Money Saving Tips

Response to above comment^

One missed payment or late payment and your interest rate can go from 9% to 24% on your remaining balance or future purchase. Make sure they remove the late charge AND check to see that you retain your lower interest rate.

Make facial masks out of items in your kitchen, I mix oatmeal with sugar and a tiny bit of olive oil and an egg white and use it for a scrub, my face glows when I do this.

Cut the tops of tubes when you think they are empty of product, you'll be shocked at how much is left!

I go to the dollar store for pkgs of cat toys (those silly balls with bells in them), they are the SAME pkgs Wallmart sells for $4.50!

I also go to Dollar Tree and buy their Brecks Baby brand of items for myself. My personal favs are the liquid baby powder (no mess!) and the Baby oil in lotion form. This stuff rocks for $1!!

Invest in a good car coffee mug, you'll save tons over Starbucks prices.

Save shoestrings from old shoes you're throwing out, they make perfect ties for the garden.

I too do the Walgreens Rebate club monthly. People, you buy it, send in the rebate certificate and your receipt with items circled and numbered and they send you the total cost of the items(less tax), you cant get name brand products for less!! I rarely buy makeup, toiletries, bath products and most OTC meds because of this program, my cabinet is jammed with them.

The earth home is wild! we're like 75% underground. from the front it looks like any other house. when you mow the backyard,tho,you're actually mowing the roof! but the front has windows & so we get plenty of natural lite.

I work at walmart supercenter,& would NEVER buy meat there. none of the employees do that i know of. too much of it gets returned. but they are good about honoring competitors adds-just bring the add w/.

Groom your own dogs to save big $$$ at the salon. It really is easier than you think. I bought a set of clippers at Wal-Mart with what it would cost me for the groomers to clip my dog twice.

Do you make your own pizza? If you do, an easy way to save on the sauce is to buy a giant can of pizza sauce at a place like Gordon Food Service. I divide it up into portions equivalent to one pizza's worth each and then freeze them. You can buy a giant sized can for less than $4.00 (last time I checked).

Next time you are due for an Rx refill, ask your dr if any of the meds on the $4 copay lists might work for you instead of the one(s) you are currently taking. My doctor keeps lists of them in her office and was able to give me an alternative to try that will possibly save a lot of money simply by checking the list and writing out a different prescription. Bring the list w/you if you want. You can find the cheap drugs at Target, Sam's/Walmart, Meijer and Kroger.

I have a no annual fee Mastercard sponsored by my grocery store chain (I shop at QFC and Fred Meyer - both owned by Kroger).

I get 3% for every purchase that is a "store brand."
I get 2% for every dollar spent in a Kroger-owned store.
I get 1% for every dollar charged to the card elsewhere.

I always pay the card off at the end of the month, but I make a point of using it for everything I can including paying my cable & phone bill. I don't use it for water/sewer/garbage as the city assesses a fee to use a credit card.

Each calendar quarter I get my rewards - comes out to about $600 per year on money I would've spent anyways.

krogerpersonalfinance dot com

I made a list of everything in my freezer. I have so much meat in there, and I always forget what I have that now I printed out a list with check boxes next to and stuck it in a sheet protector. Its now taped to my freezer so that when something comes out, it gets checked off and I will know what I need to replace. Im going to do the same thing with the pantry as well.

I recently invested in a bunch of canning jars and grew & canned my own veggies this year. I also made jam and spaghetti sauce. I went to the fabric store and bought a yard of flannel to make covers for my Swiffer wet jet. They work much better and they're washable! I also bought a bread machine at Goodwill for $10 and have been making my own bread

I cook enough to make 2 meals and then freeze half. I also buy meat in large sizes and portion it out. Since I never know who's going to be home, I package chicken breasts individually. I cook a lot in my crock pot, too.

If I make a big pot of soup or stew, pot roast, lasagna, etc.... I freeze the rest. Stuff like that.

Buy veggies when they are in season and "blanch" them (this means partially cook them in boiling water for a minute or two, then rinse with cold water to stop the cooking process.) Package in freezer bags, label, and freeze! You'll have veggies that taste better at a fraction of the cost later. To me, it's easier than canning and you don't need special equipment.

Rinse out shampoo bottle to get an extra one or two shampoos out of it.

Use plastic bags from the grocery store instead of garbage bags.

Cut Huggies disposable washcloths in half to use on my son. (I find there's too much soap left in it if I use an entire cloth - and I don't want to re-use it.)

Use real plates instead of paper ones (like I posted earlier)

Make my own refried beans by boiling dried beans. A bag of dry beans is so cheap and makes a large pot full. (I have bean soup the first day, then boil them down the second day for refried beans and make burritos)

Sometimes I skip adding ground beef to spaghetti sauce. I just buy the jarred stuff (when it's on sale and I have a cpn of course0 that "claims" it has meat in it. Oh, and rinse the jar out and add the saucy water to the pot.

Make a grocery list after you've studies the sale papers and matched coupons. Stick to the list. Don't pick up more than one impulse item like chips or cookies. (but do indulge yourself sometimes). You'll blow your savings and your figure.

On my swiffer, I use socks. I save all our mismatches/worn out socks for cleaning purposes. I also save my husbands work shirts, and cut them up for rags. The best part about the socks is you can use them to clean and then throw them in the washer.

I cut up old towels into squares to use on my clorox ready-mop. When I went to buy the refills, I think they wanted $4- for a 12pk of dry cloths! WE got new towels last Christmas, so all our old cheapos got the cut.

The best thing I ever did was invest the time and energy into making a price book. Some surprises I found with the book:

Milk on sale here is cheaper than powdered milk (used to use for baking). So I buy sale milk and freeze.

The most expensive grocery store around here has the best price on TP and toothpaste.

Scrutinizing package sizes is VERY important. Crest sensitive toothpaste is 4.1 ounces and colgate's sensitive is 6.0 ounces. Both are sold in the same sized box and I always look at price per unit and not cost of package - I never did that before the price book.

Sometimes largest package is cheapest, sometimes smallest is. No one store has the best prices.

I use old news paper to clean my windows and mirrors (No streaks and no paper towel lint)

Trade magazines with friends

Never buy a TV Guide always use the one in the Sunday paper

Miss-match socks I use as dust rags.

Make my own Hand Soap. By using what is left over from a bar of soap, put it in a bottle with a pump and a little water.

Most of my spices I buy at the Big Lots. They are $0.48 v/s $3.00 to $5.00 at the grocery store.

Shop in the morning, 9-ish, give or take 1/2 hour. This is why:

In my store, the bakery puts out the near-expiration breads, bagels, rolls, cookies, etc. I buy 1/2 doz bagels for $.90. I freeze it when I get home and take one out at a time the morning I want to use it (they thaw very quickly).

I don't arrive too early: they haven't put out the marked-down items yet.

They also mark down the pre-prepared items (like quiches or pizzas). I can get a quiche for $3 (which is less than the ingredients cost) or a pizza for $4 (can't buy cheese for that these days).

Speaking of cheese, I buy cheese ends at the deli: american, provolone, swiss, whatever is available. It's a fraction of the per pound cost of the regular price. I run them together through the food processor when I get home, freeze them in quart bags if I have too much. Much cheaper than buying pre-shredded and I get a nice variety of flavors. I use this in mac & cheese, various casseroles, quesadilllas, etc.

And speaking of aerating products, I've taken to using the hand mixer on a tub of frosting before I use it. I used to always need more than 1 but less than 2 tubs when frosting a layer cake, which stunk because of waste plus I needed two matching tubs. Now I scoop out 1 tub into a bowl, run the beaters through it & I've got more than I need to frost that layer cake.

I save bread ends & crust trimmings (I've got a picky little kid lately) & run them through the food processor for bread crumbs. I haven't bought dried crumbs in over a year. Freeze or toss if they seem too old; you'll always have more. You could probably toast the ends & then process if that texture matters to you.

I do this with broken up crackers & cracker bag end crumbles too. I just toss them into a zipper bag, add to it as I go on, & crush 'em when I need to. Great for casserole toppings.

I write the expirations on products as I stock them in black sharpie somewhere big on the label so I'll see it easily (like "9/10"); otherwise, stuff gets overlooked & then has to be tossed. I do this for just about all of the stuff I stock, especially medicines, toothpaste, & marinades/sauces, etc. Anything I won't go through quickly.

I bought 2 large Tupperware tubs on eBay (those stackables with the lift lid that look like small versions of potato or recycling bins) & buy a 5# (or is it 15#?) bag of rice (we use a lot of rice); they hold that much combined. And it's much cheaper to buy the giant bags at the Asian market than the little ones at the grocery store.

I use those awful ramen noodles packages (a case of 12 is $1 here) to stretch a can of Campbells soup. I take a package, break it up a bit, toss the seasoning pack into the garbage (way too much sodium), & add about 1/2 of the noodles to a can of chicken noodle soup when I make it for the boys. I wouldn't recommend doing this daily or using all of the noodles because they are fried & are not the best diet choice to have on a regular basis, but I figure for a once a week meal, they're fine. I keep the other 1/2 for the next time they have soup.

When I cook a ham, I cook it in an oven bag. I pour out all the liquid into a container, store it in the fridge (& skim the chilled fat easily), & later dump the ham stock (it's mostly solid by now) into a crock pot to make a really good bean or pea soup. The only seasoning I ever need to add is a bay leaf or two, plus whatever veggies I want (& the ham bone, natch).

I keep a plastic bread bag in the back of my fridge and that's where all the bread ends go (my family knows not to toss them). Every couple weeks I make a big meat loaf and put a few torn up bread butts in there to bulk it up. I also lightly toast some and put through a food processor for bread crumbs (my mom always did this).

Rotating your tires, making sure the front end is aligned, and proper inflation save gas money and tire wear.

I pay for everything with my credit card, if it's over about 5 bucks. Since credit cards stopped having a per transaction fee, there's no cost except the annual fee, if any.

I have one Visa that gives me a cashback dividend every December - usually I get between 4 - 700.

My Mastercard gives me 1 air mile for every 20$ spent. I use my airmiles to buy Best Western gift cards for when I travel.

I pay my balance every month, whether it is 1500 or 5000., so I'm not paying any interest.

So, I'm makng money off using my CC to buy everything.

If you have a mortgage, pay down the principal as quick as you can- even if it's at a low fixed rate. Being debt-free is the first step toward financial freedom, and really goes further than anything else in determining how you can live on your present income.

Do what you can to pay that mortgage off! Live like a tightwad; forego luxuries and toys and convneiences...believe me, even on a very modest income, life is good when you have no debt and a paid-for house. (And dont go into debt for cars either...that is the worst deal out there! Buy whatever you can afford to pay cash for....a $2000 car will get you around just as good as a $20,000 car.

If you're purchasing large quantities of food items from a big box-type store (CostCo, BJ's, Sam's, etc), be sure you actually use all of the stuff you buy. We started getting smaller quantities of perishables elsewhere when we realized that a good quarter of fresh foods were going to waste because we couldn't use them fast enough, and obviously, there's no savings in that.

Paying down mortgage. We refinanced several years ago when the rates went to 6%. It saved us like $54.00 a month so what we did is just kept paying the same amount we did before except for now that extra money went all toward principal. You'd be amazed how quickly your principal starts dropping when you are paying a little extra each month.