Here are some of the ways we save money.
1. We don’t have cable or satellite tv
2. I don’t go clothes shopping; kids get new jeans, shoes, etc as needed for birthdays, Christmas and such, I also get clothes at rummage sales and take hand me downs
3. I don’t get my nails done and I have a very easy hairstyle
4. I cut the boys hair at home
5. I don’t wear makeup
6. I make my own laundry soap and household cleaners
7. I don’t buy a lot of convenience foods; individually wrapped snacks, frozen meals, etc.
8. I have a grocery budget and stick to it (most of the time)
9. I try not to make unnecessary trips to town
10. We don’t go a lot of places; the movies, the mall (only on certain occasions), big vacations, etc.
11. We don’t go everywhere or do everything everyone asks us to do, example day trips out of town or bowling, etc.
12. I hang clothes on the line to dry, when I can
13. I buy used home school curriculum when I can and our main curriculum can be used by all of our children
14. I don’t use a credit card at all; dh has one and pays it off every month
15. Dh handles all our bills and we have a budget for groceries, gas, etc. I have a set amount that I can spend and I fit everything we need into that budget. The times I need more, dh and I discuss what for and how much to allow for it.
16. I don’t pay a babysitter, I don’t have to buy work clothes, pay for gas to & from work, or spend money on lunch everyday – I am a stay at home mom.
17. We don’t have a big house.
18. We don’t have new furniture.
19. I do not put Christmas on a credit card.
20. I shop at bulk, discount or off brand stores for groceries. I don't use coupons because I rarely buy name brand anything.
21. Our kids do not have the latest play station, game boy or video game.
22. We figured out we could save money by using electric heaters in the winter in addition to our central air unit which is propane, instead of central air only.
23. We don’t turn the ac on until it is really, really hot.
24. Dh changes the oil on our vehicles and does repairs of any kind that he can (and he can fix a lot of things).
25. We don’t have brand new vehicles.
26. I have been known to rinse out ziploc bags and reuse them.
27. I use cloth wipes for dd and me.
28. I have made momma cloths for me.
29. I have been trying to cut out paper products or at least cut down on them, napkins, etc.
30. I have made a couple dresses for dd and me using clothes we already had here.
31. We use the library for books/movies, it is free.
I know there are alot of other ways to save money, this is just a list I had put together and thought I would share. I'll share more later in part 2.
Blessings,
Rashel
Sharing my race of life in faith, fitness, food and family ~ 1 Cor 9:24-27
I always enjoy reading about how other moms save money. Number 11 particularly caught my eye. Recently we didn't take our son on the Cub Scout ski trip because skiing doesn't fit into our budget. We can't do it all and that's just the way it goes.
ReplyDeleteWe garden and can and hunt. All of those things help with the grocery budget. I've learned to shop at grain elevators for bulk grains. That's not something the average family knows about. Steel cut oats are a favorite of mine and are much cheaper from an elevator.
Have a blessed Sunday......Denise
Wonderful ideas Rashel! ...I had been working on something similar! Great minds think alike!
ReplyDeleteI had never thought of a grain elevator. I'll have to check into that! Thank you Denise and Sarah. I just love getting comments from my friends!!!
ReplyDeleteBlessings,
Rashel
It really can be hard sometimes, but it saves so much money not paying for TV! Thank you so much for taking the time to comment, I really appreciate it.
ReplyDelete