What New Techniques Have You Implemented This Year to Save Money?

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What New Techniques Have You Implemented This Year to Save Money?

Submitted by: Ray @ Tip Hero 09/16/2009 7:34 PM

Over the past year, I've instituted a number of new ways to save money, including: buying store/generic brands, grouping car trips to save on gas, eating out less, trimming my own hair in between haircuts to make them last longer, getting into couponing, enjoying more free activities like hiking, and getting books from the library.

We're curious to hear what new techniques Tip Hero readers are implementing this year to save money. Please share your ideas in the comments below. And thanks for being a Tip Hero!

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Comments:

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We have started having some close friends over on Sunday evening. They bring their leftovers from the week and combine with ours....we add a salad and perhaps some fruit and have a "pot luck" buffet. We watch a movie or play cards after dinner. Someone else's leftovers are often more interesting than your own.

Posted by Renee on September 17, 2009 2:00 PM

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When we out I try to use a coupon. Our local radio station has a call in and we are able to get $10 certificates for $6 at local eating places. I also watch the papers for coupons.

Posted by Rita on September 17, 2009 2:03 PM

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I use an old powdered drink bottle, cut a slit in the top, glue the top to the canister and drop in change. Not so easy to get into.

Posted by Dee on September 17, 2009 2:14 PM

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We dropped cable and switched to Hulu.com and Netflix and an over the air antenna. I still watch everything I watched before, only a week later on Hulu, and the best thing is I don't pay the cable company for shows I don't care to watch.

Posted by anonymous on September 17, 2009 2:18 PM

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During the past year we have been eating less meat, more canned and low-cost fresh fish, bean (soup, salads, chili, etc.) We also don't eat out much, just for special occasions once every few months. We have friends in and can make better meals than most restaurants do. All it takes is some time and it's a fun activity for us all. We use coupons, go to a store that doubles all coupons up to $1, and we wait til an item is also on sale. You would be surprised at how much you can save. Instead of movies from Netflix, we reserve new DVD titles from our library for free. Also get lots of great books there. They occasionally have good evening or noontime programs for both adults and children, and they are also free of cost. Look around your town - most museums have a free day once a month and if you have a university or college in your home town you're sure to find programs for little or no cost that can be really interesting. The Great Books program, for instance, meets at our local university, and the only cost is for the book.
Life shouldn't be all about consuming, but about living a good and well-balanced life.

Posted by anonymous on September 17, 2009 3:34 PM

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I like to have people over for a nice dinner and wine instead of going out to eat often--this way we get to linger and not have to worry about the waiter wanting to flip the table. Also, we use Restaurant.com for gift certificates to restaurants we like to go to. Often they sell a $25 gift certificate for only $10, but if you join, you get emails with Promo Codes for anywhere from 50% -90% off--which means a $25 gift certificate can be gotten for $5 instead of $10, or in the case of last week when they did a 90% off Promo which is unheard of, they were only $1 for a $25 gift certificate!! They are good for a year so when the good Promos come, you can stock up on gift certificates. PLUS--they have gift certs. for restaurants all over the country, so if you are going on vacation, you can see if there are any restaurants near your hotel or where you will be vacationing, and purchase gift certificates to save money on your trip! They make great presents, too, especially if someone just moved to a new area--it can help them get to know some of the restaurants at a discount.

Posted by Cheryl on September 17, 2009 3:35 PM

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We are doing a lot more cooking from scratch, including making our own bread, buns,pizzas, french fries (the secret for us is to soak the fresh-cut pieces in a bowl of ice-cold water about 20 minutes, drain, then fry. Picky teenagers even love these!)and quick-ready, convenience food substitutes. We make our own dog biscuits and dog food, which we mix about 1/2 with store bought kibble. The vet was impressed with how healthy the 13 yr. old dog is, and said what we were feeding them was great. This saves about 2/3 the cost of store bought dog treats, and about 1/3 the cost of 100% store bought dog food, not counting lower vet bills for healthy dogs.
Also,more careful with laundry and I now use the homemade soap recipe. For the person who posted that bad stains don't come out with the homemade, rub the stain spot with a bar of fels naptha just before washing. Should do the trick.
Also have started wearing an apron in the kitchen and when cleaning. Prevents stains on my clothes in the first place!

Posted by anonymous on September 17, 2009 5:10 PM

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I barter what I have in Veggies or garden plants with others. This has been a great savings. I also get garden manure, mulched moved and free lumber to make my raised beds just from networking with other gardeners.
I also joined a site called ReUseIt. This is where people give items they no longer want for free, to avoid clogging up landfills. Its amazing what you can get that people don't want to keep at their house..Extra bag of shingles, wallboard, bricks, house paint, or even furniture that may be older but better built than what they sell most places except high end stores..It might need a seat cover, or a new lamp chord but otherwise perfect. Sometimes the item is working but they got a newer more techic model..I even got a computer monitor never used because the person purchased a computer package and opted to get a new flat screen. So it came new in the box!
There are ReUseit sites all over the US. So you can find one closest to you at:
http://www.reuseitnetwork.org/

Posted by Cher B on September 17, 2009 5:56 PM

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actually i started doing this a few years ago i do surveys not those big ones where you make a hundred or so tho you make a little money on some surveys others you get points for gifts its fun to do doesant take up to much
time just finished doing one on toilet paper and kleenex box of kleenex and 6 rolls of toilet paper free plus points.

Posted by anonymous on September 17, 2009 6:05 PM

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actually i started doing this a few years ago i do surveys not those big ones where you make a hundrecd or so tho you make a little money on some surveys others you get points for gifts its fun to do doesant take up to much
time just finished doing one on toilet paper and kleenex box of kleenex and 6 rolls of toilet paper free plus points.

Posted by anonymous on September 17, 2009 6:05 PM

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I have started putting every $5 bill I get in a drawer. One lady said she did this and at the end of a year she had over $2000. I don't miss the fives and they ARE adding up!

Posted by HalfWhit on September 17, 2009 7:01 PM

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I would like to know the link for doing surveys mentioned above.

I once tried to do resturant evaluations. The forms were long. The pay was the meal. Realistically, most people would bring at least one friend so as not to eat a lone. That is one way to get people in your resturant.

Posted by anonymous on September 17, 2009 9:30 PM

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I have really tried to eliminate wasted food. Two leftover strawberries can be thrown in the freezer for smoothies, crusts of bread become croutons, small amounts of leftover dinner vegetables can be used (or frozen and used later) to make a soup, vegetables in the crisper can be roasted and added to spaghetti sauce or roasted with herbs and olive oil and added to lots of different things. Getting creative has trimmed my food budget.

Posted by anonymous on September 18, 2009 12:26 AM

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We purchased a motorcycle for my husband to commute on, we save about $200 per month on gas (that is minus the cost of insurance, upkeep and the loan on the bike) Yes, it is more dangerous. We realize that but because we know that we are extra careful when riding, always check our bike before riding and wear the proper gear while riding.

We also joined a Freecycle group. Just giving things away has saved us several hundred dollars in dumping charges this calender year.

We buy from a wear house store and a bakery outlet once per month. I also go to the cheapest place for milk and eggs. Because my husband is the only one that uses milk we don't use that much, less than 1/2 gallon, so I buy it from Walgreens. Their price is cheaper because they don't sell much and must turn it over quickly. It saves us about $500 dollars per month altogether on food. Now that I look back and examine the amount we spent on food alone and I wonder how we ever did it.

Proper portioning is the BIG improvement for this year. Why serve more food than a person will eat? You can save about 20%(or more) just by giving your family the right amount of food.

We have always saved up our pennies and deposited them into our checking account, sending that money directly to our highest interest loan. Same for the bottles and cans.

Organizing (and most importantly clearing clutter) our house, garage and shed is an ongoing process but the more that we do the more we benefit from it, especially in the area of saving money.

Posted by anonymous on September 18, 2009 11:47 AM

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Would you share your dog biscuit/treat recipe?

Posted by Diane on September 18, 2009 8:48 PM

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There are several "new" ways I am learning to be more frugal and better home manager for my family.
In the washing: We have "well-water" with a good system, but our clothes still tend to have a rough texture if I don't use a fabric softer and dryer sheets. This can get expensive over the month,2 containers of Softner/1-lg pkg dryer sheets. Now I take (1) 64oz downy softner empty it into a clean 1.42 gal Bleach jug and add (2) filled downy bottles with water and place in bleach jug. ON my dryer I keep a small empty plastic coffee jar (4) sponges filled with my softner mix. I do not put softner in my washer now, I take 2 sponges with my "mixer" and gently squeezing out excess fluid, I throw them in the dryer with my clothes. Everything comes out smelling so clean and fresh and has elimanted a large portion of my ironing. This has also elimited 1 downy and the dryer towels a month-savings of about $15.00 monthly and my "softner" lasts approx. 5 to 6 weeks. Another plus, I purchased 4 bottles of Downy, @ close-out price of $2.99 using 4-$1.00 off coupons, making my purchase $1.99 a bottle, usually I pay almost $8.00 a bottle for my softner.
I am learning how to use grocery coupons more effectly, taking advantage of optium prices at our various superstores/drugstores around our small town and have cut our grocery bill by $400.00 a month and my goal is to cut our food cost to $300.00 monthly.(We raise our own meat products-beef, poulty -pork)
I love to read. I joined 2 online book trading clubs 18 months ago and have cut my costs by about 3/4th. Plus I enjoy "checking out" all the books posted daily and making several "trading-buddies", too. I have saved over $1300.00 so far. And all my books are delivered to my mail box and no trips to town to the book store. My only cost to the book swaps are the postage for books I mail out, books I recieve from other members, they pay the postage on. Good deal for everyone.
I organize all my trips to town. It's almost a 60 mile round trip for us. I drive a 4x4 megacab truck,so fill-ups run about $80.00 a fill up. I have elimated 2 tanks of gas a month and, taking a written list, I can now get everything done I need to, so my "stress" level has gone down majorly! So has my hubby's!
I am very encouraged by reading so many "saving-tips" others share and it is truly helping me cut costs and be more organized and frugal with my time and money.
I hope this helps someone else!
Thank you,
Karen

Posted by Karen on September 20, 2009 3:52 AM

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I've started going to the grocery store only twice a month (right after I get paid). I have a detailed list of things we need, and keep the kitchen well stocked with items to cook a variety of meals, etc, and I cook from scratch as much as possible. This system has worked out VERY well, saving me money, and I have a little more time to spend with the kids after work.

Posted by Sarah S. on September 21, 2009 4:58 PM

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I have several indoor cats. I bought 4 cheap plastic containers at a local discount store. Cut a hole in the top large enough for the largest cat to crawl through. I now purchase the cheapest kitty liter and add baking soda. I have a 1/4 mile gravel driveway and dispose of the the used liter on the driveway. It helps fill in potholes and the other isn't so bad when you already have 20 cows using the front yard to do their business.

Posted by Wanda on September 22, 2009 9:12 AM

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I buy appliances (many new or barely used) at Goodwill or Salvation Army; do a lot of shopping at the "as is" store: Goodwill; where you buy clothing etc for $1.39 a lb; appliances there are $2.00 or $3.00; shoes, many times brand new are $1 & $2.00; have to go frequently as they have different things on different days; Cookbooks are $1 or $2; as are most books; towels, thick & thirsty ones are sold by the pound and average $1.50; you can afford to be "picky" and "choosy"; Just think of it as a yard sale: and yes, do try all appliances out b/4 buying them!

Posted by anonymous on September 23, 2009 1:59 AM

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When gas was $4.00 a gallon, I got mean with my family. I filled the tank on the 1st of the month and told them that was it. No more gas until the 15th. You have to figure out how to make it last. OK, so that wasn't in the last year, but it worked.

I also cut out cable TV (and was interviewed by a CATV industry publication). We went with over the air and internet video. Not just Hulu, there is also Fancast, TV Shack and others.

Posted by anonymous on September 28, 2009 2:02 AM

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I found a smart way to lower my phone bills by going with a prepaid virtual phone service that lets you make long distance calls to any U.S. phone number for just 3 cents per minute. This service gives you full control over which phone lines the prepaid minutes can be used from. You can even share minutes with friends and family under a single account! Plus�you can use the same prepaid minutes to make calls for 1.5 cents per minute from your PC using free SIP phone software. Check it out!

Posted by anonymous on November 10, 2009 4:43 PM

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