We are clearly in the thick on parenting and babies which keeps us pretty busy when we’re not getting busy. Yep. I just said that. It’s no secret. With lots of babies comes lots of things to drain our money like activities, clothes, food, etc etc etc. We make it a priority to be as frugal as possible in the areas we see fit. Sure, we could save probably more than what I’ve titled this blog post, but we choose to spend money in areas that may not be a priority to others and that’s okay. Where we save money, may be an area where someone wants to spend a little more. To each their own! But if you’re in the trenches of life and finances are getting the best of you, maybe sharing how we save can help you save.
Here we go! Four ways to save big...
1) Satellite TV. Over the summer we decided to cut the cord on our satellite tv package. We did this when we were first married because we were always working and never home. Now we’re home, but still not watching tv enough to make it worth shelling out $120 just for cable. Truth be told we stream Netflix more than anything and will subscribe to Disney’s new streaming platform once it’s available. We still like having access to a few of our favorites so we opted for SlingTV for as low as $25 a month. Doing this over the summer for us made it so much easier since there weren’t a lot of shows on anyways. There are also other options depending what fits you best like Hulu, Philo, PlayStation Vue, YouTube TV and DirecTV Now, but overall if you’re looking to save ditching the cable is a big one!
**Check out this article to learn and compare different services. HERE
2) Spending Freeze Week. If you’re not familiar with Jordan Page, she’s is queen of savings and the one whom we adopted this concept from. Nearly every month we plan for a week where we freeze all our spending. That means no eating out, no grocery shopping, no home shopping, no clothing shopping, nothing....unless there’s an emergency, but it has to be a legitimate emergency like running out of diapers or one of the kids is sick sort of thing.
**Learn more about Jordan Page on her site Fun Cheap OR Free
3) Dining Out Freeze Week. Depending what our schedule looks like this week saves us from our lazy-I’m-tired-and-I-don’t-want-to-cook-because-the-kids-have-been-driving-me-crazy days. Let’s be real, grabbing lunch out, stopping at the coffee shop, ordering dinner, going out for ice cream all adds up quickly! These two weeks (spending freeze & dine out freeze) can be huge savings!
4) Create a budget. This was a foreign concept to us 5 years ago. We were scared of feeling like we couldn’t spend any money on anything, but that’s the lie that keeps so many people from creating a budget and finding freedom in their finances. A budget doesn’t mean you can’t spend money, it allows you to spend money; money that you are comfortable and able to spend.
We adapted the envelope cash system and love it. It’s been a huge blessing for us and has helped stay on track. Please know we are by no means perfect and we have months where we slip, but the there’s always a new month and you start over. We created different categories for our needs (grocery, home improvement, going out, etc) and place the cash into each category. Once the cash is gone for the month, it is gone. Anything leftover gets to go into our savings where we use for trips or use for Christmas.
Need to make a little extra? Start shopping your house for items you no longer use and put them up for sale. Clothes, toys, furniture, framed art are all easy to sell items. This is an easy way to bring in a little extra cash and set aside for fun things to do with the family or set it aside and save for something you’ve been needing or wanting without ever feeling like you’re breaking the bank!
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