6.5 Ways to Save Money

1. The Grocery Game @ www.thegrocerygame.com . If you have a large family and will spend a little time this is worth it. You can try it for $1 for 4 weeks and then it will cost $10.00 every 8 weeks. Every week you will receive a chart telling you what to buy and when to buy it. The only downside I can see it that you may have to start deciding your menus after you see what is cheap to buy.

2. Do you love to read? Do you love spending $8.99 for each book you want to read? Have paperback books that you want to get rid of? Take a look at www.paperbackswap.com.  Simply list the books you are willing to trade and when someone decides they want one of your books you mail it to them (at your expense) and you get a credit to pick a book that is mailed to you (at their expense).  Simple. I have never had any problems with this service and will continue to use it.

3. Pay your bills online. Most banks offer programs where they will (at no charge) send a check or an EFT to whomever you choose. You can set up recurring payments or do it as the bills are due. Postage is going up .02 in May. YUCK!

4. www.angelfoodministries.com  Angel Food Ministries is a non-profit, non-denominational organization dedicated to providing food relief and contributing to benevolent outreaches in communities throughout the United States. For $30.00 you are given a box of food containing meat, veggies, milk products and side dishes. For an additional cost you may also purchase special boxes of meats, fresh produce and the monthly special box. If you don’t think that this is for you, pick one up anyway and give it to a family that you know is in need.

5. Your retirement plan. As a single parent myself, I always thought that I couldn’t afford to start a retirement plan. I was wrong. After sitting down with my HR peeps I discovered the employer match! I know that not all plans offer this but it is worth looking into—can you really refuse free money? I re-budgeted to include $25.00 every two weeks and my employer also contributes a percentage of my income into a Roth IRA. Can any of you financial geniuses out there tell the good folks what the difference is between a Roth and a traditional IRA? PLEASE?

6.  Switch 2 light bulbs a month in your house to compact fluorescents. This is an investment at first but I have not had to change a light bulb in my house in close to a year. To be honest-there are some that are burnt out that I have learned to live without.

6.5 Throw your change in a bucket. I am. Every time I walk into my house I have a bucket with change in it. When the change is overflowing, we take it to our bank to get it cashed. You can also go to the Coinstar places but they charge a fee. We take half of the money and buy something incredibly cool and half goes into the monthly budget. Right now I am saving our incredibly cool half for a Kindle 2. I will be saving for awhile.

Please feel free to include anything your family does to save a few bucks, we could all use some more tips.

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Users' Comments (7)

Posted by Monte 02-15-2009 15:50, , Registered   What a great article! We should all be looking at ways to save on everyday items in good times and in bad.    My wife and I used to always tend to argue about what to have for dinner, you know... "What's for dinner?", "I don't know, what do you want?", "I don't care, what ever you want." "I don't know, what do we have at home?" "Do you want to pick something up?" , and on and on for about five minutes until we are too frustrated to do anything about it.    I had to find a solution so I went searching online and found a great website that plans the meals for you. All the ingredients, a shopping list with pricing for Wal-Mart or Dillons (Kroger). We have the Wal-Mart plan for two and there is enough for our three year old with not much if any left over! Now we don't have to worry about what we are going to have, and we always have what we need. Not only are we saving money, but not wasting time talking about dinner.     Check out this link and let me know what you think.           If you need any advice on saving energy (heating and cooling), email me or call our office 669-9885.   » Reply to this comment...   Posted by Monte 02-15-2009 16:03, , Registered   Looks like the link didn't work on my last comment so here it is. Just copy and past I guess...    http://www.e-mealz.com/ amember/go.php?r=24217&i=b5   » Reply to this comment...   Posted by plyle 02-15-2009 19:41, , Registered   I agree what a great article - of course, it's right up my alley! Thanks! I also use coupons - you just don't want to find yourself buying ANYTHING just because you have a coupone - only what you need. Also, I compare - just today we found the exact same crackers I wanted - just a different BRAND for so much less - brought them home and they were great! I'm anxious to hear if others submit great ideas also!! We should all be carpooling but we're pretty spoiled Americans!!   » Reply to this comment...   Posted by Julie 02-15-2009 22:36, , Guest   What a great article!! As for brands... you have to be careful, but I have found that Kroger peanut butter, diapers, canned food, etc. are just as good as the named brand stuff. A few things don't taste as good as named brand, but they are really few and far between. Sometimes you can save 50%!   » Reply to this comment...   Posted by Karen 02-16-2009 09:46, , Registered   Thanks for the great comments!   » Reply to this comment...   Posted by AJ_B. 02-16-2009 11:59, , Registered   I visit the grocery game site often and even with out a membership you can get some really great coupons. It is a really useful site.   » Reply to this comment...   Posted by Dana 03-14-2009 23:57, , Guest   Hi. I love to coupon, especially at Dillons! I never used to shop there because they are higher on some things. But with double coupons and matching coupons with sale items, one can get things for very low out of pocket or even free. www.afullcup.com has helped me a lot! Just go to Forums, and look under Kroger for Dillons coupon matchups! And it is totally FREE!! Happy couponing!   » Reply to this comment...

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