Its what we hear about in the news, the Economy, have you felt the pinch in your everyday life? My family has. We feel the struggle just to get by and pay the bills and still put gas in the car and food on the table so I am trying to do all I can to save money. A few things I am doing: Never driving unless its to work and Church or if I need to go to the kids school or doctors. No extra trips or visiting friends unless I am in that area, so Sundays when we go to Mass we do our "visiting" visit my mom, meet friends for coffee to catch up once in a while, etc. Thats the day I do the grocery shopping or I also grocery shop after I get off work at the store near my work. The kids get to enjoy all our errands on Sunday lol, and we have a tradition of getting 1 dollar ice cream cones at baskin robins (I gave up ice cream for Lent but I always get a beverage :) On my days off, (I work 4 10 hour days to save gas money) I stay home. The kids have got used to this and know not to ask to go anywhere as we live 15 min from town. In doing this we get more time together at home which is actually great. Also there are several grocery stores in the town that I work and go to Church so I used to just shop one store but now shop sale items at each one and try to use coupons at the one that doubles the coupons. The stores I enjoy have websites which are www.foodlion.com and www.giantpa.com and also a great place to stock up on basics is www.aldi.com at that place you bag your own groceries but the savings are amazing. A loaf of bread is like 79 cents. I got a bag of apples for 1.99 :) A half pound of sliced checdder was 1.79 or so. No sales all Aldi's brand which is actually very good quality. I try to turn off lights of course we have heard of this time and lower the thermostat in the cold months. What are you doing to battle this economy and high gas price era we are in?I would love to hear your tips to save money!
God bless,
Amy
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my comments keep disappearing :(
ReplyDeleteBuy frequently used items in bulk when on sale, such as toiletries, coffee, condiments, etc.
get high deductibles on insurance.
shop around for a good cell phone plan, we do virgin mobile, it is a very good deal.
use CFL lighbulbs
grow own food, freeze or can.
bake own bread.
pay bills on time to avoid late charges
drop cable to do net flix, I know a number of people who have done this.
Use a wash line to dry clothes,
make own laundry detergent
cook from scratch
don't eat out
combine trips
save money, try 10%/check to start with
learn to live on less than you make
learn to fix/repair things yourself
shop at thrift stores.
we do most of the above listed, and more, we live on significantly less than we did, and all by choice. I work two days a week so that I am available to watch my grandsons.
Before I went part time, we spent a year living as if I already was and saved the rest of my earnings, this allowed us a fairly easy transition.
Hi and thank you so much for your helpful solutions, I think its awesome that you are working part time so you can watch your grandsons! What a joy I am sure they are :)
ReplyDeleteYou all were smart in saving to transition to your schedule! As far as cooking, I agree scratch is MUCH cheaper than convienience food or mixes and frozen food for sure. As far as dining out, we reserve that for Sunday only and its usually at a dollar menu type deal so not too bad there. As far as high deductible insurance, yep thats what we have so goes the saying "livin on a prayer" for sure. Our cell phone is a good deal and I agree Virgin mobile is one of the best and affordable ones out there, ours is similar through sprint with work discounts. As far as fixing and repairing ourself..well..lol..we try bless my husbands dear heart but if its plumbing or the car...we gotta call somebody if ya know what I mean ;)
God bless and thanks again for your wonderful post!
Amy