Hey loves. Happy Monday. How was your weekend? For the most part it was solo parenting with just Anna and Austin. Brian went with the guys to watch The Ohio State Football game and I stayed home to do all the normal weekend activities from produce pickup to soccer to fun with friends. We also became official members of our church yesterday, being welcomes by the whole congregation, Brian was home for this. Overall a great start to October.
It's the second Monday of the month which means it's time for Not Just A Mom link up with these amazing ladies: Dara, Jen, Joanna, Lauren, and Sarah.
January we did some introductions.
February we shared our House Rules
March we shared Day In the Life Weekend Edition
April we shared our Favorite Cleaning Hacks
May we shared our Pet Peeves.
June we shared How We Became a Mom
July we shared Favorite Family Activities
August we shared What's In Our Handbags
October we shared our Hobbies
This month we are sharing our Money Saving Tips
A brief background on our family. We are a family of 5, 3 kids ages 4, 8, and 12. Brian works full time as a realtor and I am a stay at home mom. Brian's income is 100% commission and fluctuates each month. We are not struggling to make ends meet, but we are aware of our spending and saving
Over the past few days I have compiled some money saving tips. Some are no brainers others could make you think twice. In no particular order
- Cook homemade meals instead of eating out
- Make a meal plan and grocery list, shop your freezer and sales.
- Compare prices at multiple grocery stores, we shop Aldi for most of our food, then the sales at Fresh Thyme, Marcs, and Giant Eagle.
- Do grocery pick up compared to delivery with Instacart. You don't have the extra store surcharges, service fee, or delivery tip. There is a little upcharge on items but not horrible. This also limits to impulse buys. (you can save $30 on your first order with my code ADRIENNER13F1F5)
- Shop consignment for kids clothes, hand me downs, and ask for clothes for birthdays from family.
- Shop second hand when possible.
- Save gas money with doing all errands at once, and buy gas at Costco
- Find free events/activities for your family to do
- Stop buying stuff you don't need, put it in your online cart for a few days instead of making an impulse purchase.
- Pick out books and movies from the library
- Consider a side hustle
- Make coffee at home- I only get Starbucks with gift cards and other coffee shops are a special treat
- Review your subscriptions and memberships- If you don't want Hulu or ESPN is the Disney + bundle worth it, If you only watch Netflix on one tv do you need the multiple TV package, how often do you use your gym membership ?
- Look at your spending- I joined a wellness company where that is super affordable, over 450 products that are eco-friendly, plant based, less toxic... Most of the products come in a concentrate form so you are not paying for water and are less than the equivalent product at other stores.
- Quit bad habits like smoking. Brian and I have never smoked but we have friends that do and I see those prices and I'm blown away.
- Shop online with Rakuten where you can earn cashback for your online purchases. Rakuten is currently offering a $30 bonus which you’ll receive after making your first $30 worth of purchase/s at their partner stores. Join HERE
- Stop buying single use water bottles.
- Borrow/Share big purchase items with family and/or neighbors. We share a riding lawn mower with a neighbor, and a garden in their yard (which is fenced in). We borrow a log slitter, and rug scrubber from family. We share pressure washer, lawn edger, generators, other lawn equipment.
- Lower thermostat in the winter and higher in the summer. Wear layers in the winter and use ceiling fans in the summer.
- Turn lights off when not in use or when the sun is out.
- Eat leftovers.
- Freeze foods before it goes it waste
- Scan your receipts for free money. I use Receipt Hog, Fetch, and Ibotta ($5 for joining)
Be sure to stop by next month as we share Comfort Food
I initially couldn’t think of any and thought I was a bad saver, but after seeing your list we do a lot more than I thought!!
ReplyDeleteLauren @ Don’t Mind Our Mess
The little things we don't think about add up.
DeleteGreat tips! I do some of them already!
ReplyDeletethats awesome
DeleteGreat idea to share those large lawn and yard tools, that makes so much sense.
ReplyDeleteSarah @Toronto SAM
I love the idea of sharing some of those bigger items! And yes, we always buy our gas at Costco. It really can be so much cheaper (most of the time).
ReplyDeleteGreat advice.
ReplyDeleteI do online grocery shopping and it really does help with the impulse buying.
You have so many awesome suggestions! I try to run my errands at the same time too. I cook at least 5 nights a week, but I'm trying to do a couple weekend nights here and there too.
ReplyDelete