Feeding the Pig(gy Bank): What Are Some of Your Best Money-Saving Tips?

kinda · Jun 3, 2017

Buy olive oil at the discount bulk store...not sure if we can mention store names.
Buy laundry detergent there also..among other things.

A t.v. antennae can you save you money every month, since their is no fee. I get about 30 channels, some hd.

Find a cheaper cell phone company, I pay 50% what many pay for the same service from a nicer carrier.

install a switch for your hot water heater, you only need to have it on for like 10 minutes before you can take a shower or do dishes.

O.k. I'm not telling any more they are secrets..hahahahaha

Willie-T · Jun 3, 2017

I'm surprised that no one has even mentioned what we older people were taught in elementary school. Simple budgeting.
First, you MUST learn where every single penny you earn in a week goes to. BEFORE you can begin to decide if you CAN, or are even WILLING TO DO ANYTHING ABOUT IT.

FOR MANY OF YOU MILLENNIANIALS, you might as well give up right now. Truthfully, from what I have seen of most of you, you truly don't have what it takes to honestly save any serious money.

seoulsearch · Jun 4, 2017

I guess I never mentioned the "bigger" ways I try to save money...

1. My parents taught me to never charge anything to a credit card that I couldn't pay when the bill came due. Paying 22% interest on something--continually--was like a cardinal sin in our family, so I've never paid anything in credit card interest. I also pay down any debt I have to take on ASAP.

2. I try to know what I need and try to stick with it, and I know that I don't need a smart phone. Most people I talk to are paying at least $100-$150 a month for phone service, but I just have a cheapie $35 plan that allows people to contact me as needed. I know most people seem to need smart phones for work, and there seem to be great deals on some of the apps out there... But for me, I'd have to save at least the cost of the monthly phone plan and I just don't shop very much.

3. Right now I only have basic cable because of a deal that came with the internet service--as soon as that winds down, I'll be getting rid of cable.

4. In high school, my parents helped me with my first (used) car. I took out a loan to pay for my half, and worked several jobs to get it paid off early. Once it was paid off, I kept "making the same payments" (putting the same amount of money aside every month in savings, which is what my parents taught me) so that by the time the car was on its last wheel, I had enough to buy the next one. I know it's not feasible for everyone, but I've never taken out another car loan since.

5. I always use coupons, deals, specials, whenever possible, and try to double the savings by buying things on sale with a coupon. (Had to throw that one in just for Willie! Lol.)

In fact, it's almost kind of a competition at family gatherings to see who saved the most by buying, say, laundry detergent--on sale, with a coupon, and a $2 rebate....

I love reading your answers and hope people will keep posting as they think of things.

seoulsearch · Jun 4, 2017

Willie-T said:

I do know at least one millennial who is even more money-savvy than I am, but I've always just seen her as a peer.

Willie, I wanted to ask... What were most people in your generation expected to do as far as work? Did they learn a family trade, etc.? For instance, you and your peers, I'm guessing, didn't have to take on mass amounts of debt in order to "get a good job", correct?

I'm just wondering how much today's expectations, such as, that most young people should go to college, has impacted people's finances. Massive debt is seen as the norm--but for past generations, it was seen as an "only if absolutely necessary" evil, no?

The majority of people I've talked to over the last several years have never really used their degree. Although I worked part-time jobs throughout college, if I could go back, I probably would have skipped it (saving all that expense), and just packed in as many jobs as I could handle. But that's what suited me, and surely wouldn't work for everyone.

It's also probably just because I've grown up around, and have always worked with, people who didn't need a degree in order to keep climbing up the ladder.

But if I'd spent my life around doctors, lawyers, teachers, etc., I'm sure my thinking (regarding the necessity of college and its cost) would be much different.

kinda · Jun 4, 2017

Nice thread seoulsearch, glad there are fellow penny pinchers here on cc!

Wrote down Proverbs 4:23 and will ponder later.

Peace!

Lynx · Jun 4, 2017

One of my mother's sayings is, "If you don't need it then it's not a bargain no matter what you paid." If it's usually $100 and I only paid $10 for it, but I bought something I didn't really need just because it was on sale, I didn't save $90. I lost $10.

loneman · Jun 4, 2017

Well I do some of the things mention here.

1. I cook my own meals.
2. Make my own coffee.
3. I have a dump cell phone and not a smart one. Only pay 16.50 a month for it!
4. This have an antenna for my tv.
5. Since I don't have a girlfriend I work a part time job along with a full time one and I always take overtime at my main job when it's offer.
6. I do take one vacation a year but I always visit friends or relatives. That way I don't have to pay for a hotel or food!

I'm currently reading the book "You Only Live Once: The Roadmap to Financial Wellness and a Purposeful Life" by Jason Vitug.

violakat · Jun 6, 2017

Don't impulse shop (especially at the grocery store.) Know what you are going for, and get just that, nothing more. For grocery shopping, make a list and stick to it. And if you see something you think you really want, or are on the fence about, wait a day or two before purchasing it. Then if you still want it, go buy it.

Now, if I just listen to myself, I'd have a few hundred more dollars in the bank.

tourist · Jun 6, 2017

Reborn said:

A penny saved is a penny earned.

violakat · Jun 6, 2017

Oh, the one thing I do actually do is don't have credit cards. Gasp, I know it's true, but I don't have a credit card. Yes, I do have a debit, but not a credit.

Reading Seoul's response just now made me think of it.

Also, I don't have cable. I just watch what I want for free online. And if it's not for free, I do without.

Lynx · Jun 6, 2017

violakat said:

That part I seem to be really good at. My grandmother will wander through Wal-Mart looking at stuff for more than an hour. When I go to a store I already know what I want, approximately how much it will cost and what shelf it is on. In and out in maybe seven minutes. Maybe less, depending on the cash register line.

Lynx · Jun 6, 2017

Sorry but I have to post this song. This thread has been reminding me of this song ever since Kim started it.

[video=youtube;3IDgmlpg33g]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3IDgmlpg33g[/video]

elizabethlear · Jun 6, 2017

I could go on and on and on about money lol

I've always been very good with money. When I was 10 I would put money in my savings account with COLLEGE in mind.

I had a paper route from ages 12-15. It was a once weekly paper so I only made about $20 a week, but that was more than most kids my age (I also never had an allowance). I put every penny of that $20 into my savings account by my own choice. My parents' only rule for us regarding our money at that age was that if we put it in our savings account, we weren't allowed to take it out.

Now I think I'm even more frugal than my parents. They recently moved into an older house. It was built in the 60's and almost everything is functional (except the oven). But they want to do all this remodeling to it which I don't understand. Why spend 10's of thousands of dollars on remodeling a house when you could take that 10's of thousands of dollars and go on trips and stuff. Yes they can afford to do the remodeling, but why use that money on superficial things when you could use it on experiences.

I lived on my own for a year and paid all my bills (except health/car insurance) while I was making $10/hr and working 36 hours a week. I was still able to save $300 a month.

Admittedly, I've been back living with my parents for a year, but only so that I could avoid student debt as much as possible. My goal is to move back out by October.

I have a credit card, but only for the sake of building credit and really only use it to buy gas.

How I save money? I rarely eat out. I'm cheap entertainment. I never had TV in my apartment. I think in general I just kind of have low standards of living too LOL. As long as all the necessities are functional, I'm content.

I have a great-aunt that would wash those cardboard ice cream cartons and reuse them. My other aunt reuses plastic ziploc bags. I don't tend to go that far but would have no problem doing it if I really needed to pinch pennies.

Community college is a great way to save large amounts of money if you know what you want to pursue. Also, I don't think you should go to college unless/until you have an end goal. Know what you're going to major in and what kinds of jobs you will apply for with that major once you've graduated. Don't major in Sociology just because it's interesting to you, what kind of job can you get with that? How easy or difficult is it to get into that field. College is supposed to be an investment.
I have a friend who just graduated college with a degree in criminal justice and $40,000 in debt. He is now working as a jailer or correctional officer or something in a prison which he could have done without the degree.

Sorry for my rant on money, but the way some people chose to use it and the way some people are just unaware of how harmful materialism can be to your bank account just rubs me the wrong way lol

seoulsearch · Jun 6, 2017

Elizabethlear--

We must be money soul mates!

* I too started out with a paper route when I was about 13 (before that, it was babysitting.)

* My parents also allowed me to have a credit card only for the sake of building a credit history, and only if I could pay it off every month.

* I went to community college, too.

* I also rarely eat out. Maybe once a month, if that.

Many kudos to you!!! It's refreshing read about someone starting out in life who knows where they want to go and has an idea of what it will take to get there.

MollyConnor · Jun 6, 2017

I'm really liking the idea of minimalism right now. Although I don't want to live with just 20 items for the rest of my life, I try to apply the principle of "use things and love people, not the other way around." It's working so far. I don't buy books anymore because I can find them online for free or check them out at the library. I also don't buy blu-rays like I used to. Everything is digital now and I like that. Saves me space. Sometimes it's cheaper to buy the movie online or rent it instead.

Whenever I buy something I ask myself if I really want it or need it. Has saved me a few bucks so far! Actually I would love to share this short documentary with you all. It talks about how middle class Americans are living a very cluttered life. We consume too much! It really spoke to me because I collect toys and I was already feeling the need to stop. I hate clutter and I like an organized life.

[video=youtube;3AhSNsBs2Y0]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3AhSNsBs2Y0[/video]

elizabethlear · Jun 6, 2017

MollyConnor said:

I've been interested in minimalism since I was 15 or 16 and I'd consider myself a minimalist. To me it's very freeing and does save you money without you necessarily knowing it!

There are two guys who call themselves "The Minimalists." They have a documentary on Netflix called Minimalism. It's a good watch too.

slave · Jun 6, 2017

* Talk to yourself:

Challenge yourselves to a competition. Get all three of yourselves together and have a 'pow-wow' meeting...Explain the rules to You, Yourself, and I; that from this point (for an entire week), you will keep track of all of the expenditures of the groups individual spendings, and whoever can save more money than the other two will when the choice of which Book of the Bible the group will begin studying next week.

Tell them the rules: Try to be inventive and exacting in each cost cutting inclusion, don't think something is not worthy to try, (It all adds up, and that might be just the difference between you and yourself and I).

Also, explain to use 'only cash' to purchase everything and anything you choose. All utilities are off this list of competition.

You'll either, all, develop an effective result saving tons of money collectively, or you will all stop doing the competition (probably around the same time), because using 'only cash' may be effective, but it is SOooo.. annoying!

..

Ok, I'm ready to start. How about you, yourself, and I; are you guys ready? YES! (Said unanimously).

Lynx · Jun 6, 2017

I'm way ahead. Me and Myself are too. I always do cash only. It's more convenient, especially if the store's internet connection (and thus their card reader) is down.

Tinkerbell725 · Jun 6, 2017

1. Don't watch tv home shopping
2. Avoid online shopping websites
3. Don't watch advertisements anywhere (tv, internet, etc) they are designed to separate you from your money
4. Before you spend ask 4 questions first and the answers to the 4 questions must be all YES.
- do you like it?
-do you need it?
-can you afford it?
-is it God's will that I will be in debt if I buy it?

Sorry if I needed to bring God in the last question but His opinion matters in everything we do.

5. Don't go to the store if you are hungry or depressed.
6. Don't make eye contact with sales people, they are trained to brainwash you in buying their products.
7. Put a minimum of 3% of your blessings into charity. The more you give the more you receive.

rachelsedge · Jun 6, 2017

I cut my own hair. A lot of hair stylists don't really know how to cut my hair, anyway, since it's so curly, and I'm not going to pay $60 for a "curly hair specialist" when I can do it myself.

Although it's probably not advisable, I eat...old things. Stale crackers? Doesn't matter, still edible. Moldy cheese? Cut around it and eat the good parts.

I buy clearance bakery items (like a pack of rolls to make little sandwiches) and freeze them to use later.

Try to go through my things and sell what I don't need or want.

Stay with friends or family on vacation.

Craigslist, yo. Got a free chair (it's ugly but I love it) and some other things for cheaper rather than buying new. I have three pets, it's not like any couch I buy is going to stay nice, anyway.

Paint or craft my own decorations. In fact, I think 99% of the decorations in my home were either gifted to me or done by me.

Ask my sugar daddy for money
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