How did I save money today?

[LadyLocust]

Day 5 of not spending any money today .

The ginger cordial sounds fantastic @Tank-Girl . We make our own orange, lemon and rose petal cordial here too but haven't made any in a while but probably should.

@LadyLocust think we all have to use our own techniques that work to save money and hope it works better for you .

@WVDragonlady absolutely fantastic your husband has paid off all his credit cards .

You are absolutely right about that. I once had a friend ask "You know which diet works best?" I answered "Which one?" "The one you stick to." Same goes for saving. I think saving "games" are fun, but I'm sure others think I'm nuts at times

 

[MoBookworm1957]

No spend day

 

[Sewingcreations15]

Day 6 of not spending any money today .

We will bust tomorrow as we have to get another garden drip irrigation timer darn it all.

 

[The Lazy L]

Hubby just made the final payment on his last credit card! So all of them are paid off in full. I so proud of him!!! Now he needs to only use one card and pay it off every month like I do mine.
He sold his 50. cal to pay the card off

Almost unAmerican to sell personally owned firearms but in this case JOLLY GOOD!

 

[Sewingcreations15]

Busted today and purchased a drip irrigation timer.

Also found some good clearance specials on capsicum and thickened cream and saved $6.46 on usual prices.

 

[Sewingcreations15]

Got to day 1 and busted yesterday as I purchased 2 near new light cotton blouses for myself from an op shop. We are not counting the lunch and other items we purchased when we were having a date day out yesterday as we paid for them out of DH's DVA meal allowance.

Back to day one of not spending any money today.

 

[SheepDog]

Making a game of saving money is great if it works for you over the long haul. The first bill I pay every month is the savings account. It is usually a bit more than 10% but there are times when I can put more in. Once in a great while I can't put that much so I do it anyway. The interest is compounded so the longer the money is in there the more it is worth to me. If I have to withdraw some before the next payday then I will do that but I have only had to make a withdrawal once in the last five years. That is why I keep my checking account so high - I can live for a few months on that without any deposits as long as there are no big unsuspected bills. I have a credit card that I can use when I need it but hate paying the interest. Paying it off each month is not good for my credit score but it is good for my financial health.

 

[MoBookworm1957]

Finally got paid for babysitting granddaughter for the month of November and up to date December.
Went and bought much need groceries with third of it.
As I was completely out of fresh fruit, fresh vegetables, milk for the grand daughter.
Took $10 of it and went out to lunch with friends for the first time in several months.
Sheepdog, that's what I do.
Pay the savings account first, then car payment, small loan,rent, car insurance,electric, gas heating bill, fill up car, prepaid phone card, internet, Strawberry's needs(food, treats)fresh items for me..
Then anything left is for date night, and if nothing is left, then no date nights.
Will save more money this next month as I won't be able drive for a few weeks.
After this week there won't be bingo due to the holidays, so will save money in savings too.
As I am making Christmas gifts with fabric I already have on hand, Christmas has cost me ZERO expenses, just my time.

 

[LadyLocust]

That must be part of the reason I like the "games". They tend to work for me. It's how we were able to save enough to open our own business. We were living on just over half of our income. Since starting our business, it's been a little trickier, but is beginning to level out (as we become more established, have needed equipment etc.) We then lived for 6-8 months (? can't remember exact now) living on just my wages, which was less than half when we first started. Last time I tried to see how long before I bought something, I think I made it to April. I'll try to top that this time.
Also, I just had a pleasant thought - I will be pulling a turkey and a ham out of the freezers for Christmas. I will have to see if I can consolidate enough to unplug one of them once those large items are out. I don't like power bills - not sure why that one gets to me, but I sure don't like it.

 

[Amish Heart]

I'm with you on power bills. This time of year it's ok to use coolers in my garage as iceboxes, as it's below 40 in there all the time. Last winter I would freeze jugs of ice by setting water jugs outside overnight. I refuse to buy ice.

 

[SheepDog]

I saved money today by making an adapter to connect a commercial sink sprayer to the kitchen faucet.
I was fed up with the faucet sprayers lasting a few months and then leaking. I got the commercial sprayer for half the cost of a replacement from Moen (it would have been #3) and although the faucet is guaranteed for life the sprayers are not. So much for the "buy it for looks, have it for life" sales ads. I really think this one will outlast the home.

 

[LadyLocust]

I'm with you on power bills. This time of year it's ok to use coolers in my garage as iceboxes, as it's below 40 in there all the time. Last winter I would freeze jugs of ice by setting water jugs outside overnight. I refuse to buy ice.

I saw a joke that wasn't funny but was funny just because. . . Recipe: homemade ice (it then gave instructions on how to make it.)

 

[Amish Heart]

Ha Ha

 

[Sewingcreations15]

Got to day 2 of not spending any money and busted yesterday and purchased some fruit and a convection oven but the oven will save us on electricity costs as it cooks quicker and uses far less power than the large oven we have. We will use the oven for large batch cooking instead.

Back to day 1 of not spending any money today.

We are pricing up how much it is to install air conditioning in the home as it is so incredibly hot. It would only go on for a few hours in the afternoons in summer and overnight in the bedroom to make it cooler to sleep. With DH going in for his operation shortly and probably being out of commission and in bed he will need a cooler environment for his recovery. Looks like we have enough in savings in cash and more besides to do this .

@SheepDog likewise we pay ourselves first with savings into the bank account and some into a cash emergency fund we have here, then pay the bills and get groceries and we pay 10 % of our wage to humanitarian aid through our church too.

 

[WVDragonlady]

Got a free 10lb spiral cut ham today at the grocery store. It was $40(!!!) marked down to $20 and with my accumulated points I got it for free. That will make hubby and I some great meals
Also picked up some more bacon on a BOGO
More andouille flavored chicken sausage for $2 each ( bought 5)
I got 5lb bags of Pillsbury AP flour for only $1.49 each with coupons( they were $2.79 which I think is very high for regular AP flour)
All together with other bonus buys I saved $47.21 today on our groceries

 

[Sewingcreations15]

Day 3 of not spending any money today.

With a previous gift card we purchased (saving $9.96) we did buy the rest of the groceries we decided on for Christmas, just a few treats and I picked up marked down wholemeal, grain and white bread rolls saving a further $5.59 on usual prices.

Also with the same gift card we purchased we filled up 6 jerry cans of fuel for the cars and coupled that with another 4c per litre discount I got off the fuel with presenting my supermarket rewards card saving a further $5.32.

This afternoon we did go to the RSL for our date afternoon and had a few soft drinks but we don't count this in our spending money as we rarely go out.

 

[Sewingcreations15]

Well done on your grocery savings @WVDragonlady now that is clever shopping .

I don't know if you have the same grain shortages there in the States as we have here due to the drought but our grain (mainly oats so far), flour, bread rolls and cereal prices are all going up quite dramatically. Cereal prices they have warned us will go up in the New Year. Could explain the rise in the flour prices but would have to check whether grain production is down there on the agricultural sites.

 

[WVDragonlady]

Well done on your grocery savings @WVDragonlady now that is clever shopping .

I don't know if you have the same grain shortages there in the States as we have here due to the drought but our grain (mainly oats so far), flour, bread rolls and cereal prices are all going up quite dramatically. Cereal prices they have warned us will go up in the New Year. Could explain the rise in the flour prices but would have to check whether grain production is down there on the agricultural sites.

I haven't checked prices the last few weeks. I have been stocking up on pasta, rice and oats. I just vacuum seal them in half gallon mason jars.
From watching certain youtube videos and reading some websites I know the prices will go up. Not only from the weather related crop losses but also from china buying up everything they can get their hands on food wise. Brazil can't meet domestic needs of corn because of exports to china

And prices here have been slowly creeping up for years along with the slow creep of shrinking volume of products

 

[Sewingcreations15]

Okay think you have got your answers then @WVDragonlady probably lack of supply to meet demand and maybe crop losses ?.

 

[WVDragonlady]

Okay think you have got your answers then @WVDragonlady probably lack of supply to meet demand and maybe crop losses ?.

Well I saw on Trump's facebook page where China has already started large scale purchases of agricultural product here. So I'm going to go with lack of supply here in the future. We'd be okay if we were just feeding ourselves in face of the crop losses but apparently we have to feed China too so that will spike food prices here

Stock up on any good deals you can find people

 

[Sewingcreations15]

Apparently Australia has been importing grain to meet our domestic needs as our crop failures with the drought have been huge @WVDragonlady that is why our prices are skyrocketing.

 

[Sewingcreations15]

Day 4 of not spending any money today .

Did pay normal bills which I don't count and I banked more money into our 3 month living expenses emergency kitty.

 

[WVDragonlady]

Day 4 of not spending any money today .

Did pay normal bills which I don't count and I banked more money into our 3 month living expenses emergency kitty.

Yea I had $6 left this time to go in the emergency fund. But $6 is $6 and every little bit helps lol

 

[Meerkat]

Got to day 1 and busted yesterday as I purchased 2 near new light cotton blouses for myself from an op shop. We are not counting the lunch and other items we purchased when we were having a date day out yesterday as we paid for them out of DH's DVA meal allowance.

Back to day one of not spending any money today.

Almost all my clothes are cotton. Don't like the feel of the other stuff.

 

[Weedygarden]

I was out shopping for ground beef for our Christmas eve Swedish meatballs yesterday. I found a special in store sale at Sprouts, $1.99 a pound. There were 8 packages, 9 pounds total. I bought them all and put them in the freezer as soon as I got home. My guess is that it was a regrind or ground expiring other cuts, as the expiration date was for today. I have never found a sale like this before, but I have heard of other people who have.

 

[Weedygarden]

Almost all my clothes are cotton. Don't like the feel of the other stuff.

I'm with you! If my clothes are not cotton, they are other natural fibers, such as wool or linen. I do have a few things that are not natural fibers, such as coats and fleece jackets. I had an extensive collection of cotton clothing made by a company, Fresh Produce. I bought them at factory outlets and factory sales in Boulder. I could walk out of the factory sale with a large bag of clothing for less than $100. I wore them for many years and then a couple years ago, they were just worn out, ragged, so I had to replace my summer clothes. I haven't seen a factory sale for them in a few years, so I have had to work on my summer wardrobe from other places, thrift stores, etc.

 

[Meerkat]

I'm with you! If my clothes are not cotton, they are other natural fibers, such as wool or linen. I do have a few things that are not natural fibers, such as coats and fleece jackets. I had an extensive collection of cotton clothing made by a company, Fresh Produce. I bought them at factory outlets and factory sales in Boulder. I could walk out of the factory sale with a large bag of clothing for less than $100. I wore them for many years and then a couple years ago, they were just worn out, ragged, so I had to replace my summer clothes. I haven't seen a factory sale for them in a few years, so I have had to work on my summer wardrobe from other places, thrift stores, etc.

We try to stay as natural as possible but like you Weedy we do have some outer wear and other things that aren't natural.

I saved money by not going out.But the price was high so may go yomorrow and blow some.

 

[Weedygarden]

We try to stay as natural as possible but like you Weedy we do have some outer wear and other things that aren't natural.

I saved money by not going out.But the price was high so may go yomorrow and blow some.

I like to get certain shopping done before the crowds and traffic gets crazy. I also like to get up early if I have to go out and beat the crowds. I find better parking, shorter checkout lines, shelves better stocked. Costco on any weekend, even on Fridays is crazy. Add holiday to that, ugh!

 

[Meerkat]

I like to get certain shopping done before the crowds and traffic gets crazy. I also like to get up early if I have to go out and beat the crowds. I find better parking, shorter checkout lines, shelves better stocked. Costco on any weekend, even on Fridays is crazy. Add holiday to that, ugh!

I went to a mall a couple days ago and bought a couple outfits, pair of shoes and some makeup.

 

[Weedygarden]

I went to a mall a couple days ago and bought a couple outfits, pair of shoes and some makeup.

Was it crowded and busy? Some places mark prices up this time of year, some have decent sales.

One of my clients manages a store, you'd all know the name, in a mall. Busy, busy, busy! She is getting home later than usual. She sent me a text at 11:30 one evening, when she had just gotten home. I have no envy for her or many this time of year.