February 2009 Expecting Club

Since I've been laid off (I call and leave messages every day and no pick up or return call since Fri!), I need some creative ways to save money during this time. I still don't know whats going to happen to the house or with DH getting a better job, so thought we really need to crunch right now.

So what are some ways to save money and be thrifty? I watched some of Oprah and was really impressed by alot of the women and couples! I have always been thrifty when it comes to say, buying clothes, but not food or electricity or anything like that.

I've decided to take one woman's advice of unplugging everything that is not in use (well not sure if I'll do TV's b/c it's hard to get back there, but we'll). She said she saved some $200 a month! We leave our computer on all night and will now shut it off and unplug alot of things and make sure not to leave lights and TV's on that are not in use.

I'd love to start doing coupons, but kind of lost. I've never done coupons in my life! Mind you I'm a REALLY PICKY eater, so I look at coupons and alot of them don't appeal to me and I figure I won't use em. I usually get standard stuff when I go to the store. And most of isn't generic brand. I feel like it will taste nasty lol. Maybe I need to change my eating habits :P I've signed up on some sites to get coupons, including a couple that I use alot. I tried looking at e-bay, but wonder if the bulk coupons they auction will be of any use, even though they are only $2, I wonder if I'll get my $$$ back (wow, I AM being thrifty lol). Any mamas who use coupons? How do you do it? Any tips? I need all the help I can get in this area!

Fast food, I've decided to really cut this out. Maybe once or twice a month. I or we as a family would go maybe 2-3 times per week. I'm also going to have DH pack a dinner for work.

Cell phone...anyone know any inexpensive carriers that are pre-paid? With free text? DH is out and about alot and needs a phone that he can keep in touch with his althletes and agents. I was thinking about Crickett?

So all of you thrifty, money saving mamas, share your tips! :)

 

 

 

 

  

As winter is approaching, make sure your house is WELL insulated.  You will save tons of $$ on electricity and gas.  Case in point...we have two homes...one we rent out and one that we live in.  Our older rental is drafty, has an older operating system, etc.  It costs more to heat that house than it does to heat the one we live in, which is almost three times bigger. 

Theres a site in Ivillage that has freebies and deals.  I LOVE perusing that board and finding free stuff and if theres something specific you need a coupon for, they can often find it for you.  (For example, if you're looking for a particular toy for Christmas, they can usually find a coupon for Toys R Us or for that item). 

Definately cut out the fast food! I know we blow an extra $50 per week right now (I can't help it, I'm STARVING), but if I were home, there would be no need.  Go ahead and get the generic on some things at the store.  Most of it tastes the same, and if you have a store card (Here, we have Food Lion cards), you can often get really great discounts.  I usually walk away with around $20 in free groceries just by using that FREE card.

I'm sorry your boss has been such a butt.  That is absolutely horrid business practice and I'd consider reporting him to the BBB.  You can probably file for unemployment too.  Hang in there!

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We aren't the most thrifty people in the world, but I think we do really well. I use coupons, but I'm not one of those women who save hundreds of dollars using them. As far as the generic brands, you are right, some of them are nasty and I don't buy them. There are some things I buy generic though because I have found no difference in the ingredients or the taste. I think if you do start buying generic food items you definitely should pay attention to the ingredients. Also, we very very rarely eat out. The reasons being not only costs, but also it is so much healthier for us to eat at home and I enjoy cooking. You will save so much money by not eating out. DH doesn't eat out for lunch either, he has always packed his lunch for work. Another way I save money at the grocery store is by making as many things homemade as I can. I make homemade meatballs, spaghetti sauce, muffins, pizza dough, bread (not a lot), snacks for Marisa, etc. I very rarely buy anything in the frozen food section or snack section because that stuff is usually just something I can make myself.

We're also pretty thrifty with electricity and heating oil. We don't leave on lights in rooms we're not using and we turn off our computers at night. When the weather is nice we leave the windows open to avoid using the a/c. The winters are hard because we live in CT and the cost of heating oil is insane. We have found it is much cheaper to set the thermostat at 62-64 and use a space heater in the room we are in to warm it. So instead of heating the whole house we only heat the space we are using. I think you live in Tx so this shouldn't be as much an issue for you, but you can definitely save some money by setting your thermostat a couple degrees cooler in the winter and a couple degrees warmer in the summer.

To save on gas, we usually do all of our shopping and errands on Friday or Saturday and just get it all done in one shot. We also don't have cable or satellite. We payed for DirecTV for years and DH always had to buy the NFL Sunday ticket. We realized we were paying so much money and we were very rarely watching TV anyway. So, we just have the local channels and that's good enough for us. Sure, sometimes we wish we had more options, but it's just not worth the money. Plus we watch less TV which is always a good thing! I know there are other things we do, but I am drawing a blank. If I think of them I will let you know. I'm sure some of the ladies have of a lot more ideas for you anyway. Hope this helped some. Good luck!

I don't have any real tips ... but here are the things I do :)

I like to eat generic cereal though, it always seems to taste sweeter :)

I shop for baby stuff at garage sales, especially things they won't use for very long.

When I lived at my old apartment and electricity wasn't included in rent, we always opened windows instead of using the AC if there was a breeze.

I buy catfood and cat litter in bulk (gigantic bags) so that I don't have to waste gas to get more when the cats run out and because the food is cheaper that way.

Instead of buying bottled water I just get a gallon of water and fill up the same bottle several times a day.

I ration DF's cigarettes (he isn't allowed to smoke in the car or in the same room with me, so that keeps him from smoking a few of them).

I don't buy snacks, no matter how good I think that Little Debbies snack cake looks I refuse to let myself buy it.

When I go grocery shopping I have to stick to a budget, $60 a week is usually what it is at. As I go through the store I don't use a calculator. I round EVERYTHING up and just add in my head. So if something is $3.23 I round it up to $4, this covers taxes and helps me come home with a little extra money.

I get things that are cheap and easy to cook and I buy more than we will eat in one night so that there will be left overs. So, when I buy chicken I buy 6 pieces but I know that we will only eat 2 maybe 3 of them between DF and I. We eat leftovers when we can and only cook more food when we are tired of the leftovers we have or when we run out of leftovers, this helps in the weeks when we may not have much money for food.

I signed up for WIC, this ensures that we always have eggs and milk in the house. They also provide peanut butter and once baby is born they will let you borrow a pump or will help with formula.

I forgot to also say ...

mysavings.com is an awesome website that will send you coupons and free samples. I have enough tampons and toothpaste to last a year because of that site (they will also send diapers and I think I saw formula once, you just have to look through the site, it is awesome). You can print off coupons for things you actually like there and not just what is in the newspaper or mailbox.

Also, if you ever see a store add showing something cheaper than what WalMart offers, then WalMart will match that price, just show them the add. No need to actually go to the other store (this only works for store adds, apparently not coupons :( )