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How do you stretch your dollar?
Do you go without certain items, do you find deals, coupons and other ways to reduce expenses so you can stretch your dollar more?
What are your money saving tips?
Tags: and, chiczofrenic, money, women
Views: 82
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Stephanie Nelson on -
Follow a blog or join a money saving club that searches out the deals for you. Buy multiple papers every Sunday for the coupons, stock pile them, watch for sales and match your coupons up to score some free or really cheap deals! Many stores have unadvertised deals that these blogs will find for you.
My favorite is: www.obsessivecoupondisorder.com
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Permalink Reply by Laina Turner on -
Stephanie,
I love thie site and the name is fun!!!! Great idea. There are often deals for everything out there is you just look in the right place.
Laina
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Permalink Reply by Sonya Braun on -
When I go to the grocery store, I like to put a dollar amount by each item on the list (rounding up the numbers) so I know whether my list will fit my budget or not. When I'm at the store, I'm confident I'm staying within budget. Of course, I never keep to my list completely, but I can guage where I'm at. If I leave a buffer, it really works even better.
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Permalink Reply by Jess Weaver on -
I honestly think this would help me at the grocery store. We spend about a 100 dollars a week and I would ideally like to get that down to 70. There are two adults in our household and a 7 month old baby and 2 year old. There is really no reason for us to buy that much stuff to eat.
I also think it's important to buy things you are actually going to eat. Sometimes we spend money on fruits and veggies and let them waste. Maybe buy frozen veggies so they do not go bad. Especially in the summer time things can be ruined by the sun.
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Permalink Reply by kjforce on -
Laina..Here is a trick I learned years ago..when my girls were young I used to take shirts that were dingy or stained and draw with fabric paint flowers,lady bugs etc ( to cover the stain) sometimes I even tye dyed them.
Their pants and shorts I would hand sew lace on the bottom or even cut the bottom off other pants and add to the bottom of a pair in better condition..I once took a raincoat that suffered from mildew stains and connected the dots with fabric markers and filled in with vines and small flowers and butterflies..My girls always enjoyed the compliments from their friends and no one ever questioned why...now a days you can get patterns from the internet if you are not artistic...look forward to hearing if anyone has tried this idea?
weedbychoice..kjforce
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Permalink Reply by Karen Rector on -
I don't have many dollars left over to stretch so when I am tempted to buy a non-essential item, I do this: Let's say I find an outfit I really like and can afford to buy with cash. I carry it around in the store for a while and continue looking. At the same time, I ask myself if this outfit will go along with other clothing items I own and how frequently it would be used, etc. If, after that time I still think the purchase is a good idea, I'll buy it. What often happens is that I put the article back on the rack.....I can always buy it tomorrow. For some reason this exercise gives me a sense of having some control and often I am congratulating myself for rising above temptation.
In these economic times my best money saving tip: Combine trips to include several purposes such as go to the PO, fill the car with gas, and grocery shop (with a list). Staying out of stores as much as possible saves me bundles! This isn't fun but I am looking down the road to when I won't HAVE to do this.
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Permalink Reply by Jess Weaver on
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I think you also have some excellent tips here. I absolutely love dollar general and the dollar store but that stuff can add up if you are not careful. Making a list is essential because you know what you need. Trying to remember in your head is very annoying and results in spending too much money.
I work at home and don't really have to go anywhere. This really sucks sometimes but I am so grateful that I do not have to spend the gas money and waste it on driving irrelevant places.
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Permalink Reply by stephanie.cone on -
Recently I have bee "grounded". Yes, grounded. I did it to myself in a last-ditch effort to save some money and teach myself that I cannot live as frivolously as I might like. I've learned that cooking at home, taking leftovers for lunch instead of eating out at work and laying off the junk food makes a big difference.
My other biggest money-saver is the local library! I am a complete junky! You can make a list of items you want to check out and as they come available you can have them delivered to whichever library you would like in the area. Of course there are late-fees, but if you stay on top of returning items on time, it's a great way to catch up on tv shows, movies, music and of course, books. Sometimes I will have to wait a while for a hot season of a tv show to be available, but it's completely worth it and better for my savings account than paying for cable.
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Permalink Reply by Karen Rector on
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I really like your idea of using the library! In this day and age of ebooks, the Nook etc. I fear for the continued existence of libaries especially in the area of books. Even if you are using it mostly for media, your patronage may help keep it from being cut back or worse still, closed!
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Permalink Reply by Jess Weaver on
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The library is such an awesome resource but I cannot force myself to keep going back. I always end up oweing money and those fees add up really quick. I also tried Netflix and was not too impressed with it. But I do think your tips are great. All money saving ideas are great because you can adapt them to fit your own style.
I hate cable and as soon as I can I am ditching it! I like our PS3 because we ca watch basically anything on it. I think it saves money on DVD players and CDs. I love how technology can help us save money too!
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Permalink Reply by Jess Weaver on
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I am the owner of a swapping site online. I don't get payed for it of course. But there is a community of about 200 moms that just pay shipping for our used items. It is pretty cool because it recycles used clothing while saving money for moms. I really try to save money on childcare because that is our most expensive thing with two children. So I work from home as a writer and editor. I do not have to travel to work and I do not have to pay a sitter. However, my days can be stressful while working at home so I try to set apart specific times so that I can still be there for my kids and make money to pay student loans $$$$$$$$$$$
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Permalink Reply by Joy Schwartz on
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I follow a coupon site & "buy used & the save the difference"! I try not to buy things we don't need since I'm a stay at home Mama to 3 kiddos under 3. I also try to recycle and reuse or repuepose as many items as I possibly can! I cook most of our meals and don't throw leftovers away!
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