What do you do to save money?

[caryrae]

I know we need to cut back and save money and know there are ways to cut back quite a bit, have any of you had to make drastic or not so drastic changes? I know I could cut out or cut back on some monthly bills like cable, internet, phone, and/or cell phone, going out to eat less, tivo, netflix, but it sounds kinda scary to give some of those up since they are a big part of daily life. We can pay our bills but there never seems to be much left sometimes to put away. What other areas have others had to cutback on to save money?

[Disney Hungarian]

Coffee.

I am 43 and retired. I have to watch my money to make it last. I took notes on what I spent my money on everyday for a month. What an eye opener. 2 bucks at a gas station for a coke when I would fill up with gas. Coffee was another big eye opener. I found lots of ways to cut back by realizing the couple of bucks here or there added up.

[VWL Mom]

I don't know if I've cut back as much as I have become more aware of what I was spending.

I've done little things like renegotiating with Verizon for cable/phone/internet/wireless; it seems every time I call they can better my price.

I've gone back to couponing and save $100-$150 a month there, and additionally have started getting produce at the farmers market which save another $50 a month. School lunches are now packed rather than purchased at $5 per day.

A big one for me was instead of constantly grabbing cash at the ATM and never really knowing where it went, I use my debit card a lot more to track it.

When shopping online I go through ebates for the rebates and always google for a coupon, usually find free shipping or % off of the more popular stores.

I also set up another checking account. Whatever's left at the end of the week from saving is transferred into that. Surprised myself at what I was able to put into that.

[caryrae]

I think just doing like you guys said and keep track of what is being spent where is a good start to find where the money goes.

[DizneyRox]

Actaully, we are looking at the same, not because we have to, mostly because we want to. There's no sense in paying anymore than you have to for ANYTHING.

Started about a year ago, we dropped satellite TV and "land" line. Saved close to $100 a month right there.

We just renegotiated our cell phone contracts to the tune of $15 a month less, not much, but it'll add up.

We just modified our mortgage to the tune of saving aobut $450 a month, this is the biggest one. Something I would check on is if you are paying PMI, ask about removing that as well.

Just got a kid on the toilet, so that's a diaper savings PLUS a savings on daycare costs, somewhere in the $125 a month range.

We're working on changing our power company supplier, we can save anywhere between $10 and $30 a month, depending on how much we want to micro manage the different choices.

And finally, we just got a new car, cut our monthly car payment down by about $100 and will see almost 1/2 the gas costs as we used to.

I don't stop for morning coffee, I have a Keureg machine that I love, not a lot of eating out for lunches, and I like to cook, so that works our pretty good at night.

Everything adds up, don't discount the little things, with smokes at $8 a pack, and coffee barely providing change for a $5 those are really quick hitters that will add up fast. You might need to do a little leg work on the bigger bills, but don't be afraid to check into them. Over the past year, we've almost saved another income in monthly expenses.

Also, rebates and empties, there's money sitting around there too sometimes!

[Ian]

Just got a kid on the toilet, so that's a diaper savings PLUS a savings on daycare costs, somewhere in the $125 a month range.We just got the twins off formula and it's saving us roughly $400 a month. :eek:

[princessgirls]

Actaully, we are looking at the same, not because we have to, mostly because we want to. There's no sense in paying anymore than you have to for ANYTHING.

Started about a year ago, we dropped satellite TV and land line. Saved close to $100 a month right there.

We just renegotiated our cell phone contracts to the tune of $15 a month less, not much, but it'll add up.

We just modified our mortgage to the tune of saving aobut $450 a month, this is the biggest one. Something I would check on is if you are paying PMI, ask about removing that as well.

Just got a kid on the toilet, so that's a diaper savings PLUS a savings on daycare costs, somewhere in the $125 a month range.

We're working on changing our power company supplier, we can save anywhere between $10 and $30 a month, depending on how much we want to micro manage the different choices.

And finally, we just got a new car, cut our monthly car payment down by about $100 and will see almost 1/2 the gas costs as we used to.

I don't stop for morning coffee, I have a Keureg machine that I love, not a lot of eating out for lunches, and I like to cook, so that works our pretty good at night.

Everything adds up, don't discount the little things, with smokes at $8 a pack, and coffee barely providing change for a $5 those are really quick hitters that will add up fast. You might need to do a little leg work on the bigger bills, but don't be afraid to check into them. Over the past year, we've almost saved another income in monthly expenses.

I agree with Rox! We have done a few of these same things...
Here's one or two more I can add...
GAS!! Don't pay more than you have too, and if you can, pay cash. It's cheaper. I have noticed that in some more affluent towns close to us, gas is .30 more a gallon than it is at the station near my home. CRAZY!! Paying by Credit Card adds more on top of that.

Don't use the ATM at all if you don't have too. I haven't in 10 years, and I don't miss it or the fees. I cash a check every other week, and keep track of my cash.

Brown Bag lunch. Yes...it gets boring, but it does save.

I say NO to my kids more than I say YES when they are hounding me for a coolata, treats at the pool snack bar, bagels on the way to camp. I give in, but not as often as I used to, and let me tell you that stuff adds up fast! I now allocate $20 in a special wallet that they manage and when it's gone it's gone. It gets replaced on payday which is 2x a month.

Here is my biggest tip. The thermostat. I am not home 8 hours a day. I don't turn off the air, but I do turn it up to 78 when I leave. Same in the winter, I turn the heat down to 60 when I leave. Let me tell you it makes a HUGE difference in your utilities bill. I know that's not for everyone, but it works for us. I turn the air down as soon as I walk in the door,and it cools down quickly.

We did a good refinancing last year on our mortgage to a good rate AND the bank that handled it was not charging ANY fees. That was a winner, and saves us $300 a month and something ridiculous like $75,000 over the life of the loan.
Good Luck!
Julie:mickey:

[AgentC]

We just got the twins off formula and it's saving us roughly $400 a month. :eek:

I was ready to have a party when my kids stopped diapers and formulas. My oldest starts kindergarten this year and I am really looking forward to only 1 child in daycare. :party:

As far as ideas, I have 3 bank account

one is for bills and daily spending
one is for short term savings
one is for long term savings

I have my direct deposits divided into each account. The long term savings is in an account that is hard to touch.

The short term savings is linked to my primary checking but I find I really think about moving that money to use as opposed to the primary account where it seems like I am constantly swiping my debit card. For me , this works because it makes me think of the money in the secondary accounts as off limits.

I echo what others have said about ATM usage. I don't usually use one, but my husband does. When I showed him the amount is was taking he was stunned. $40 here and there adds up quick.

[TheDuckRocks]

For every dollar that comes into our house I immediately transfer 10% into our savings account. The first month or two you do this is pretty scarey but when you don't have the money sitting in the checking account you really force yourself to economize on some of the little things that aren't that important anyhow. It is amazing how fast that savings account will grow and the security of having something set aside for a rainy day is wonderful.

[DisneyDINK]

Great posts! I see lots of good stuff. One thing to add (OK, makbe two...):

Make sure you make more money than you spend. All of these great tips lose their luster if you are in defecit spending mode. Journaling should tell you this; write down what you spend and what you earn and compare the two regularly.

You might think about using one of the popular web auction/for sale sites to offload some of the things you have you don't use or need. I don't think you'll make a ton of money this way, but it really helps you think about spending money on lots of other stuff in the future. You can also make charatible donations of clothing, household items, etc., to get a tax deduction depending on your situation.

As far as what to do with the money you save I would recommend a simple savings account until you build up about 6 months living expenses. No, it won't earn any interest to speak of in the current environment, but your "emergency cash" is not something you want to invest and subject to risk.

[brownie]

Coffee.

I am 43 and retired. I have to watch my money to make it last. I took notes on what I spent my money on everyday for a month. What an eye opener. 2 bucks at a gas station for a coke when I would fill up with gas. Coffee was another big eye opener. I found lots of ways to cut back by realizing the couple of bucks here or there added up.

Pay at the pump so you don't have to go inside and be tempted. ;)

[brownie]

Make sure you make more money than you spend.

Or, spend less than you make.

[diz_girl]

All of the ideas suggested are great.

I used to (and I'm going to start again beginning today) keep a spending log and track everything on Excel spreadsheets. I have various categories and I can see where I'm spending my money. Simply the action of tracking your purchases can curb unnecessary spending, because it makes you become mindful of it and you start changing your spending habits automatically.

I also keep a spreadsheet (yes, I'm a spreadsheet nerd) that is basically my spending plan. I have this plan of monthly spending going out for a year in order to make sure that I include expenses that occur less frequently than monthly so I'm am not surprised when the bill comes due. It tracks all money coming in (paychecks) and all funds going out. I don't track every single expense, so I'll list just one MAC withdrawal a week and one credit card payment a month, since those are already tracked on my spending log and so the spreadsheet doesn't get huge.

If you are looking to curb your spending, then you should try to get the biggest result quickly. Basically, try to spend the least amount of time saving the most money. You do that by going for the big 3 categories - home (mortgage & utilities), food (eating out & groceries), and transportation (car payments & gas).

Also, when you spend your money, ask yourself if it's a need or a want. You'll be surprised at how many of your 'needs' are really 'wants'.

[Dulcee]

My fiance and I are in the process of buying house so we are trying to keep things in check (but then I'm a big of a control freak with finances normally - which is probably why we're buying our first house at 24!)

We use bank of America and "save the change" essentially every time money leaves my checking account it gets rounded up to the next dollar amount the change is moved to my savings. I saved $250 this year without changing a thing by using this. If your bank won't do it automatically you can easily do it by rounding up every time you enter something in your checking register.

We started shopping at Aldi's for 90% of our groceries. This has saved us big, some items that we prefer a specific brand I still use the regular food store for but for canned veggies, cerals, flour milk etc we use Aldis.

We very rarely eat out, its helpful I like to cook. When we do we go out for lunch instead of dinner.

When I get paid (I only get paid monthly) I automatically transfer a certain amount to savings. Its easier to work with less from the get go then to take it out when things are tighter at the end of the month.

We don't use netflix, instead we go to redbox 2-3 times a month for a grand total of $3-4 for the month.

We plan our meals by the month. Again I like to cook so it might be easier for me but by planning the meals a month in advance I can buy protein in bulk which really saves us big.

We got a target red card. We shop at target for a pretty fair amount of stuff. The red card isn't a credit card, its a card linked directly to our debit account. Its the same as swiping our debit card but we always get 5% off on our purchases.

[PETE FROM NYC]

Join a credit union if your job has one.
I aways found it easier to save when it is automatically deducted from my pay check.
The credit union was my mad money, to be used for vacation.

[susie & perla's mom]

we book our vacation way ahead of time so that we'll feel guilty spending for unnecessary stuffs thinking that we need the money for our vacation. at the same time, we get something to look forward to;)

[DVC2004]

We dropped ATT for our cell and went to VIrgin Mobile pay as you go. You have to buy the phones at pretty much full price, but we pay $25 per month/per phone for 300 minutes plus unlimited texts/data usage/email. We cut our cell bill over half. They have other plans too but we barely talk on our phones so that was the best deal for us. Even the phones are good- I have a Blackberry Curve, I think I paid around $150 for it and had a $20 best buy card rebate too. So not too bad. And not locked in to a contract. We've had it 8 months now- no complaints and extra money for other things! I think with tax it's like $28 a month total bill per phone. My husband has some sort of Android phone so they are current phones.

[DizneyRox]

Also, shop around your home owners and car insurance... We're looking at another $30 a month in savings, just made a few calls today, we'll keep checking and see what comes in. The problem with insurance is you're really buying the service when you need ot collect it, so rates may be deceiving...

[dnickels]

I'd recommend making a list of all your monthly expenses. Put the highest expenses at the top, the lowest at the bottom and then start working your way down, looking at every possible way to reduce each to get the most bang for your buck. Dropping the $10 per month Netflix is better than nothing, but it pales in comparison to saving $300 a month on mortgage payments or dropping a car payment in exchange for a used beater that's completely paid off.

And a few personal thoughts/ideas on some of the expenses most of us probably have...
Housing: downsize the mortgage through refinancing, or downsize the house. My grandparents raised 5 kids in a 4 bedroom (tiny bedrooms, tiny closets), two bath house. A house does not need a separate bedroom for every child and a guest room to boot. Siblings can share a room right up through high school, and as a bonus it discourages them from moving back in after they're away at college.
Cable/Netflix/Tivo/Hulu: Cancel it all. Get movies or shows for free from the library, use the extra time you're no longer in front of the screen to....
Learn a new skill to earn money: Maybe you pick up free furniture that people are throwing away on trash day, sand it, stain it, turn around and sell it. If you're bilingual see about offering a class or tutoring. All of us have some sort of skill that we can sell, or at the very least we can learn something new to enable us to earn more money.

Good luck! :thumbsup:

[lynnek]

What a relief with the end of diapers for us too!! My other two are 11 and 13 and the needs/toys etc are getting way more expensive. We put the oldest on a reality check week. Had him research cost of living--rent costs in the area, utilities etc. Made a budget with online help, budgeting in everything including food, taxi to and from work(decided he couldn't afford a car with the ins). He then figured out how much he had to make, how many hours he had to work (yes, he had to figure out taxes too). He then had to live it for a week. We put money in labelled jars so he could pay his landlord(me) and then let him experience it. I work for myself, so he "worked" for me, had to do his own grocery shopping, cooking, purchasing a gift for a friend, purchasing an outfit. He rode his bike 1 mile to and from work(around the block a few times). He learned a lot--it's hard to cook dinner after a full day of work and having something different to eat every night is a luxury he took for granted. Those shorts he didn't so much like the plaid but were $7--much more appealing when you have to buy an outfit yourself. When it rains, Mom's taxi costs money. If you have a roommate, his girlfriend may eat that pizza you were saving for breakfast.
He's much more conscience of costs. I had him write a summary at the end of it of what he learned--I have it framed--I love it! His sister will do it next summer--she thinks it will be fun! They are a very large variable expense, so it's nice to have them on the same page.
......he did earn spending money for disney while doing this....

[princessgirls]

Also, shop around your home owners and car insurance... We're looking at another $30 a month in savings, just made a few calls today, we'll keep checking and see what comes in. The problem with insurance is you're really buying the service when you need ot collect it, so rates may be deceiving...

We have ours through one company, and the savings are good. Make sure you are comparing apples to apples, as you want to get the same type of coverage.

My husband also went to Virgin Mobile this summer...I went to the I-Phone with Verizon with my corporate discount (still expensive), but my husband bought a droid phone for $150 and pays $28 a month for talk/text and data!
With both we are still less a month by $15 than we were.
Julie:mickey: