Ways of Saving Thousands of Dollars per year

The hardest thing to do is to save money. I was struggling with debt and money problems and I needed a way to lower my monthly costs. I did plenty of research online to get ideas, after looking around I had an AH HA moment. Dollar signs floated before my eyes and I realize how much money I had been wasting. Sometimes it might take a little work, but saving money is worth the effort. Here is what I changed… 

Cable/Satellite TV

I had one of those cable/satellite providers paying $70.00/month ($840 a year). I also had Netlfix (Then 7.99 a month – $95 a year) and Amazon Prime (99.00 a year). For a total of $ 1,034 a year to watch TV! That to me is a lot of money. My husband and I looked around and found a neighbor with a TV tower just lying in their yard. We asked them if we could have it or trade something for it. They traded the tower for a used lawn mower. We installed the tower and could get 15 regular TV channels. This was great for news. I cancelled the Cable/satellite tv provider and saved $840.00/year. I still had tons to watch with online streaming and could watch the news. To boot I saved loads of money.

If you can’t live without your cable/satellite provider, here is a tip. If you have paid your bills on-time and your contract is over. You can negotiate a rate change by calling them to ask about their specials. If they don’t have a package cheap enough, ask for their customer retention center. Speak to a representative about the possibility of a new rate. Tell them you were offered a much lower rate from another provider and are thinking about switching, they usually work with you to find something you can afford. I did this for my mother and she only pays $20.00 a month. 

Saving on your Electric Bill

Changing your light bulbs to halogen incandescent, compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs), and light-emitting diodes (LEDs). Although they can initially cost more than traditional incandescent bulbs, during their lifetime they save you money, because they use less energy. This will save you money on your electric bill. You should keep your blinds closed and curtains drawn during summer months.

This will save your air conditioning bill. I also keep lights off when not using them, and appliances unplugged when not in use. When they are plugged in, they still use electricity, especially televisions. I also set my air conditioner/furnace to a couple notches higher/lower to save electricity. I noticed a difference of about $240.00 /year savings. 

Groceries 

I could go on forever about this subject, I spend most of my time and money on groceries.

I looked for ways to shave it in half. I looked at how much food I was throwing away and it nearly gave me a coronary. I wasn’t paying attention to our money going out the window.

I was just freezing the packages I purchased from the store, without looking at the servings. I started buying plastic freezer bags, buying the meat in bulk and freezing them in portions of our family size. Some stores have a bruised and reduced isle, this is where you can find good meat prices.

There is nothing wrong with the meat, but the stores can’t sell it after the recommended sell date.

I shopped around and found stores with lower prices, I clipped coupons and added digital coupons on my loyalty card or printed coupons from online when I could.

I watch sales ads and plan my meals according to sales. I purchased things on sale in bigger quantities and stocked up. I made sure I wasn’t over buying just to store and throw away later. I shop at stores like Aldi and Save-a-lot for my canned goods, fruits, veggies and meat. They do sell some name brand items and are still cheaper than most stores, they also have pretty good meat prices as well.

I also re-use left-overs in another meal. Say I make a pork butt, I make BBQ sandwiches one day, and pork tacos with it the next. I looked at ads and write my grocery list before I go to the store and I stick with it (most of the time).

This saves me from buying what I don’t need. In the end, I went from spending $600 + a month down to $300 for three people. This saved me $3,600 /year. Worth the extra time. 

Household / Personal Items

Items like toilet paper, paper towels, paper plates, shower gel, shampoo, pet food, laundry soap, diapers etc. all add up to hundreds or thousands of dollars a year.

For diapers, I saved money by ordering from Amazon MOM. This was a great place and they deliver to your house.

Amazon also haves Amazon Pantry for other household items, but I don’t think the prices are the cheapest way to go.  I suggest shopping around, I find store brand names are often a good way to go unless they are on sale and you have coupons. I shop at Dollar Tree, they do accept coupons and have some brand-named items.  But you need be careful not to buy things you don’t need, as its temping when things are only a $1. Only buy what you need monthly unless the price is low and you will use the item.

A few things that you might be able to eliminate and save money is paper towels. You can use real hand towels to dry your hands instead of using paper towels. I use paper towels to clean up spills. This saved me $70 a year.

 Paper Plates, only use when you are having a party. Otherwise it only takes a few minutes to hand wash your dishes with a savings of around $50 a year. 

Stop using that dish washer, that takes an hour to wash your dishes. It uses water and electric for that hour. It only takes a few minutes to do it by hand. This will save you more than you think a year.

Do some research, you will find tons of ways and it will be addicting!

 Eating Out

Eating out was another expense that was draining my budget. The prices at restaurants have been steadily going up, but one thing people don’t notice is the taxes charged on the food. I went to a restaurant near my house and I looked at the receipt and the tax was 10%! By the time you pay the tax, soda (3.00 each in most restaurants) and tip, your bill is $50.00 for three people.

Usually when you eat out, you have left overs. If eating out occasionally is something you can’t live without, share the meal with someone and skip the soda. Drink water instead and for $50 for three people it now $25.00 + tip. Saving you half of the cost.

To save even more, we started cooking the same type dishes we love at the restaurants for a fraction of the cost. We pack a lunch sometimes and take it to the park and it’s like eating out without spending tons of your hard-earned money. When we are on the road and need to grab a bite. We head to a cheaper restaurant and try to share a meal. We even order a foot long at Subway and share that. Costing us only $10 bucks for two people. My sister would say- no way am I sharing – so order whatever the special is and order it with water and you still save money.

Imagine if you eat out twice a week for three people – even at Mc’s for say $40.00 – this is $2,080.00 in eating out. If you even eliminate one trip to the restaurant a week, you saved $1,040 a year! You can purchase a box of hamburgers, buns, and a bag of fries for $10.00 and this is enough for 2 meals.

Stay away from fu fu drinks and icey coffee, these are items you can make at home and still enjoy them. If you drink one large from Starbucks once a week for a year, your spending $190.00 a year that you could be saving! 

We are at a whopping $6,030. Let’s say you work in Illinois and make minimum wage at 8.25/hr. You would have to work 730 hours to make this money. That is 18 weeks of work, now you get the picture. 

Credit Cards

If you have credit cards and they are carrying balances, you are throwing away your money on finance charges.  You goal should be stop using them! If your cards have high rates, try to find ones with lower rates or no rates for transfers. Get them transferred and don’t use them. Pay them off as soon as you are able. Image if you have three cards with a total of 10,000 on them, your finance charges are around $900 a year or more that you could be saving earning interest. 

Car/House Insurance

I always look at my policies and make sure that I am paying for coverage I need. If you don’t know much about insurance, have a friend look them over. Once a year you should let another insurance company quote your insurance needs to make sure you are getting a great price for your insurance. For me, I increased my deductibles on my house and cars that saved me $600/year.

But remember, if you have a claim, you will have to come up with your deductible before any work gets completed, so make sure you can afford the amount.

SMOKING

For your health’s sake, stop smoking. You are burning your money up in smoke and hurting your health. Me and my husband quit (took several times to finally do it) and are feeling better and saving $1,800 / year. We weren’t heavy smoker, if you smoke a couple packs a day, and you live in Chicago, you would be saving $8,760 / year. OUCH that’s a lot of smoke.

Buying Items Used

I like to shop at thrift stores, consignment shops, yard sales to find items I need for my family. You can find some amazing items for a low price. Anything from furniture, clothes, household items, kitchen items.  You can also find swap groups on Facebook. You can save loads of money.

Cleaning out your closet and garage

Need some extra cash? Clean and sell the items that are collecting dust. Clothes you don’t wear, old furniture, kitchen items, books, DVD’s, magazines, etc.  Have a sale for a weekend and earn anywhere from $100 to 500 dollars for your time. The key to yard sales is to makes the items presentable, cleaned and ready to go. Organize them so that the people can see them. If you can, organize the clothes and hang them up, it will help you sell more.

I hope you get something out of this article. One important thing about saving money is to create a personal budget and stick to it. Save some money for a rainy day or an emergency, they can pop up anytime. This will prevent you from using your credit cards.

Here is a spreadsheet that I use for my budget, use it if you like.

Thanks!