(I wonder if she knows, that is NOT going to fit in her mouth?)
1. We only have one car. We save money on taxes, gas, insurance and we get to spend more time together. I know some people can not do this with work situations and what not, but where we are now it works for us. Thankfully my husband only works 4 1/2 miles away, which means sometimes he rides his bike or even runs to work. Now don't get me wrong... I would love to have two cars.
2. I only go to the grocery store once a week. When we first got married I found myself swinging by the store almost every other day. This adds up so quickly, because just one item turns into more VERY quickly! I plan out all our meals for the week and we eat off of what we have, even if we get down to all the stuff we don't want.
3. We rarely eat out. We decided that for health and money reasons to only eat out once a week. Now to some people that might sound like a lot, but this also includes just going through the drive thru. Now when we do go out to a nice place my husband and I usually split a meal. We find that we never really need to eat a whole plate, the leftovers are never as good the next day, and if it comes with bread or salad you can fill up pretty quickly! Also when we go out we always get water. We usually ask for lemons and squirt them in the water and add a little sugar and you have lemonade!
4. No gym membership. This is a hard one for me, because I LOVE going to the gym. I always have. Just writing this I want to go, and I am one of those people that definitely gets my moneys worth. Thankfully, I love to run and would rather run outside anyways. If it is raining I resort to doing a workout video in my bedroom.
5. Coupon. I began using coupons a few years ago. I can not save near as much with coupons as I once was able, but any amount is better than nothing. We also use coupons for drive thrus, all baby products, household items and even the dentist.
6. Borrow. We borrow things whenever possible. A lot of Grace's bigger items have been borrowed. This saves so much money, and you can help someone and they can help you!
7. Budget. This might be the most important one? We have a very strict budget on our computer that we update almost daily. This makes us communicate about our finances. Even though I HATE doing this, it is a necessary evil to save money. Both of you must know where the money is being spent!
8. Shop second-hand. You can find so many items almost brand new at thrift stores, yard sales, habit stores etc. I personally love yard sales because there is so much room for negotiations. Especially for children's items, they rarely wear them out.
9. Make Homemade. There are so many things that can be made homemade for so much cheaper.
10. Pack lunches. We have packed our lunch our whole marriage. My wonderful husband is so good at eating our leftovers. This saves not only on grocery money, but also in gas too.
I hope this will help and inspire you to save money! Please let me know ways you save money! I always am looking for more ideas!
yes & yes to everything on this list!! esp. the grocery shopping once a week!! :)
ReplyDeleteI know... that is a big one and a hard one to do!
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