Alyssa at Life from my Laptop tagged me and wants me to post 15 things I do to save money.
Now 15 is a lot of things, and I really love to save money, but I’m not sure I can come up with 15 of them! But its worth a shot….
1. Shop Online - I love, love, love to shop online. I can find the best deals online, and last year I did 99.9% of my Christmas shopping online and saved a bundle. There are lot of ways to save money online if you do a little research.
2. Sign up for Ebates - This site is a dream come true for a bargain shopper. If you sign up free for Ebates they start off by giving you $5 in your account and then, when you purchase goods from one of their retailers using their links you get cash back. This last cycle (which is every 3 months) I got $100 back!! I am already due for another $50 for the next payout period! I get some really good deals online, and when I combine them with my savings from Ebates I get AWESOME deals!
3. Find Coupon Codes - Even though I hate paying shipping & Handling when buying online, I know I am still saving money shopping online by not having to pay for gas and just wasting my time driving from place to place. My other big money saving tip is looking for coupon codes. I always check out sites like www.CouponCabin.com for money saving codes that can be used at checkout. I also will type in the retailers website address followed by the words “code” or “coupon” and see if anything else pops up. Just doing this extra little bit of research can save you a ton of money!
4. Buy from Ebay - It seems you can find almost everything on Ebay, and I often find the best deals on here, even better than all the online stores. I did end up buying my brand new Maclaren stroller on Ebay, and even with $20 shipping it was $25 cheaper than in store!! Plus I got to pay with Paypal.
5. Clip coupons - Yes, I still clip coupons every week from the Sunday paper, and always grab the little ones in the machines at the grocery store. I am kinda obsessive about this.
6. Shop the sales in the weekly grocery ads - Here is Florida we have Publix, and every Thursday a new sale ad comes out. I always look it up online on Thursday morning to see what it on sale. In the case of Publix, they have buy 1 get 1 free items every week. I look at the sale items and match them with the coupons I have. The greatest thing about B1G1 free items is you can actually use 2 coupons, even though you are technically only buying one, making these products ridiculously low prices. I shop these sales every single week and only but the sale items in that store. I will go to Super Target usually to get the fill in items that are usually lower than Publix everyday prices.
7. Invest in a Food Saver - I absolutely love my Food Saver and get tons of use out of it. I buy meats when they are on sale (even the ones that are ready to expire and are priced super cheap) and seal them up and freeze them for a later time. I have never had any meat taste any less than buying it fresh and cooking it the same day. The Food Saver is also helpful to seal up frozen food items (like chicken nuggets) that we open, but don’t finish right away. Sealing food saves money and produces less waste.
8. Buying a wholesale membership - We have BJ’s, Costco, and Sam’s Club here and this is the first year I actually bought a membership. I think I spent $30 with a special promotion for a years membership. I do buy items like ground beef and pork chops in bulk and use my Food Saver to seal them up. You just have to really know your prices before you buy anything because not everything is cheaper in bulk. The real reason I got the card was for gas. Our wholesale club gas prices are .20 cents less a gallon then the nearby gas station!
9. Shop at CVS - Shopping at CVS takes time to master, but if you get with the program you can save hundreds and hundreds of dollars by shopping there weekly with their extra care bucks. I have gotten so much free stuff from shopping CVS I have lost track. I usually walk out weekly with a minimum of $25 worth of stuff for less than $1….I kid you not! I really don’t know how CVS can do this but I am glad they do!
10. Sign Up for a Rewards Card - I use my Visa Check Card for ALL my monthly purchases (including bills)…I hardly use cash. I signed up with Visa Extra Rewards and get points for every dollar I spend. I get Target and Starbucks cards every few months just for spending money that I would do anyway.
11. I resell - I have an obsession with only dressing my daughter in Gymboree…which ain’t cheap. I do only buy on sale now, but the best part is I resell her clothes on Ebay and make pretty much close to what I spent on it, which is pretty amazing. I do hand wash/or gentle cycle and hang dry every piece of her clothing to keep it in excellent condition.
I use to only buy the cheaper brand of everything, but believe it or not, I have realized I do better off my not buying the cheapest and buy the best brand for resale, which is usually a higher end brand. As long as I keep our stuff in pristine condition I can usually resell for 50-100% of what I paid for it. So in the end I get a better quality product that usually lasts longer and actually get a return on it.
12. Sign Up for a High Yield Saving Account - If you are in a position where you can actually save money, I suggest opening a free online savings account with a ING Direct or a similar company. I personally use ING Direct because it is super simple to use and currently there is a 4.50% Annual Percentage Yield which is compounded monthly. There are other services with higher interest, though this is one I trust. I also got a $25 bonus just for signing up! This is a great account to start saving money for your children’s education, or just for a rainy day. I feel so stupid because for the longest time I had my money saved in a regular old checking account, and missed out on a ton of interest.
13. Breastfeed - Though I don’t breastfeed anymore, this is an excellent way to save money on formula, but I am sure most of you smart moms know this already. 
14. Potty Train your Child - I had a little celebration the day my daughter used the potty for the first time because I knew the end of diapers was near! Using cloth diapers is also another way to save, but when my daughter was born I wasn’t in the loop about cloth diapering.
15. Meal Plan - I used to be lost every time I went to the grocery store and literally wandered around the aisles for hours thinking about what I was going to buy and make for dinner. Now that I meal plan, I save time, and money buy only buying what I need for a meal. Signing up for a meal planning service such as Dine Without Whine or The Menu Mom was extremely helpful.
So there you have it, 15 ways that I save money! Whew that took awhile, but believe it or not I have many more that I could have added…I could write a little book!
Since this is a tagging Meme I am tagging Jen @ One Moms World because I know she is a bargain hunting mama!
