What are you doing to save money?

One of the things that my husband and I started doing to save money lately, is to try paying for almost everything in cash. We figured out a budget, so we have a certain amount out of every paycheck that is allowed to go toward groceries, a small amount of random spending money for each of us, a small amount for eating out, etc. Then, we pay for all those things in cash. It really forces me to be more careful with my grocery shopping, knowing that I only have a certain amount of cash to last us for two weeks. Also, we still get to eat out sometimes and have a little spending money, but it's just very limited so that we don't go overboard. This has really helped us to cut down on random spending and pay more attention to costs.

well, times are hard now and not only here but everywhere in the world now. the fear of losing jobs, retrenchment is a taboo word to mention now in office. I am facing a tighter budget now to feed the family as money does not come so easily now. To save money, i had already tried using the car left often, this save on my petrol, toll charges and parking charges and i save quite an amount from it. I would only use the car if the whole family is going out and take public transport if i am going out alone. We are also eating less in restaurants. We used to do so at least twice a week and now we are doing it once fortnightly and we save from it. We need to prepare for an even tougher road ahead so it is not good to splurge the money now on any luxury or entertainment. I think these two areas can already save up a chunk of total expenditures. If you can control your eating habit and at the same time eat healthy, you can save lots of money on food alone

I actually haven't done all that much, but that is because I am a frugal person to begin with. I was raised in a home where there was very little money and what there was was spent foolishly.It was a very good learning experience, and I learnt that you pay your bills first and what you have left is yours.To take that a step further the less bills you have the more you have.So before I buy anything I ask myself a few hard questions can I afford this, do I really nedd it, am I willing to go around broke for the next few months/years to have what I want. I have learnt to live on very little and yet I have a home of my own, and spare change at the end of the month, and I live on a pension. The world today is a self indulgent place, it is buy, charge and worry time for a lot of people I do not have that stress in my life and I am just fine with that concept

I now the feeling. Before the euro came, I always had a savings account. At least 2000, guldens in the bank, for rainy days. The euro was not even here for a year and my money just blew away. I was still living the same boring life, only now it was getting more boring. (Boring meaning not going out much and stuff.) And money was going fast. Well lucky me, I lose my job because of health problems and now it is even worse.hahaha! I get half the money I used to get and am living in Germany. I came here to continue my last job. But, I got disabled. Saving money, you are doing the right thing. I can only worn you of one thing: Try not to use a credit cards or getting credits from the bank. I did that, I am trying my best to keep up with the payments. I feel like I am drowning in water. I cannot keep up. I got a letter from the electric, giving me 3 more weeks and then no more electric. Meaning no more heat for the house. I have excepted that that will happen. I still have a house to live in, lots of people don't even have a house anymore. So, I am still one of the lucky ones. Good luck to you. Take care.

One thing I am going to do is to unplug my electrical appliances when not in use. My electric bill is high in the wintertime and I think that will help me not to use so much power and to be able to use things more effieciently. That will be a savings.

Nothing really, I find it hard to save money. Im always spending it on stuff that I need like rent or food etc.

Lots of good tips have been posted. I will give you my simple one. I don't really go shopping anymore unless I have to. Just staying out the stores saves me a bundle. When I am out shopping, I always see things I think I need. When I am at home, I am not thinking about material goods. Well, unless maybe I am looking at a catalog. But I am less likely to impulse purchase at home (via catalog or the Internet) than I am when I am in a store. Good luck with saving money. If you do even just a few of the things suggested, you will be well on your way. There are a lot of great deals online as well...coupons, freebie sites (like FatWallet and SlickDeals), and general information. Happy Saving!

i only buy stuff on sale if we need anything and am a devotee of thrift stores. we buy our meat from a butcher and make a lot of soup and pastas during the winter. in the summer, i will grow tomatoes and some herbs. we do not own a cell phone and only have basic cable. if the kids need anything, we usually wait and buy it on sale or at a thrift store (plus we get hand me downs for clothes). we dont buy brand names in anything!

Hello LaurenInLA! One of the things that you should look into would be to cut down on unnecessary expenses. The strategy you have implemented by disconnecting your land line and changing your mobile plan is a good one. There may be other things you are spending on that needs some rethinking. If you can't totally avoid such expenses, then minimize such expenses. Personally, to save money, I have what I call "forced" savings. I keep a certain amount of money each day. So far, so good. I also have some coin banks where I put specific coins like one would be for 10 Peso coins, another for 5 Peso coins, and another for 1 Peso coins. At the end of the day, when I empty my pocket or my coin purse, I would put all those coins in their respective containers. Well, I think I am doing fine because I am about to deposit within the week a considerable amount of money I have saved since first week of December.

If you are talking about phone bill, mine costs around $110 -$130 include internet, two cell phones and house phone. every bill never go down but income is going down... I dont know how to find the way to get more money either, but first thing that i save is piggy bank. I always take $20 or less everyday to put in there... I just forget about that $20. Another thing, my changes... I always get every penny that I have and save them, put in a roll and it end up with a real dollars. i keep less money in my purse so I dont end up with too much spending.

My family and I just moved to the country, so out of necessisty, we've cut down on our trips to town to get groceries. We go to a store close by for fresh food about once a week, and only go to town once or twice a month. The less you go shopping, the less impulse shopping or buying of treats there will be. Also, stuff actually makes it to the list, instead of me going, oh yeah, we might be low on that - I'd better get it just in case. We put things on the grocery list before we actually need them so that when we run out, no trip to the store. No trip to the store, no impulse spending! I think I'm saving like $100 every month just not going to the store to get 2 things. Oh, and meal plans really do help with that, too - help to keep it interesting, too. Another great grocery tip - but a little time-consuming to start - is to keep track of how much foods cost at the various places that you shop. Having a side-by-side comparison chart with you when you shop will let you know if your favorite store all of a sudden raised (or preferably lowered) the price, where's the best to shop, if that flyer price really IS a deal etc. Happy frugal shopping!

yah this is lot a problem also with me. but to come out of this problem i have started to save money by avoiding more junk food and outside parties adn sometimes using cycle to go for a short distance instead of bike or car

I do as much as I can physically do to try and save money in this economic crisis. The main one perhaps being that i'm viewing the current money issues around the globe to cash in on. I hold a funded savings account which I buy stocks and shares with every month. While these remain low as the shares are doing badly at the moment hopefully in ten years when a recovery may happen then the shares will rise and I will make a profit. Even if it takes longer i'm only 22 so have plenty of time to ride the stock market. I also regularly put money into cash savings accounts with the highest interest rates I can just to really squeeze as much money out of the banks as possible. In terms of buying new things I tend to do alot of my purchases over the net now as they tend to come with larger discounts and when bought through a cashback site I can make even more savings. Cashback sites rebate a percentage of the cost of the item you are purchasing which has proving very fruitful when it comes to buying things for presents at Christmas. In terms of round the house though i'm always looking out for the best deal, best energy supplier, most value for money products and making sure I turn off anything electrical if i'm not using it. Lights is a prime example if I leave a room. Oh and don't be afraid to haggle for things in certain circumstances as this could also save you a few bob. Hope this helps in your quest to save a bit more.

Recently, everybody is talking about difficult economy, even my 5 year old grandson when we were ordering at a restaurant. So the first we can do is eating out less, which is good to our health maybe. While we enjoy life, people start to consider frugality, a concept usually cherished by the older generation. I notice young people are thinking of ways to live a simple life. Among other ways, the following is something to start with: - Prepare meals by yourself to avoid frequent eating out, - Dress in your own style to avoid blind fashion chasing, - Walk, bicycling, or bus if possible to leave taxi only for urgent needs, - Learn make-up and other skills to reduce beauty and spa out, - Buy in bulk, online, or in batch, download coupons, etc. to reduce expenses, - Start book-keeping to avoid random and over consumption. Less people are to spend all of their monthly pay as before. People are more careful about their credit consumption. This is a lesson from the current situation, which I believe nobody is able to preach otherwise.

The best thing I did to save money was to keep track of what we were spending money on. I kept a list and tracked my spending and realised where it was all going. I was shocked at how fast all the little one dollar here and three dollars there added up. It saved us a ton.

I wont buy unnecessary things and food items thats it to save money. I will not spend money on unwanted things

We already looked at our phone bills and everything, and we made changes as well. Downgraded our cell phone bill, and now use unlimited texting. We use the my faves for unlimited talk time to 5 different numbers anywhere in the US. We also shop at the thirty store for more clothes or Walmart. Then from all of our online activities, we're letting my money sit in my PayPal account, so when I get paid through Paypal, I'll have a nice little nest egg of money saved up. Although the amounts are really small, over time; they all add up. Let a famous phase in history goes: though your beginnings are small, your latter end shall greatly increase. I'm already approaching the minimum payout for mylot and expect I'll have it after tomorrow arrives. So, I'll let this amount sit in the account as well.

I've stopped letting commercialism run my life. 1 Timothy 6:8 (New International Version) "But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that." We really need very few things in life to make us happy. Too many things just waste our time. I've found actually that the less I have the happier I am. I keep giving things that I don't use or need away. Today, here it is 46 degrees Farenheit. Usually I have the heat set at 70 degrees to be comfortable. Today I decided to shut off the heat, open all the windows a tad, put a warm housecoat on, and enjoy breathing the fresh air. So far so good! Of course I will turn the heat on this evening. I found that I don't really need to eat three meals a day, that two (very nutritious meals with no junk food) is sufficient, one in the morning and one in the evening. I don't buy junk food anymore. I've learned to enjoy nutritious food just as much. I have been doing this for years now. How is my health? I haven't set foot in a pharmacy in three years. As a result, I have more time for family and friends as I have less to do. I called a cousin that I hadn't seen in 23 years. Found out he was chronically sick (82 years old) and in the hospital and visited him. You should have seen the happy surprised look on his face. I was told by the nurse that he had no visitors. He will have one now!

I am pretty good at saving money. I am home all day long with my son, so I'm used to conserving energy and such. First off, I'm a big coupon clipper. I love coupons. Before we go grocery shopping, I go to the stores websites and see what stores have stuff on sale. Between the sales, and coupons, I save us over $100 a week in groceries. I've also noticed, that I've started buying more and more store brands over name brands. I check the packages first to make sure it has all the same ingredients. But, everything has tasted the same and worked just as good. We also tend to buy diapers and wipes by the case from BJ's so it lasts us a month. That way we don't run out and I can still use coupons for them. I've even made all of my sons baby food since he's been eating solids, because it is so much cheaper and I can make it in bulk and freeze it. During the day, I leave all of the lights off in the house and use sunlight. I don't turn the lights on until about 5-6pm. I unplug anything I'm not using at that time. The only things I leave plugged in all the time are the fridge, oven, and the phone/answering machine. We don't have cell phones. Our house phone has long distance and everything for only $30 a month. My husband works very close to home and his brother has a cell phone on the job, so there is no need for us to have them. We also have two vehicles. One midsize car and one suv. My husband uses the car to go to work and if I have to go somewhere I use the suv. But, on his days off, if we have to do grocery shopping or something, we just take the car. That cuts down on gas prices. I only use the dryer if I absolutely have to. Otherwise, I hang clothes up in the bathroom and the back bedroom on drying racks. I also wash the dishes by hand so not to use the dish washer. I fill one side of the sink with hot water and fill a basin with more hot water. I wash the dish, rinse off the majority of the soap in the side of the sink with hot water, then rinse the rest of the soap off in the basin. Then I just use the dish washer as a drying rack. I started implementing these "money savers" when I found out I was pregnant last year, and it took a while for my husband to catch on. But, the first month our bills dropped over $500 between gas, groceries, and our electric bill. Good Luck Lauren! I hope everything works out for you and your family! :)

Hi, I would suggest you visit my blog at http://amoorasfrugallife.blogspot.com I have all kinds of suggestions on how to live a more frugal life. I got into living frugal when I got married. I was a college student and both my husband and I had and still havestudent loans. We started cutting down expenses and I wanted to pass along things that have worked for me. please check my blog daily, as I am always adding new posts that can help other frugal members. Also, please pass on my blog to anyone who can benefit from it. I always take suggestions or questions, so don't hesitate to contact me.