[Joyfulmom4]

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What changes have you made that resulted in the greatest amount of savings for the time and/or effort you put in?

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Hi all. I am newly attempting to reform my ways and become *much* more frugal. I need some suggestions for where to start. I am very much strapped for *time* as well as money, so I'm hoping folks might share their best and most productive savings ideas/links/sources.

I've been making some changes that are great (like shopping Aldi's and clipping store coupons). But I'm getting super frustrated b/c I've also wasted a lot of time on stuff that doesn't seem to pay off much. It takes a lot of time and energy, but in the end, I don't save much. I'm looking for ideas that don't take as much time/effort but still save significant amounts.

For example, I have been having a very hard time finding useful coupons for products I actually want. Everywhere I go online I run into all the sham "Free coupon" websites that just want you to sign up for their big "offers" and buy stuff. Does anyone know reliable coupon sources?

I've also been trying to make stuff from scratch at home and discovering that it takes me the entire day just to save a couple dollars. Half the time my kids hate my version anyway. Some things are good, like my homemade lasagna that freezes well, is cheaper, tastes great and can be made ahead in huge batches to eat later for convenience. But I need more ideas for items that are worth the time to make your own b/c they save significant amounts of money and are convenient. (My kids hate most stuff with beans unfortunately.)

I'd really love some help if people are willing to share their best tips/ideas/sources.

 

[zinemama]

Honestly, it's not the little stuff. It's major things like having only one car. No cell/cable. Not going to places like Target on a regular basis. Not going out to eat much. Getting dvds from the library instead of taking the kids to the movies. Getting everything I wear (except socks, shoes and underwear) at resale stores.

Imo, hunting for coupons is a huge waste of time. It's extremely rare to find ones that aren't for prepared, preservative-laden junk that I would never buy, or convenience foods. (Why would I use a coupon for salad dressing, when I can make my own?)

 

[Delicateflower]

I can't do coupons either. Too much time, too little reward for our family who uses very little branded stuff.

The biggest thing for me is no more recreational shopping.

 

[holidaymama]

I think you bring a really good question to the table!

As far as coupons go, the only place I will look is weekly at coupons.com They have weekly coupons that you just print out and a lot of the time they do match up with a sale ad (at least for us at Kroger in TX) Yes, it's a lot of convenience food, but if I can get a dollar off yogurt that I would buy anyway and the store has it for 2/$4, that's 2/$3 and worth the quick look at coupons.com. We do eat quite a bit of cereal and they have coupons usually for that. I buy philsburry pizza crust or biscuits if they are on sale and I have a coupon as well.

It's hit or miss, but saving a couple of dollars allows me a coffee at starbucks with less guilt ;-)

I agree it's the big things that add up though...we have a pretty small house because we wanted a smaller mortgage...we have a little bit older cars so that we don't have big car payments...things like that!

 

[velochic]

Honestly?

Making my own lye soap.

Dd has skin issues and it saves us medication. I know exactly what goes into it and there are no ingredients that irritate her skin. We've all converted except for my mother. I love the way it makes my skin feel. Lye, water, and lard. That's it. Simply, cheap and healthy.

We can't do coupons because we don't eat processed food. So that's out.

I guess the other thing is buying our meat by the animal and not in those extremely expensive tiny packages. I have one upright freezer devoted to storing meat....

...So I guess my third thing would be stockpiling food. I *never* have to buy anything that's not on sale unless it is fresh fruit...

...and I guess that leads me to another frugal habit. I cook nearly everything from scratch and I've been canning for decades now, so being able to put up food would be the last frugal habit, I guess. Of course, I'll come up with more.

The soap, though, has saved us a lot since I started making it a couple of years ago.

 

[Carson]

Quote:

Originally Posted by holidaymama I agree it's the big things that add up though...we have a pretty small house because we wanted a smaller mortgage...we have a little bit older cars so that we don't have big car payments...things like that!

This 1000x. I would really suggest taking your budget and sorting it by amount to see what changes (if any) you can make the largest impact on. I do casually use coupons and vigorously shop sales, but it's really for my own entertainment

. Our mortgage and home repairs are the biggest items in our budget. Our lack of car payment is one of the biggest savings lines.

Really, agonizing over $20 or even $100 of grocery bills doesn't even come close to those items. I suppose there's the theory that every bit counts, but everyone has to balance the effort made vs. savings gleaned.

 

[Pernillep]

I think for me (and this is still a work in progress) is eating out less.
Bringing my lunch to work can easily save us 100+ a month. So now I make a point of brining lunch 3 of my 4 days in the office. I still get the treat once a week cause it was too hard going cold turkey. One day I work from home so I don't eat out. It takes me less than 10 min in the morning so definitely a good savings for the time. (won't make a difference if you are a SAHP though)
The other was part of reducing eating out was planning our meals so I was always prepared once I got home and not tempted to do take out or go out. We now shop twice a month and I plan meals one month ahead. It is huge savings for us. Probably $200 a month here for about an hours worth of work. I spend a few min here and there searching for new recipes to try and then about an hour the week before our biggest shopping trip to do my grocery list and put it on my iphone so I have it with me at the store. Nothing worse than writing a list and then leaving it at home

We already have 1 car, take public transportation to work, bought a smaller house so we wouldn't overextend ourselves, don't use a lot of convenience foods.

I try to make as much as I can from scratch but realize there is a time/money trade off and some things aren't worth it. As an example we eat a lot of italian sausage with pizza and pasta. I went to the meat packing store and got 3 large pork butts, ground the pork and spiced it to taste. We now have about 15 pounds of meat in the freezer for less than $20. (around here a pound of ground pork is $4 at the regular grocery store) Enough for more than 10 meals. It took me a few hours of work to grind, spice and pack everything but so worth it since I know the ingredients. No left over pork products. Just meat and fat plus spices. However, I buy jars of pasta sauce since the time it would take me to can tomatoes wouldn't be worth it to me as i would loose too much valuable family time.

We don't use coupons, ever. We buy most of our stables at a food co-op which delivers once a month and the rest we get at the meat packing store or costco. Very little opportunity to use coupons so I don't bother. That said if I am shopping for anything online I always do a search to see if there are any discount codes before i buy. It takes no time and usually there is one out there that works.

Still working on the cutting recreational spending

I love my yarn and it is hard not to get a skein of sock yarn when i see something pretty.

 

[velochic]

Quote:

Originally Posted by holidaymama I buy philsburry pizza crust or biscuits if they are on sale and I have a coupon as well. It's hit or miss, but saving a couple of dollars allows me a coffee at starbucks with less guilt ;-)

Making dough and biscuits are DEAD simple and easy. 5-10 minutes, I promise. And it costs maybe 10 cents per batch. You could make 10 batches of a dozen biscuits or pizza crusts for what you pay with your coupon. Google some recipes... you'll be pleasantly surprised at how easy it is, how much healthier it is, and how cheap it is.

 

[zinemama]

I forgot to say also, there is a huge savings in eating little or no meat. We eat chicken only, and twice a month, if that.

I also want to second what velochic said about cooking from scratch and stockpiling food. We invested $50 in a chest freezer (craigslist). It costs about $40/year to run. We do serious berry picking all summer and freeze them. We put away 31lb of blueberries last year for $36. A 1/lb bag of frozen, organic and/or local berries is about $8 around here. Big savings.

We freeze strawberries, raspberries and blackberries, as well. I buy a couple of 20lb boxes of organic tomatoes at the end of the summer, skin, dice and freeze those. I just used the last bag. If chicken is on sale, I buy in quantity and freeze.

 

[mtm]

menu planning for the month was the biggest savings to me. I plan the menu around the sales flyers and stockpile the stuff I need when its on sale.

 

[cristeen]

Quote:

Originally Posted by zinemama I forgot to say also, there is a huge savings in eating little or no meat. We eat chicken only, and twice a month, if that.

This assumes that your body can handle that type of diet. There are many people who will actually get sick because of it. Personally it's worth the money to eat the meat to save myself the medical expenses (and the other expenses associated with being too sick to function). I cannot function on a vegetarian diet, I've BTDT. Also, the OP already said her kids won't eat beans.

A couple big savings for us - bundling our cable and DSL bills saved us almost $100/month. It was a major hassle and took most of 2 days to get it all set up properly, but after 3 months, the savings was more than worth it. We also have prepaid cell phone plans, which cost us $100/year (each). The caveat being that we pay 25 cents/minute - so we don't use them unless it's actually important. We have to have a landline in order to have the DSL/cable, so that gets used for any telephone needs, and everything else goes by email. It was a bit difficult to train the family not to call our cells at first, but we just don't answer them if we're at home, and don't "chat" on them if we're out.

Joining a CSA has also been big for us. I had to give up control over what produce we had in the house, but in exchange I was able to cut my fresh grocery bill in half. I'm paying $30/week for the CSA and we wind up with more (local, organic) produce than we can eat.

If you have the space, grow something edible. Even if it's in a pot. Tomatoes around here at the height of the season are more than $2/lb. But I can spend $3 on a tomato plant and a little effort and come away with more tomatoes than I can eat (freeze, dry or can the extras). Same goes for any fresh herbs - they are expensive at the grocery store, but spending a couple bucks on the plant will give you enough to last all summer in most cases. This year I'm growing 3 tomatoes (1 cherry, 1 salad, 1 paste) and basil. That's about $10 in plants, and I'll get way more than $10 worth of produce off of them.

I also stopped buying/using shampoo/conditioner. I use baking soda (89 cents/lb), and ACV (about $3/pint) for my hair now, and my hair has never been healthier. It also only needs washing once a week instead of every day or every other day.

Removing/limiting disposable products from my life. I started using a menstrual cup and mama cloth instead of tampons and disposable pads. It's a bit of an initial outlay, but you save every month. I also started using family cloth for pees, and using cloth in the kitchen. I still buy TP, but it's only used for poo, so we go through a LOT less of it, and paper towels are only used for kitty accidents - we've had the same pkg of paper towels for about 6 months now. This has also saved on our water bill, since the toilet isn't flushed after every pee - great since we're in the middle of a drought.

HTH

 

[Purple Sage]

What saves us the most money is not eating out, followed by me being the one who goes shopping instead of dh. I'm always looking for the best deals, can resist the urge to buy junk food, and very rarely make impulse purchases. Dh, on the other hand, is the total opposite.

I also agree that it's the big things that make the biggest difference. We only have one car, no car payment, shopped around for cheaper insurance, got rid of the land line and got a good cell phone deal, canceled cable, live close to everything to save on gas, etc. etc.

 

[EFmom]

I also buy food pretty much only on sale. Where I live buying half a cow doesn't save money--it's far more expensive. I cook mostly from scratch, use my freezer for soups, stews, crustless quiche, etc., and so rarely eat out.

One of the biggest ways we save is that we do most home repairs and projects ourselves. Last summer we did a much needed kitchen renovation ourselves, and saved at least $20K in labor. We rarely hire anyone to do anything around the house.

We use the public library heavily for much of our entertainment. We try not to add monthly bills that aren't necessary. We don't have cable TV, expensive cell phone plans, etc. We take our own trash to the dump.

 

[es1967]

I was one of those people who never paid attention to prices. Then I started collecting coupons and watching sales. This has helped me alot. I look at prices and am amazed that I never paid attention to this before. For example I noticed my Olive oil was $6.99 at Walmart and & $8.99 @ my regular grocery store. We eat mostly organic so the coupons I get online do help me. In the past I would just drop $200 at Whole foods and now I'm spending half that by being more aware. We stopped eating out which saves us around $300-$500/ month. Stopped using the drycleaner for laundering shirts etc etc. I now belong to a produce club which saves me $'s on produce. Started doing the Artisan bread in 5 min a day which saves me so much in bread and waste. Its easier to make the fresh bread than going to the store. It's amazing how everything adds up!

 

[marimara]

I didn't read everyone's responses but did read the one who said it's the big stuff and that is 100% true in our case.

These are the biggest savings in our household:

We don't have cable television. We have Netflix instead. $16/month for unlimited entertainment on the tube.

We renegotiated our long distance home phone and DSL and got a lower payment by threatening to leave and go with another company.

We canceled our contract cell phones and went with TracFone, roughly $20 a month for both of us.

Paying cash for cars.

DH packs his lunch most days. That easily saves about $40 a week.

Cloth diapers save a ton, especially if you line dry. We easily saved $50 a week doing that.

Breastfeeding of course!!!

:

Oh, and the interlibrary loan system. I use to buy a ton of books from Amazon, now I look up every book I want on the interlibrary loan system.

Just eating more at home in general, not necessarily cooked from scratch. Even a fully prepared frozen dinner meal for an entire family will cost a fraction of eating out.

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I think that making changes on recurring bills makes a difference. We have less going out more each month now.
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[Joyfulmom4]

Thanks everyone. Lots of great advice and ideas here.

Some of the stuff we're doing already, some isn't an option, but I'd like to explore more of the suggestions given, esp about saving on the smaller things. I know the big stuff is where you save the most, but we're doing most of what we can there already. (No car payments, bundled DSL/cable/internet, minimal eating out, choosing less costly/free entertainment, etc).

So, it's time to look at those "smaller" budget areas to see where we can trim stuff.

Growing stuff yourself was mentioned. For a novice gardener, what type of plants would be good choices if you just wanted to grow a few things that would be easy to grow and produce a lot of food for the effort?

I do can a little, but have only done fruit and jam. I haven't been impressed that canning fruit or jam saves me money. It's more of a hobby thing. Do you all find otherwise? What items do you find it economical to can?

Picking berries was a great suggestion. We've done that in the past. Last year we missed the berries but picked apples. I have to travel further now than we used to. Will definitely pick and freeze berries. And make jam.

About making from scratch, does anyone have favorites that are easy and also clearly save you a great deal compared to store-bought? Would have to store or freeze well. One of my big limitations is that I work 8a-8p three days a week, so I have to prepare food ahead and freeze it or store it or else everyone turns to convenience food.

I've been thinking about the paper products thing. Dh uses paper plates all the time to avoid dishes. I'm trying to discourage this. Wonder how everyone would handle cloth napkins, etc? I have lots of fabric I could cut up and serge to use. Family cloth in the bathroom would never go over, though I did use cloth diapers and sometimes use cloth menstrual products. Would flannel squares make decent napkins?

About coupons, most of them don't seem to be for stuff we'd use, but there are some out there that are. I get frustrated trying to access them though. And figuring out how to "work" the deals at the registers. You know how you always see the "coupon queens" on TV who buy a cart of groceries for $5 or something? I'm thinking I'd just like to save $20. Ykwim? In the coupon forums, people always say how they never pay for toothpaste or deodorant, etc. Where are those coupons coming from? I just find ones for "Easy Mac" and frozen entrees.

I always had the attitude that the "small stuff" didn't matter, like paper towels and coupons and such. But I'm beginning to see it can add up to a lot. My kids drink a gallon and a half of milk a day. If I get the milk at Aldis, I save a dollar a gallon. That could add up, esp if you think about all the other little nickel and dime and dollar differences.

I'm just trying to figure out where the most significant "little savings" are. More ideas are welcome. Keep 'em coming.

 

[dancebaraka]

Paying off all credit card debt and being committed to not using any credit cards.

And we have slashed our grocery bills into 1/3 of what they were by shopping sales with coupons. We still eat very healthfully.

 

[dancebaraka]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Joyfulmom4 About coupons, most of them don't seem to be for stuff we'd use, but there are some out there that are. I get frustrated trying to access them though. And figuring out how to "work" the deals at the registers. You know how you always see the "coupon queens" on TV who buy a cart of groceries for $5 or something? I'm thinking I'd just like to save $20. Ykwim? In the coupon forums, people always say how they never pay for toothpaste or deodorant, etc. Where are those coupons coming from? I just find ones for "Easy Mac" and frozen entrees.

There really is a learning curve to couponing IME... I have learned a ton from www.afullcup.com

HTH

 

[zinemama]

Whoa, a gallon and a half of milk a day? That's a huge amount for four kids. Maybe you could limit milk to one meal (cereal for breakfast) and have them drink water the rest of the day? That's how we do it. That would save you a ton, especially if you're buying organic milk.

 

[kanga1622]

I don't get a lot of use from coupons but save a pretty decent amount of money by sale shopping and getting "rainchecks" when they run out of a sale item. I will often find namebrand products for sale cheaper than generics but when I go to buy, they are out (which is my favorite anyway!). My store doesn't post an expiration date on rainchecks and will even special order larger quantities for me to purchase with the raincheck so I can buy a year's supply of a pantry item at the rock bottom price.