[clmehkids]

Hi forum friends,
Have you noticed that almost all items in the grocery store have gone up in price? I guess b/c of cost of gas and transporting in the goods. At least here in South Carolina I have noticed this.
As a family of 6 going on 7, we have tried to decrease the amount of money we spend--especially on items we don't "need". But what about items you do need: food, clothes, diapers, gas, ect.... What are some ways you save money for your family? Here are some of mine:
1 Shop at Sam's to buy in bulk and save (although I have noticed their prices have gone up too)
2 Eat out less--I cook more! (and I don't enjoy cooking but I am learning too!)
3 If we don't need it--we don't buy it!
4 Our electric bill is out of control--due to the triple digit temps we are having--we run the fans more and wear light clothing inside--and this only helps some! Of course we keep the air conditioning on, just not as low as it could be.
5 Try to take less long distance trips to conserve gas

Ok, what are your ideas out there? I know there are tons of creative ppl on this forum and I can't wait to hear what is working for your family! Thanks!

[humanpitchpipe]

Find a good thrift store and buy clothes from there. I used to be addicted to shopping and would spend lots of $$$ on clothes and shoes, but now I go to the thrift store once a week. I think it's fun finding great deals. My thrift store also carries miscellaneous items (and lots of baby items).

[mombyfaith]

Hey I live in SC too.
Where do you live?
Starting adoption #2 (Vietnam) and still paying on adoption #1, I am also trying to come with ways to save money.
1. Cooking alot more instead of eating out
2. Shopping for dd's clothes on Ebay
3. Selling DH's textbooks online (sold $270 going
toward our adoption fund)

I would love to hear more ideas!!!!!!!!!!!
Great thread

[Vogi2002]

I cooked, just as you, but I planned out my meals every two weeks to make a grocery list and knew what I was having, or basically 12 meals I could choose from (I gave myself two nights off for "leftover nights") but we also ate leftovers for lunch everyday. Having a list keeps you from buying a lot of junk and keeps you on track.

We actually didn't shop at Sam's because most of the time you can find something cheaper at the store on sale, or buy off brand for less price. We just bought OFF BRAND everything or whatever was on sale. I would also base my recipies off of what was on sale that week at the store.

We stopped buying Pop or soda (oh my you'd be amazed at how much this can save you). We started drinking only water or juice, you drink less. We did kinda "ease off" of the pop by buying off brand kinds of pop that we didn't like as much...don't like it won't drink as much of it!!

Stop buying snacks. Make your own snacks (Rice Krispies Treats, mini muffins you can freeze and take out to thaw one by one, etc). Of course with kids you need SOME snacks but even by switching to crackers from chips (again if you don't like it as well you won't eat as much of it...).

Turn out the lights after you leave EVERY room. Shut your drapes during the day (less light to come in) and turn up your AC to 80 (believe me, it's not that hot feeling). Turn off appliances that you aren't using and unplug (they still suck out a little electricity even when off).

Cable.....if you have it, lessen it. With a lot of kids (we had 5 of us growing up) you can always find something else to do. You would be AMAZED at how much more we were outside or playing board games...or watching a video (try netflix!)

Allowance. Give yourself a weekly allowance and stick to it. It's hard to get used to thinking (wow...don't have the money for that now) but it makes you utilize what you have.

Look online for fun games for your family to do for something to do on the weekends, which will make you less antsy and want to go out and do something.

Good luck!! We did all of this when saving for the adoption...kinda eased into all of it, but now its normal for us (though we eased out of some of it and need to get back on it).

[clmehkids]

Great ideas everyone! Keep them coming!!!

[devildogwife]

IMO, just get rid of cable and get yourself a pair of rabbit ears. I LOVE not getting that bill every month. Trust me, you can get by just fine without it. I don't even miss cable lol. Also, we have free dial-up internet. Yep, it's slow but for me, you can't beat free.

[Vogi2002]

Yeah we didn't have cable for two months when switching over to another when I was little. My parents saw how much more we played outside and depended on each other for entertainment...and that was that! They didn't turn it back on!! I never missed it when I was little...we had videos, even Nintendo, but I remember more playing outside and with each other than anything....

[crick]

With 4 active kids, I've tried every laundry detergent out there and I honestly do not see a difference when used in combination with baking soda. (only use 1/3-1/2 cup of detergent & then 1/2 cup of baking soda)

So I shop at the discount stores for the cheaper brands of this kind of thing. Big Lots is a great place for this stuff!

I use baking soda and vinegar in a lot of my cleaning as well, which saves on all the separate cleaning supplies I used to buy. Vinegar is an excellent rinse "detergent" for the dishwasher too!

I do have a can of comet or old dutch around for some of the stubborn things as well as a magic eraser sponge, but in general, I don't buy the expensive cleaning supplies.

I wash in cold water 95% of the time which saves money. I wash the towels & bedding in hot, but everything else is cold.

I also save on food by buying bulk. I've found that a lot of things are cheaper overall at Sam's if you are a family of 6 or more. (not everything of course!) I will also combine the Sam's trip with a friend and we split stuff. Fruit, meat, coffee, rice and other "staples".

When there's a sale on things we use all the time, I stock up. Peanut butter, jelly, pasta sauces, toothpaste, toothbrushes etc.

We limit our eating out to once a week and it's usually pizza or something else that is inexpensive. I try to buy and plan meals based on the sales and seasonal prices.

I buy the mid grade gas as I've been told by several mechanics that you really don't need to buy the premium unleaded gas for your car.

[Guatemom]

We like crackers and pretzels, etc. kind of snacks (gotta have snacks) at our house. But to keep them fresh & lasting longer---invest in some freezer bags!!! I get'em at the Dollar Store. As soon as the seal is broken and we open them, dump the rest into a big gallon size freezer bag and then seal them back up-squeezing all the air out! They last longer--and like everyone else mentioned-it's cheaper than the usual snacks. And for travel snax--you guessed it, I use SANDWICH bags!! I grab some out of the big bag, throw into sandwich bag and off we go. Also another great snacker we love--DRY CEREAL!! Connor is 3 and LOVES cheerios (they have lots of flavors now). And you can get the maltomeal brand (off brand). He doesn't know the difference, and really most things taste the same. So you save money; and then you stretch'em. And General Mills (makes Cheerios) is great about sending out coupons in the Sunday paper usually.
Another saver--expensive cleaners. You can use vinegar for a lot of stuff!
Back to food (yes we like to eat)---watch for the discounts in meat per pound on the 'family pack' stuff in your grocery. Example, ground round might be 3.29 a pound in a smaller and you pay say $3.50 (just over a pound), single pkg. but if you buy the 'family pack' yes you might pay $8 for 1 pack, but how many pounds do you get--and look at the price per pound, it's decreased! So get the big pack, and then go home, break it apart and FREEZE IT! Yep, back to my freezer bags, lol. I buy the family packs of just about everything in meat (pork chops, chicken, AND beef!) and then I'll split it up at home into smaller pkgs and freeze those. Like for hamburger I'll put maybe a pound and a half in 1 freezer bag.

[SKL]

I used to be the most frugal person on the planet (other than my ex), until I started buying baby things . . . .

I see a lot of good advice above. I would also suggest: drive 55. It saves a lot of gas.

[The Winns]

Try the new energy efficient light bulbs. They are more expensive to begin with (I have found they are cheaper in bulk at Sam's), but they truly do save on your energy bill and they last MUCH longer.

[Wonk]

Thrift store clothes shopping. big saver. Also, you have a much different relationship with a $5 pair of pants than with a $50 pair of pants. In fact, I couldn't tell you the last time I was in a mall. We just have no reason to. You just have to spend the time looking.

The second biggest expense for people is their car. (behind their house) There is the weekly cost of filling the tank but there is also the capital cost, i.e. every mile you drive brings you a mile closer to having to buy a new car. Simple answer, take the bus. Bus is always cheaper. If you can't, see if you can carpool. Or at the very minimum, think about the trips you are making so see where you can cut back. If you need to replace your car, downsize. Save on the purchase cost and on maintenance and gas. If you think you need a bigger car for trips or for towing your boat twice a year, get a small car and rent a van or truck for those few times that you need that bigger vehicle.

[Justhavfaith]

This isn't feasible for everyone but, I just started (month two) shopping and cooking just once a month and freezing the meals. I chose to do this mostly because I am a working mom and I wanted healthy food for my DS but, didn't have the time to cook every night. My start up costs were cookbooks and some freezer bags. So far, it has been great and VERY inexpensive. The grocery bill has been running about 350 a month but, for us that is VERY good considering we have 4 dogs and DS is still in diapers and on next step formula. The savings is in buying huge packages and store brand where I can.

[jaenelle]

We are trying to save money to adopt daughter #2, and while it's been slow going so far, we have made a little progress.

We don't have cable or satellite TV. We just watch DVD's or read a book, mostly. We don't have a long-distance plan on our phone. If we call someone long-distance we use a calling card and try to keep it short. We do have high-speed internet but we have switched to a cheaper plan for that, too.

We buy off-brand/generic of almost everything, and try to wait until those things are on sale unless we really need them right now. If we do buy something name-brand, it's almost certainly on sale. We shop at Dollar General, Aldi, and other discount places like that, mostly. We buy most of Yuna's baby supplies at Wal-Mart or Target. We buy generic formula, and only buy brand-name diapers/wipes if we have a good coupon -- otherwise those are generic too. We also use coupons for all her baby food and juice. I'm not organized enough to be a major coupon-clipper, but the baby ones are easy enough to keep track of and still save us quite a bit.

Almost all of Yuna's clothes come from the Salvation Army or Goodwill. Occasionally, I will go to a consignment store, too, but VERY rarely buy anything new. I am ALWAYS finding really cute stuff for $1.29 or so -- she looks just as well-dressed as another little girl who goes to her daycare who I am pretty sure almost always wears stuff from JC Penney that was bought new. I have bought things off eBay too.

We're selling our other house at a significant profit and have bought a smaller, much cheaper one that we plan to fix up a bit. Our other house was bigger and nicer-appearing but very cheaply built and was always having some kind of fairly major problem. This house is smaller and dumpier-looking but much better-built, and with a little TLC will be just as nice as the other place. We can use the extra money we made off the sale of the other house to pay off all our debt except for what we will owe on this house and my student loans, which won't be much. No car payment, no credit card payments, no adoption #1 loan payment... that should save us several hundred dollars a month.

We also really try to think "do we need this?" Or at the very least, "do we really want this?" If the answer is yes, fine. But a lot of times we find that the answer is no.

We still eat out quite a bit -- that's something we really enjoy doing, and one of the things we aren't willing to give up. We both hate cooking! Again, though, we have tried to scale back on how many times we eat out, and also go to cheaper places more often.

Hope that helps.

[clmehkids]

You guys are VERY frugal!!!! What awesome replies! And I must say, what incredible discipline a lot of you have! It really makes me think about what we have and asking, "do we REALLY need that?" Thank you so much for your responses! Anyone else have anything to add?