Favorite Everyday Savings Trick

I forgot one thing...I saw this on Oprah I think & decided to try - physically unplug things from the wall when not in use. I can't talk the boys in my house into doing this, but I do it with things like the coffee grinder, coffee maker, hair appliances, chargers that aren't actually being used. I shit you not, we saved $20 on our most recent energy bill! I would really like to do this with the TV situation...we'll get there.

Speaking of babies, I signed up on the Pampers and Huggies websites and received tons of coupons including free wipes offers and diaper samples plus those point thingies for free toys ( I think that was pampers)

Another small thing I forgot about is to shop at the Bulk Food store for certain things, but you have to be careful because you're not always going to get a deal. But an example would be pellets/food for my rabbit. I spent $1.17 for the same amount that I paid $5.99 for at a pet store!

Forgot a couple more:

* I buy our household cleaning supplies at the dollar store. Instead of buying off-brand cleaners for $3 or name-brand for $4-5, I get window cleaner, furniture cleaner, toilet cleaner, floor cleaner, etc... from dollar general. Same size product, but costs $1. This alone saves us about $20-30 each month.

* I learned a lot of savings tips from my dad. We shop garage sales and flea markets primarily because we think it's fun and interesting. But also, because we find things like brand new, in the package, toothbrushes, or other household items that someone is just getting rid of to save space. So we can find a lot of new items for $.50-1.00 instead of paying $3-4 for each item in a store.

* Along those same lines---- we LOVE, LOVE, LOVE going garage-saling in the "rich" part of town. I'm telling ya--- those are the best. These people are just wanting to get rid of shit without having to deal with having it removed, so there are some real quality items that can be purchased dirt cheap. Unlike lower-income and middle-class people---- we notice those garage sales are because people want to get rid of things, but they want to make $$$ on it, so the prices are higher.

* No judgment please on this one: We have been known to "dumpster dive". No, not for used crappy condition items. But the college town I lived in during my 20's had some fabulous finds every May/June. Literally, we would find brand new, in-the-box microwaves, TV's, etc... from college kids who didn't have room to take all the belongings they bought during the year back to their hometowns with them. Along those lines--- on occasion, we would drive around town the night before garbage day because we'd find nice furniture sitting curb-side to pick up for free. So forgot about those trips--- it's been about 15 years since I did stuff like that....

And, we love garage-saling and estate sales and estate auctions because we find some items that the people have no clue what their value is, and then we resell on ebay. I've found antique cameras that people were selling for like $5 and because of the brand name, I knew it was worth more- so I'd sell it on ebay or craig's list for $100.