feel guilty about it. oh yes amazing how much energy hot water uses up. I work at an electricity company and you would be surprised how you can save on your bills with all these little tips. Having a second fridge for beer (which I know is important ...) costs over $100 a quarter to run. and running aircon at higher temperature saves $$ also.. I just wish I could practice what I preach when it comes to saving!!

I would say that my money saving techniques are pretty lame! lol! I'm just NOT a good saver! Or rather, I'm a brilliant spender!? ;-)

 

BUT, I do try to save bits here and there.

 

*I pack my lunch every day. This is seriously a HUGE money-saver 'cause lunches add up fast! And you usually end up eating a bit healthier when you're not eating out.

 

*We're very particular about the heating/ac in our house too...we keep it at about the same temps as Maria and Frank. Here in TX it gets damn hot...and your a/c bill is the quickest way to spend a crap load of money really fast! We also use ceiling fans to help everything circulate better...and you can usually keep the temp on the a/c a bit higher as long as you've got some moving air. Also, we make sure to keep the blinds/curtains shut during the day - esp in the summer to block out the sunlight...and we will be installing solar screens on the East and West sides of our house before this summer...we seriously get killed by the sun on the west side of the house!

 

*try to conserve electricity in general. Turn off lights, appliances etc when not in use. Have solar powered lights along the front walk of the house and in the yard. And we actually try to do most of our cooking outdoors in the summer on the grill...it's yummy, but also keeps from heating up the house by using the oven/stove (and making us want to turn down the a/c even more!) and also just saves us from powering those appliances more than needed.

 

*Stock up on sale items. DH's mom is the champ at this! That womas has everything you could ever need in her kitchen (or really just at her house!) and I can say with complete confidence that she paid about half as much as anyone else when she bought it! She's great at coupons (I SUCK at coupons) but also she just makes sure to hit the sales and stock up. We've found some great deals on steak or chicken and other misc. stuff and now have a freezer stocked full of things we can just thaw and cook up. It's great having the stuff on hand...and it's great that we got it for a good price! Along those same lines, with some things I make (soups, chilli etc) it's hard to make a two person batch anyway, so I make sure to package that stuff and freeze it too. It really does come in handy...and sometimes saves you from running out to the nearest restaurant and spending $$ there.

 

*entertain at the house instead of going out. Not to say we don't go out - 'cause we do....way too much. But we do try to have people over more...it really saves a lot - esp if you're drinkin'! :-)

We live in a small apartment so we don't have to worry about heating/ cooling. We barely have to run the ac or heater. But, in college we kept our place very hot/ cold. Even then our electricity bill was higher. The efficient heating & cooling is the main thing that has kept us from moving into a bigger place.

I really can't think of anything I do regularly except I almost always buy stuff on sale and/or I shop at Target and I use coupons at the grocery store when I can. Keep the ideas coming!!!

that is very sensible.. if you like living there and it's affordable then that's more important than having that big house where you will have to sacrifice so much more to pay it off..

I am also trying to not buy new furniture just because I am sick of the old, I am repainting and recycling old things that were used in other rooms and trying them out as something different..

Turn the temp down on the water heater. The shower should be just hot enough at full heat to shower in - any more and its a whole lot of $$ you spend to keep the water hot until you need it.

 

Packing lunches - and also buying larger sizes and dividing them up into smaller portions (rather than buying the convenience size).

 

Also, make sure your utilities/cable/internet/cell phone are the best available packages - no point in paying for 3,000 minutes on the phone when you only use 1/2 that!

Great tips! I need all the help I can get. We are going to have some major home-fixing-up expenses coming up after the wedding; not that the wedding isn’t one huge expense in itself.

We also eat out for dinner all the time while continuing to buy food at the grocery store which only ends up going bad. I’m in my “I hate cooking/eating anything at home” phase = $$$!

 

Here is some of the things we do to offset (justify) our eating out so much:

-pack lunch everyday (just me, FI still buys his) – this also saves me un-needed calories

-FI and I share 1 car and 1 cell phone –whoever is driving gets the cell for emergencies –it’s a very basic plan and I use it to call my family long distance. We also keep our phones until they die and then get the cheapest phone out there- of course we get harassed by the sales people to upgrade our plan even though they can see we don’t use up all our minutes.

-We’re homebodies and spend a lot of time at home – so we don’t go out much for entertainment – movies at home, walks with pups, visit family

-Haven’t had cable since I moved in with FI- close to 6 years. We get basic channels over the air just fine.

-Turn off lights when we leave the rooms

-Save water using the old: if it’s yellow let it mellow…

at least in the upstairs bath where I know it won’t matter if we have company over.

-I rarely buy clothes that are full price; I have to absolutely love them to spend that much on them. Instead I to straight for the clearance racks, I get last seasons styles but who cares.

 

 

Keep them coming!

Geez...you guys are good!

 

We only have one car and I strategically plan where I drive so I don't waste gas.

 

I pack mine and daughters lunch every day.

 

We recycle everything!!

 

I buy perennials for my garden to avoid buying new flowers every year for my patio pots.

 

We don't have a cell phone.

 

We keep the house at a set temp and I only wash full loads in cold water.

Buy a water heater blanket at home depot and turn down the temp even more!

We go out for dessert, not the full meal when we do go out.

My daughter gets her hair cut at the local beauty school. Once in a while, for a treat I"ll get my nails or a facial done at the same school for over 50% savings.