STYLETHREAD -- LET'S TALK SHOP!

Hmmm, I'm not doing loads and loads, because I'm in a tiny apartment and can't afford to really stock up on things! But I do little stuff, like

• using my AAA discount whenever I can (even stores like Payless have a discount for it!)
• buy all the books/dvds/cds I want used off of amazon
• I'm actually really starting to discover the power of Ebay. You can buy things like Brita filters and razor refills on there for a couple bucks less than in the store. Those really add up - although I'm having a hard time remembering I need them a couple weeks in advance to have enough time to bid & wait for shipping!
• I'm trying to be more conscious about clipping and remembering to use coupons
• There are a few gas stations I know will always be about 10 cents below everywhere else, so whenever I pass them I fill up
• I'm also rediscovering dollar stores. I go in every few weeks and just browse, obviously they're not good for quality things, but I can get stuff like flower pots, napkins, cleaning supplies, etc. for cheaper
• starting to incorporate pasta into more meals. It's so freaking cheap! Obviously if you have a family to cook for they might get bored with it, and maybe you will, too. But I love pasta and I'll never get sick of it, so I eat it almost every day :)
• When friends invite me out for dinner, I usually eat a small snack first and then just get a dessert, drink, or small appetizer. I don't want to get absolutely nothing, because I kind of hate when I invite people out to eat and they just sit there and watch me eat.
• BF and I are cutting back a lot on date-type things. We're spending more days renting movies, playing video games, and hiking than going out for expensive nights on the town. For V-day, I'm taking him out to a neat restaurant downtown. It's decorated amazingly, and you don't feel out of place whether you're all dressed up or just in jeans (so we can still kind of get dressed up and make it feel like an occasion). You can get a whole meal (drink, appetizer, main course, dessert) for something like $15 a person. It's amazing. I'm trying to remember places like that and go to them more often

We get a lot of stuff at Costco:  Brita filters (end up being $5 each), coffee (it's roasted at Starbucks and it's 2 pounds for about 10 bucks), salmon (we package it up and freeze it), and lots of produce.

We got an espresso machine for Christmas and have been using that just about every day instead of going to Starbucks.  It was a big upfront cost, but it should save money over the course of time.)

I also have been filling out questionnaires for e-Rewards to get money to use at Borders, MyView to get PayPal money, and Mypoints when I shop online (I think you got me started on most of those, Aurora!)

Also, to make sure I save, I've made it automatic.  I have my retirement taken out automatically from my first paycheck of the month to go into my Roth IRA and I have the same amount taken out of my second paycheck automatically to go into my ING account.  It's amazing what I've been able to save in the past year.

-- Edited by NCshopper at 14:04, 2007-01-27

I'm always trying to save money (and no matter how much money I have I will always try to save when I can!).  Here's my list:

-When eating out, I never drink soft drinks, I get water with lemon then put one sweet and low and one equal in.  It tastes like lemonade and it is so good!

-I also do rewards progrems as much as possible.  I do all the travel ones, mypoints, gas reward points, Banana Republic rewards, etc.

-I search for coupons for everything.  Before I order online, I look for codes and when I shop in stores I look for printable ones.

-I always save my receipts and either get adjustments (just did this for the plasma tv we bought at Best Buy and got $200 back!) and will even re-buy if necessary (and return the new item with the old receipt)...

-I used the library for books and cds (then burn them onto my ipod)...

-I sell my old clothes at consignment stores.

-Sometimes I sell items on ebay if I can find things that make sense to resell...

-We did something new this summer-we bought a used car.  It was GREAT-we saved TONS of money.  Hubby wanted a Honda Pilot and we drove out of state to buy one we found that had only 10,000 miles and was as good as brand-new.  We bought from a private seller and it was a very smooth transaction.

-The biggie for us is that we are paying our house on a 15 year mortgage versus the standard 30 year mortgage.  This is a HUGE way for us to save money (paying interest really adds up!)...

- Almost never eat lunch out. I go to the grocery store every other Sunday and buy 10 or so of the cheapest low-fat frozen dinners. They're usually $1-$2.50!

- Don't commute and rarely drive. Not only that but I have Honda Civic, so I don't spend much on gas.

- Started getting my hair cut by students

- Found a cheaper colorist

- Found an organic/natural alternative to Aveda products at Elephan Pharm - for half the price.

- Sell stuff on eBay or consignment shops

 

 

• ebay
• maxing out my roth IRA contributions
• double digit 401K contributions
• Health savings account
• paying myself first meaning whatever is leftover after bills/automatic contributions to ira, 401k, gets split between spending and savings into ing
• researching cds for liquid money that i'm not spending that isn't earning the highest interest
• not blowing my tax return (eventhough i really really want to, instead i'm taking a vacation with it, a vacation that i would be taking anyway)
• do a couple camping trips a year so that way i'm on vacation but i don't have to spend $$ on hotels (even though we do usually spend one or two nights at a hotel when we need a real bed and shower).  i love these because we really connect and save a lot of $$$, plus i like camping. 
• i don't spend $$ on atm fees, parking tickets, our heating is really low because we're never home and when we are, we stay in the loft part and have a space heater
• have a free interest baring checking account instead of a free checking account with no interest

those are the big things that i do since a lot of the smaller things have been mentioned.

These polls are so useful. 

I use my car as little as possible on the weekend (I live in LA so I have to drive to work during the week, but our neighborhood has pretty much everything you need for errands, restaurants and going out)

I max out my 401k

I use a health savings account

I bring my lunch as much as possible

We try to eat meals at home

Starbucks is for emergency days only! 

When I do have to buy lunch - I don't buy a drink - we have water coolers and free soda at the office

I really need to work on my grocery shopping - I spend about 100.00 per week - and there are only two of us.

kittenheels wrote:

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I really need to work on my grocery shopping - I spend about 100.00 per week - and there are only two of us.

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I probably spend more than that

It just adds up!