Today’s Frugal Friday asks us to list Five Painless Ways We Saved $100 Last Year. So here’s my list:
1. I hang our laundry to dry. Winter or summer, outside or in. I think I only used the dryer a handful of times last year. And I believe it was only for D’s work clothes that didn’t get dry in time. In fact, our dryer is now unplugged, and the vent hole sealed. So now more using it at all! And I’m perfectly happy with that! Ya know what? If one plans ahead, and doesn’t wait until they are out of clothes before washing, there are NO laundry emergencies that would require the use of the dryer! And as a bonus: no more mice coming up through the vent!
2. I started getting serious about shopping at CVS. I saved hundreds last year, and I only did it for a couple of months! Definitely worth the time it takes to do it.
3. Bringing our own water bottles everywhere we go. And if we are out longer, we also bring snacks from home. Sure is nice to have your own water and homemade snacks everywhere you go! And I’m sure it easily saved more than $100. for the year.
4. I started going to more than one grocery store every week. I have gotten some great deals at Krogers. I usually only buy sales or clearance items. Or items that I have coupons for, that after doubling, come out cheaper than at Walmart. I regularly get bread, meat, dairy products and some produce on clearance. Even deli bread goes on clearance at our store. And they have some great meat sales, also. Since the Krogers I go to is practically across the street from Walmart, it hasn’t even cost me any gas to speak of, and I’ve saved hundreds here as well.
Ok, it’s hard to narrow the rest down to one, lol,
5. (A)Keeping the thermostat down low in the winter, (we set it on 62*, but the wall thermometer in the living room says 68*, not sure why the difference, maybe we need a new thermostat?),
(B)putting plastic on the windows (if it gets a hole in it, packing tape repairs the hole nicely, especially when the hole is were the repair is hidden by the curtain)
(c)Cutting the guys hair myself. I even do D’s. And I do the girls, until they start wanting styles that I can’t do!
(d)Shopping at thrift stores, and gladly accepting hand-me-downs, some yard sales, (but living in a rural area makes the cost of gas to go yardsaling prohibitive, makes more $ sense to go to the thrift stores)
(e) cutting our electric usage: not using the dryer, keeping the number of lights on at night to a minimum, unplugging appliances when not in use (did you know that most appliances draw electric, even when not in use?) we switched to CFS bulbs (although, I didn’t notice a drop in our electric bill when we made the switch)
(f)shopping around for the lowest gas price, since we live in one town, and D works, and we shop in another town and county, we are able to check gas prices in about a 25 mile area without going out of our way. (yeah, ok, a lot of that mileage is rural, but we regularly pass at least 8-10 gas stations) Sometimes saving as much as 10 cents a gallon. SERIOUSLY!
(g)I pack D’s lunch everyday. Sandwiches, leftovers, homemade soups, but he really likes a certain canned soup. But even buying that is LESS than what it costs him to eat out And better for him, because it’s easier to control carbs when you prepare the food yourself, which helps keep his blood sugars stable during the day. cheaper and healthier, sounds like a win win situation to me!
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