My Frugal Life - Tips from a Save-o-holic
"Helllllllllllllllloooooooooooo Tracey"
I honestly don't know where or how to begin telling everyone how I save money, because it's natural for me. It's an everything day thing. I love to teach others how to save. Saving money is a "rush" for me. Even other peoples money. It's the thrill of the hunt.
No, I don't purchase anything if it's not on sale or I don't have a coupon. Shopping takes me a couple hours to do but it's worth every penny. I saved 89.50 last week. I only paid 35.81. That's more then 40.00 per hour of savings. More than I make at work per hour. I do stock up, but only if it's an extra sale.
Big Ticket Items
Let me tell you a few things I do to save money on big ticket items. When shopping for stoves. refrigerators, microwaves and appliances. I look online and in ads and print out or take in the ad to Sears. Sears will match and beat the competitors price by 10%. I purchased two dishwashers, 1 stove top, 1 built-in double oven and 1 refrigerator. I found the ads online and printed them out brought them into Sears and they beat the price by 10%. As a bonus, because my order was so large they delivered it for free. I live in the middle of no where, so that charge alone would have been a lot.
The model numbers have to be the same. In my dishwashers case, the model numbers didn't match so I told the saleslady that "it's ok, I will just go to the other store" Smiling all the time. She said "I can give you a much better model for a better price". I rock!
Teaching Kids About The Power Bill
I took my four children outside to the electric meter and showed them the dial spinning around and around and around... it was spinning as fast as lighting. Then I said "Go into the house and turn off the things that we are not using, then come back outside and look. I showed them the electric bill. The dial slowed down to a much more manageable speed. They now are more observant of what is plugged in and what lights are on.
Saving Money on Meals
I have a garden in the summer months and I can tomatoes, pickles and mushrooms. I grow my own garlic, cucumbers, carrots, corn and peppers.
I purchase meats in large quantities. I separate them and divide them into meals. I place them in double plastic bags and label.
During the winter time. We have a wood burner. On the wood burner I cook the meats. I brown hamburger and boil chicken. I double bag the cooked meats and label and date each bag. Then after work all I have to do is defrost a bag of cooked ground hamburger and make a quick chili or spaghetti. It saves us from using so much propane.
"How do you think Mom saves money?"
While writing this essay I asked my children "How do you think Mom saves money?"
My son, Tim he is 17 wants me to tell you that I work at a retail clothing store and he thinks its cool that when a customer comes in the store I always point them to the sale merchandise. I believe that when someone saves money they want to come back. They don't leave the store thinking I have "taken" them. They leave knowing they got a lot for their money and want to come back again.
The store that I work for wants us associate's to open credit cards. For every credit card I open I get $1.00. Last year in one year I opened 752 credit accounts. When I talk to a person about opening a credit. I make it about them I make it about the amount of money they will save. I have opened the most credits in the region. That is an extra $752.00 in my check.
My daughter Amanda, she is also 17. She wants me to tell you that just today after work I went to a thrift bread store. While there I purchased 10 packages of bagels. The price on the bagels was $2.50. I asked the lady if I purchase a large quantity could I get a discount. She gave me all 10 for $10.00. Saved $1.50 a package. More then half.
Homemade Gifts
I make them all the time. I love to sew. I had a bunch of old jeans that I cut up into squares and made a quilt out of them. I used a bunch of my children's baby clothes and made my Mom a "grandchildren" quilt. Homemade soups in a jar are great gifts for friends and family members. I make them for birthdays and Christmas gifts.
I pay my bills on line which saves on stamps and envelopes. It's my money and I don't feel I should just hand it out to just anybody. I try to save as much as possible. I hope that a few of the things I listed may help others.
Tracey from Michigan
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