Creative Saving Tips

tiana531 · November 2009

Hi Ladies, I have a question. My wedding is in 6 months, and we are getting down to the wire with saving for it so i was wondering if any of you had savvy saving tricks (ex: grocery shopping for food only on sale or saving coins) I want to save every nickel we can! TIA!

nikkiblueeyes823 · November 2009

Simple.com or sosimple.com is a good website to check out lots of ideas on that. FI and I save our change. We opened an account at the bank that was made up of our change from over the summer. In 2 months just in my car alone from drive through and toll change I had $60. But from the entire summer we had about $450 saved. We also go to BJ's and buy meats in bulk and break it up into 2 person serving sizes and put it in the freezer. It helps us not wate food by not having a ton of left overs all the time. We've both been out of work in the last 2 years so we also cut back on a lot of other things like we didnt have cable for 8 months! I went crazy but we got netflix instead. I think it helped our relationship though it brought us closer in a strange way. We cut back on our cell phone plans. Dont go out to eat more than once a month. We do however go on a road trip once a month for fun and eat one meal somewhere new and bring munchies with us to snack on. Theres lots of things you can do.

amethystgirl03 · November 2009

Pay yourself first - have a portion of your paycheck go directly into a separate account - if the money isn't in your checking account, it's a lot harder to spend. Start with $25, then $50, and up.If you buy coffee or anything from a vending machine, stop - make coffee at home and bring it to work, use a reusable bottle and fill it up with tap water (you can get filters that go into water bottles if your tap water isn't great), and bring your own snacks.Our grocery store tends to have specials where we can buy huge packs of chicken for at least 50% off - so we wait til it's on sale to buy, then we freeze it all.

jkepros · November 2009

It sounds dumb, but the best way to save is to not spend money.

A lot of people don't seem to "get" this. They get so excited about coupons to save, that they end up buying things that they wouldn't normally JUST to use the coupon!*steps off soapbox*Okay, that being said, here are some of my tips:(1) cut your cell phone, cable, internet plan if you can. If you can combine your phones to 1 bill you can save a lot. Like pp, go without cable for a couple months (and then take advantage of the "new customer" bonuses when you sign back up).(2) buy a Sunday paper every week & cut coupons. STUDY the grocery store circulars. For a while I was super broke & used to spend every Sunday morning with the paper scouring the ads & clipping coupons. I think a paper is $2-3, but I might get $25 in coupons in a single week! It takes time, but I probably got our grocery bill (me & my bf at the time) down to about $30/week on food. And we ate well: chicken, veggies/fruits, rice, curries, pasta, etc. Usually I'd take a paper & fold it into 4 sections. I'd label each with the name of a different store. Then I'd go through the circular for each store and make a list of what I might want to buy that was on sale. One week Shaw's might have the best deals for what we shopped for, then next it might be Price Chopper. Sometimes if a store had a REALLY good deal on one of our staples I'd make a special trip to stock up.(3) start keeping track of your spending/budget. And I mean EVERY PENNY--even cash--or when you literally pick up a penny off the ground. It's AMAZING how much money comes & goes that you don't even realize. It also can help bc (at least with me) I know that if I have to write it down, I'm more accountable for what I spend (who wants to admit to themselves or anyone else that they spend $150/month on parking garages, when they could park at a meter for $6/month?). I have a couple piggy banks too. One I separate all of the quarters into (for meters, laundrymats, etc). One is other loose change. And then I have a third with dollar bills.If you have trouble try ONLY using cash (set a budget and only give yourself that amount of cash), when it's gone, it's gone for that week. Or if you aren't good about writing things down, try ONLY using your debit card (so you are leaving a paper trail).(3) Instead of going out for a drink, make drinks at home! Just not going out much can save on gas, parking, tax (since food in restaurants is taxed, but groceries aren't), and other temptations. Play board games, go for a bike ride, go for a walk, watch movies/DVDs you already own, read books to each other you already own, cook together, listen to the radio/CDs/etc.You can get books/movies for free from the library. Oh, and if you go to those Red Box things at the grocery stores you can rent a movie for free using the code DVDONME (it only works once per credit card, but I've used it a bunch of times using different ones).GL!!!

EKobrenski · November 2009

I find that actually paying for odds and ends with cash helps (vs using a debit or credit card). On Sunday, we take out our spending money to cover all our little odds and ends and entertainment and that's all we have for the week. It makes you think twice about say, going to Starbucks.

lny675 · November 2009

Great post!!! I don't have any suggestions (unfortunately I'm a HORRIBLE saver) but the ones already given seem very helfpul. I'm in the "crack-down" mode to save too. Our wedding is 11 months away and we are paying for 2/3rds of it by ourselves. Thanks girls for all the great tips so far. tiana531....your pup is adorable!!!! She looks just like my Sasha girl (she is a female staffordshire terrier)!

SHAMRK34 · November 2009

This is such a great post! All of the advice on here is so helpful - I can't wait to start using it and see how much I can save..we are on a very tight budget already since we are saving for 100% of the wedding cost but all these little tips will be so helpful in saving even more!

chest173 · November 2009

I'm a stay at home mom and only work 9 hours a week at night, so money is certainly tight for me! Every thursday I get direct deposit and I pay all my bills online every week, so I don't forget at the end of the month and realize I spent my money. Whatever I have left I take out in cash and that's my money for the week. By the next wed. whatever is left goes into the wedding fund. It's definetly made me realize the little things add up. If I don't get a bottle of wine and a coffee and Dunkins, that's another $20 saved!

Shazzie116 · November 2009

I know it's such a little thing but I definitely think twice about shelling out cash for purchases than just swiping my debit card. Physically seeing my money leave my possession makes me value it more.

CCBelle · November 2009

Great post! We used to be in wedding saving mode, then DH and I were both laid off (by separate companies) so we are still in a not spending money mode. We do many of the things mentioned - eat in, brew our own coffee, cut back on cable/home phone, scour the grocery store circulars before shopping (they come in the mail so we save the $2 on a newspaper). In regards to cash versus credit, DH pays for everything on his AMEX as he gets points that can be used toward other things. He just cashed in points for a Home Depot gift card and we upgraded our bathroom for "free." He keeps track of everything and pays the entire bill off at the end of the month so he never incurs fees. Also - a way to earn some extra money is to participate in focus groups. They usually pay $75 to $100 cash for a couple of hours time. Or sign up for new bank accounts when they have a cash reward bonus. Just keep your eyes/ears open and really think twice before reaching for your wallet. Good luck!

jen812 · November 2009

This is a great post. We have a Wedding Fund jar & just recently had to roll our change (the jar was full). We had over $200 just from a couple of months! One other option is this company called Lantern Financial. They run this program called HarMoney. It's for newlyweds & engaged couples on how to open up communication about money. Check it out. I found it very helpful & lots of fun.

StaceyC828 · November 2009

This is such a great post! My fiance and I just signed up for Netflix and so far that's helping to keep us in! I think winter is the perfect time to get movie happy...especially in pre-wedding craft mode

I don't know if you're planning on being a DIY bride to save some money...if so, look for the Michael's flier each week and buy one thing at a time. Every single week theres a 40% off one item coupon, and occassionaly 50%! Also, when you buy there, you get another 40% coupon. I'm saving *lots* of money that way! Oooh, last idea that my fiance and I are hooked on for money-saving. We've been making huge batches of food; crock pot meals, soups and stews, etc. We eat it for dinner on the night we make it, take smaller portions to work for lunch and then freeze some for the week or two later. For $5-$10 total, we get dinner for two, two or three lunches each plus probably another dinner for two in the freezer. That's a deal!!

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