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Archive for the ‘money saving ideas’ Category

One of the best ways to stretch your income is to employ what I call shopping strategies. The best way to use these strategies is to choose ones that work for you and modify them for your lifestyle. Take some time and google the strategies we talk about to see how others shop.

The key to saving money through shopping strategies is to not be brand specific. Does it make sense to pay $8 for a pack of toilet paper just because you like the brand when you can get an equivalent quality brand for $5 on sale with a coupon?

For our lifestyle, shopping strategies cover 4 areas – clipping coupons, shopping sales, reducing shopping trips, and avoiding “big box” stores.

• Clipping coupons. Some people bemoan the idea of coupons – they’re for processed foods, take too much time, and require the purchase of a newspaper. In my opinion, all of those excuses are invalid.

  By spending one hour every couple of weeks clipping coupons, organizing them, and planning my shopping trip, I routinely save 45% on our groceries. That means if I put $200 worth of groceries in my cart, I pay $110 instead of $200. Is an hour of my time worth $90? You bet!

  Purchasing a Sunday newspaper (or whatever edition for your local paper) for $1.50 will offer a lot more in coupon savings. Do you eat out? If not, would you like to? At least every other week, I find coupons for chain restaurants in the coupon fliers (Red Lobster, Olive Garden, IHOP, Chuck E Cheese, Coldstone Creamery, Baskin Robbins, McDonalds). My personal favorite is the IHOP coupons because my husband and I can both have a huge meal for a total of $8. Wouldn’t it be nice to have a meal out occasionally? It’s possible with coupons! (And remember that $1.50 we spent on the paper to get the coupons? Even if we use only the IHOP coupon, the savings of $8 is worth the $1.50 invested.)

  Did you know that stores are now offering “electronic” coupons – the kind that you add to your shoppers card? In the last couple of months I’ve used $40 worth of electronic coupons on my Krogers’ card (that extra $40 sure comes in handy too!). The great thing about electronic coupons? You can sometimes use the electronic coupon plus a paper manufacturers’ coupon!

  Coupons aren’t just for processed foods like so many naysayers complain about. I buy all of our toiletries and household products with coupons. Do you use deodorant, shampoo, toilet paper, razors, diapers, hair spray, etc.? If so, you can save money with coupons.

• Shop sale prices only. This applies to food, clothing, toiletries, pet supplies, office supplies – everything! I have a really hard time paying full price for items. In fact, many times even if I “need” whatever it is, I’ll let it sit on the shelf until it goes on sale.
  Food: Grocery prices have been rising over the past six months or so, but you know what? Sale prices are still the same as a year ago. I’m not paying any more for my groceries now than I did last December. The key to food shopping is stocking up. If an item that you use is on sale, don’t buy just one. Buy two or three (or more).

  Think of it this way – normal price is $2.50, sale price is $1. Technically, you can buy 2 on sale and still spend 50 cents less than buying 1 at normal price. Not a bad option. But let’s stock up! If you buy 5 on sale, you’ve spent the equivalent of 2 at normal price, but saved $7.50 in the long run. (This scenario applies to items that won’t expire by the time you will use them.)

  Clothing: Shopping at thrift stores like Goodwill and the Salvation Army are great ways to get good clothing at decent prices. However, my personal favorite is department store sales, specifically the “end of season” sales. I love JCPenney’s $1.75 racks. They offer good, quality clothing at really reasonable prices. The “end of the season” sales usually happen in the middle of the actual weather season so the clothing is completely wearable and fashionable. And, by the way, department store clothing is far superior in quality than “big box” store clothing and sometimes what you can buy at thrift stores.

  Toiletries / pet supplies / office supplies: Look around for the best price on your item. If you know that the cat food is getting low, check all of the Sunday sale fliers for the best price. Don’t buy a bag of food at full price just because you need it. Learning the CVS game comes in handy too for purchasing toiletries and other basic household supplies.

• Avoiding “big box” stores. Guess what? Shopping at Wal-Mart won’t save you money and they don’t necessarily have the lowest price. A little over a year ago, Wal-Mart was the only place I shopped other than an occasional grocery store trip. Then I learned the CVS game, how to use coupons effectively, and how to strategize. Now I save way more money than I ever did at Wal-Mart. Don’t believe me? Read this post.

  If you are a big Wal-Mart fan, I know I won’t be able to convince you in one blog post that Wal-Mart isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Their fluctuating prices drive me crazy and make it really hard to budget. Here’s one example from this past week. We didn’t need cat litter but I wanted to get a back-up container for when we did. About three weeks ago, I paid $6.13 for a 14 lb. jug of Tidy Cats at Wal-Mart. Last week, the same jug was $8.49. What?!?! That’s an almost $3 difference! I couldn’t bear the thought of paying that price even with a $1 off coupon so I left the jug on the shelf. We stopped at the local grocery store for a few items and guess what? They had the exact same container for $6.32, not on sale. Guess where I bought my cat litter?

  Another area of Wal-Mart and big box stores that bothers me is the discrepancy in prices. The indiscriminate buyer may not notice, but a lot of times it is cheaper to get 2 smaller items than one big item. Not too long ago, my mother-in-law was making jelly and needed more sugar. She asked us to pick up a 10 lb bag. I don’t remember the exact prices, but it went something like this… I spotted the 10 lb bag for $6, reached down to pick it up, and then realized that a 5 lb. bag was $2.50. Hmmm…interesting. $2.50 x 2 = $5 for 10 lbs., definitely cheaper than a 10 lb. bag for $6. After that episode, I pay attention to prices a little more and at least 50% of the time, 2 smaller items are cheaper than one big item.

  One advantage to Wal-Mart is price matching especially if it is difficult for you to visit multiple stores. We do this frequently on weeks that we aren’t grocery shopping. However, price matching only works on advertised specials. And you can use coupons on the price matched items, but remember that Wal-Mart doesn’t double coupons like most grocery stores.

• Reducing shopping trips. Is it advantageous to grocery shop every week? Some think it is; some think it isn’t. My personal preference is to do one large shopping trip per month. Our large trip averages about $75 per month, and then during the other weeks we might spend another $25 if there is an exceptional sale or we need an item. Having $100 to spend on a large trip makes it so much easier to buy sale items and plan a variety of meals. And there’s no stress of staying under budget of a smaller amount. Another bonus is that the less you frequent the store, the less you will spend.

  I also try to plan our large trip around a good sale week – typically the 10 for $10 sale. With the use of coupons, I always walk away with free food during a 10 for $10. Who doesn’t like free food?

What shopping strategies do you use?

Series posts: Introduction, Step One: Evaluation, Step Two: Creative Adding, Step Three: Creative Stretching, Step Four: Shopping Strategies

When it comes to surviving on one income, we’ve talked about evaluating your situation and creative ways to add to your income. (See the bottom of this post for links to previous steps.)

The next step to creativity is figuring out how to stretch your income. Here are some ways I’ve stretched our income:

• Calling utilities and insurance companies. Are you getting the best rate or the best package deal? Calling your phone company, television service provider, or internet provider may yield you a small monthly savings.

  Back in 2007 when I started my own business, we shopped around for new car insurance. We were very satisfied with the current company, but felt like we might be able to get a better rate. (When we signed on with that company, they were the best rate around.) We called every insurance company in our area and compared apples to apples (same deductibles, same coverage). We were able to save…are you ready?…over $50 per month! In fact, with the savings, we added life insurance policies (something we didn’t have before) and were still paying less than at the previous company.

  Update 3/28/09 – Another example of savings happened recently on our phone/high speed internet/satellite TV bill. I noticed the amount of our monthly bill was changing by a few dollars here, a few there. Eventually those dollars added up. We were supposed to be part of a package deal (all three services combined) so I didn’t understand why our monthly amount kept changing. I called the company and after much discussion determined that the culprit was the satellite TV company. Their prices weren’t “locked in.” However, I found out we were eligible for another deal for the remainder of 2009. With this deal we’ll save $53 month! Add that with our insurance savings from above, and we’re know saving over $100 per month just by making phone calls and seeking the best rates. It definitely pays off!

• Growing vegetables. A summer garden is a great way to have fresh produce for an incredibly reasonable price. Initially the cost of putting in a garden won’t seem practical, but in the long run, the savings and delicious fresh vegetables are well worth it. If you eat organic vegetables, this is definitely the best alternative to paying the high prices in the grocery store. Is your space limited? Consider growing herbs and basic plants like tomato or pepper – all will do well in containers on a patio. For small garden ideas, visit the Garden Vines blog.

• Investing in meat. This option may not be possible for everyone, but consider supporting the local farming industry. Most farmers will offer half of a cow or pig for purchase. You’ll pay for the butchering cost and a price per pound to the farmer, but overall the investment of $300-$600 per year for delicious roasts, t-bones, lean ground beef and more is well worth it. The selection of prime meats (the ones that cost $8+ per pound in the store) will melt in your mouth. Many times the local farmer operates organically too.

  Deer hunting is really big in our area, and venison is a great addition to our freezer. For an investment of time and the cost of a shotgun shell, we have a well-stocked freezer of roasts, tenderloin, steaks, and ground venison. This year to reduce our pet food cost, we’ve reserved about 60-70 lbs of venison as dog food. About two or three times a week, we’ll prepare a cooked meal of veggies and meat for the dogs – they love it!

• Reducing what you don’t need. When it comes to living on a low income, you need to evaluate what you do and don’t need for survival and happiness. Areas to consider are television channels, cell phone vs landline phone, magazine subscriptions, club memberships, and extra curricular activities. Don’t go overboard and discontinue everything. Just ask what is practical for your lifestyle and location.

  In our area of the Appalachians, we have to have satellite TV service because there’s zero television reception. The satellite TV also provides our radio stations since we can’t pick up those either. However, we don’t have a monthly cell phone plan because coverage is very limited in our area. We use Tracfone mainly for emergencies and invest in minutes when necessary. We have unlimited long distance through our local phone company since many of our family and friends live out of state. It’s great to pick up a phone at any hour of the day and not have to worry about the minutes ticking away or if it’s after 7 or 9 p.m.

  As far as magazine subscriptions, I get about 10 magazines a month. Two are professional magazines that I pay for, but the others are all free subscriptions to quality magazines like Hallmark, Rachael Ray, Kraft Food & Family, Country Living and others.

  My husband maintains his NRA membership and receives the monthly American Hunter magazine as a benefit. Yes, we pay for his membership, and it has already reaped rewards on us when we had to take an unexpected trip to Florida earlier this year. His membership gave us discounts on car rental and hotel rooms saving us over $200 for our trip. When we had car trouble a few months ago, we were able to upgrade our rental car to a larger model that was more comfortable for my husband. The cost? Less than the smallest car at regular price. Definitely worth membership dues in my opinion.

When it comes to reducing the things around you, think practically. Don’t get rid of everything. You’ll only make yourself miserable. Allow yourself a few “luxuries.” These luxuries are possible by not only adding to your income, but also stretching it. While the above ideas will save money and stretch your hard earned dollars, the best stretching comes from shopping strategies.

In the next step, we’ll go over some great shopping strategies that will save you lots of money each month – I guarantee it.

Series posts: Introduction, Step One: Evaluation, Step Two: Creative Adding, Step Three: Creative Stretching, Step Four: Shopping Strategies

The other day we said that the first step of surviving on one income is evaluation. (See the bottom of this post for links.)

Each family is unique and there’s no cookie cutter solution to survival. Evaluation will show you the scope of your situation. Creativity will show you what you can do to improve the situation.

Creativity breaks down into two parts – adding and stretching.

Here are some creative ways that I’ve added to our income to make things easier.

• Read this article about legitimate work at home job possibilities. (These are legitimate companies.) A friend sent me this article in August 2007, which is how I found my job as a tutor with Tutor.com. I’ve worked for them for 14 months now and can honestly say that working at home is the best thing I’ve done for my family.
• Monetize your blog or website by adding advertisements. Join BlogHer, Logical Media, Google AdSense. You won’t get rich quick from these places, but an extra couple of dollars each month adds up over time. Plus you didn’t have those extra dollars before.
• Do odd jobs. Do you know people who operate their own business? Sometimes they could use an extra set of hands during a busy time. Before we moved to our farm, there was a huge ice storm. As a result our farm was filled with dead, seasoned trees. With a bit of labor, my brother-in-law started selling firewood to add to their income.
• Be willing to trade services. Don’t always demand money for those odd jobs. A friend of mine is a hairstylist. She has another friend come to her home twice a month to clean. In exchange, she gives that friend’s children haircuts as necessary. Trading services keeps your cash in the bank where you need it.
• Consider starting your own business. Have you dreamed of working for yourself? Can you offer a service that others would benefit from? If your evaluation from step one shows that you can survive a couple of months, take the leap of faith and pursue your dream. And, by the way, depending on what your dream is, you can start a business without a huge amount of money. In W.Va., I paid $125 for my licensing and was able to open for business. My work doesn’t require peripheral materials so I didn’t have a huge investment. What would it take to make it work for you?
• Use your talents. If you have the ability to make things, I know quite a few people who make a decent living selling through eBay and Etsy. If you’ve dreamed of being a writer, check out Associated Content, Suite 101, eHow and other sites that pay for articles. These are great sources that provide passive income (money that continually comes in even after the work is done).

In March 2007, I left the corporate world to start my own company. People thought I was nuts because I was our main (and only) source of income. But I wouldn’t have done it differently. I had skills and talent that I wanted to make available to others.

Honestly ask yourself if you or your spouse would benefit from working at home. The dynamics of our home totally changed the day that I quit my corporate job. Are things always easy? Definitely NOT! But the ability to control my own schedule, pursue things I enjoy, keep our home clean and organized, provide healthy home-cooked meals, and work in my pajamas make it all worth it!

In fact, after working at home for about 3 months, I turned down a job offer. If people didn’t think I was nuts before, they thought it then! The job paid in excess of $50K and was work I know I would have enjoyed. The downside? I wouldn’t have been home. Like hardly at all. I would control my own schedule, but traveling large portions of the state to work with the schools meant I would leave home early and sometimes spend the night in hotels. It just wasn’t worth it.

The key to surviving on a low income is to do what matters most to you. If you are performing a job that you enjoy, you will be happy. Things, including your bank account, look so much better when you’re happy!

Do you have any ways that you’ve added to your income?

Series posts: Introduction, Step One: Evaluation, Step Two: Creative Adding, Step Three: Creative Stretching, Step Four: Shopping Strategies

Welcome to step one of my Surviving on One Income series. If you didn’t read the series introduction, please go here.

The first step in surviving on one income is to evaluate your situation. When you find out that your income is being cut dramatically, totally disappearing, or just not enough, you have to evaluate.

Evaluation is the point where you prioritize and decide what is important and necessary and what isn’t.

Immediately after you find out that your income is decreasing, stop spending. Pay your bills and purchase necessities like gasoline. But if it isn’t necessary for survival, don’t buy it.

Trust me, if that bag of potato chips isn’t a necessity (which it probably isn’t), don’t buy it. When you need that $2.50 later, you’ll kick yourself for buying that bag of potato chips for a moment of self satisfaction. A meal out isn’t necessary for survival either.

Don’t be tempted to sustain your life by using your savings account either. Stop all spending for now!

Creating more debt (credit cards, home loan, etc.) to get over this bump in the road is never a good option for the future because you don’t know what the future holds. Did you know that you would be suddenly on one income or have a lower income? Probably not. Be prepared and don’t take on more debt.

Once you freeze your spending, look at your budget. What?!? You don’t have a budget? Make one immediately. It doesn’t have to be fancy. Just list your income and expenses. For your expenses, list your bills – the things you are obligated to pay (phone, mortgage, electric, tuition etc.). Skip anything that you don’t owe to someone else.

Making a mini-budget will tell you what money you have left over for fluctuating expenses, such as food, gasoline, toiletries, eating out.

Now that you have a budget, sit down with your spouse and determine how long you will be able to make ends meet given your current situation. Does that fluctuating expense money seem sufficient for your family?

Ask these questions of each other:

• Can we survive one month? three months? six months?
• Will our lifestyle need to change dramatically to survive? (For example, instead of eating out 3 times a week, can we eat out just once? Instead of buying lunch in the cafeteria, is it okay to take leftovers from dinner the night before? Can we carpool?)
• How long until one of us needs to obtain more income?
• Are we both willing to abide by the budget and not dip into the savings account every week?
• Can we cut any expenses? (If you have credit card debt, seek credit counseling to help eliminate this financial burden.)
• Do we need to seek temporary assistance? (food stamps, family help, etc.)

A successful evaluation now will save much heartache later. Trust me, been there, haven’t evaluated, regretted it later.

Living on one income, even if temporarily until a spouse finds another job, is very possible, and it can be done successfully too.

Series posts: Introduction, Step One: Evaluation, Step Two: Creative Adding, Step Three: Creative Stretching, Step Four: Shopping Strategies