Being Frugal...

[Pembroke_Corgi]

I love thrift stores! Consignment vs. donation makes a difference- consigned clothing is generally higher quality and less worn than donated clothing. One of my favorite things to do is go second-hand shopping, but in this economy I have found more people are buying there so the selection is not as good.

One suggestion I have for saving money that no one mentioned yet is winterizing your house. You can buy a kit to put plastic on your windows for very little (and get some rope caulk, which is also very cheap). Put the caulk in the places where cold air comes in, and put the plastic up on your windows- it really does help keep the cold out and lower your energy bill. Also, I would switch to CFLs and turn down your heat at night.

[Daisy and Delilah]

My son has told me what his girlfriend does. She has this down to almost a science. She goes to certain websites and prints fantastic coupons. I remember him telling me they have bought hundreds of dollars worth of groceries for $12. It amazes me. I have to get the names of the sites so I can start doing it.

I have stopped eating out so much. The money I save is unbelievable.

Store brands are fine for me. Some of them are better than others and some aren't. It's probably best to set up an amount you're going to spend on groceries each week. Make a list, add your purchases as you go, and you'll be right on every time. Make sure you leave what you can't afford and don't really need.

I save money on gas too by driving alot less. If I need to do something, I schedule all my errands in one day.

I'm doing laundry only when it's absolutely necessary. I was just throwing a load in whenever I felt like it. Not anymore. It will be pretty hard to cut back with children in the house.

If you're shopping online: sometimes the best way to go by the way, all around. Shop only where they have free shipping. Buy only sale items and only what you need. I love Amazon, drugstore.com, Walgreen's, and, Target(these sites carry a multitude of items).
The "Today" show had some tips on a couple of weeks ago. They said you can Google online stores and + coupons on to the end of your search. Alot of times, the store will display discounts you can take on yur order. You just need to obtain a code number. Example: Walmart + coupons(in the search box).

Long distance will get you in some cases. Find a cheaper plan and go with it. There are alot of them out there.

Get rates lowered on your credit cards by calling them. If you have running balances, be on the lookout for offers for free transfers and no interest for a year. Keep paying them down but with no added interest. Read the fine print. Many of them will charge 3% of the balance for a fee. Try to avoid that. Also: no annual fee.
The credit card companies were getting pretty strict for awhile but my mail tells me their starting to loosen up to get more business.

Tax time is coming up. Skip the high charges and learn to do it yourself. Make sure you know what you're doing. If you don't, the IRS will find the error and contact you.
Those tax forms appear to be so complicated. It's not that hard to read through them as soon as you learn how to eliminate the mumbo jumbo they add.

If you have to travel. I'm big on getting rates cut any way I can. Almost everybody at any business will give you a break if something is wrong. If you go to a restaurant and have a bad experience.....nicely explain this to the restaurant manger and they will generally give you the meal free or vouchers for another time.
Also, there are many travel related items that have discounts if you just ask. Hotel rooms, transportation, food, etc. I've found that just asking will bring out the best in people and you can get breaks on some of your trip.
Don't forget the senior citizens discounts, usually for the over 50 people.

This is a great thread. I think we can all use some help.

[Alysser]

This is coming from an avid videogame player, but seriously consider getting rid of games and game systems you no longer use. Sell them on craigslist, ebay, or ever go to the local video game stores and sell them off if you don't use them any longer. It could be sitting there collecting dust in your house when someone who wants it will buy it off you. You can get money for old things, maybe not as much as you paid but it's still money.

Going to stores like TJ Maxx or outlets saves alot. They aren't as cheap as thriftshops no, but it's cheaper then the other actual products!. I bought a Roxy jacket in TJ Maxx for $33 and I saw it in the mall for $70. I've seen many name brands like Nike, Puma, Underarmor, in there. I have even seen coach purses and Ed hardy stuff. I will admit some outlets are rip-offs and aren't really outlets, but the local ones that were just built have a great Underarmor outlet. I just bought two shirts in there(under armor material) and it would have been $40 but it was $15. I go to the gym ALOT, at least 3 times a week and some of my shirts get worn out, and I just joined. I also am planning on possibly start jogging but I'm not sure because I have a heart condition. So these things are good for me. I'm a pretty active person when you get down to it. You can get good deals if you search.

My mom bought me 4 hoodies for christmas all of them one clearance, all name brand. Lucky Brand Sweatshirt on sale in Lord and Taylor. 3 Roxy hoodies on sale for about $10, on clearance in MACY'S. You might be able to find good deals even in MACY'S and Nordstrom and overpriced stores like that.

Oh, and one more thing:
You don't have to join diets like Jenny Craig and South Beach Diet to loose weight, you really don't. If you exercise enough and make your own diet up you get results and I have found BETTER Results by doing it myself. Also, if you want to join a gym, go to RetroFitness. It's only $20 a month and $140 to actually join, but if you wait awhile you will find they always make deals like Join for $50 or $70. I JOINED FOR FREE, because I waited for a deal to come! My friend joined a gym that was $175 a month! THAT is outrageous when there is a RetroFitness right down the road. There's NO catch, same machines and equipment/etc.

[popcornbird]

We've also taken a few steps to try to save money.

1. We got rid of my cell phone plan. I'm at home most of the time, so people can always call me at home. The only time I need a cell phone is when I go out, and that is only so my husband can reach me if/when he needs anything, or in case of an emergency. We pay $100 for 1000 minutes that usually last me 7 - 9 months. That saves us a few hundred dollars every year. For our home phone, we have Vonage. It saves us a lot, especially on international calls to family members who live overseas.

2. I personally have never shopped at a thrift shop, but I don't buy clothes very often. I only buy clothes when I need clothes. Sometimes, I sew my own clothes. When I buy, I prefer to buy nice clothes...usually from Macy's. You'd be surprised to know the great deals you can get at Macy's during big sales and clearances. I have managed to buy dresses that were originally $150 for less than $30, and $50 pants for $10. You can get good deals there if you look at the right time, in the right racks.

3. We often sell things we don't need on Amazon, like books, etc. That brings in some extra cash.

4. We eat out only once or twice a month. Cooking at home saves a LOT of money, and you can make it a lot healthier too.

5. I try to use the AC/heat only when absolutely necessary. Warm clothing and blankets help save on bills.

6. I was driving less when gas prices were high, but now that they're low again, we've become a little relaxed on the driving.

7. You'd be surprised how much money you can save by shopping for groceries at small, individually owned shops instead of the big stores like Safeway and others. What costs 20 cents at a small grocery store would cost $1 at Safeway. Translate that into an entire week's shopping and you'll be saving at least $20 a week.

8. We stay completely debt-free by not getting a loan on anything.

[Catlady711]

There was a similar THREAD here back in the summer full of great tips.

I posted a lengthy post there full of tips you can read if you want.

In addition to what I had originally listed there I've added a couple more ways to save since that post...

We cut the cable service back to the next to bottom analog service. We're going to cancel the service but not until I get a billing error fixed then it's only movies on youtube and the library for us. We got our converter box coupon the other day.

This one sounds gross but it really does work and the savings do add up. Don't flush the toilet every time. Even a low flow toilet uses a couple gallons of water per flush. If you have several people living in your home that adds up to a lot of gallons to flush a few pieces of thin paper and basically more water. My last water bill was $10 less from doing this. I read about it on some website I stumbled across, with the slogan "if it's yellow let it mellow, if it's brown flush it down". I don't do this at the end of the day or if we're going away because I don't want it to sit there and stink all day/night. It really doesn't make sense for me to flush a little pee and paper when hubby's right outside the door wanting in to do the same thing. One flush will suffice.

We declutter during the slower more boring winter months and pack in boxes all the usable items we no longer need or want. In the summer we have many small garage sales. The money we make goes in a jar for things like vacations, a new gadget, or whatever we both agree on using it for. We've had as much as $300 in there before from one summer of garage sales. I price my stuff dirt cheap to sell and get rid of not to make money. By doing that we sell alot more in volume! Not only that but our house is getting less cluttered all the time. Someday I'll finally have a bare shelf somewhere with not a darn thing on it! lol

I've been saving the super cheap bread baggies I use for my lunches for cleaning the cat boxes out with so I'm using less garbage bags.

I water down my dish soap so it goes further.

I'm mostly switched over from using liquid hand soap and body wash to bar soap. I bought a couple of these(mesh sponge) to put my bar soap in. One I got at Bath & Body works but they don't seem to have them anymore. The other I got at a department store and it had a regular sponge in it which I took out. I can buy a year's supply of bar soap on sale with a coupon for less than I was spending for just a couple months on liquid soap.

We ditched buying paper plates anymore, it just means hubby has to do more dishes.

We rewash the plastic silverwear and use them until they all break before buying new ones. I draw the line at washing out ziplock bags though. lol

We bought some powdered milk for cooking. Hubby & I both grew up having to drink this stuff and both swore we'd never use it ourselves, however.... I have found that if you just use it for cooking you can't tell the difference and trust me I'm very finicky about the taste of my food! The powdered stuff is cheaper and lasts alot longer so we can store it up in the pantry.

Since it's winter we bundle up alot in the house. Our house is very old and lacks insulation so it's very drafty. We have a programable thermostat that's only job is to turn the heat DOWN 4 times a day at key times we tend to leave the house in case we forget to turn it down before we leave. It's saved us a LOT on our heating bill. The heat goes down to 61 degrees at night and when we're away, and we usually run it between 65-68 when we're home, unless we have company then we'll turn it up a bit more. I'm typing this now wearing big fuzzy boot type slippers and a heavy fleece housecoat over my regular clothes. lol Our gas bill goes to about $150-$180 during the coldest month of the year then drops over about 2-3 months down to about $30 which is where it stays until the next winter.

A good way to look at anything in your budget is to think about how many hours you'd have to work to pay for whatever it is, AND add up how much it costs you per year for whatever it is.

For instance let's say you make $10 per hour on your job. Once a month you like to get a $20 pizza and a $3 movie for a family night.

$23 x 12 months = $276 per year. At that pay rate you'd have to work 27.6 hours per year just to pay for that.

Compare that to..
Movie from library = free
frozen pizza on sale = $8
Hours worked to pay for it = 9.6

Quite a savings in both time and money.

Anyways I'm on to writing another mini novel, sorry. I've gotten rather into this saving money and am really enjoying being able to take longer vacations and have money to spend on things I really need and want to do.

[BitsyNaceyDog]

Those tax forms appear to be so complicated. It's not that hard to read through them as soon as you learn how to eliminate the mumbo jumbo they add.[/B]

I always did our taxes when we have straight forward W-2s. Once Justin went became self-employed we got a CPA. Actually I did them myself the first year, and we got a CPA after that. The CPA re-did our taxes from the first year and got us a lot back that we were able to credit to the next year. We may have to pay a few hundred a year for a CPA, but it's worth it when she saves us thousands.


I also hang my laundry rather than use the dryer.

I don't have a dish washer, but I would imagine that washing dishes by hand is cheeper than running the dishwasher.

I use the toaster oven rather than the big oven when possible. It's cheeper to heat the little toaster oven then to heat up the big oven.

We do a lot of the other things people have mentioned too.

[Daisy and Delilah]

I couldn't agree more, Kari. I think I should have added that doing your own forms should only be done for the simple filings. Some are so time consuming and frustrating, we have to hire someone. Self employment returns are a basic nightmare in alot of cases. My BIL is a good example of that. He keeps his receipts all over the place and throws them all in a box at the end of the year. Some of them have stuff spilled all over them, shoe prints, etc. I used to do his taxes and it was scary.

I heard what the tax places charge for a simple 1040A or an EZ and I couldn't believe it. For a long time, I did tax returns for people with simple returns. I felt so bad that they were paying so much and I wouldn't charge them anything.

In many cases, it's completely necessary to go to a professional.