Other people visit tourist traps while traveling-I go to thrift stores, both charity-run and private. All of my recreational reads are secondhand-sourced, as are my work clothes. TV sets for my boss's rentals are from the local Sally, and a second one a hundred miles up the road provided the dollar-fifty earrings complimented for nearly 20 years and still coveted by a niece. I wear snazzy heels and jackets from Snazzy Seconds. If I make a purchasing mistake, it's an inexpensive one, and its return without refund helps the nonprofits' social programs. Their offerings help stretch my low wages so I can have a little emergency fund and others can utilize their services.
I shop at thrift stores for clothing and glassware. I've gotten sport coats for $2.50 on half-off days and casual shirts for pennies. Just check closely for stains. Need drinking glasses, it is a great place. May not find a whole set but I don't have a full set at home now. I can't stand to pay Mall prices anymore.
Search for local savings & loan-style banks, or local credit unions to avoid title insurance. Depending on the value of your house, that could save you thousands in fees. However, many fees are protected by federal law, and cannot change. There is a section on your HUD-1 marked "fees that cannot change." If those fees have increased substantially, you should demand that they be decreased in accordance with federal law.
Also, shop some mortgage brokers along with banks. Frequently, brokers will have "specials" that allow them to offer better pricing than the bank's loan officers. For example, my brokerage just got off a special with one bank that allowed us to offer loans .125% under retail, and just got on another than allows us to offer loans with a 1.5 point credit (as in, free money for the borrower compared to a retail price) at any interest rate. Check with the NMLS and local regulators to make sure you choose a reputable broker. NAMB (The National Association of Mortgage Professionals) also offers a database of ethical brokers.
You're missing one great one -- explore other aisles, particularly the foreign foods aisle.
At our local Jewel, they hide a discount rack of generic spices over in the seasonal goods (i.e. snow shovels, barbecue items) aisle that are all 99 cents (compared to the $2-$3 or more you'd pay for name brand spices), and they're the EXACT same thing (cinnamon is cinnamon, after all).
And many of the EXACT SAME items you buy in other aisles (canned foods/vegetables, soups, broths, etc.) can be found in the foreign foods aisle (sometimes marked in a foreign language) for half the price.
I actually do only a few of the things on your list and I manage to feed 7 people on a tight budget pretty easily.
1. Check out the supermarket sale flyers to see what's on sale
2. Write a weekly menu plan based on what's on sale
3. Create a shopping list and stick to it
4. Coupons and loyalty cards. Each week I save anywhere between 35-75% by using them. I spend about 10 minutes a week clipping coupons, which my supermarket doubles, up to $1
5. Stop buying junk food, soda, frozen meals and processed foods.
6. Shop early in the morning when there are fewer people in the store for less distractions whenever possible.
7. My daughter is a baker and she created a database of her most commonly used ingredients and the full price cost in the supermarket and the Sam's Club price to determine which is the better deal. This also helps her when the sale flyers come out and she can see if the ingredients are cheaper on sale and if she has coupons to further reduce the costs. She knows if butter is on sale for less than a certain price, then buying it at the supermarket is the better deal.
8. If possible, start gardening. Food you have grown yourself always tastes better and you know exactly how and where it was grown.
I have one supermarket in my area that consistently has the lowest prices and the best sales, so I don't really need to shop around. I do check the other supermarket flyers regularly to make sure that this is still the case each week, but I've noticed that while on occasion another store will have a better sale on one or 2 items, the one I go to generally has the best prices overall. Sam's Club usually has the best prices for milk, eggs, bread and other basics, so I buy those items from there. I find that paper goods are usually on sale at the supermarket every week and with a coupon they tend to be cheaper than Sam's Club, so I buy that stuff from them.
My best ideas come to me while in the shower, or just as I wake up. I'm still waiting for someone to create a shower app to help record those ideas. However, being away from technology might be part of the reason that the ideas flow more easily, so perhaps an app wouldn't help! Thank you for the article.
We refinanced in late 2011 with Citi, who had originated our original mortgage. The whole process took less than 60 days. Our interest rate was cut nearly in half. We added $150 to our monthly payment, but the amount toward principle increased by $500 from our previous mortgage, and we cut our total term by 10 years. I couldn't ask for much better than all that.
I like #7 (meatless Mondays). While my wife and I are carnivores, we eat much less meat these days. Meat die-hards will shrug their shoulders, but there are some really good vegetarian recipes out there. You just have to try and experiment. Also, don't forget the added benefit of being a bit healthier.
I usually shop thrift shops for home goods and craft items. I dont really shop them for clothing because I feel like I can sometimes get better deals at places like target when their clearance items go to 70- 90 percent! My biggest score at a thrift shop was a vintage eletric blue PRADA handbag that I found at goodwill!
I love thrift shops. Where else can you go and have a spree for 10 or 20 bucks. you never know what you will find. Sometimes i even find new things with tags. We have several that we frequent often.
Yes, I shop at thrift stores. I usually only shop when I need to replace something in my wardrobe. Then I go to the thrift stores first to see if I can find it there before I have to pay retail price. I also get a lot of my books at the thrift stores. Since I am an avid reader this saves me money, too.
I shop at Thrift Stores where ever I go. I have found some amazing deals. Of all my wardrobe, outfits purchased in Thrift Shops receive 99% of the compliments.
My parents bought me a $20,000 policy when I was born. It cost $6 a month. I'm now 30, and the cash value of it is several thousand dollars, projected to be close to $70,000 when I retire (I know- no guarantees there).
I eat well, exercise, yet when I tried to get a term life policy a few months ago I had a weird result from my urine test and they doubled the original rate offer. I re-did the test (came back normal) but they still wouldn't budge on the rate. If you buy whole life young enough, it makes a lot of sense to me. But at my current age, only term makes sense now.
We just got my daughter a $25,000 policy for $120 a year. Funeral costs are expensive, and the worst case is when she goes to college she cashes it out for $1,000 or so. Best case is she never has to use it until long after I'm gone, and maybe she gets some decent cash value out of it when she's at retirement age.
As someone who graduated at 17, had a partial scholarship for college at 18 & got married the same years, paying for my remaining college, Its extremely difficult!!
Unlike most 30 year olds, I'm 34 & have had 16 years of marriage&kids,
8 being in my current career. I have 20,000 in retirement, a ton of debt but over
600,000 in life insurance. No savings.
Its great to say all of this but not everyone was
supported by mommy & daddy till they got out of school.
My sister and I go to thrift stores in other areas of the country when we go on vacations together. We've found some good things that way. We try to stick to clothing if we are flying but on road trips can get other things.
So, basically we should all live like third-world peasants.
Other people visit tourist traps while traveling-I go to thrift stores, both charity-run and private. All of my recreational reads are secondhand-sourced, as are my work clothes. TV sets for my boss's rentals are from the local Sally, and a second one a hundred miles up the road provided the dollar-fifty earrings complimented for nearly 20 years and still coveted by a niece. I wear snazzy heels and jackets from Snazzy Seconds. If I make a purchasing mistake, it's an inexpensive one, and its return without refund helps the nonprofits' social programs. Their offerings help stretch my low wages so I can have a little emergency fund and others can utilize their services.
I shop at thrift stores for clothing and glassware. I've gotten sport coats for $2.50 on half-off days and casual shirts for pennies. Just check closely for stains. Need drinking glasses, it is a great place. May not find a whole set but I don't have a full set at home now. I can't stand to pay Mall prices anymore.
The grinder for your coffee really is one of the most important components of an excellent cup of espresso.
Search for local savings & loan-style banks, or local credit unions to avoid title insurance. Depending on the value of your house, that could save you thousands in fees. However, many fees are protected by federal law, and cannot change. There is a section on your HUD-1 marked "fees that cannot change." If those fees have increased substantially, you should demand that they be decreased in accordance with federal law.
Also, shop some mortgage brokers along with banks. Frequently, brokers will have "specials" that allow them to offer better pricing than the bank's loan officers. For example, my brokerage just got off a special with one bank that allowed us to offer loans .125% under retail, and just got on another than allows us to offer loans with a 1.5 point credit (as in, free money for the borrower compared to a retail price) at any interest rate. Check with the NMLS and local regulators to make sure you choose a reputable broker. NAMB (The National Association of Mortgage Professionals) also offers a database of ethical brokers.
You're missing one great one -- explore other aisles, particularly the foreign foods aisle.
At our local Jewel, they hide a discount rack of generic spices over in the seasonal goods (i.e. snow shovels, barbecue items) aisle that are all 99 cents (compared to the $2-$3 or more you'd pay for name brand spices), and they're the EXACT same thing (cinnamon is cinnamon, after all).
And many of the EXACT SAME items you buy in other aisles (canned foods/vegetables, soups, broths, etc.) can be found in the foreign foods aisle (sometimes marked in a foreign language) for half the price.
I actually do only a few of the things on your list and I manage to feed 7 people on a tight budget pretty easily.
1. Check out the supermarket sale flyers to see what's on sale
2. Write a weekly menu plan based on what's on sale
3. Create a shopping list and stick to it
4. Coupons and loyalty cards. Each week I save anywhere between 35-75% by using them. I spend about 10 minutes a week clipping coupons, which my supermarket doubles, up to $1
5. Stop buying junk food, soda, frozen meals and processed foods.
6. Shop early in the morning when there are fewer people in the store for less distractions whenever possible.
7. My daughter is a baker and she created a database of her most commonly used ingredients and the full price cost in the supermarket and the Sam's Club price to determine which is the better deal. This also helps her when the sale flyers come out and she can see if the ingredients are cheaper on sale and if she has coupons to further reduce the costs. She knows if butter is on sale for less than a certain price, then buying it at the supermarket is the better deal.
8. If possible, start gardening. Food you have grown yourself always tastes better and you know exactly how and where it was grown.
I have one supermarket in my area that consistently has the lowest prices and the best sales, so I don't really need to shop around. I do check the other supermarket flyers regularly to make sure that this is still the case each week, but I've noticed that while on occasion another store will have a better sale on one or 2 items, the one I go to generally has the best prices overall. Sam's Club usually has the best prices for milk, eggs, bread and other basics, so I buy those items from there. I find that paper goods are usually on sale at the supermarket every week and with a coupon they tend to be cheaper than Sam's Club, so I buy that stuff from them.
My best ideas come to me while in the shower, or just as I wake up. I'm still waiting for someone to create a shower app to help record those ideas. However, being away from technology might be part of the reason that the ideas flow more easily, so perhaps an app wouldn't help! Thank you for the article.
We refinanced in late 2011 with Citi, who had originated our original mortgage. The whole process took less than 60 days. Our interest rate was cut nearly in half. We added $150 to our monthly payment, but the amount toward principle increased by $500 from our previous mortgage, and we cut our total term by 10 years. I couldn't ask for much better than all that.
I like #7 (meatless Mondays). While my wife and I are carnivores, we eat much less meat these days. Meat die-hards will shrug their shoulders, but there are some really good vegetarian recipes out there. You just have to try and experiment. Also, don't forget the added benefit of being a bit healthier.
Thanks for including us in your awesome list!
I usually shop thrift shops for home goods and craft items. I dont really shop them for clothing because I feel like I can sometimes get better deals at places like target when their clearance items go to 70- 90 percent! My biggest score at a thrift shop was a vintage eletric blue PRADA handbag that I found at goodwill!
I shop at thrift stores occasionally, usually looking for home goods - kitchen stuff, furniture, picture frames, etc.
I love thrift shops. Where else can you go and have a spree for 10 or 20 bucks. you never know what you will find. Sometimes i even find new things with tags. We have several that we frequent often.
Sometimes, if I need something to wear and don't want to spend much.
Yes, I shop at thrift stores. I usually only shop when I need to replace something in my wardrobe. Then I go to the thrift stores first to see if I can find it there before I have to pay retail price. I also get a lot of my books at the thrift stores. Since I am an avid reader this saves me money, too.
I shop at Thrift Stores where ever I go. I have found some amazing deals. Of all my wardrobe, outfits purchased in Thrift Shops receive 99% of the compliments.
There are plenty of people who have all of these things and were not supported by mommy and daddy. It is difficult but it can be done.
My parents bought me a $20,000 policy when I was born. It cost $6 a month. I'm now 30, and the cash value of it is several thousand dollars, projected to be close to $70,000 when I retire (I know- no guarantees there).
I eat well, exercise, yet when I tried to get a term life policy a few months ago I had a weird result from my urine test and they doubled the original rate offer. I re-did the test (came back normal) but they still wouldn't budge on the rate. If you buy whole life young enough, it makes a lot of sense to me. But at my current age, only term makes sense now.
We just got my daughter a $25,000 policy for $120 a year. Funeral costs are expensive, and the worst case is when she goes to college she cashes it out for $1,000 or so. Best case is she never has to use it until long after I'm gone, and maybe she gets some decent cash value out of it when she's at retirement age.
I don't shop at thrift stores because I can NEVER find things I like. Maybe it's the area I live in, but there aren't fun things for a girl my age.
Yes, I do-- everything save for shoes.
You can still give a Gift of Caring! At least, in California, the scouts are still out at tables all over.
I buy ALL my clothes at thrift stores. I think it is silly to buy new clothes with so many great used clothes available.
As someone who graduated at 17, had a partial scholarship for college at 18 & got married the same years, paying for my remaining college, Its extremely difficult!!
Unlike most 30 year olds, I'm 34 & have had 16 years of marriage&kids,
8 being in my current career. I have 20,000 in retirement, a ton of debt but over
600,000 in life insurance. No savings.
Its great to say all of this but not everyone was
supported by mommy & daddy till they got out of school.
My sister and I go to thrift stores in other areas of the country when we go on vacations together. We've found some good things that way. We try to stick to clothing if we are flying but on road trips can get other things.