People all over the country are feeling the stress of the economic mess we are in. My family is no different. I have always tried to find ways to save money. I find myself looking for new ways more often these days. I don't really know why, maybe because I grew up poor, but I have always hated spending money. I did go thru a phase when I was in college where I spent every penny I had (especially when I was working at Cedar Point), and never thought twice about it. Now I am always second guessing myself on if I really need what I am buying, will the money be better spent on something else? I feel guilty spending money on myself. I always think I should be spending money on my kids instead.
Some of the things I have always done to save money are:
make cleaning supplies using vinegar, baking soda and water. Most of what I clean with is home made.
Using cloth diapers. I really hate buying a $10 pack of disposables every week! I am really kicking myself for selling all of Connor's cloth diapers after he was potty trained!
Price matching stuff at Wal Mart
Making a lot of the gifts we give. I crochet, cross stitch and do some scrapbooking and paper crafts. I have to toot my own horn and say I make some really great crochet items lol
Start Christmas and birthday shopping EARLY!! I have already started this year's Christmas shopping, and almost have my boys finished. I spend the most on them, so I start in August or September. With Hudson's birthday being December 5, his birthday and Christmas will be extra hard for us. If I didn't start shopping early, we would never be able to afford it.
In the past several months, I have been looking for new ways to save money. These are some of the things I have recently done:
Bundled cable, internet and phone. For less than the combined cost of cable and phone service, we are now getting all three services. And as an added bonus, we only have one bill to pay!
I have started using coupons and store cards, something I have never really done before. Last Thursday when I went grocery shopping I saved about $35 using coupons and the Food Lion MVP card.
Only buying things on sale. Unless it is of the utmost importance that I have a particular item at this moment, I won't buy it unless it is on sale.
Breastfeeding. Saving money had nothing to do with making the decision to breastfeed, but since we are saving a ton of money, it is worth mentioning here. We don't have to spend any money buying an inferior food for the baby, or buying bottles.
So what are you doing to save money? What are some of your favorite frugal tips?
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