If you’ve been following along with my posts about learning to take control over our finances so we’ve talked about creating a budget and why it’s important, we’ve talked about distinguishing between needs and wants, and understanding just who really owns our money. Today I wanted to start digging in a little deeper on some ways that we can start trimming costs so that we can still meet our needs without burdening ourselves and families with debt.
I don’t know if I’d be considered frugal, stingy, o.c.d, or what but I love finding ideas for ways to save money. I will say that because everyone’s needs are different what works for someone isn’t going to work for someone else. Here are some of my favorite ideas that I’ve found.
- Grow as much of your own food as you can. Not only will this save you lots of money but it encourages healthy eating and tastes better. Gardening/Farming also just helps develop lots of good skills and for me at least helps me focus and destress.
- Don’t always assume that cheaper is better for finances. A lot of times we end up paying much more for cheaper items that need to be replaced or fixed more often then if we just saved up enough to get something practical but of good quality. One example of this that we’ve done was to start with cloth diapering. It’s a big upfront cost that can be intimidating but if you break it down and add up what it would cost to use and dispose of disposables all the time it just makes sense. (a qualifier on this one would be families who have to pay to do their laundry at a laundromat)
- Make things that you have last as long as possible. I’ve had my cell phone for around 7 years now and I haven’t exactly been nice to it. Even so, taking care of what you have just makes financial sense as well as being good for the environment. It almost made me angry to see recent commercials that just expect phones or other devices to only last 1 year. Yes things happen, but those should be the exceptions, not the rule.
- Think differently about things you need. One example of this might be hair cuts. A kit for cutting hair costs something like $40. For most people I know that’s a trip or two at the salon. If you practice while the kids are young and don’t care, by the time that they’re older you’ll be a semi-pro! Another option would be going to a style school. The services there are still quality (they have teachers that monitor the students-in-training carefully) and it costs much less than getting it done “professionally”. The point is to look around and see if there’s another way to meet your need just as well (or well enough that you’re willing to part with the quality for the money) and be creative.
- Rediscover bartering and trade. Instead of hiring out everything look for friends that might be willing to trade hobby services like cake-making, babysitting, car repair, etc. It not only helps out both parties but can help to build fun memories and friendships.
- Get rid of unhealthy habits. If it’s smoking, drinking, shopping. Look at habits and lifestyle changes that can help you out financially as well. For example - a pack of cigarettes a week runs anywhere from about $4.00-$12.50. If you take the average at about $8 a pack by the end of the year you save $412 dollars. Doesn’t seem like a whole lot but it would probably cover some bills for a month. That also doesn’t even begin to cover the health costs associated with it.
- Turn off the electronics and get outside. Another area that there are lots of benefits. I may be a gadget geek but I’ve noticed that getting outside makes everyone feel better and you spend a lot less money by cutting the electrical bill for the lights and battery charges etc. Little things add up.
- Learn to cook and make things further from scratch. Eating out is expensive. Eating meals in a bag from the freezer aisle isn’t much better. Learning to make a few basic things in the kitchen from scratch saves budgets. Even Monkey is hooked on this one. She loves to help me come up with homemade recipes and copy-cats of our favorites. The key to this one is to not give up and keep fiddling until you get the food the way you like it. Not only does cooking from scratch can be fun, encourages healthy eating (okay so not necessarily I guess, depends on how often I get in the mood to make cookies!) and creates fun family traditions and memories, I really can’t say enough for it and I definitely wasn’t someone who knew how to cook growing up.
All in all the internet is full of ideas and ways to cut costs, search around and try some out. Like I said, not everything works for everyone, but a lot of the ideas are beneficial in more ways then one.
So, what are some things that you’ve learned or done to help trim around the edges of finances without sacrificing needs?
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