favorite way to save $$$

[Anonymous]

Hi Everyone- I was wondering what everyones favorite way to save money is?  I know mine are the local Aveda Institute (Hmmmmm scalp massage!) and food programs like angelfood ministries. 

[Anonymous]

Coupons!

I've literally cut my grocery bills by 2/3 by reading coupon blogs and following coupon plans.  Store coupons + manufacturer coupons + double coupons = almost free food.  The other day I bought 2 boxes of quaker granola bars for $0.25 each!

The other thing I've done is only dine out at a place that is on the rewards network  or has a coupon from restaurant.com (and I buy restaurant.com certificates through a portal, cashbaq.com and get a few % back too)  I've also started to use opentable.com to get rewards for booking my reservations online.  If you can combine 2 or 3 of the above services, then you've got a GREAT deal (Sucks for the restaurant owners though)

I also bought a tumbler for going out for coffee, that usually saves me $0.10 per cup. (on a $4 tumbler I still have a ways to go to recoup my investment.)

[bicknar]

My Wife Does the coupons thing, and saves a Ton of cash.  I've learned a bit too.  But my favorite way to save money is to not spend it.

[laz98]

we use some coupons, we cut back on our starbucks (my gf doesn't work there anymore), we stopped eating fast food all the time, we shop sales & clearance, we don't buy our textbooks at the campus bookstore, we compare prices & take advantage of online promotions, etc.

[Anonymous]

My favorite way to save money is to let my casino host pay for everything (which he willingly does while I'm busy with my favorite way to lose money)!

[Anonymous]

I have gotten uber-thrifty and its starting to effect my marriage.  lol  We no longer go out to eat, we "skipped" christmas, anniversary, and birthday presents for each other this year, i make a grocery list and stick to it, i clip coupons, i made a budget and have given us both an "allowance" for our daily needs like gas and lunch, we got netflix and watch instantly over our blu-ray player rather than go out to movies, I shop online every chance I can and use coupon codes for all of it, etc.

I also horde money away in different places for different things.   home safes, several savings accounts, etc.  Each has a different purpose, and each is added to every week.

If I don't lighten up a little bit my husband might start stealing from me.  lol  

Message Edited by newstart2010 on 01-21-2010 10:24 AM

[Jazzzy]

My absolute favorite way to save money is by maximizing my credit card rewards.

This year so far I've gotten a $315 credit on my National City Travel Rewards VISA for an airline ticket.

I have at least two more free flights coming from the AmEx Delta Skymiles that I've built up.

We are now up to over $50/mo cashback from our PenFed VISA.

We use the Discover cashback promotions (x 2 cards), so that adds up to a couple of hundred each year.

Credit card rewards add up to real money, and, for us, it's simply meant making moves like having our Verizon bill charged to our PenFed card rather than having it come directly out of our checking account like we used to do. We still have more bills to transfer over, so the rewards are growing. We don't do it if they want to charge a premium for using a credit card (as our city utilities wanted to do).

And by paying our cards in full, we don't pay interest. I should add that during 2009 I also got > $1k in refunds from our credit card for disupting charges. Credit cards, if used wisely, are great for utilizing rewards and are wonderful protection.

It's a great point in your life when you can go from your credit cards costing you money to the point where they make you money.

[Anonymous]

---

@LynetteM wrote:

My absolute favorite way to save money is by maximizing my credit card rewards.

This year so far I've gotten a $315 credit on my National City Travel Rewards VISA for an airline ticket.

I have at least two more free flights coming from the AmEx Delta Skymiles that I've built up.

We are now up to over $50/mo cashback from our PenFed VISA.

We use the Discover cashback promotions (x 2 cards), so that adds up to a couple of hundred each year.

Credit card rewards add up to real money, and, for us, it's simply meant making moves like having our Verizon bill charged to our PenFed card rather than having it come directly out of our checking account like we used to do. We still have more bills to transfer over, so the rewards are growing. We don't do it if they want to charge a premium for using a credit card (as our city utilities wanted to do).

And by paying our cards in full, we don't pay interest. I should add that during 2009 I also got > $1k in refunds from our credit card for disupting charges. Credit cards, if used wisely, are great for utilizing rewards and are wonderful protection.

It's a great point in your life when you can go from your credit cards costing you money to the point where they make you money.

---

Thats fantastic!!  I hope to use the rewards card we are getting through US Bank to pay all of our bills, groceries, gas, etc.  we can pay it off each month, but being able to funnel all of that usage through the card will build up greattravel rewards for us!!

[daisyduke]

1.  I use all of my products and do not waste anything. I will cut open tubes of toothpaste, facial cleansing products and lotions to get the very last drop. No wasting.  I used to be a "beauty junkie" - I'm reformed now, no more excessive products. One bottle at a time is my general rule.

2.  I do not eat a lot of food....i pack my lunch every day which is a stupid salad and chix and eat an english muffin for breakfast. I bet I could live one week on $20 if I had to - never buy junk food.  Eating less keeps you thin and have more money to spend in other areas...I'd rather have a nice bottle of french wine than bags of cheetos and chips...

3.  I try to find the best price on: clothes, only buy them on sale and gas, I research the best prices for fuel..I usually try to stay out of the mall, too much temptation.

I'm probably not saving too much but I try...

[Anonymous]

I write a meal plan every week and only shop for things I don't already have, that are necessary to that plan.  It has dramatically cut down on the waste.  We no longer throw away tons of spoiled/forgtten food from the fridge and pantry. 

I organize all of my errands to be run on the same day so that I can cut down on gas.

Also, until this past year, I always paid my credit cards within the grace period so I never paid interest. Of course, then we moved to Europe and paid for it all on my AmEx and Master Cards.  We're still paying off that move.  Only a little farther to go.

And finally, I have a savings account attached to my checking account and 10% of anything I deposit, I imediately tansfer to savings.  You'd be surprised how fast the balance will grow doing that.