Congratulations to Jessica whose money saving tip wins her a copy of Dave Ramsey’s Total Money Makeover.
Jessica, (not my sister) won with this tip:
I was raised by a “fixer;” my dad can jerry-rig and repair almost anything. We call him the King of Duct Tape and Paper Clips, and now I’m dating someone who’s just the same when it comes to fixing things instead of throwing them out.
By valuing the things we have instead of automatically going out to buy something new, we save money and try to keep our trash footprint down.
The winner was picked randomly, which was very helpful since it would have been a nightmare to just pick one. Here is but a small sample of the incredible budgeting and money saving tips submitted by readers:
From Jenn Baron:
I am a “tip junkie” because I love to learn new ways to be green and save money!! For me the first step and best tip is to have a total attitude adjustment! You can’t live with a deprivation mentality or feel that you are constantly missing out on things. Be creative and resourceful and be truly GRATEFUL for what you have. When you have those attitudes everything else seems easier and doable and life is a whole lot more fun and joyful!!
From Jana:
My children only wear hand-me-downs. I have 8 nephews and 2 nieces. My children are the youngest on both sides. I have made a round robin with my family on both sides and friends with children who fall in between. Meaning- the oldest boy passes his clothes to my nephews on the other side and they keep passing until they are worn out or too gross to wear! Everyone wins! We have also started doing this with games, toys and sports equipment. It saves tons of money and helps complete the circle. All families are happy-especially mine- they get multiples of desired items sometimes!
From Rebecca:
All “found” money goes toward debt. If there is a spare bill forgotten in a jeans pocket when I’m doing laundry, change left over from paying cash, work bonuses, etc it is all set aside and applied to the debt once a month.
My husband and I also have a debt board. Each piece of paper on the board represents $100. Whenever we make a payment, we move the paper to the bottom of the board to show our progress. Plus, it helps us avoid extra spending because we know we’ll be able to “move a bill!” if we don’t buy something else.
From Constance:
If I think I need something, I wait a month to see if I still remember that I need it. I almost never do or I find that in a month, I can find it free, used or gifted.
From Katharine:
my money philosophy is pretty simple:
buy less crap.🙂
From Teeni:
We don’t make payments or borrow money for anything. All cash, all the time. (We do have a free checking account with a free debit card.) No more keeping tracking of interest rates, late payments, mailing payments, etc. The past two cash-only years have been a revelation for us!
From Luta:
I take out our “allotted” money for the month, divide it into categories of expenses and keep it in a coupon holder. When the money is gone from the grocery category… that’s it for the month. So it means we have to spend wisely to let the money stretch through the month. Everything else stays in our savings account – we have several categories in our savings account – to save for rainy day expenses, bills that come once every 6 months and general savings – so when the bills come we aren’t surprised by them. When we moved to this system from using credit cards we started saving $200-$300 a month.
And my favorite tip is from Jeanne:
Love what you have! Enjoy where you are! Stop thinking about what others have or what you could have. Every time I get the urge to spend on something big, I try to love what I have.
Note that none of these tips are about double-couponing or how to get free stuff off the internet. A successfully frugal life is about an attitude of contentment with what you already have. Not craving whatever is newest, shiniest and most hip.
Click here to read all the fabulous contest entries. Thank you very much to everyone who entered budgeting and money saving tips!
Katy Wolk-Stanley
“Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without.”
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
We save by splitting the costs of many items with friends and neighbors who need the same things. Many things are necessary, but used only once a week or less. Why should everybody own the same things that they rarely use? Anyway, we use a kind of checkout system that works very well. We also pool our money and buy bulk goods too and get a nice discount. I just started a blog about it, if anybody wants to know more.
Rebecca- way to go! It’s great to see someone really working hard to pay off debt. Too many families get in deep and then can’t climb out again. Keep up the good work!
Great suggestions, everyone! I can’t wait to have my own household so I can really dive into all this 😀
I not only love what I have but I’ve found I can rearrange what I have and make a whole new look! From clothing to furniture to accessories…just switching things from one place to another makes a big difference!
“who is rich? He who rejoices in his portion.”-Benjamin Franklin
A number of web sites are springing up which highlight goods for sale at five or ten cents, like the old nickel
and dime stores. Check these out, it’s really surprising what you can find! An example is http://www.dimebidder.com
Maybe it has little to do with the topic, but my all time favourite quote is the one from Napoleon Hill and he said :
“Your real wealth can be measured not by what you have, but who you are”