How does your family save money and cut costs?

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Princess_Abby

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My husband and I are both 24, married a little over a year and trying to save for our future. We have monthly expenses that are pretty high, and while DH makes a very decent income, things are still tight as we pay off debt and pay for counseling out of pocket (VERY expensive and insurance does not cover it). BTW, our debt is very basic: high student loans, car payment, credit card debt over extras that aren’t covered paycheck to paycheck. We have paid off our wedding rings, our new bed, we bought nice but used living room furniture that we paid cash for, etc.

Can everyone share their tips for saving money, cutting costs and even making an extra buck or two? It feels like we’re trying hard but just don’t have a lot of disposable income nor money to put in savings. I will share what we’re doing so far:

*coupons, refunds and rebates
*no cable tv
*dial-up internet
*strict budget for entertainment
*new clothes ONLY when an absolute necessity, and always on sale with store coupons
*newspaper only on Sunday (for coupons)
*only one car (still paying it off)
*rarely eat out
*packed lunch for work

Anyone else have any tips out there? We live in an expensive part of the country and I think this has something to do with it. Growing up in Kansas, food was cheap, everything seemed cheap! Here on the east coast, not so much…

It just seems like every month has something “necessary” come up. Last month it was a $800 car repair and $500 for eyeglasses and one set of contacts for DH, etc.

We need to go to the dentist and a few doctors (orthapedic and dermatologist–DH and I both have pre-cancerous skin issues) but it’s to the point that I am so sick of “extra” expenses that I’d almost rather not go! Silly, I know. We do have a small nest egg that DH and I saved before we got married, but it’s just been a really expensive year…and we hate touching our savings because we want to be able to buy a house SOMEHOW…some way… 🙂

I don’t feel like we’re “struggling” but I feel like we’re… juggling. 🙂

Any thoughts appreciated!!!

Thanks!
Abby
 
Can you refinance the student loans to a lower interest rate?

Can you refinance the credit card debt to a bank loan at a lower interest rate?

Buy generic foods rather than brand names, on many products you can not tell the difference.

Research all big (>$20 items) on the internet to find out what good prices are. You may find that ordering online is cheaper. (remember to add in shipping costs)

Find less expensive counseling. You may find that a support group on the issues works better than a counseller.

Thrift stores and garage sales to get good used items instead of new.

Compare your savings growth vs. the interest cost of the debt. If you savings rate of growth is less than your debt interest, use your savings to pay of debt. This will save you money in the long run, provided that once the debt is paid off, you commit to restoring your savings.

On prescriptions check if you can buy more than one month at a time. This usually results in net savings over time. Shop around for better drug prices.

Negotiate with doctors on non-insurance covered items before recieving service. Many are willing to negotiate ahead of time.
 
My husband and I survived the first few years of our marriage by reading the “Tightwad Gazette” series. These are all now found in one big volume. They’ve got hundreds of cost cutting ideas. The ideas were hard at first because in our mind it was ridiculous to cut this or that to only save $3.00 a month. We had to get in the mindset that was $3.00 on this and $3.00 a month on that and that can add up to a lot of extra money when you put it all together.

We found the lowest credit card rates we could find and sometimes we even rotated the debt to keep the low into offers. You have to make sure you cancel the old cards but it is good to have one steady card to build your credit record with.

We started a mutual fund which automatically sucked money out of our account every month. Bye, bye, it was gone. This kept our frivolous spending down and gave us a little savings. Even if the market drops you’re likely to come out with more money than you put in. By the time we pulled it out, we had made over $3000 but that was when the market was really taking off.

After 9 years of marriage, very little downpayment (almost none) and a mortgage broker who did some really creative financing, we bought our frist home. We had to move a little farther away from my husband’s work (15 miles) but it was worth it. We had a really hight interest rate at first but refinanced within a year too a much lower one. We got a really low rate on our last refinance and will probably stick with that for a lonnnnnnnnng time.

After 10 years, my husband was able to get a realllllllllyyyy good paying job (at least compared to his first job). His pay raise was incredible. I think God rewarded us for our years of tithing when it was really hard to let the money go.
 
Sorry, I can’t offer any advice. I can just let you know that you are not alone.

Hubby and I also feel like we are constantly “juggling” too. But we used to be “struggling”, so I guess things are looking up.

Given your situation and your list of things that you already do to save money, I just wonder if you get as annoyed as I do when a book or TV show gives advice on how to get out of debt and manage your money better…

it always comes down to "sell your second luxury car… do you really need a lake house?..don’t buy a $5 coffee everday at lunch time…cut down your eating out to once a week…HA!

I am just as intersted in the responses you get to this thread…anything that helps will be a blessing.

Good luck sorting things out and living with some peace no matter what happens.

Finella
 
The simple method I have found is to first make a record of your monthly bills each month. Next figure out what is left after paying bills. Then you take what is left and divide it by 30 days in the month.

You will then know how much you have to spend each day. Keep a record daily of what your spending and on what. If you see you need to spend more wisely to save then do all of the above suggestions as well. Hopefully you will have enough money after bills to take at least 10% to 20% of that money and save it per month.
 
A little something I have done for years, and it really does help…type A folks will NOT agree, but it works for us. I couldn’t make myself put money in savings. Sooo…

Every time you write a check, round up your checkbook entries to the nearest dollar (or $5). (I keep the actual tally separately). That way, I only spend what I see, I add to it frequently, and we have a “hidden deposit” that can go for those unexpected expenses.

We eat little meat, and stretch what we can with pasta, potatoes, and so on. Soup is a great meal in the winter with bread, and fairly cheap, too! It’s amazing what you can do with mac and cheese or ramen noodles!

My kids get new shoes, socks and undies. Except at Christmas, the rest of their (and mostly my husband and my) clothing comes from Ebay or thrift stores. So do most books, toys and games, when possible.

See if there’s a chapter of a Yahoo! group called Freecycle near you. There are people giving away good stuff out there! And we can always use to pare down to essentials.

Therese
 
Wow, so many good ideas! Thank you all so much for replying and offering your encouragement. It is truly appreciated.

Finella–I so totally understand!!! I’m like, get rid of our second car? What second car??? Stop buying Starbucks every day?? We don’t even drink homemade coffee!!!

I am sitting here, 11:45pm on a Saturday night, surrounded by early editions of Sunday’s paper (we bought three papers this week because of the extra coupon inserts) and preparing for the triple coupon week at Pathmark during the next few days.very exciting 😉 One of my little sisters just called me on her cell phone to ask a quick question, and I could hear the loud noises of a crowded restaurant behind her. My husband came in after I hung up, and asked who called…I explained, and he was like, “I miss the days when OUR saturday nights were spent eating out and meeting friends at a bar or a movie to relax!!!” …not that we’re complaining, we still manage to have fun and we’ve become experts at free or inexpensive things to do, but still. i miss those days too. but now when we eat out, i think…$40 for two entrees?? $20 in drinks?? that’s enough to feed us for several days, not just one meal! (and btw, we never drink alcohol anymore, either…which is fine, we were never big on alcohol anyway, just socially sometimes.)

Stobie–thanks for all your very thoughtful suggestions. we never buy anything brand name unless i have a coupon that can be doubled, is on sale, and is less than than the store brand. otherwise, we buy the store brand. i also buy or trade for extra coupons and buy things in groups when on sale or when i have several coupons for a sale item. this really helps.

as for counseling, that is more under control as of this month. prior to now, we were spending sometimes a thousand dollars or more per month for just a few sessions. this led to putting necessities on credit card, since we couldn’t put counseling on credit. but, now it’s down to about $300/mo. (and btw, we don’t have any serious marital issues–it was more dealing with some in law issues that seemed out of control.) but, we are also looking into a support group. my husband just feels that we have invested so much time and money into this particular counselor that to leave now when we are just beginning to feel healed might just start the whole process over again and be very frustrating… but, good suggestion.

Our student loans have a pretty low interest rate–4%. my husband went to a private Catholic school and took out a lot of money, so… it’s just expensive to pay it back! 🙂

we often pay credit card sums out of our savings if it will mean paying ourselves instead of interest. good point, though. 🙂

Marie–good suggestion! we do track all of our monthly expenses through quicken. there are many days when we don’t spend ANYthing on incidentals–we just send out bills 😉

A few months ago, I spoke to my husband about “paying ourselves” first–so we began depositing 300 dollars into our savings account monthly. it isn’t much, but it’s something! there have been a couple months when we couldn’t, but…we have for the most part.

bear06–thanks for your inspiration. we tithe, too, and give to two charities monthly. there have been months when i’ve been very ungracious about it–wanting to keep it for ourselves for a new pair of pants or shoes or dinner out with my husband. but DH is resolute about giving, knowing that the Lord will work for our good.

I will check out the Tightwad Gazette!!!

Therese–we rotate our debt, too, and we actually have really low interest rates right now.

things are improving, just slowly. we will probably be moving to kansas in the next year and a half, and after that, i think it will help us with our basic necessities–things are just less expensive there.

I will check out Freecyle!! Sounds interesting.

Thanks you guys! Any more thoughts are still appreciated!!!

Abby
 
🙂 Hi!

My advice is to live within your means. No car payments, no credit cards whatsoever, no buying a house unless you can afford at least a 20% down payment, and have payments you can afford on the husband’s income alone. If it takes 2 to afford your home, don’t buy, just rent. The American Dream----is just that a dream. Don’t buy into it, and constantly be comparing yourself with others. Remember “right is right even if few people are doing it, and wrong is wrong even if many are doing it”.!!! Some Catholic Theologian said this. Maybe G.K. Chesterton!!

Also Abbey, since you’re so young, learn NOW to live on your husband’s income so when the kids come along you won’t be strapped into having to have a job. If you learn this now, you’ll be so grateful later!!

Last but not least, give the Lord the “first fruits”. Blessings will surely flow, and be thankful for all you have.
 
Hate to depress you but after almost 14 years of marriage we rarely eat out. Paycheck may have gone up but we have 5 kids and one on the way and I’ve just about never worked. Can’t often afford the sitting. I think we probably go out about 3 or 4 times a year by ourselves which is usually when my parents can sit or my in-laws are visiting and we try to go away for the weekend whenever there’s no nursing baby to contend with. We know our day is coming sooner than we know it. Our extra cash right now goes to super cool family vacations. When we feel like we’ve just got to be alone, we buy take and bake pizzas, get the kids a movie, make ourselves some good food and dine in our room with instructions to watch the little ones and leave us alone!!! This works out surprisingly well. Next year we’ll finally have a built in slave, uh, I mean babysitter. I’m sure we’ll take advantage of this even if it’s only to go have a dinner picnic.
 
bear06,

thanks for making me laugh 🙂 my husband often says, you know…it’s only going to get better or worse, depending on how we think about it: children one day and even less money, or children one day and less money…oh, wait. 😉

i worked for the first nine months of our marriage and then about four/five months ago had to stop for health reasons. i think part of my anxiety about money is knowing i can’t “contribute” financially, which is why i play the coupon game ad nauseam…always trying to get more for less, while still eating healthy!! but, my husband continually says that maybe my not being able to work right now is a blessing, because it’s forcing us to live on his income alone and learn how to budget to the best of our ability. i have friends who went from large two incomes to only one when a child was born, and it was a very rude (and scary) awakening for them. maybe it won’t be that way for us.

i’ve actually been thinking about starting to sell things online at half.com. we have shelves and shelves of books that i’ve read several times already, videos, etc. my dh’s cousin does it and she makes an interesting amount. it could go towards entertainment (my confessor is always like, “don’t forget to recreate and keep the fun alive!”)

my husband actually gets sort of joyful about our “juggling” finances. he’s always like, “this is so refreshing! we are working hard and saving for our children! someday we’ll tell the Lord how we scrimped and saved so we could add more souls to His kingdom!” …my dh has faith that could move a moutain, while mine is a bit lacking in the strength department 😉 sometimes i get annoyed by how overjoyed he is that we can’t buy him new pants for work, lol. but i am grateful for his positivity.

sparkle–

right now we are renting. we live in a very expensive area but recently we downsized (last april) when i found a MUCH cheaper apartment. we snapped it up and that savings has been huge too. we barely miss the space of our old place, knowing it’s saving us an addition $400/mo to live here.

as for the car we’re making payments on: my dh bought that before he met me 😉 we both agree that we will not probably ever buy a “new” car again. we talk about trading it in (it’s a 2001 toyota camry) for a used 4Runner or other SUV (more family-oriented car), but haven’t yet, because we don’t want more debt.

Thanks guys!
 
Here is my laundry list of suggestions:

I cook with gas and have pots and pans with tight fitting lids. As soon as the food cooks, I turn the flame down to its lowest point. Five to ten minutes before the food should be done (vegetables, eggs, rice, potatoes, etc. ) I turn off the fire. The food will continue cooking to perfection, without using extra fuel.

In the winter, everyone dresses warmly inside the house, and the temperature is set at 68 F. At bedtime, the thermostat is set at 65-66 F. I understand these settings can be too low for some people. My mom, for example, has in her bedroom a high-efficient energy heater that she can turn on if she wants to be warmer; the same with a window a/c when it gets uncomfortable in her room because the large A/C has not yet kicked on.

In the summer, the large AC is set at 80-81 F. I used to keep shades and drapes closed to keep out excessive heat or cold, but recently our regular windows have been replaced by those double-paned, thermo (?) windows to save further on energy. I turn off the AC and throw open windows and doors asa the temperature outside drops below 80-81, and then use ceiling fans or a regular fan for aircirculation in those rooms that need it.

Don’t keep lights on unnecessarily. Same with TV or radio. Color TVs use lots of energy.

Wash laundry with cold water when possible and dry clothes on a low-heat setting. Make use of the hot sun (or wind) instead of dryer.

Don’t let the water run while brushing teeth, or while soaping your hands before you wash them, etc. When you do dishes by hand, during soaping and scrubbing, don’t run the water. When you shower, turn off water while lathering or applying shampoo.

Conserve water when you wash your own car. Don’t keep the water running while soaping the car, unless of course your lawn needs watering.

Try to cook and create simple but tasty dishes without heavily relying on large amounts of beef or pork. Lots of flavorful dishes can be prepared with the right combination of herbs, spices, ready-made sauces, etc. I like to save all those seasoning packets you get when you eat out and I use them in my cooking or other regular use.

Out of my garden, I get so much produce (tomatoes, zucchini, chives, oregano, rosemary, lemons, peppers, just to mention a few and they are so easy to grow) that I share with others and who in return come with stuff they grow and share with me.

I hardly ever use coupons. I seems that I am always able to find another brand that costs less without needing a coupon with the same quality as the one with the coupon. (Huh?) Sorry, this sounds somewhat convoluted.

I hope I have not repeated suggestions already made by other posters.

Theodora
 
There are some really useful and interesting suggestions here.
I’ve always worked full time as my husband is disabled and can’t work for long at a time, but he needs to work because it makes him feel useful (which he is!) My two children have a lot of expenses, Catholic school, CYO sports, and seems like they always need shoes. But we pay little for our house as we refinanced last year. We eat out every couple of weeks at a taqueria (Mexican food) where all four of us can eat for $20. It’s a nice family time we have after church.
I can’t do all those great things like baking, making clothes, etc as some days I can barely get the dishes done and the kids’ clothes washed. But one thing we do is trade babysitting with friends who have kids the same age. We rarely go out but sometimes we both have to work at once for a couple of hours.
I don’t worry too much since years ago, when I was afraid of starving, the Lord said to me, “I will surely provide for you.” And He has done so faithfully, through years of ups and downs. He owns the cattle on a thousand hills, and He always comes through. For some reason He likes to wait until the last minute, but He never abandons us.
 
I recently moved to the same part of the country as Princess Abby, and was outraged at how expensive grocery shopping became! I discovered that Pathmark & Price Rite are usually the cheapest stores (stay away from Acme, even though there’s one on every corner). We decided that a $30 annual membership fee to the wholesale club BJs was worth it for the overall savings & the convenience of buying once in bulk & thereby avoiding more frequent shopping trips.

The only brand new clothing I buy is underpants & occasional bra. Everything else is from thrift stores like a local community one or the Salvation Army or St. Vincent de Paul. I spent about $40 and got my entire (two season) maternity wardrobe, with a little help from my seamstress mother.

Philly has great public transportation–use it whenever you can!

Think of making trips to the local public library in the same way you would a night out at the movies.

Try dinner with your best settings, candles, etc…somehow the same old things seem to taste better by candlelight! 😉

Suggestion: I’ll bet you always shop with a grocery list, right? Well, do the same for household items, furniture and birthday/Christmas gifts. Keep a running “wish list” & look ahead to those so that you can be keeping your eye out for things in those thrift stores throughout the year.

I share your worry, because I was raised in a very frugal, “do without” family of 5, but my husband grew up in a wealthier family of 9 who have very different ideas about what constitues “neccessities”! While I am so proud of my husband’s sacrifices (career switch to lower paying job) for us and our future family, I see how our current lifestyle feels more “normal” for me but less so for him.

Also, I think I remember reading another thread on this site, maybe for saving money with big families? They had some good ideas, too.
 
Stephanie–thanks for validating my thoughts about the cost of food in philly! It is our biggest expense, after rent. We live outside the city, and drive to a pathmark several miles away every once in awhile–speaking of which, this week is triple coupons, so…get excited!! 😉 One trick that I have learned with coupons is this: if you get ALL the circulars and go through your coupons to see what is on sale and what you have a coupon for, you can get a “double play” on money savings. At pharmacies, a “triple play” is possible: the sale, a store coupon (in their circular) AND a manufacturer’s coupon. Sometimes I get toiletries for free or for mere pennies. Walgreens is great, too, because they have a rebate club whereby you purchase an item, send in your recepits at the end of the month and you get full price return on those items specified. They also have an “easy saver” catalog with more store coupons to pair up with manufacturer’s coupons for more savings every month.

I agree, Philly public transportation is very affordable and accessible (though not as far reaching as Boston or NYC’s system).

The weird thing about the local library out here is that unless you live in a borough (within a certain part of your town’s ‘city limits’) you can’t check out books from a local library. It’s VERY irritating. But, sometimes I use refund and rebate money that I get back to pay for used books off of amazon.com.

Can I ask which thrift stores you shop at? Are they in the city? Maybe those are better. I shopped at one way outside the city and found nothing. We shop at places like Old Navy (which is pretty cheap) and use coupons there, too.

Also, my husband had a similar experience growing up. “Immediate gratification” was not something delayed–if the kids wanted something, they generally got it. Not so in my family. However, my husband has been a real trooper about all of this and it’s only sometimes that he’s just like, I miss dating my wife! I miss taking you out and making you feel special! And of course I have to explain that these days, it makes me feel special when he does the dishes without me asking him to 😉 And that there are so many ways to love each other without spending money on the other.

Also, when I buy household items…I subscribe to a website called refundcents.com and pay for their periodical subscription…the editor of that site keeps track of all sorts of “special deals” that run on different websites and stores for household items. Recently we purchased a $500 digital camera for $99. The site also lists a plethora of ongoing deals. When you subscribe, you can check out the members only part and there is a “chit chat” forum that lists special deals as they come out in certain parts of the country. For instance, Target sometimes has CRAZY clearance sales–and that board is what always lets me know when to go. It also gives me tons of rebate coupons, “try me free” forms to send out for, etc. It’s been well worth the cost of it.

Theodora!

Thank you for all those suggestions. We live in an apartment right now, and while our old place had it’s own laundry set within the apartment, we gave that up when we downsized. I bought a laundry hanger that we have in our bedroom, and it’s been very helpful and definitely increased our savings on laundry–since we can air dry some clothes.

We have an electric stove, so can’t cook with gas.

We also gave up central air when we moved, so we have two a/c units that are ancient and don’t work very well, are rather inefficient. We learned this a little latently in terms of our bill, but once we did, we did as you suggested: basically left it off and made do with open windows and fans and frequent cold showers!! 🙂

This winter we both plan to just bundle up and use plenty of blankets and maybe buy a small space heater for our bedroom.

Thanks everyone!
 
I am still young, but I do go shopping (grocery/other needs) for my mom (she just waits in the car…) and something I’ve noticed, is that Walmart and Super Target has much lower food rates than most grocery stores. For instance, a can of fruit or vegetables at the grocery stores are usually 1.00-1.50, but at Wal-mart or Super Target is .50-1.00 depending on what it is. Also if your car ever has problems, you should see if you can fix it instead of always taking it in to the shop. (It costs waaaaaay less!) That’s just a few things I’ve noticed.🙂
 
One suggestion, rather than using a “credit” card, get yourselves a debit card, that way you won’t incur additional debt, since you can only spend what you have. Of course save your “credit card” at home in a file for emergencies, but only carry your debit card with you.
 
Great suggestions. I only have one to add because most of my tips involve how to feed a large family on a little budget. If you have any creativity at all, I suggest home made presents for Christmas, birthdays, etc. I find that I usually manage to give great gifts for very little money which helps a lot around the Holidays. Plus, people know you really care and they appreciate the love and time spent on handmade items. Plan ahead, though, cause some things can take a long time, especially if you have a large list!! 🙂
 
And of course I have to explain that these days, it makes me feel special when he does the dishes without me asking him to 😉 And that there are so many ways to love each other without spending money on the other.
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Ahhh, and some day you’ll think him terribly romantic that he keeps the kids away from you long enough so that you can have 2 minutes in the bathroom without having to share it with your 3 year old! 😃

My husband is incredibly romantic but that meaning has changed a lot over the years. We used to remember our first date all of the time but now we talk about the time he got an emergency call in the middle of coaching my daughters team to race home to rescue me because while I was nursing the newborn the 2 year old came up and threw up repeatedly in my lap!

My husband loves his life with his wife and children (at least most of the time)and this is the most romantic thing I can think of! I don’t know if I’d actually like to have “date night” every week like some of my friends. I think we’d feel like we were missing something. It’s kind of funny that whenever we go out, we end up talking about the kids. They are our life and our shared passion so I guess that’s logical. Obviously there must be more to it or we wouldn’t have 6 of them!
 
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Princess_Abby:
bear06,

i’ve actually been thinking about starting to sell things online at half.com. we have shelves and shelves of books that i’ve read several times already, videos, etc. my dh’s cousin does it and she makes an interesting amount. it could go towards entertainment (my confessor is always like, “don’t forget to recreate and keep the fun alive!”)
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I think you are on to something here. I sell on ebay and the books that sell the best are the most current ones that people are still buying new in the store. If you shop garage sales you can then resell. I sold my last 2 yr. old cell phone on ebay and it went for about $70. If you surf ebay for awhile you will get to know what sells. It is a fun hobby. I made about $100. my first month. you need to be accurate about the cost of shipping so you don’t short yourself (buyer pays shipping but you have to quote it up front).

There may be other part time jobs that wouldn’t cause you trouble either. You don’t have to earn much, but spend any money carefully.

We have been married 28 years and we still have months that we can’t go out to eat. We are still putting children through college and Catholic HS. It is all worth it.
 
How about auto insurance? The both of you can take the driver awareness class that will earn you both 10% off your insurrance rates. Also - I recently shopped around for a new agent and was surprised to find that Geico saved me an incredible amount of money - several hundred dollars per year. I now sound like a commercial but I was absolutely amazed at the savings potential.

Hey - it’s worth a try and if not Geico - then shop around by calling other agents in your area. Have your current policy with you handy so you can make an apples to apples comparrison.
 
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