Save Money on Vacations

Yes frugal people like to take vacations too and of course we want to save money. BUT- I do not want to be one of the people kidnapped for a timeshare tour just to get a free buffet. I want my vacation time to be relaxing and for me. I don't want to have to work for my dinner ;)

These are money saving vacation tips....

Check travel sites (like expedia) for deals on hotels but compare prices with the hotel website before you book anything. You really never know which will offer the better deal. I have found the best price from both sides, travel sites and the hotel itself.

Make sure you get a hotel with the free continental breakfast. It's free food right? The continental breakfast at some hotels is better than others, but make sure you get a hotel that offers free breakfast- then make sure to eat it every morning!

Get a room with a refrigerator. Stock it with drinks (preferably the drinks you bought on sale and brought with you). Don't waste your money in the vending machines.

Same as above (save your money from the vending machine monster)- think candy and chips, especially if you have kids.

Before you go, check the Internet for coupons or online specials. I think this is hit or miss. I certainly don't plan my vacation around what places in the city have coupons. But it is nice to find a coupon for somewhere I want to go. I'm finding more places that have "book online" or "purchase online" discounts and savings.

When you get to your destination (or you can call ahead of time) check with your hotel to see if any nearby restaurants offer a discount because you are staying with them. It's actually more common than you think.

If your traveling by car, this is one of the times I would recommend buying the big W gift card for gas (as talked about here in Unusual Ways to Save Money ). Save .03 a gallon. That adds up when your going a long way. And those big W stores are just everywhere.

Pack a picnic lunch for one day of the trip. No one wants to eat our free breakfast every morning and sandwiches everyday while we're on vacation. Sandwiches everyday on vacation would suck! If you have kids- make it fun. Find a spot and actually picnic, bring a basket and a blanket. It makes eating sandwiches more fun. It can be relaxing and you, as the parent, save money on lunch that day.

Aside from coupons and deals, make sure to check the Internet to see what free stuff is available where ever you are visiting. I am cheap, but I have to say that when I go on vacation I don't want to go to another science museum, just because it's free. If your gonna do free stuff, make sure it's fun (to you anyway)- otherwise it just becomes a waste of time.

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Save Money on Clothes

By Saving Money on clothes I mean buying them, not how to make them last longer. Even those of us who are frugal like a new (and I do mean brand new, not used) outfit occasionally.
Let me start this post with a few things from my life that make saving money on clothing important to me.

1- I can NOT get out a stain to save my life. I just can't. I'm not any good at it. Please no advice on the matter, I've tried it all. It comes down to one thing very simple- I am not organized enough to soak/treat/prewash or whatever needs to be done to get the stain out. By the time I do laundry, the stain is set. This being said, I don't spend alot of money on clothes because you just never know when something will get ruined.

2- In line with #1, my husband works in a restaurant. Aside from the "stuff" he gets on his clothes (that I can't get out), he is prone to bleach stains. He is a manager so he has to dress nice, but I refuse to pay $50 for a pair of slacks that could very well have a bleach spot on them the first day he wears them.

3- I'm cheap. I want to look nice. I want my family to look nice. I refuse to pay alot of money for something as unimportant as a shirt or a pair of pants. There are children in this world that are hungry and have NO clothes and there are people in our country who pay $200 for a shirt. Does that really make sense?

Ok- Glad I got all that out!

Now, because I am cheap (or frugal if you prefer) I am all for shopping at thrift stores. I have read about, and even seen on TV, places that have thrift stores where you can get (good stuff)shirts for .25 or pants for $1.00. We don't have anything like that here. Our thrift store (goodwill) has shirts and pants for about $5 each. It doesn't matter what brand or even how good of shape it's in, it's all the same price- about $5. I think $5 is to much for a used shirt.
I know people who shop this thrift store all the time. They don't have alot of money so they go here to get a good deal. I don't see how $5 for a used shirt is a good deal.
I go to places like Marshalls, TJMaxx, and Ross. This is where I get 90% of our clothes. You can buy a new, name brand shirt like they sell in department stores for about half the price. Even that's to much for me (I told you I was cheap). I shop the sale racks. I can get my husband name brand works shirts- new- for about $5, same as I would spend at goodwill for a used shirt. The people I know who shop goodwill but don't go to these discount stores say they don't like to dig- don't you have to dig at a thrift store? Doesn't make since to me.

As with most anything- there are exceptions to my goodwill rule, because I do shop there too. You can save money on clothes (good clothes) at a thrift store. Goodwill has sale days. About twice a month they have a day where all pants are $2 each. Since my husband is just gonna stain them with grease and bleach, $2 is a GREAT price for pants. But I am picky about what I buy at goodwill. I want it to be as new as possible. Even if he is just going to get stains all over it, I want it to look new before he does :)

So that's my BIG secret on how to save money on clothes. Shop sale racks at discount stores. Not such a secret is it? I am truly surprised at how many people do not go to these stores, but instead will go to a thrift store or a yard sale to get clothes. If you haven't been in one lately, you really need to check it out and save yourself some money next time you need a new outfit!

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Save Money on Pet Supplies

Animals lovers pay attention: Lets save money on pet supplies!

I think, taking care of pets has gotten down right expensive. Don't get me wrong, I love animals. I love my pets. We have 3 dogs and 2 cats. In this tough economy, sometimes it's hard to take care of the kids, much less the pets.
I have been tweaking my ways to save money on pet supplies for a while. Some of these I have been doing for years, others I have only started.

1. Cook your Pet's Food. I mentioned this in my earlier post Unusual Ways To Save Money , but since this post is about pets I thought I should mention it again. I have been cooking our Dog's food for a while. It really is better for them and they love it. I have only recently started experimenting with cooking food for the cats. The cats are so much more picky. It's been hit or miss with the cat food. Some recipes they like some they don't. I think I'll get it eventually.

2. Use natural Flea repellents. With 2 kids, a flea problem is not something I want. Having 5 animals, I have to be careful. I've used the cheaper flea drop stuff that just doesn't work. The stuff you get from the vet (advantage?) works great, but it's expensive- epically with this many pets. And, I didn't think it was possible- our 2 oldest dogs seem to have become immune to the vet stuff (after about 5 years). It doesn't work anymore. So I've been trying the natural (read home made) flea repellent ideas I've found on the Internet: apple cider vinegar and garlic. So far, so good. I put the vinegar in their water and crush up the garlic in their food. No fleas! And I'm saving a ton of money.

3. Who Buys Pet Toys? You? I haven't bought a pet toy in years. Our 2 big dogs can chew through anything- even the hardest, toughest dog toys. Now I give them my daughter's old stuffed animals- they tear them apart, I throw the remains away. They get excited each time they get a new one. The little dog we have will keep a toy forever (at least someone in this house does). If you don't have a kid to pass on stuffed animals to your dogs, check with friends and neighbors, but you can always pick them up at yard sales for about .25 or less.
Then there is the cats. Their attention span with toys last about 15 minutes- then they forget about what ever toy it is that they just got. The cats like to play with straws. Actually, they love it. Hey, straws are cheap.

4. Ok, I'll be honest I don't do this next one but I have found directions for how to on the Internet. Make your own cat littler. They use newspaper. If your interested, you'll have to search for the directions. This would fall under my idea of when time is money. My time is money and I don't think cat litter is to expensive that I have to make it. But I wanted to include it.... Just in case.

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Unusual Ways to Save Money

Sometime, when it comes to The Best Way to Save Money, you have to think outside of the box.
These are my unusual and different ways to save money.

1. If you have pets- make their food. I cook my dogs food. It's easy and as a bonus it's better for them. Our 2 dogs are big. For less than $10 I can cook enough "wet food" to last a week. This is saving me a good bit of money.

2.Go Green the easy way. I use Vinegar and baking soda to clean most everything. It's cheaper than most household products and safe for my kids.

3. Check the air in your car tires. Ok I don't know much about cars, but I do know how to do this. If the air pressure in your car tires is correct your car will run smoother and you will use less gas therefore saving you more money.

4. Turn off the water heater For more on this see Ways to Save Money at Home

5. Turn off the air in your car when you don't need it. Did you know the air conditioner in your car used gas? Turn it off when you can get away with it to save more gas.

6. Some places, like the big W superstore where you may grocery shop, you can buy prepaid gas cards and save an extra few cents. If your gas expense is high, this may be the best way to save money on gas, as opposed to driving around looking to find it somehwere cheaper.

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How to save Money When Time is Money

I am a SAHM with 2 kids, 9 years and 4 months at the time of this post. I home school and do volunteer work. My time is valuable. Some of the standard Ways to Save Money don't work for me. I don't want to hand wash my dishes or hang my clothes to dry- and I don't have time for this. I still want to save money. So what do I do? I compromise.
These are my tricks to Save money and not use extra time I don't have.

1. Run Major appliances at night when electricity is cheaper.
See more on this here Ways to Save money At Home

2. I use Vinegar and baking soda to clean (most stuff). It's cheap, cheaper than most cleaning supplies- and it does a better job, but I don't have to spend any time mixing up anything. And as a bonus, vinegar disinfects as well as bleach and is safe for my kids!

3. I don't have time for coupons- I shop dollar stores for the best deals.
See more here Save Money on Groceries

4.Utilize Pay Per View Movies. That's right, most people will tell you to save money you should cut back the cable bill. I think this is something that has to be weighed. We hardly ever go to the movie theater. But we do like to watch movies. Renting a pay per view is the same price for me as going to my local video store- but I don't have to spend any gas getting there or worry about late fees. I also don't want to do an online rental store, because there are some months we don't rent a movie.

5. Grow one thing you like to eat (alot). Planting a garden to save money on groceries is not piratical for most people. I've tried it. It's great fun at first but it is very time consuming. I buy the supplies but never see any results because I don't have enough time to keep up a garden. Instead of saving money I end up losing money. But you can find one easy produce item your family likes to eat and plant just that. Depending on what it is you may even be able to put it in a pot. Do the research on what your family likes compared to what is easy to grow. Seeds are cheap- but time is money, so don't decide on anything that needs to be babied to much.

6. Pay your bills online or directly out of your checking account. Both of these are usually free. I haven't bought a stamp in years- and who wants to with the way the cost of sending a letter keeps going up. I keep a notebook with all my account log in IDs and passwords, website addresses and the day they have to be paid. It only takes me a few minutes. I don't have to spend money on stamps or checks (I haven't had checks in a couple years either). This definitely saves me money while saving time. Online bill pay is great. The amount due is right in front of me. I don't have to hunt down bills, write checks or go to the post office. For those bills I can't pay online or directly out of my checking account, I pay over the phone.

7. Convenience foods. Is taking a short cut on the family dinner the best way to save money. YES!
I know many people think these convenience foods are more expensive but it really depends. I hate to cook. Cooking anything from scratch usually takes a really long time. For $7 I can buy a meal in a bag- veggies, meat, everything, that I can cook in 20 minutes flat y. Worth it to me- Oh Yeah. People just assume this type of product is not cost effective. That's not always true. For larger families it may not be as pratical. But, for my family it's perfect.

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Save Money on Groceries

So we all know the basics of how to save money on groceries.
Don't go to grocery store hungry, use coupons, buy whats on sale, buy generic, ectt... Can we expand on these? I think so.

I don't use coupons. Its a great idea and I know it works- but I don't have time. And- there is no store around me that does double or triple coupons. If there was, i think I would make time.
Instead, I just stick to generic or what is on sale.

But this is my biggest tip. Shop dollar stores and close out stores. I know people, who just like me, want to save money however they can- but they never go to these type of stores. Why? I have no idea?

There are some things that I don't want to by generic. You can, usually, find these products cheaper at one of these stores.
Paper products, cleaning supplies and pet supplies are definitely cheaper here. No coupon needed.
Sorry, I can't offer advice on the best way to save money with coupons. But, if you branch out at what stores you shop at- you can still save money without coupons.

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Ways to Save Money at Home

So I think this is the big one. Everyone wants to save money at home. Leaving out things like groceries, saving money on household expenditures is rather easy. It's also one area that we don't always see immediate results. I think this holds alot of us back. We think doing little things won't make a difference. But- we are wrong. All those little things add up.

So here we go, easiest and Best Ways to Save Money at home.

Turn off what we don't use- or better yet- unplug it.
Yes, it's a pain. I am terrible about turning off lights. But, I am getting better about it. Once you make it a habit- it will stick. But turning off lights is just a piece of the puzzle. Did you know that everything that is plugged into an electric outlet, even if it's not in use, is still using energy. That's right. If you really want to save money at home, you need to unplug- not just turn off. Easier said than done. I know. So compromise. You don't have to unplug everything everyday. Unplug what you don't use on a regular basis or things you just use for a short time.
We now unplug the coffee pot after we are done every morning. I unplugged lamps that we never use. At night, we turn the computer off (we don't always unplug it) instead of putting it to sleep. Unplug the cell phone charger when done using it. The list goes on and on. Look around your house and see what you can unplug to save money.

Use energy efficient light bulbs
This is one of the things I meant when I said you may have to spend a little more in the beginning. These light bulbs do cost a little more, but they are worth it. When I first looked at these they cost about $8 each- that's for one bulb. Now, you can get a 4 pack for about $10 at discount superstores. Also, check your local dollar type stores. You can usually buy 1 bulb for about $3. I bought a couple out of each paycheck until I had them everywhere. They do work and I haven't bought a single light bulb in a year. I think this is by far one of the best ways to save money, long term, in your house.

Make the most of your water heater
Not all of us, even to save money in the long term, can afford to buy a new water. So make the best of what you have. Depending on where your breaker box is located, this may be a good option for you. Turn your water heater off for several hours a day. This is not complicated. You have to figure out when the best way to do this for your household. It will be different for everyone based on the number of people in your house, when everyone is at home to bath or do dishes and how big your water heater is. But it will save money for you.
You first have to understand that when the water in your water heater is hot- it will stay hot, even if you turn the water heater off at the breaker.
I am able to turn ours off about 12 hours a day. I turn it off at night about 2 hours after everyone has had a bath. I run the dishwasher over night- this uses the water that got hot water after our baths. I turn the water heater back on the next morning and we have plenty of hot water through out the day.
You just have to tweak it for your house. But this does work. It is one of the best ways I know to save money. I save about $30 a month on my electricity bill doing this. It's so easy!

Run Major appliances at night
Check with your electric company. In some areas electricity is cheaper at night (after 9 pm). I run the dishwasher and dryer at night. Yes, I could save more if I hand washed the dishes and hung the clothes to dry- But I don't want to.

Check the phone bill
Since everyone has a cell phone now, I'm assuming you do too. If you do, check your phone bill. You may be paying for all sorts of stuff you no longer need.

Check your cell phone bill
With the invention of roll over minutes- I can build up thousands of extra minutes on my cell plan. When I do, I can just go on the company website and drop my plan down to one with less minutes and use up my roll over minutes. When I'm out of roll over minutes, I raise my plan back to where I need it to be.

Are you gas or electric?
This is now one of my favorite ways to save money and I stumbled upon it by accident. We have a gas heater. I hate the central heat, so I already mostly use space heaters. We are in Louisiana, so even the space heaters only get used a tiny bit each year. One summer, the pilot light on our gas heater went out. I didn't bother lighting it back since it was summer. My gas bill dropped about $25 a month! Can you believe- all that from a pilot light! Now, if we are going to use the central heat, we just light the pilot light when we need it and put it out when we are done.

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Basic Easy Ways to Save Money

This is a list of some basic easy ways to save money. You'll find most of these plastered all over the Internet. Sometimes I wonder if the people making those ways to save money list are real people who actually need to save money.
Most of these will work for most people in the short term. What I have found though, unless you are very disciplined, most people will fail at most of these.
These are not bad ideas. I think they just need to be expanded upon a bit. The short term "Do this" ways to save money does not work for everyone.
I also think that, while there are plenty of us who want to save money, we don't all want to give up all the things we like and everything that is convenient.
So here is the basic list that may work for a short term solution. I don't think these any of these fall in the best ways to make money category. I will expand on this more in another post.

1. Fill your own water bottles
2. Brew your own coffee
3. Bring your own drinks and snacks to work.
4. Buy generic brands at the grocery store.
5. Cook at home- don't eat out.
6. Cut back on the cable Bill.
7. Turn off what ever your not using.
8. Buy what's on sale
9. Use coupons.
10. Plant a garden.
11. Shop the thrift stores.

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Best Way to Save Money vs Easy Ways to Save Money

Is there a difference between the Best Ways to Save Money and Easy ways to Save Money?
I think there is. There are lots of easy ways to save money but I don't think the easy way always equals the best way. The Best way to save money is when we can save more money over a longer period of time. Sometimes, the easy way to save money is just that- the easy way out. The easy way may save us a few more pennies in the short term. But the best way to save money will save us more money in the long run.

So what does this mean. In short- to save more money in the long term you may have to spend a little more upfront. For the most part, you will still end up spending less money right away than you were. But long term, you'll save more money over time.

Most of the information on this site comes from personal experience. As a frugal SAHM I have experimented with many different ways to save money for my family. I can certainly say with confidence that the easiest fastest way to save money is not at all always the best way to save money. The best way usually takes a little more time.

I will agree that if you in a financial pinch, the easy ways come in handy for on the spot money saving. But if you are trying to save money in your household for the long haul, you need to research and develop the best ways for you to save money.

Are there things we can all do to save money
There are some ways to save money that will work for most people. But there are alot of other ways that will only benefit you and your family. What I mean is, everything that I do to save money may not work for you. And, in turn, everything that you do will not work for me. We each have to figure out the needs and interest of our household before we can save money. I'll talk about this more later and give some examples of what I'm talking about.

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