Tips on maintaining a good budget & saving

[Melena]

My only concern about eating the inexpensive / cheap food is what it might be doing to my health. I have started taking a Multivitamin + Extra Vitamin C but I am not sure if that will counter anything

Multi Vitamins + Eating Right Frozen Meals + Fiance's home cooking = win. A lot of it is just mind over matter and doing it. Also I recommend once you get into a more career oriented job to start putting money into 401k/Deferred comp.

[deiopea]

Huge thing for me was eating out less like going out once or twice a month. I'd only go out when at the end of the month, I had money to spare. Use generic brands. I've cut out going out to watch movies completely. Write down what is absolutely necessary and designate an amount of money you need for each. This is what I broke mine down to when I was single like a billion years ago: rent(800$), bills & utilities(250$/mo), food(30-40$/week). Huge thing is stick to your guideline. Maybe you can't afford putting away 100$ a month if you're running out of money. Perhaps lower it to 75$ or 50$. After putting the money away, then w/e is left you can use to go out, etc.

[Antithesis]

Thanks a lot for the tips guys!

[rezn0r]

good luck with everything

[Gwynplaine]

What kind of a monster saves up their money. It's people like you that keep us in recession. Don't you know anything? You're supposed to go spend all your money on crap because consumption is king. Krugman has that nobel prize for a reason.

[Dainslaif]

Don't eat out. Seriously. Me and my fiancee save easily 3-500 a month just by stocking up on a shit ton of frozen meals for our lunches when at work. $2.00 at Safeway is so much better then 5-9 dollars at a fast food/sandwich shop. Other then that, spreadsheet your stuff for a month so you see where it's going like Pirian said, and you can figure out what can easily be cut from there.

Second this. I started getting Stouffer's frozen lunches, and while they're not amazing tasting they're cheap as hell. Can't complain for $2.50/meal.

[Conrad]

If you do eat out, by the way, try and split it into separate meals to get more for your money. If you buy a $5 footlong from Subway and only eat half of it and save the rest, that's still $2.50/meal you're paying.

[Dolmen]

One thing I've recommended is to find replacements for your more frivolous spending. For instance, I used to buy anywhere from 4-8 DVDs per month, so we'll say $60-$120 per month (going on $15/DVD). I knew I was spending a lot on that, so I signed up for Netflix's $13.99/month account (2 at a time). You're getting the 8 DVDs a month, but for $14 instead of $120, plus unlimited streaming. The money I saved I put into a savings account, and after that it really does become second nature.

Also, I used to always drink the expensive beer that is $10-$15 per 6-pack. I switched to Yuengling and put the extra in a savings account every time I bought beer. All of this helps if you have online banking that you can transfer easily with.

[Ksandra]

My only concern about eating the inexpensive / cheap food is what it might be doing to my health. I have started taking a Multivitamin + Extra Vitamin C but I am not sure if that will counter anything

you don't need to buy "cheap" food to be less expensive. Hell I get all my meat/cheese straight from the deli so it's good and fresh, and I still save tons of cash vs ordering out.

Also, no ifs ands or buts, cooking for yourself will be much healthier than eating out. Most modern-day cookbooks show you a recipe and give you alternatives to make the recipe healthier (ie. switching from butter to margarine). And I can guarantee most of those recipes are going to be a lower calorie content than your average restaurant meal.

[Yabby]

doing this will help you not "lose" spare change or small bills that you would normally buy candy or smokes with.

^ this. Not keeping a buck or two on you at all times keeps you from hitting up the soda/candy vendor. The day those thing accept CC/Dept cards i'm fucked. Also, like the above NEVER eat fastfood. Saves money to cook yourself/brownbag plus the older you get the worse that FF is for you. Why pay more money to eat worse food?

[Alvinho]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yQNvdKNTZUg

[travOtaku]

I try to spend as little as possible on stuff at the store, and it is really easy to do if you teach yourself to use coupons. I am addicted to using coupons, and rarely spend over 10-20 bucks every 1-2 weeks on groceries that will feed me until my next trip to the store. And, no, not all of the stuff that you can buy with coupons is shitty frozen food that is bad for you. You'd be surprised how much you can buy that isn't necessarily terrible for you with coupons.

The easiest way to start couponing is to start following money saving blogs:

There are tons of blogs out there that are completely dedicated to saving you money and keeping track of any and everything out there that can be used to keep your extra dollars in your pocket. I would subscribe to a few blogs (1-3, otherwise you're wasting your time reading duplicated information) and check them out once or twice a day to see what kinds of printable coupons are showing up, what kinds of free samples/products you can sign up to receive, etc.

It is a good idea to focus on blogs that specialize in the weekly deals offered at local grocery/drug stores. I live in Orlando, so I have Winn Dixie (</3), Target (<3), Publix (<3), and Albertsons (</3). I make sure that the blogs I follow keep track of stores relevant to me. When the new weekly ads come out, these types of blogs will usually create a laundry list of products on sale and pair them with coupons for you (for example, http://www.southernsavers.com/2010/0...22-or-617-623/ ). You don't have to do any work, you just have to click a link and print the damn thing out.

There are several blogs as well that post freebies and samples and other such things. Most of these freebies/samples require you to fill out a form, so it can save you time by downloading a form filler add-on or a program, where you fill in all of your information once and then the bot will load it into the form at the press of one button. I get between 5-7 free things in the mail each week, ranging from coupons for free products, shampoo, shaving cream, snack food, razors, and even toilet paper.

Also, most blogs nowadays have search functions you can use, and you'd be surprised how much money you can save by ringing individual items from your grocery list into the search box and see what coupons come up. I once had a grocery list of ~15 items that I have done this for, and found 11 coupons I could use.

It's also important to not be strict about brands as often as possible. If I need something, I will get the one that is the best deal that week. If I have coupons and a sale for Kraft BBQ sauce, then I'll get Kraft. If the next week rolls around and I need BBQ sauce, and Sweet Baby Ray's has a coupon then I'll get that. There are certain things that I will not budge on though, and I am sure that is the same for everyone. I won't buy any mayo that isn't Hellman's light mayo. Ever.

It can also benefit you to buy in larger portions, although it can cost a little more upfront to do so.

[Mamimikun]

couponsuzy.com seems to be a good one

[Byrd]

When you go to the grocery store to go shopping, eat before you go. Not being hungry cuts down on a lot of impulse buying of food.

[MarkM.]

Glanced over this and didn't see it, but make sandwiches at home before you go to work, and eat them there. Also, you can cook stuff like grilled chicken at night, put it in the fridge, and warm it up the next day. Definitely will save you money, just takes a little extra effort.

Edit:

If you cut down from how much a day you spend on food, you can save a ton of money.

$30/day approx $11,000 a year

vs

$20/day = $7,300 a year

[Julian]

I try to spend as little as possible on stuff at the store, and it is really easy to do if you teach yourself to use coupons. I am addicted to using coupons, and rarely spend over 10-20 bucks every 1-2 weeks on groceries that will feed me until my next trip to the store. And, no, not all of the stuff that you can buy with coupons is shitty frozen food that is bad for you. You'd be surprised how much you can buy that isn't necessarily terrible for you with coupons.

The easiest way to start couponing is to start following money saving blogs:

Also living in florida, use mostly publix, would you mind sharing some of your blogs? :3

And second the not eating out. Saves a ton of money. I eat out with friends just for socialization's sake, but I only actually get any food like, once or twice a week maybe <.<

[Xno Kappa]

Just wanted to touch on the meats portion being a former butcher man myself.

If you're going grocery shopping, buy frozen meat at a discount that's past it's best buy date. The average consumer doesn't understand the fact that a frozen 3 month old "filet-mignon" after it's properly de-thawed will taste no different then a fresh cut piece. Most meat products when frozen have a freeze-life of anywhere from 12-16 months. It's only at 9 months+ is where you'll have an extreme degrade in quality flavor but by all means it's still edible and still fit for it's intended purpose.

[Ryany]

Don't waste money on an expensive or too new of a car.

[Shakki]

I have a whiteboard on the side of our fridge that I use to keep track of expenses. I use my card for everything so it really helps to have something visual to remind me how much money I'm spending. I set a limit for myself (one for food, one for everything else excluding rent/utilities) and then add on how much money I spend each time I go to the store/out to eat/etc. Then, at the end of the month, if I did well on my budgeting sometimes I'll buy something extra or go out to a nice restaurant or something.

Also, if you can walk or bike instead of driving, it really helps save money. Since I started walking to work and school every day I've probably only spent about $10-20/month on gas.

I don't get the paper, so no Sunday coupons for me, but I still check all the weekly ads for the local groceries (they come for free in the mail or you can get them online). I buy based on what's on sale and it helps out a lot.

[miokomioko]

1) stop tipping

2) don't shop while hungry

3) eat what you got

4) craigslist