Hey everyone! I thought we could start an ongoing list of tips to save money. Anything from grocery shopping to clothes shopping! Please feel free to add to the list!

*Once a month have a "money fast". Don't spend any money for a week. (Obviously you need to plan ahead for things like bills, food and gas, but not spending on even a latte can save you $)!!!

*Stick by a budget, but if you fall off the horse, all is not wasted. Just pick back up where you left off and give yourself a break!

Write down every single penny you spend for at least 3 months to really see where your money is being spent.  

Check out http://www.thegrocerygame.com they have a $1.00 4 week trial for you to see how much money you can save on groceries...I save at least $30-60 every weekly shopping trip with coupons....and they do most all of the work for you.  It's amazing what you can get dirt cheap or free.  

There is tons of information on the internet for saving money...one of my favorite blogs is http://www.thesimpledollar.com which is a wealth of information on getting your finances in order.

Eat at home! 

Have a monthly family menu and stick to it.  This will save you tons of money but not spending on little extra you don't really need at the grocery store.

We are good with savings.  We don't touch bonus and only dip into tax refund a little.  So we save during the year that way and also cutting cell phone talk...even the plan.  I just have nights and weekends now.  We also don't get the pay channels...just the normal direct tv...with no HBO or any of that stuff.

I always shop off season for Christmas gifts and Birthday gifts in addition to buying all the kids wardrobe for the follow year off season when stuff is dirt cheap.

We buy Luvs diapers because I think they are great and they are inexpensive IMO...although we mentioned in another thread that they changed size 4 right??  It was a pain?

We don't do frivolous.  If we need it, we buy it....but if we absolutely need something that is not on our list...it better be on clearance 

We do hand me downs...I love thrift stores.  I love finding an old piece of junk piece of furniture and refinishing it...

We buy generic everything....can't see spending the name brand stuff...

That is all I can think of now....LOL

shop eBay and thirft stores. 

I read in my magazine never go food shopping on a empty stomach. If your hungry you end up buying loads of food and cakes that you might not of bought if you went after you've eaten. You see them and think I could just eat that now. So you could save your self some money there.

We meal plan and only grocery shop once every 2 weeks.  We budget for 2 take-out or go-out meals during that 2 week period so we don't get too bored (we LOVE to eat out!)

We pack leftovers or sandwiches for lunch and bring drinks.. Soda is much cheaper from home than from a vending machine or corner store at the last minute

We use coupons for almost everything - I have really become cheap!

I buy toys/gifts when I see them for a REALLY good price (usually 50-75% off) and keep them in our gift closet.  I always have a gift ready for a birthday or Xmas

I buy DS' clothes a season ahead.  So far I ahve guessed right on sizes.. I hope this year I did OK, but I'm a little worried I bought too big.. eek!

Other than the tax refund part, I think Jojo and I were somehow separated at birth.

White Cloud diapers are even cheaper and they've worked well so far. I like Luvs too but they never have any size 1.

My tip...since I have to cook large amounts to feed everybody anyway,I cook extra and put it into single serve Gladware containers and then freeze them. Saves in two ways: first b/c it's cheaper to buy in bulk and second b/c it saves on eating out when we can just pop something in the microwave. Note: the Gladware lids become very fragile in the freezer so you need to leave them on while you nuke the food for a minute or so.

Well, I always OVERbudget on all our bills....for example our water bill is set for $90 a month, but usually it is $70.  Our electricity is set at $350 and the winter time it is usually $75 and the summer at most is $324.....so anytime all these bills have money leftover I put it in a seperate savings account my DH does not know about. I am the saver of the family and I hate having a secret, but he has even said if he knows we have money saved he will spend it.  I also buy EVERYONE's gifts for the year all year when I see good sales like 75% off and that includes the kids clothes.

Chachamama:

We meal plan and only grocery shop once every 2 weeks.  We budget for 2 take-out or go-out meals during that 2 week period so we don't get too bored (we LOVE to eat out!)

We do the same thing. DH is a CPA and as stereotypes go........you bet he is tight with a buck. That's so good for me though b/c he really keeps me in check. We get paid once a month so I go to Walmart once a month. I make a menu for every day and plan from that what I buy. Also, I keep an inventory list so when I run out of something I write it down so there's no forgetting and having to run back. Also, since I shop at Walmart, I buy all tolietries and cleaning supplies at the same time. Obviously we run out of things like fruits, veggies, milk and Oj but DH will stop on the way home. You can bet that if he stops, there will be no extras! This system really works, although it is sometimes hard to come up with that many meal ideas. I get frustrated with that part. We also budget for one meal out a week. Right now DH is working A LOT of hours so I don't even cook since he's not home for dinner anyway. It's an adjustment once April 15th comes and I have to start cooking again!

• I don't carry cash b/c I know I will spend it on stupid little stuff like coffee, magazines, lip gloss. So if I see something I like, I stop myself and ask, "do I want to use my credit card to charge a $3.99 magazine?" Usually the answer is "no."
• I stay out of the stores (see the Costco thread in Mommy Mayhem or was it Top Posters?)
• I don't take DH to the grocery store. When he comes w/me, the bill is always $50-100 higher!
• I bring my lunch to work and send DS #2 to daycare w/lunch (vs. buying their meal plan)

I take my own lunch to work so does DH - that saves us loads each week!

Filter your own water - much cheaper than buying bottled!

We dont have credit cards - they are bad!

If you owe money on anything always make sure you pay the most money off the one that has the highest interest rate!

If you must have a CC - swap it regularly to the kind that offers interest free on balance transfers then pay off as much as possible as fast as possible!

I also save £2 coins in my piggy bank - as I cant raid it and get them out so I wait till the pig is full then break it!

Lucky Star:

If you must have a CC - swap it regularly to the kind that offers interest free on balance transfers then pay off as much as possible as fast as possible!

This is so true! I had heard that all those solicited offers you get hurt your credit score b/c every time you get a pre-screened offer they run a check. Well, we moved into a new house and put a lawn in last year and DH put in a brick driveway. Instead of taking out a loan, we put it on a credit card last fall then got another offer a month ago and that one won't come due until Oct 2009. That's a two year loan interest free! Yeah, we figured how much we have to pay monthly to have it paid off by Oct '09 but we figured we could do it that way and leave our money in the bank to draw interest. Plus, just last week we checked our credit score and it is still the same as 2 years ago when we got our mortgage. Neither I nor DH are big fans of credit cards but this just seemed to make sense....if you pay it off.

 Angelmom -

 I like your idea of having a separate secret account, but just wondering what if something happened to you? You should at least have it written down somewhere - perhaps in the safe or whevever with other important documents so your husband could find if there were tragic circumstances?

i am trying to teach DS about saving too. whenever he gets change from daddy he puts it in his piggy bank. when it is full we are going to have a lesson about money and banks. i think we will take him to one of those change machines.... where he can drop it all in and see how much it is. then we will take most of it and put it in his savings account and use a very small amount of it for a toy. this is the first time we will do this... so i dont know how much $$ is actually in the piggy when full? it will be interesting to see