Obvious ways to save small amounts

[Anonymous]

In 7-8 years of being a professional, I have gone from being someone who used to clip coupons (even though I didn’t need to) to habits that involve Starbucks daily, taking Amtrak to see my family on the east coast etc. when I could drive or take a bus for much less cost, and eating out a lot. Though I’m still not someone who is into shopping. I have been making efforts to cut back a bit because I recognize the frivolousness of it and that cutting $10 out of my budget a week will add up at the end of the year.

I’d love to get a list going of how to easily cut a few (or few hundred) bucks out of your budget? No need for drastic changes -- I'm not someone who can instantly go from never cooking to cooking for 7 dinners per week, but I'm seeing that even cooking 1-2 times adds up to savings. What habits did you drop without it being painful? I think Starbucks is my most obvious but I’m curious if there are others.

[Anonymous]

You can always focus on increasing your income instead.

[Anonymous]

Don't miss cable what so ever! Hulu plus and Netflix cost us together less than 20 bucks a month.

[Anonymous]

I hear you, OP. I'm sure you'll get great suggestions here, but my advice would be to add each one gradually. As you said, it's impractical to imagine you'll be able to adopt a completely different lifestyle all at once.

Go ahead and do the Starbucks one first, because that is definitely a huge saver. I love programming my coffee pot the night before. It's awesome to wake up to the smell of fresh coffee!

For cooking. My family loves pasta with marinara sauce, so I've decided that we will have that once a week (or pretty darn close to it.) The challenge of cooking is not having the supplies when dinner time rolls around, so one has to do takeout, but if you choose a simple meal like this, you can ALWAYS have a stash of pasta and sauce on hand. Sauce can either be your favorite jarred variety of make a big batch of homemade and freeze it in smaller meal portions. Yes, it's not particularly fancy or special, but the reality was that without it I'd be defaulting to ordering pizza once a week, so how it that better? You can cook the pasta meal in the time it would have taken the pizza delivery to arrive. Having an automatic "default" meal means you now only have to think about 6 dinners a week instead of 7.

[Anonymous]

Plan out your meals for the week. I usually plan 5, knowing we'll eat out once or twice, but having a list and ingredients on hand cuts down on ordering. It can also be healthier.

Also, think about what you already have and can repurpose. For example, I was organizing my office and was planning on buying baskets. But then I realized that I wasn't using the ones I already had well. So I cleaned them out and re-organized.

[Anonymous]

I agree on cutting cable. We do hulu+ ($8/mo) and amazon prime (79/year) and only miss football--but that's more fun at a bar anyway.

[Anonymous]

I do my online shopping via Ebates, where they give a cash rebate for online purchases.

http://www.ebates.com/rf.do?referrerid=L0xgq26veNU%2Ft6Qqy6ndDQ%3D%3D

Many major online merchants give rebates (including hotels and car rentals), usually 2-5%. It adds up in the end.
Some places give a rebate if you order online and pick up in store (BBB, Home Depot, Nordstrom).

[Anonymous]

I do a lot of shopping at Target, so I got a Redcard - five percent off everything. You can get a lot of staples there. Also, if you like Starbucks, you can go to a place like World Market and get any flavored syrup you like and make your own coffees at home, or get a cheap coffee maker for your office.

[Anonymous]

We grow a lot of veggies in the summer (small backyard garden). Veg like tomatoes and green beans and herbs grow continuously throughout the summer.

Eliminated the home phone.

I'm a whiz at the grocery store so I know who has a deal on what product and if it's even a good deal (some "sales" aren't really bargains). Combine with coupons.

I have price limits. I won't pay more that $2 for a box of crackers, etc. Apply this to everything (I won't pay more than $5 for a tank top, etc.).

[Anonymous]

Always pay yourself first. When you get paid, automatically take xxx amount of money out of your paycheck. You could park it in a regular savings account or set up a rollover CD account. That way it would be hard to access.
Also, always round your savings up to $500. So if you get some random check, you deposit it in savings and add $$ from your checking account to get it to a derivative of $500.
Also, if you don't have a Roth IRA, you're wrong.

[Anonymous]

- Cut down that Starbucks habit. Make it a 1-2/wk treat instead of every day
- Keep your pantry and freezer stocked. If chicken's on sale, buy a bunch. Stuff like toilet paper, pasta, etc
- Where it doesn't necessarily matter, move to store-brand items and then buy when on sale (canned beans come to mind, for example)
- Or, be really frugal and buy things like beans, rice and pasta in bulk from bins rather than pre-packaged
- Eat less meat and drink less alcohol. It amazes me sometimes how much those two items can add to my grocery bill.
- Cancel subscriptions to things like newspapers and cable
- Look at commuting costs. Public transit, carpooling, teleworking.
- Look at weekend driving costs. How many errands can you do on foot or a bike, or have things delivered.
- Obvious things like giving up housecleaning, regular car washing
- Set the thermostat a few degrees warmer/colder depending on the season. Get a programmable one so that you aren't paying to heat/cool an empty house during the week and really cool the house down overnight during the winter.

Those are the quickies that come to mind.

[Anonymous]

-Buy water by the case and bring a couple each day, instead of purchasing by the bottle. Or, buy a Brita pitcher and just keep it at your desk and refill at work

-Drink only water and tea. I did this to save calories initially, because I figured why waste calories via drinks. I buy the Tazo tea that I got hooked on via Starbucks by the box and make my own instead. Otherwise I drink water.

-Close the vents in rooms you seldom use so that the heat or A/C goes straight to the rooms you're using faster

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[Anonymous]

Pack your lunch, more often than not. And if you have a DH, pack his too while you're at it. I realized DH and I were spending about $10/day each for lunch out. That's $400/month! Now, we eat a lot of dinner leftovers for lunch the next day, and still get lunch out maybe once a week.

[Anonymous]

Eat less meat.

Buy good coffee and a nice travel mug you like and commit to purchasing less starbucks. Hell, but disposable cups you like if you enjoy carrying it around and tossing. It's way cheaper.

But more store brands; they're the same thing for many products.

Think about where you're driving so that you don't backtrack constantly: it adds up and if you fill your tank every 12 days instead of every 8, that really adds up.

Don't buy books or magazines. Use the library, borrow from friends, borrow from Kindle store, and search online for things to read - many articles are free.

Cut cable. Don't miss it.

Fix small things yourself. That squeaky refrigerator just might be a fan that needs cleaning, and you can definitely figure that out and do it.

If you're bad about lunches and Starbucks, figure out what you're spending. If it's $50/week, take out $25 at the beginning of the week and spend that cash and only that cash. Set limits.

Clip coupons. Use Groupons/Living Social vouchers (for things you already buy/use).

[Anonymous]

Figure out what you really use/need for tv-- maybe you can cancel netflix, maybe you can cancel cable.