This is not a New Year's Resolution. This is a lifestyle change that I started in November and haven't looked back (okay, maybe once, but we all slip up every once in a while, right?).
I have gotten lots of tips and tricks from y'all and I'm putting many of them to good use! The best way I have found to track my spending is a spreadsheet filled with formulas. I write down EVERY. SINGLE. THING. I buy. If I spend 25 cents on a piece of gum, I write it down.
There are some things in our budget we can't control. For me, those things are gas (I commute 360 miles to and from work every week) and mortgage and car payments. There were things I learned that I COULD change, so here are some of the things I've learned over the last two months.
1. I don't NEED another shirt... or pair of shoes... or purse... etc. I have not bought any of these things in two months. Before, I was buying them on a regular basis. I can't even begin to tell you the difference this has made in my spending. I give myself $100 a month to spend on miscellaneous items, which includes everything but groceries/household items.
2. I don't NEED the grande caramal macchiato - I can get the tall. I don't miss those ounces too much, but my wallet definitely notices the difference. 78 cents per drink, I believe. If you get 8-10 drinks per month like I do, that saves $6.24 - $7.80 per month. (It saves calories, too!)
3. Starbucks will give you a 10 cent discount if you bring in your own cup. This has saved me $0.80 - $1.00 per month.
This is the cup I take to Starbucks - Michael gave it to me last year for Christmas!
4. If you shop at CVS and do some research, you can save a TON of money. I'm not at the point where everything is free, but last week I bought Herbal Essences shampoo AND conditioner for 90 cents total. I also bought three boxes of cereal for $1.00 (and I bought the GOOD cereal).
5. If you do shop at CVS on a regular basis, get the ExtraCare card (which is advertised a lot) AND the Green Bag Tag (which is not!). If you use a reusable shopping bag and have this card (which you buy for 99 cents), you will get $1.00 in ExtraCare bucks every 4th time it is swiped. I'll get my money back within the first month (I go about once a week) and basically earn 25 cents every time I go after that!
6. Coupons are your friends. Seriously. I've probably saved $25-30 in the last month with coupons. There are lots of free printables online (such as coupons.com) and if you get a Sunday paper, there are some great ones there!
7. Nook, Kindle, and iPad have lots of free books out there. They may not be the latest Nicholas Sparks book, but I have found some good ones! I am currently reading Little Women, which I got for free for my nook. I also got a book called "Christmas at Harrington's" by Melody Carlson, which I enjoyed. When I went back to B&N to get another book by the author, I found the book is regularly priced at $9.99!
8. There is free stuff everywhere. This week, I've gotten three free magazine subscriptions and four free PHOTO greeting cards. No shipping. FREE. (Found on thefrugalgirls.com and moneysavingmom.com).
9. Buying meat in bulk saves a lot of money. I bought a TON of meat at Sam's Club a few weeks ago, divided it into two, three, or four portions, and froze them. The pork tenderloin I bought at Sam's Club was DOUBLE the size of the one at Food Lion and was the same price. Ground beef was at least $1 cheaper per pound.
10. Use sites like moneysavingmom.com and thefrugalgirls.com. They have some great ideas, freebies, and coupons!
My next goal is to start making my own laundry detergent! I'm thinking of making this a regular post - maybe a few times a month? What do y'all think?
I realize that I could give up Starbucks altogether and save $30 a month. But you know what? I don't want to. That's my "treat" for driving 80 miles to and from work twice a week. You can't give up everything you enjoy, otherwise life wouldn't be fun! But you can cut back and make better choices :)
What other things do y'all do to save money?
24 comments:
Yay girl! You are doing great! I have been doing this for about 4 years now and can't look back. Once you see the results it is impossible to go back! I actually love it. It keeps me accountable and lets me see my saving grow. Keep it up and good luck!
P.S. I can't give up my starbucks either. It's my treat for giving up 15 minute grocery shopping trips without coupons. haha!
Good job saving money!
You are doing so awesome friend! Thanks so much for sharing all your tips since you know I'm just starting to do this budgeting thing too so we can start saving $ in any way possible! :-) I didn't know about the green bag at CVS, but try to always get my extra bucks from purchase...they add up to good deals and free stuff like you said! Such a great tip about the Starbucks too that def saves $ and will make a difference in the long run! Have a great weekend :-)
Never thought i would see the day... so proud of you keep it up! And I really like the card I ordered for free see anymore send them my way!
I'm so proud of you! Saving is so much fun, seriously! I always use coupons wherever I go. Even for clothes shopping! My favorite coupon website is printable-coupons.blogspot.com. Anna does a great job with the site!
Also, places like Target accept their own coupons PLUS manufacturers coupons on the same item. So if you use those two coupons, plus something is on sale? You can often get the item for pennies!
It takes work and time, but saving money definitely isn't a bad thing.
And with starbucks? You deserve a treat. Holding back and not letting yourself be happy will only cause MORE money spent in the future. (over-compensating) Not like I learned the hard way or anything. ;)
good for you. I know it wasn't easy for you to do but your doing great. I think I told you this one - I read the paper on line. Saves some money.
You are doing great! I love all the tips too. I just got a Kindle and I am pretty sure books can be shared, something to think about too. :)
Let me know how the laundry detergant thing goes, I would love to do that.
How does the printing of coupons work. Do you have to do or have something special on your computer?
I would love for this to be a regular post too.
We've always bought our meat at Sam's for that very reason.
And? I just started making my own detergent. It has done great things with Andrew's skin. His is super sensitive & he has severe eczema. It's virtually cleared up now.
i am so impressed Linds, and I am feeling inspired! I don't spend a ton of money on myself lately, but my husband and I go out to dinner a lot, and since we want to buy our own place this year, we've really been cutting back. I'm trying to quit Starbucks for good (5 days in!) and we do the "envelope" system - we set up our budgets for the month and can only spend the money in each envelope. I am also starting to use coupons and I save all of my change!
You are doing awesome! I can't wait to hear how you like the homemade detergent!
I really enjoyed reading this post- I would love for you to share your tips/tricks every month if you can. I am the same about wanting to buy stuff all the time, but I never thought about how little savings here and there add up. Especially the part about meat in bulk- I need to go to sams and stock up on chicken and ground beef bc I am constantly buying it. thanks for the tips! Want more! oh and who knew about Starbucks? crazy!
Thats awesome!!! I really need to buckle down on the spending too. It looks like most of us are going to be supporting each other with this. You should check out my friend's blog and facebook site. She posts tons of freebies, coupons, and tips. I've gotten so much from her tips! Search for Saving Said Simply on FB. Her blog is on there.
You TOTALLY deserve to get yourself some coffee for that drive! I really like Melody Carlson, I just looked to see if she had any for free and there aren't maybe I can get that one next Christmas. :) I think you should make this a regular post, I always enjoy reading things like this. :)
This is so inspiring! We've been talking about more strict of a budget, but haven't been really good about it. I just started saving all my receipts this month...we'll see how good I do! I like Southern Savers blog. It has good stuff on it!
Sounds like you're doing a great job!!! I love coupons too and good luck on your homemade laundry detergent! I love the kind I make, Super cheap and I get to change the smells to what I want, love that!
I *really* need to put myself on a better budget like the one you've outlined here. As a college student, I do a lot of spending, but not a lot of saving, and I overindulge far too often. Fast food, shopping, going out, etc...It's ridiculous! Also, I need to start using coupons more often. It's amazing the amount of money people save using them...I just need to take the time to find the deals and utilize them!
I got my grocery bill down to $50 a week for me and the hubs pre-baby. I still do pretty good now, but it is much harder to plan ahead with the baby. And I LOOOVE CVS. I need to get back into that one!
Something my mom does when she gets the receipt from grocery shopping (you know how at the bottom it says, "You saved $13") she puts that amount away. It actually is amazing because she will bring out enough for our gas or hotels or food, etc... And you know in a family of 6 that's a lot. It helps to take smaller amounts at a time for this and helped us cut back on HUGE amounts of spending on vacation. It's always great to know she is saving up for something special...
I commend you on cutting back! :) it's an eye opening experience for sure!
I don't know which Nook you have but I know that some books you are able to borrow from other nook users. (at least I can on my nook color) All you have to do is befriend them through your b&n account and you can borrow some of the books others have bought.
I just think its an awesome feature. If you have a color let me know and I'll give you my email to add me.
Excellent post!!! I am so proud of you! You are going to kick this budget in the teeth! :)
Sorry if I missed this, but do you use mint.com? I do (they have an iphone app too) and its awesome for keeping track and identifying items where one can cut back. Some other tricks up my sleeve? Freezer meals, meal plans, and reusing meals
Ohhhh I admire you so much.
I really need to start watching where my money goes again. I use to be so good about it. And now, we just spend left and right. :-( I am thinking that it's going to go on my goal list along with healthy eating. :-)
Ok, deep breath - this is going to be a long comment. ha ha.
First off, I LOVED this post and think there should absolutely be more of them. Actually, can we do a link up? I'd love to host a financially fit link up with you a couple times a month!!
Here's my one caution about coupons - be careful not to buy things you don't need, even if they're almost free. I love getting a good bargain so much that I found I bought stuff I didn't need sometimes, which just cluttered up my cabinets and spent a few cents here and there that I didn't really need to spend. ha ha. So beware - sometimes it's not really winning, if you don't actually need it! : ]
I'm super proud of you and I love that I have someone to text about money now!! I read in Suzi Orman's book (the one for the young, fabulous, and broke) that if you want to get ahead in life we have to stop thinking money is a dirty word and talk about it!
I love that you do the meat thing from Sams too. I've saved SO MUCH MONEY doing that. I buy the massive box of burgers and grill them over the course of a couple months and it literally saves me like 60 bucks.
Ok, I'm going to end this with I love ya and I'm proud of you!!
BC
We got an espresso machine and it really cut down on our Starbucks trips!
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