Your Best Money Saving Tips

[Zola.]

Lets see if we can make an almighty list of money saving tips that we can all refer to for daily guidance! Put your money saving tip in bold please. My first offering:


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Always make your own lunch for work. 


If you bulk cook something like pasta, meat and vegetables, you will have a healthy and complete meal for very little per day.

[jlcnuke]

Don't pay for expensive services/work you can easily do yourself (i.e. don't hire a FA, just use a 3-fund portfolio, fix your own running toilet instead of calling a plumber, etc).

Don't pay for expensive goods you can easily make yourself (i.e. make your own coffee instead of buying Starbucks)

[ketchup]

I like MMM's Don't think of restaurants as a source of food.

If you can walk there, walk there.  If you can bike it, bike it.  If you have to drive there, don't spend more than you make in a month on a car.

[Livingthedream55]

Buy used or find a free source for clothes and household items. Used sources include craigslist, thrift stores, yard sales. Free items may be found by asking friends or family, Buy Nothing Groups on FaceBook, craigslist Free items.

[Gimesalot]

Use the right combination and sequence of tax advantaged accounts

This can easily save someone thousands of dollars a year with almost no work

[tinylittlemonkey]

Constantly shop for the best deal on mandatory services.

Shop around for the best electric plan every time you need one, shop around for the best insurance rates, etc.

Full out eliminate things you don't need.

Cable, Netflix, Internet, HBO NOW, subscription boxes, etc.

Buy cheap razors.

Dollar Shave Club!!!

[aceyou]

Life is pretty inexpensive for this family of 4.

Car - Buy a car that gets over 40mph and costs less than 5k and get PLPD insurance on it and drive it for a decade.

House - Make sure it's close to work.  Get a house that's less than 2x your gross.  Get a 15 year loan so that only 1/3 goes to interest on payment #1, and it gets better from there.

Food - Buy the following staples:
50 lb sack or rice
25 lb sack of pinto beans
dry lentils
dry black beans
dry split peas
Always have a 10lb sack of potatoes in a cool spot. 

Then, each week, go to Aldi and buy a TON of produce and dairy for 50-75 bucks.  You're at that point all set to make nutritious meals for a family of four for a week.

Taxes - Make full use of Roth IRA's, 401K's, 403B's, 457's, HSA whatever you got to the fullest.

Misc -

Showering/Shaving = 20 bucks a year for me
Razors - I buy 3 ten packs from the dollar store and use a new one every 2-3 weeks.  Shaving = 3 dollars per year.
Shampoo/Conditioner - Fuck it.  I rinse my hair in hot water each day when I shower and it always smells fine.
Soap - I buy two 10 packs of Dove for Men bar soap for my body.  This lasts me more than a year. 
Haircuts - Mother-in-law cuts it for a hug:)

TV - No cable, satelite TV, Netflix.  I do Amazon prime which gets me free shipping all year, plus lots of tv, movies, and music. 

Entertainment - Biking, walks, beach (we live right by Lake Michigan), reading, parks, playgrounds, libraries. 

[Carrie]

Skip the makeup
Embrace your face, or find minimal cheap alternatives to expensive care products.

Find a nice hairstyle that is flattering, and a cheap barber to cut it; embrace your natural color to avoid the expense & time to color
Gray hair is coming into fashion. :)

Don't equate luxury expenses like spa treatments and massages to self care, but rather find your luxury in walks in nature, a cup of tea/coffee with a good friend, the time for quiet introspection.

[tinylittlemonkey]

TV - No cable, satelite TV, Netflix.  I do Amazon prime which gets me free shipping all year, plus lots of tv, movies, and music. 

I bum Amazon Prime off my friend.

[Scortius]

Constantly shop for the best deal on mandatory services.

Shop around for the best electric plan every time you need one, shop around for the best insurance rates, etc.

Full out eliminate things you don't need.

Cable, Netflix, Internet, HBO NOW, subscription boxes, etc.

Buy cheap razors.

Dollar Shave Club!!!

Or better, just order from Dorco directly and skip the middle-man.

[soccerluvof4]

Constantly shop for the best deal on mandatory services.

Shop around for the best electric plan every time you need one, shop around for the best insurance rates, etc.

Full out eliminate things you don't need.

Cable, Netflix, Internet, HBO NOW, subscription boxes, etc.

Buy cheap razors.

On the razor note- I have a very course beard and I use maybe 4 Bic razors a year by simply shaving and putting the razor in a little glass jar with Baby oil in it about an inch high. The razors go bad because of rust its that simple.
No need for Dollar Shave Club

[soccerluvof4]

On the rare occasion you go out with the kids to a movie, or some other entertainment venue, stop at the dollar store and load up treats vs paying what they charge at the venue. The kids will love it.

[orangepalm]

Car - Buy a car that gets over 40mph and costs less than 5k and get PLPD insurance on it and drive it for a decade.

That's good advice! Any car that can't go over 40mph is a clear hazard on the road ;)

Shop around for cheap cell-phone plans There is literally ZERO reason to have a $30, $40, $50+ monthly contract with any of the main telcos. Find a cheap (prepaid) MVNO on the network you like. I use Freedompop (somewhat crappy, but completely free).

[2Birds1Stone]

Don't buy shit.

[aceyou]

Car - Buy a car that gets over 40mph and costs less than 5k and get PLPD insurance on it and drive it for a decade.

That's good advice! Any car that can't go over 40mph is a clear hazard on the road ;)

Shop around for cheap cell-phone plans There is literally ZERO reason to have a $30, $40, $50+ monthly contract with any of the main telcos. Find a cheap (prepaid) MVNO on the network you like. I use Freedompop (somewhat crappy, but completely free).

Hmmm, yeah could have proof-read that better:)

[tinylittlemonkey]

Or better, just order from Dorco directly and skip the middle-man.

How much does this run you a month? DSC is free shipping and I get razors every two months so it’s $3 a month ($6 an order) and I buy a new handle maybe once a year which is $5. So $41 to not look like a Sasquatch a year. lol

[soccerluvof4]

When you can, wait 30 days on purchases that are not a need and see if you still want them as much

[Linea_Norway]

Hiking/tenting vacations I spend most of my summer vacations sleeping in a tent, instead of a hotel. Put me in a tent in some beautiful place in the mountains and I am a happy person. No need for an pricy hotel.

Sewing Normal clothes are often cheap to buy on sale. But technical clothing, like goretex coats, can still be expensive, even on sale. It is really not so difficult to make such a garment yourself. And indeed, repair clothes, like mentioned earlier in this thread, keeps your good garments alive for a little longer. We don't throw away good trousers when the zipper is broken.

Don't buy a new car Cars are expensive, at least where I live. And they lose their value fast during the first few years. Drive your old car as long as you can and replace with a second hand.

[Dances With Fire]

Biggest Bang for your buck: Buy used cars and trucks (I bought one of our company trucks for a fraction of the cost of new.)

Scratch and dent appliances (We recently bought an awesome $1200 gas stove for half price. Delivered.) The "dent" was in the back, no one will ever know.

Easy and cheap insulating projects Chalking, weather stripping, plastic "shrink wrap" on windows and sliders in winter. LED lighting upgrades

Drive Less Seems obvious, however I watch neighbors drive in and out of their drive 20x a day. Where are these people going?

Make your own lunches and coffee

If you don't cook, learn how. You don't have to master it, just 4 or 5 great meals. Rinse and repeat...

[FindingFI]

Avoid lifestyle inflation Figure out how much your expenses are for a month/pay period.  Since most folks here track expenses this should be easy.  If your company gives the option, allot that amount into your checking and the balance into savings.  Ever time you get a raise, the additional money is automatically deposited into savings.

Setup automatic investments We all know that timing the market doesn't work, but emotion still makes it difficult to invest when the crowds are panicking, so make it automatic. As an added bonus, you'll never forget to make an investment.

[Linea_Norway]

Wait for the saleIf you absolutely need something new, then wait for the sale at the end of the season. Or buy the item in last-year's colours at the beginning of the new season. That can often save you 50-80%.

[jlcnuke]

Or better, just order from Dorco directly and skip the middle-man.

How much does this run you a month? DSC is free shipping and I get razors every two months so it’s $3 a month ($6 an order) and I buy a new handle maybe once a year which is $5. So $41 to not look like a Sasquatch a year. lol

http://www.mymoneyblog.com/dollar-shave-club-vs-dorco-price-comparison.html

It's cheaper to go direct from Dorco.

Pro-tip on razors. When they start "going bad", run them backwards against your skin. This acts to "hone" the blade(s), giving them some more life. I shave daily and go through ~2-3 sets of blades per year. I also shave in the shower so I don't need shaving cream at all.

[ketchup]

Or better, just order from Dorco directly and skip the middle-man.

How much does this run you a month? DSC is free shipping and I get razors every two months so it’s $3 a month ($6 an order) and I buy a new handle maybe once a year which is $5. So $41 to not look like a Sasquatch a year. lol

Shaving always turns into a "No, I spend less!" pissing contest but here's my data point.  Based on actual average spending the last few years (all on Amazon): I buy one $9 box of blades every 10 months, one $7 handle every 14 months, one $12 brush every two years, and $4 shaving soap every 7 months.  This does not include the water, or the energy used to heat the water (have to draw the line somewhere, even here).

So that pencils out to ~$2.30/mo, $28/yr.  I'm sure it could be lower, but I'm pretty comfortable with that.

[Marley09]

My overall rule that can be applied to many areas of life:  15% of your budget items account for 80% of your total budget dollars. 

Decrease the largest spending items in your budget/life to have the most impact on your savings
For example, my 3 largest monthly expenses are Housing, Daycare and Food. 

Housing: We looked to see what kind of house we wanted, what we were approved for, what we could afford; then bought a house $200k cheaper. We pay the mortgage on the lower valued house and put the extra portion that we would have spent on the larger home in our investment account monthly.

*This can be applied other ways also, for example, when I was right out of college and lived with my parents; they didn't want me to pay to live with them so,  I paid myself "rent" and put the "rent" money in a savings account that I didn't look at regularly.

Daycare:  This one is hard to decrease, but we will not have this expense forever.  In order to get the expense down, we toured many daycare facilities and found one that was in the middle of the road cost-wise, but still met the needs of our children.

*We were very lucky because my parents were able to watch both of our kids for the first year before putting them into daycare.  Since they didn't want me to pay them for their daycare services, I paid the cost of daycare monthly to myself and put it in a separate savings account.

Food:  This area can be tackled in many different ways, but personally we cook a lot at home and I meal plan to stay under $75 a week for our family of 4.  If I plan a fancy meal one night with expensive ingredients, I will offset the cost by having grilled cheese and soup or BLT's another night. 

[kaizen soze]

Here are the things that made the most difference for us.

Cut back or eliminate dining out. This one change potted us $500/month in savings back in 2013 when we implemented it. Food is cheap. Paying someone to cook it for you is expensive.

Prepaid mobile. savings were about $70/month, back in 2007 when we made this change.

Shop at two or more grocery stores, comparison shop, use coupons, pay attention to weekly deals.. Even though we were eating more home cooked meals, we still dropped our grocery spending by about $200/month by combining these tricks.

Go from 2 cars to one. We were lucky that we were in a position to do so. But it was low-hanging fruit. I sold the car for $12k, invested all of it, and saved the $100 or so in monthly insurance. All because I got rid of a car I was barely using.

Drop cable. Savings were around $40/month (we didn't drop internet). We used the local library to check out DVDs of shows we wanted to watch.

Switch from bus commute to bike commute. savings were about $60/month once you factor in the tax write-off (My bus pass was being taken out of my paycheck each month as a pretax item.)

Home hair cuts. savings: $35/month.

Home gym. There was a break-even period of about 5 months, but then we were saving $80/month.

[Epor]

...
Cosmetics/personal care products
-Use a hair bar instead of shampoo/conditioner/styling product. It lasts forever, costs about $2, and replaced multiple products that are mostly water
...

Well... i just learned something new! I had no idea shampoo bars even existed. I have not seen them around, but I'll be going to target today and will check if they have anything. Amazon.com search have quite a variety, but the cost about $10 each.

[GuitarStv]

Buy cheap razors.

Dollar Shave Club!!!

Not cheap enough . . . DE Safety Razors!

[GreenSheep]

Yes to solid shampoo! (And conditioner.) It also makes traveling easy. Just throw it in... no need to count it among your liquids or buy travel size bottles. Then, if you're like me, you'll have extra room for things like 2oz. bottles of Cholula and packets of nut butter in your liquids bag. Better snacks from home = less spending at the airport.

This may seem silly, but brush your dog's teeth. (And maybe your cat's? I don't know.) I was doing a half-assed job of brushing my dog's teeth, but I thought it was good enough. Wrong. I just spent nearly $900 for cleaning and removal of 9 teeth under general anesthesia. She had abscesses, loose teeth, etc. Fortunately, most of them were the tiny ones they called her "flea biters," which won't affect her chewing ability, but still. It was a tough day for her and a sad financial day for me! (And then two weeks of soaking her kibbles in water and making a paste out of them for her to eat while she healed. Ugh, the stench!)

[Travis]

Figure out how much house you NEED before you make any other decisions regarding housing.  Any more than that means larger mortgage/rent, larger heating/cooling costs, more time and expense to clean, and more pieces and parts to break/repair.

[Morning Glory]

Buy cheap razors.

Dollar Shave Club!!!

Not cheap enough . . . DE Safety Razors!

You can sometimes get razors for negative money with a coupon plus rebate app.

[hadabeardonce]

Live in a small space.

Lower costs for rent/mortgage
Lower costs for utilities, services, taxes, etc.
Less storage for junk purchases
Less to maintain

Bonuses available for picking one within walking distance of grocery stores, biking distance of work and near a city park/library.

[marty998]

Buy cheap razors.

Dollar Shave Club!!!

Not cheap enough . . . DE Safety Razors!

You can sometimes get razors for negative money with a coupon plus rebate app.

I'm applauding the tenacity here, but for those of us accustomed to an electric I can share some badassity.

Mine cost $129 way back in 2001. Replaced the cutting heads only once at a cost of $78.

Given I'm one of those guys who's facial hair grows back by 10am, I think for $12 a year I've done very well indeed

[HipGnosis]

Mine use to be:  adopt (fully) the position / attitude: "I am broke" and therefore only buy things I actually need, and then at the lowest cost, highest value possible.
After I reached my first financial goal (6 figures net worth), I had to modify it to:  "I'd rather invest the money than spend it"

[Travis]

Buy cheap razors.

Dollar Shave Club!!!

Not cheap enough . . . DE Safety Razors!

You can sometimes get razors for negative money with a coupon plus rebate app.

I'm applauding the tenacity here, but for those of us accustomed to an electric I can share some badassity.

Mine cost $129 way back in 2001. Replaced the cutting heads only once at a cost of $78.

Given I'm one of those guys who's facial hair grows back by 10am, I think for $12 a year I've done very well indeed

I think electric model matters. I have a cheap one and it does a piss poor job of shaving my face. I used to do electric during the week and razor on the weekends, but now I'm back to razors full time out of frustration.

[mustachepungoeshere]

Buy cheap razors.

Dollar Shave Club!!!

Not cheap enough . . . DE Safety Razors!

You can sometimes get razors for negative money with a coupon plus rebate app.

I'm applauding the tenacity here, but for those of us accustomed to an electric I can share some badassity.

Mine cost $129 way back in 2001. Replaced the cutting heads only once at a cost of $78.

Given I'm one of those guys who's facial hair grows back by 10am, I think for $12 a year I've done very well indeed

Your facial hair after a couple of weeks of travelling and not shaving last year was magnificent!

Can’t wait for you to FIRE and give up the corporate life so I can convince you to make it permanent. Think of the savings!

[tinylittlemonkey]

Live in a small space.

Lower costs for rent/mortgage
Lower costs for utilities, services, taxes, etc.
Less storage for junk purchases
Less to maintain

Bonuses available for picking one within walking distance of grocery stores, biking distance of work and near a city park/library.

I love living small. It keeps the clutter down and the bills are smaller. Plus the effort of keeping it clean is minimal. The only thing I hate is sharing walls with other people... oh well.

[marty998]

Buy cheap razors.

Dollar Shave Club!!!

Not cheap enough . . . DE Safety Razors!

You can sometimes get razors for negative money with a coupon plus rebate app.

I'm applauding the tenacity here, but for those of us accustomed to an electric I can share some badassity.

Mine cost $129 way back in 2001. Replaced the cutting heads only once at a cost of $78.

Given I'm one of those guys who's facial hair grows back by 10am, I think for $12 a year I've done very well indeed

Your facial hair after a couple of weeks of travelling and not shaving last year was magnificent!

Can’t wait for you to FIRE and give up the corporate life so I can convince you to make it permanent. Think of the savings!

It was wild and should not be repeated! 😆

[mustachepungoeshere]

Buy cheap razors.

Dollar Shave Club!!!

Not cheap enough . . . DE Safety Razors!

You can sometimes get razors for negative money with a coupon plus rebate app.

I'm applauding the tenacity here, but for those of us accustomed to an electric I can share some badassity.

Mine cost $129 way back in 2001. Replaced the cutting heads only once at a cost of $78.

Given I'm one of those guys who's facial hair grows back by 10am, I think for $12 a year I've done very well indeed

Your facial hair after a couple of weeks of travelling and not shaving last year was magnificent!

Can’t wait for you to FIRE and give up the corporate life so I can convince you to make it permanent. Think of the savings!

It was wild and should not be repeated! 😆

@marty998, it should be your profile pic. For everything. Forever.

[froggie]

Lower the thermostat in your home! Or use A/C at a minimum.
(in winter 63-65 daytime, 62 at night - in summer A/C kicks in at 78)

And watch your heating bill melt away!