Many of you already know that I am a self proclaimed penny pincher. Don't get me wrong, I spend money very frequently and I know that spending is necessary for entertainment sometimes, but I watch my pennies carefully.
I've found several different blogs and articles recently that have further ignited my passion for saving money, so I thought I'd post about it. Is it nerdy that I enjoy perusing money-saving literature in my free time?... Don't answer that.
Geeky or not, I think it's fun to look for good deals and new methods for pinching my pennies. The biggest thing I've learned from my research so far is that I am a total rookie. I seriously have so much to learn and that is exciting to me! Believe it or not, one of the things I am looking forward to in my post-graduation life is the ability to devote more time to this oh-so-important research.
I've never really put my findings into writing, so this post is my attempt to visualize some of my "methods". Hopefully from this point on, this list will continue to grow and someday I will proudly take the title of penny pinchin' queen!
If anyone has other ideas or insights, feel free to share.
1. Lori introduced me to this website: beingfrugalisfabulous.com. It's really cool! There are always updates on free samples and cheap grocery buys, as well as recipes for inexpensive meals. For example, this website lead me to a decision to start cooking my own refried beans using dried beans from the grocery store. Everyone knows that canned refried beans leave a lot to be desired. This way I can cook my own, know what's in them, store leftovers for future dinners, and save a whole lot of money in the process.
2. utahshoppingsecrets.com. This is a fairly recent discovery, but I'm quite pleased with it. This website posts grocery deals for major grocery stores and I've already used it to compile several different shopping lists that have come in quite handy.
3. Redbox. Ty and I don't have TV at our house, but we love unwinding after a busy week with a good movie. As a result, we have become quite the redbox fans. $1 per night is pretty great, right?
Over time though, we have learned little ways of getting free codes and now we rarely even have to fork over $1.00 for our movie nights. For example, text "fit" to 414141, and you can get a code that won't expire until the end of August. We have also signed up to receive a free code every month in the form of a text message. If you watch the internet, you can find free codes all over the place.
4. Watch for $1 sales and stock up. I always keep an eye out for my favorite $1 sales and when they come, I buy tons (example: Albertson's 10 for $10 sale)! Most of the time, these sales include brownie mixes, cake mixes, boxes of cereal, eggs, dish soap, snack foods, and Pillsbury products. These are products that you can always use and most of them don't ever go bad.
It's always a little stressful to rack up a comparably huge grocery bill, but when you consider how much you'll be saving in the long run, it's totally worth it.
5. One of the methods I am working on right now is learning to eat cheap. I still have a lot to learn but here are some of the things I've caught on to so far:
- Oatmeal is one of the cheapest and most nutritional meals you can buy, but don't buy the pre-made packets if you can avoid it. You can get a barrel of raw Quaker oats for next to nothing and it'll last forever. I make my own oatmeal with this, which ends up being much more nutritional.
- Bananas and apples are ordinary fruits, but they're very good for you and much cheaper than other produce.
- Instead of buying bags of prechopped salad, I buy my own head of lettuce and make it myself. You can get an entire head for about $1.00. I usually buy a head of lettuce, carrots, an avocado, and a tomato or cucumber. The great part about this is that you can mix it up according to what's on sale. You also get about 3 times the amount of ingredients and you can use leftover ingredients for additional meals throughout the week.
- People in our industry buy lunch every day. It's incredible how fast that lunch money adds up! Instead, we bring lunches from home. They're not always the most fabulous lunches (sandwiches, leftovers, yogurt, etc...), but they pay off and they are usually more healthy.
- Rice and potatoes offer additional examples of cheap foods. I try to buy brown rice instead of white. It usually costs a little more, but it's also more nutritional and still quite inexpensive.
- Extensive reading has taught me that cooking with bone-in chicken can also save a lot of money. In contrast with boneless skinless chicken breasts, these are a lot less expensive, but rather intimidating to me. I'm under the impression that they take more preparation time, so I have not tried it yet, but it is definitely on my to-do list.
- Whenever possible, buy foods straight from factories instead of the grocery store. It's a great way to avoid paying mark-ups. We have tried this at Pepperidge Farms, the creamie factory, Fat Boy sandwiches, and Wonder Bread (which is right here in Ogden).
- Learn what things cost so you'll recognize good deals when you see them.... I'm still working on this one, especially in regards to fresh produce.
- Pay attention to per unit prices. A lot of grocery stores have started posting these on the racks. This way you can't be tricked by packaging and sizes.
6. We do not subscribe to any internet connections at home. I know, it's so sad. But when you're a college student, you pay fees to have nice computers and super fast internet connections, so why not use them? Since we live so close to the school, I refuse to pay for the internet. Instead we have a wireless card for a laptop that we use in case we need the internet when the school labs are closed.
7. I signed up to complete E-Surveys online. These are random surveys that target consumers and are paid for by companies seeking public opinion on future business endeavors. I know there are a lot of companies out there that do this, but I have only signed up for one so far. The one I use is erewards.com. They offer a small amount of money for each survey you take, which can be traded in for rewards. I always save up until I can afford a $30 American Eagle gift card. I plan on signing up for more legitimate companies offering this service in the future.
8. Go on picnics for date nights. They are so much fun and cost a lot less than eating out, or going to a late night movie, etc... Also, if you have to go to a movie, try and attend a matinee showing. These are usually must less expensive. Since we work on weekdays, we usually wait until Saturday mornings to see movies and it has been a great change for us.
9. TV Subscriptions are a lot of money. This is really hard for guys who are sports fans like Tyler. We compensate for a lack of television by picking our favorite TV series and buying the seasons instead. We also frequent the Wal-Mart $5 movie bins. For now, Tyler watches sports online or has his parents record the games for him. He has been very patient with this.
10. Tyler pays close attention to banks and credit unions and makes sure he keeps our accounts where the interest rates are highest. We also try to utilize CD accounts regularly with whatever we can afford to set aside.
11. Neither of us consider ourselves mechanically inclined. However, changing the oil in a car is a fairly simple process that Tyler has learned to do on his own. Whenever he finds sales on oil and oil filters, he stocks up and then changes the oil on his own instead of paying expensive mechanics to do it. We also watch the mail for free tire rotations and discounted inspections.
12. When it comes to gardening, it can be hard to save money. We have been able to side step paying for expensive plants by getting starts from friends. This isn't always possible unfortunately, but we've tried to take advantage of opportunities whenever we can.
13. Everyone knows that textbooks cost a fortune. I feel like this last one is totally obvious, but we NEVER buy books from the school book stores if we can avoid it. Instead, we use half.com and amazon. We also discovered a website at chegg.com where you can rent textbooks instead of buying them. Addall.com is another helpful website that we use to compare prices. Between the two of us, we save hundreds every semester thanks to these helpful websites.
-Okay. Now that I feel like I've been blabbering for several pages, I'll call it quits. However the list is never ending. I could seriously talk about this topic for hours on end. These examples are just some of the big ones that came to mind.
Hope you all enjoyed my ranting,
Shaela
