Eight Frugal Tips To Start You Off
Around the House, Financial Tips, Food and Cooking Tips, Money Saving Tips, Save Money Shopping | Leave A CommentI belong to a bunch of frugal message boards. Some I visit regularly, others not so often. The following tips came from various boards over the course of the last couple of years.
1. Shop your sales!!!! I rarely did this until a year ago and just on meat alone, I bet I save $100 a month. That is a huge savings for any family. We have 3 good sized stores, plus a Walmart Supercenter, but luckily they are all within 2 miles of each other. I get my ads on Monday (or Wednesday in the regular ads) and make out my menu accordingly. Each store has a different meat on sale, so there is almost always a beef, chicken or pork cut on sale. It’s the same for paper products, canned goods, etc. I always TRY to buy on sale. If it’s not on sale, I have an idea of whose prices are best and go from there. Pay cash and don’t use credit cards. It can be easy to rationalize a purchase if the plastic is in your wallet so leave it at home.
2. Record your spending.This way you know where your money is going. Then make the changes
3. Buying only what you need is good advice, however in order to stay good, all of us must have a little treat once in a while. When it comes to groceries…. Spend !!! When the price on something that the family eats is on sale…BUY IT !!! If your family likes mac and cheese and it goes on sale for 8/$1.00 buy 24, cereal .99c a box buy 20. This is what I do. It may sound extreme but my family can eat 2 or 3 boxes of mac and cheese and 2 boxes of cereal a week. Just remember to rotate your food: New in back, old in front to be used first. Be organized!!! Know what you have so you don’t buy a second one, combine your errands, know what size the kids wear etc so you can take advantage of the sales, so you don’t run out and buy something that you already have in a closet.
4. Always think before you purchase! Ask yourself, do I really need this? Do I have something already that might serve the same purpose?
5. Mine would be to take the time to think and plan before you start ANYTHING. If you always have a plan in mind before you hit the grocery store, you’re less likely to be sidetracked. If you already have a plan for your money, you’re less likely to be tempted to do something else with it. If your time is already planned, less opportunity to waste it.
6. My tip would be that buying in bulk or at a warehouse is not always cheaper..even if you don’t use coupons when your not buying in bulk! For example I went to Costco with my mom this week, the FIRST thing they had in view of people coming in was a pack of three boxes of Nutrigrain bars for 6.99. My Ralphs JUST had those SAME boxes on sale for 2$ each! I felt so bad for the people buying the box of nutrigrain bars at Costco There were even coupons out that would have made them FREE, 50 cents or .90 cents each, depending on what coupon you had! There were SO many other things like that but that was the best example that comes to mind.
7. I would say to at least consider second hand clothing and dented can stores. I have saved tons at both. Dented can stores also sell, dented boxes, ie-cereal boxes with dented corners (bag inside is intact). I have also purchased many LL bean clothes and so forth at K-mart prices cause they were used.
8. Shop at thrift stores and yard sales. If I have something in mind, it only takes me one or two trips to find what I was looking for. Recently I decided I really needed an adding machine if I was going to do my budget justice. I have calculators but I wanted one that was bigger and with a print option. The next day, having forgotten about the adding machine, I walked into a thrift store and there was one on the shelf. I paid $3.00 for it. It is a TI and just like the ones we have at work that cost $20.00. I find that it pays to shop there as long as you keep in mind that there has to be a need for the item.
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