money saving tips n tricks

Thanks for the tips, we just bought our first home so we need all the money saving tips we can get.
Right now it's perfect weather in Texas, our winters are about 65 to 70 degrees until February. So we are saving money by opening up the windows and turning the AC off.

thats always a good idea. No AC. I also keep my heat on about 15 degrees. its warm, not too hot, not too cold and keeps the energy bill low

I love the local pound and 99p shops. I'm extremely jealous of those who get to go to dollar stores over in the US they look amazing.

Today I got from the £ shops;

- Artists Canvas Medium sized
- 4 plain covered notebooks that I'm going to do up for Christmas presents for my friends
- 100 metres of silver curling ribbon, perfect for Christmas etc.

I love the pound shops. I'm off to hunt for online dollar stores now. Yay.

Oh and check out this website. www.moneysavingexpert.com I know a lot of his stuff is based mainly for the UK, but he has some great tips for cheap travel, and creating gifts and presents, have a root through the forums it's well worth it.

xx

nice site, great ideas.

One of my fav. "mommy" tips;

This year's jeans/pants = next year's capri's... at least from age "baby" to about age 4-5. The reason why it works is because the small sizes account for diaper space... which they no longer need in later years. My girls wore the same pants as capris for about 2 years past when they were too short as pants... just rolled 'em up once or twice for style ;)

ooh instead of taking money out of an ATM when you go to the store like Walmart, do your regular shopping there and then at the register get cash back..this will save you on those stupid atm and bank fees if your bank atm isnt near by

ooh great ideas

I made a program in Excel for home budgeting ... quite a bit easier than any commercial programs and allows for pocket money and such that you don't typically keep track of. Lets you make "envelopes" - which means set a certain amount that you'd like to attempt to stick to for the month for things like groceries, clothes, etc. And allows for you to add savings to deduct every month, regular bills, etc.... works quite well... and lets you fill in your "expected" numbers to compare with your "actual" numbers so you can see what kind of difference there is between what you COULD have left at month-end, compared to what you actually do, so you can try and change it. Keeping track with something like this makes things SO much easier and organized. And really easy/fast. I'm adding a tutorial on the first sheet of the Excel doc which I hope to have finished by the end of December.... if anyone would like a copy of the Excel document, drop me a message cuz I'd be happy to send it to anyone who wants it.

oh that is a good idea

It helps a LOT... not only because it helps you keep track, but it holds you accountable for every penny lol

Some tips from me:

- I put all of my small change into a money tin. I have regular clean-outs of my wallet and any small change I find automatically goes into the tin. It might not sound like much but you can accumulate around $50 per tin after a while!
- Every 6 months or so I clean out my wardrobe and sell the clothes I haven't work for a while on eBay.
- Make meals in bulk (things like stews, soups, casseroles etc) and freeze into handy meal-sized portions. These are great for quick meals (instead of take away) and for lunches.
- Don't buy your lunch every day! I worked out that I used to spend up to $15 PER DAY on breakfast/lunches... by making and taking your lunch to work every day you'll save a lot of money.

great ideas lola

shop thrift stores ;)
...just cuz it MIGHT have been worn a few times doesn't mean it's garbage or gross! wash it, and you're good to go... and let's face it... your wardrobe will be way more unique if you don't shop "the latest look" every season at the GAP. lol. And you can often find brand names and designer stuff for like... really really cheap!

Good tip Mama Zoe!

Sometimes when I've bought something that has nice material but I've never worn it, instead of throwing it out or selling it on eBay, I'll cut it up and use the material for sewing other things Good cheap way of getting extra material!