Looking for tips: How can we live well without spending a lot?

[klutzycutie]

thats a good topic to talk about.

i find myself spending tho i dnt have many bills because i live under my parents roof

i still dnt want to spend all my money yet save

i used to go out to eat alot and dnt much ne more

i also learned that if u turn of ur electricity by the cercuit breaker (sry cant spell well)

on some places in ur home

it may help save u hundreds of dollars

some examples could b if u have cable or satellite or watever anbd u have the light thats always on it

or even microwaves

u can turn it off there at times when u dnt use them that way its something less to pay money for when u dnt even look at it or use it most of the time

[rkdtlb]

This is good stuff..keep the ideas coming...I'm going to print some coupons right now.

[nmv1979]

I'll be honest, I have had my fill of cutting corners because we were broke. Now I am in a race to see if I can spend everything I can earn before I die. I go on trips 3 or 4 times a year, go out to eat every time we feel like it, and buy whatever I want so the kids have to get me peanuts when they need a gift to give me. There are two ends to the pipeline that constitutes a family budget, so you can reduce your spending or increase your income and I like the last option best. Fusioncash is just ONE way to do that.

hope your right on that because I will be spending alot of time on here to see if it really pays off hope it does

[oldbuddy]

I'll be honest, I have had my fill of cutting corners because we were broke. Now I am in a race to see if I can spend everything I can earn before I die. I go on trips 3 or 4 times a year, go out to eat every time we feel like it, and buy whatever I want so the kids have to get me peanuts when they need a gift to give me. There are two ends to the pipeline that constitutes a family budget, so you can reduce your spending or increase your income and I like the last option best. Fusioncash is just ONE way to do that.

hope your right on that because I will be spending alot of time on here to see if it really pays off hope it does

There is no hope about it, it IS right and all you need to do is stick with it. This program has been paying me for over two years and I have gone from getting $25 every few months to over $300 my last payment simply because I quit hoping and wondering and threw everything I had into getting referrals. That's where the real money is to be made.

[mlbevins]

These are the ways that I save.

1.  Coupons, coupons, counpons,   It is free money use it.
2.  Promotions such as mycokerewards.  Got a free toaster just other day.  My old one died.
3.  Grocery store promotions.  I always look for buy one get one free, or take advantage of double coupon.
4.  Goodwill and Yard Sales.  There is alwasy a bargain to be found.
5.  I buy my sons close a season in advance, I never pay full price for clothes or shoes.

These are just a few things that I take advantage of.

[Sohcahtoa]

I make only $10.50/hr at my job (35-40 hrs/week), yet I make enough money to live on my own (Apartment rent is $635/mo) and pay for my college tuition completely out of pocket, buy food, pay bills, etc., while still having about $50-100/month in spending money.  Its really not hard.

I think the thing most people waste the most money on is food.  If you're smart, you can easily feed yourself for under $3/meal.

-NEVER go out to eat at a sit-down restaurant except for special occasions.
-Keep fast food to a minimum.  For how much you're spending on one meal, you could probably buy two or even three meals.
-Don't order delivered pizza.  Getting a delivered pizza will probably cost you $15 MINIMUM once you add the delivery fee and tip.  For those $15 you could easily buy THREE frozen pizzas from the grocery store, possibly up to 6 if you buy the cheaper brands.
-Try the store brands of all your favorite foods.  If you're convinced that there IS a difference, have a friend help you and give you a blind taste test.
-Avoid buying soda.  If you really don't want to just drink water and feel that you really have to have something sweet, buy a variety of Kool-Aid packets and a pound of sugar.  It will last a long time.
-NEVER EVER buy bottled water!  Its been shown time and time again that bottled water is not magically safer or cleaner than tap water.  It is not better for you.  And in fact, most bottled water makers are simply selling you tap water in a bottle. Video link! If you really want to add some extra filtering to your water, get a filter from Brita or Pur.  I have a Brita pitcher and I love it!
-Force yourself to eat your leftovers.  Living alone, most packages of food are meant to feed up to 4 people.  I have a big appetite, so I end up eating half the package, but I make sure to eat the rest either later that day or the next day.
-If a food dish has microwave instructions, use them instead of the oven instructions.  A microwave will use less power to heat the food than an oven will.

There are also a lot of habits to do to save money...

-Turn off the lights if you're not in the room.  Right now, I have only one light switch on.  Also, replace incandescent bulb with compact fluorescents.  While they cost a few dollars more, they not only last longer, but consume a small fraction of the power.
-Drive conservatively.  Accelerating quickly not only destroys your fuel economy, but it often doesn't save you much time, if any at all, depending on where you hit the red lights.  On the highway, wind resistance grows exponentially with speed.  Most cars are designed to get the best fuel economy at around 60 mph.  You can go up to about 70 and only lose a couple MPG, but past that and it plummets.
-Trade in that SUV for something more economical.  You can easily cut your fuel costs by half.  Depending on how much you drive and your driving habits, the savings in gas costs could actually pay for the car.
-Try to find a home near your workplace, or a job near your home.  If you have to drive an hour to get to work, you're doing it wrong.  30 miles to work and 30 miles home, even if you drive a car that gets a decent 30 mpg, and with gas prices at a low $2.50/gal, you're going to spend $100/month on gas just to go to work 5 days a week.  I live about 3 miles from work, and average 26 mpg city/34 highway (Car is stickered at 24 city/32 highway!), and only spend $30/month on gas.
-Pay off debt before putting money into savings.  People like to think that they're saving for the future by putting money into a savings account, the money is better off being put towards paying off a high-interest loan than sitting in a low-interest savings account.  Do the math and you'll easily see why.
-Turn down the heater and put some more clothes on.

I'm sure I'll think of other things later.

[rkdtlb]

this is good...keep it coming.

[Sohcahtoa]

Thought of a couple more...

-Don't buy lottery tickets.  Yes, you will win every now and then, and sure some people win big jackpots, but the odds are highly stacked against you.
-If your bank charges you monthly fees just for having an account, find a new bank.  Shop around.  You're not stuck with one bank just because that's where your money currently is.  You can take it all out and move it to a new one.  Research the fees that other banks charge.

Now I know this one will stir up some arguments, but I live by it...if you're a healthy individual, don't pay for health insurance.  Consider how often you've gone to the doctor the last few years and consider how much you would have paid out of pocket if you didn't have insurance, now compare that with how much you've spent on your insurance.  For me, in the last 3 years, I've spent a total of $300 on doctor bills.  Meanwhile, the cheapest health insurance plan I could get on would cost me $50/month, and I would STILL end up paying $200 for those bills due to annual deductibles.  So what would that $50 a month give me?  Pretty much just the piece of mind that if I ever got seriously injured, I'd only be out $5,000 instead of $10,000.  That's not worth $600/year for me.  The only serious injury I'm likely to sustain is falling down the stairs into my apartment, which wouldn't really be bad since its carpeted, or some sort of car accident, which my car insurance covers.

[lynnc35]

Be Savvy, know what is on sale. shop for bargains, and use willpower not to spend money on stuff you do not need, or will not use.

[brendy1990]

use coupons and we recycle our bottles and any metal we dont use anymore..

[deekeepinitreal2009]

Cut coupons all the time. Eat at home. Cut down on your power bill. And also buy only what you need not what you want.

[oldbuddy]

Cut coupons all the time. Eat at home. Cut down on your power bill. And also buy only what you need not what you want.

Where is the fun in that?

[deekeepinitreal2009]

Cut coupons all the time. Eat at home. Cut down on your power bill. And also buy only what you need not what you want.

Where is the fun in that?

Its not that much fun lol

[strumcat]

Thanks for the great ideas!

[lbeery]

This isn't really spending money, but, I always put away 5% of very check I get (even little old fusioncash checks) and 1/2 of what the receipt says I saved on my bill at the grocery.  It makes a great Christmas fund and feels earned too, if you know what I mean.