Saving Money in Big and Small Ways

Piggybacking on my previous post, I wanted to give a few suggestions of how someone can save money, on just about everything.  Please note… these ideas/suggestions/options are merely things that I do, with my wife, to make good, sound financial decisions with the situation we have.  We do not have an abundance of extra funds that allow us to purchase whatever we want, whenever we want.  We don’t mind off-brands, no-names or generics, which automatically saves us money.  So take this advice or leave it if it doesn’t apply to you.

First off, we never pay full price for anything.  When it comes to food, we shop the sales and use coupons.  Since we have young children, we like to switch up the selections of fruits and vegetables that they get.  In order to do this in a thrifty fashion, we wait until the weekly circular comes out (every Tuesday) and shop where ever the best produce deals are.  We also do this with milk, meat and other various staple items.  We never pay more than $2/gallon of milk.  When it comes to clothing, we shop the clearance racks, with coupons and special sales.  I typically find dress shirts, pants, jeans and sweaters for well under $10.  The last two pair of jeans were both $7 each.  The last pair was even lined for winter!  Beat that!  My last pair of running shoes was $22.50 – originally a great pair of Nike’s that were probably around $80 full price.  Why pay $80?  When it comes to vehicles, a big purchase, we always buy used.  Buying new, to me, isn’t practical.  So, I always research what I want, what it’s selling for, what it’s listed at and I go in to the dealership know what I’m willing to spend.  I set a price that I’m walking out on, if it goes below, great.  If not, then it’s not the vehicle for me.  I go in informed and educated and always come out on top because I dictate the situation, not the salesperson or the dealership.  For instance, I purchased my last vehicle, an ’07 Buick LaCrosse CXS, for about $5K below book value.  Why pay full price?

Another thing that we do is we use our credit card to pay for everything that we can.  We receive points towards cash back or plane tickets or other things.  We always pay off the credit card before it accrues any interest, so we’re always getting a great deal on top of our great deals.  We’re using our latest collection of points to pay for two round-trip tickets to Florida! 

Again today, you may ask why I’m writing about this?  It’s simple, really.  A man should be thrifty.  A man should be a good steward with his money.  A man should influence his family to make smart decisions with their money.  Think about it… I often push the idea that if men would lead the way they are supposed to, the world would be different.  The topic of finances is no different.

Man up!