I keep reading "101 tips to save money" type articles online but there isn't anything new for me so I thought I'd throw my 2cents in the ring and see if any of you all had and tips to trade. Here we go...
Step 1 is to adjust your expectations.
-First of all Pray. I frequently find myself praying that we have enough money for this expense or that and God always provides. One way or another. I also pray for God to change my heart so that I am not jealous of other's good fortune or prosperity.
-Remind yourself that you don't really know other peoples' finances. Your fiends or that neighbor with the fancy boat might be one of the millions of people who carry insane amounts of debt. Don't be jealous of that!
-Remind yourself that our culture is crazy. Things and stuff, things and stuff and then you die(to paraphrase my pastor). Despite what the commercials say, you can live without it, and may even enjoy your life more.
Ok, ok, so how about the practical tips?
Plan ahead
-pregame for eating out. My husband eats like my son: all the flippin' time. And they are both skinny. Jerks. Anyhoo, a lot of people will tell you to split an entree to save money but that doesn't work for my black-hole of a husband. So he will most often eat a sandwich (or more) before we go to a restaurant. He still gets an entree and sometimes my sides and that way he actually feels like it was money well-spent instead of still being hungry.
-Along with this "hungry husband" thing, we eat a lot of potatoes and eggs. Both are really cheap and fill out meals that would only satisfy a normal human stomach.
-Save your gift cards and returns for needs. We often get gift certificates (or end up with store credit for returns) for gifts. So instead of going right away and spending them, we save them until we need something specific like jeans, a dress for a wedding, or (yup) socks&underwear. Not super fun but, hey, you can get the cute underwear, right?
-Get thyself a cheap hobby. Blog, craft, run. Bonus points for anything that saves/makes money like canning food or selling your quilts. None of this interior decorating/hobby car racing/gambling business for you, sir. You're too thrifty!
-DIY as much as possible. The old standby. Everything from cooking to home improvement to car repair to gifts. Even if you can't do it all yourself, what parts can you do?
-Make your own cards. Get a pack of pretty paper and fold one in half. Write something sweet. Instant card. No one really treasures cards anyway and its the handwritten part that leaves an impression. When card companies charge $3-$5 per card, you can save some decent money over the course of a year.
-Sell your shtuff. Garage sale, consignment, craigslist. Books are good. Just think of the stuff wasting away in your basement. Remember, "things and stuff and then you die". Purge, people!
THIS ONE'S MY FAVORITE: KNOW YOUR FAVORITE STORE.
-My favorite store is Target. (Fun fact, my son's favorite is menards. No joke!) Oh Target, you're the best. So when I say "know your store", here's how I know Target. I have the cartwheel app and use it frequntly. I look at it every time I plan my shopping list. At Target, they often have things on sale along with being on Cartwheel, so you feel like a real winner when that happens. I also can sometimes combine Cartwheel, sales, clearance, Target coupons (printouts from the register they give you with recepts OR this incredible print your own thing on their website). That website is my fav because they sometimes have high value coupons like $10 off $50 in groceries. Totally worth installing the coupon printer on your computer.
-Target has lots of lovely clearance endcaps and I try not to buy anything unless it's at least 50% off. Hopefully 70% or even 90%. The percent off is located on the top right of the clearance sticker.
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| This one went from 15% off to 50% off. WIN! |
-I'm totally blessed in that my area has 6 Targets within an hour of my home and often each Target has different clearance items or at least different percent-offs (I think I made that term up). So if I'm going on a Target run, I try to go to a different Target each time just in case the clearance is better in one or the other.
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| See that "was $10.79". I got lucky at a different location. |
-If you see groceries on clearance, especially in the aisles (not just endcaps), you need to walk down every darn aisle cuz there are some deals to be had! And we're not talking weird expired food here, we're talking totally normal food. I've gotten flour/sugar/canned goods/baking mixes/spices/granola bars. Like these super tasty muffin mixes. I may have purchased 5 of these bad boys.
-Fnally with Target, I am going against all other "seventy-billion ways to save money" lists and I say Shop often. The key to this is to have self control. You can't go into Target six times a week, impulse buy things and stuff, and expect to save money. But if you can see cute things and resist buying, I think it can be smart to shop often. You won't be taken off-guard by the adorable thingyoureallywant, and will be more likely to be patient for them to go on clearance because you know you will be back soon. Its easy to wait for it to go on better clearance, too. Oh yes.
So that's what I got. Hope you like Target! What are you tips and tricks? Anything I haven't read on "sixty-bazillion and one tips to save money"?
Aaaand now I'm literally going to go pick up something someone put out for garbage. Spoiler alert: It's a kids plastic jungle gym.
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