What do you do (other than couponing) to save some money?

[TheatreMama]

We are installing water saving nozzles on the kitchen and bathroom faucets. When I am hope all day with the baby by myself, we live by "if it's yellow, let it mellow. if it's brown, flush it down" I also don't turn on lights during the day. We flip power strips at night for appliances we don't use. I follow DH around all day and turn off light switches. We are staring a garden this year. I coupon/grocery shop at a great local grocery store chain that also gives me gas rewards on my pre-coupon total so that helps reduce our gas bills. DH and I each pick one cup a week to use, and we re use and rinse the same cup all week to help limit our dishes. We serve dinner with our forks to eliminate serving ware. We buy meat on clearance and freeze it. We cook enough for dinner to also provide lunch for the next day so we don't eat out. I go to the Goodwill and buy baby/toddler clothes in the next several sizes in what ever the color of the week is so that I can get them all for $1 a piece. We go to local kid consignment sales and score cheap toys and clothes for baby. We also take extra stuff around the house, over flow of the stock pile, and anything people donate and put it all in a big yard sale.

[winterwolf]

I've been doing the following things:

Cook more at home - I just realized how much I save when I cook my own food, instead of going out all the time. The amount is staggering.

Replace light bulbs - This is an old practice, but I've replaced some of the specialty bulbs in my house with more energy efficient ones. I saw a bunch on this site, great for my recessed lights.

Make things last as long as possible - I put water in my soap bottle to make the soap liquid stretch. Or reuse paper and plastic bags. Sew patches over jeans with rips! Little things like that make my money stretch as long as possible :)

[fungirl2727]

Got rid of cable and my cell phone! I am saving 150 a month on that. We got hulo and netflex has tons of shows on.
Getting my dog flea meds at costco. They have a kirkland brand now that is 1/4 the price of reg. So this is saving us another 15.00 a month.
So that is 2 things we do save 165.00 in are pockets every month.

[JulieDB]

Got rid of cable and my cell phone! I am saving 150 a month on that. We got hulo and netflex has tons of shows on.
Getting my dog flea meds at costco. They have a kirkland brand now that is 1/4 the price of reg. So this is saving us another 15.00 a month.
So that is 2 things we do save 165.00 in are pockets every month.

I'm not sure that getting rid of a cell phone is a good idea. What if you were out somewhere and there was an emergency? What if your car breaks down? I don't know how it is where you live but here there are very few pay phones any more. In fact I don't think I've seen any around at all.

[booklover]

We use the library a lot. DH and I borrow books to read all the time. DS likes to borrow CDs and movies. DD has just turned 3, so we are introducing her to books and fun things to do at the library.

We go to yardsales and all the time. Nearly all of DD's clothes, and even shoes (brand-new!) were purchased at yardsales. I'll even buy the next size up if it's a good deal. DS has to wear uniforms to school, and I have found good deals on his school clothes at yardsales, too. Shirts for only .75 each, and dress pants for $2. (DS is in high school, so this is a good deal for teenager's clothes.)

I have bought gifts for people at yardsales and thrift shops. The item has to be in new condition, or an item that the person collects or really likes. I have a nephew who really likes Spiderman, and a niece who collects keychains, for example.

Giftwrap: I buy rolls of giftwrap after holiday sales, especially giftwrap that doesn't have a holiday theme on it. So I have plain rolls of red and green giftwrap that I can use for birthdays. I have also bought greeting cards (new) at a certain thrift store I go to for only .10 each. I have found nice blank cards with really nice pictures on the front, and used them as birthday cards. My family is very open to unusual giftwrap, so if I run short, I can always use comics or plain brown paper.

DH has done lots of fix-its himself around the house. The lady next door is older, and has arthritis, and she pays him to mow her yard (her mower, and she buys the gas, so free money). He also dug a hole for a birdbath she wanted in the yard, and she paid him for that.

We don't have cable, and don't see a need for it. We have Netflix and pay $8 a month and get to watch tons of movies and tv shows we like. We have a collection of movies that we own, kid's favorites, some classics, all bought at yardsale prices. ($1-$2 per movie)

We have a Majic Jack for our landline phone, and pay $20 per year for phone service. Downside: if the computer is down, we can't use the phone. So we have a cellphone as our back up.

We buy yeast in bulk from Sam's Club. I keep it in the freezer, and it never goes bad. I make pizza from scratch. I make the dough in my mixer, using dough hooks. I used to work at a pizza place when I was in college, and learned how to work the dough with my hands.

DD just had a birthday. I had a simple party with just us and grandparents. I made lunch (homemade pizza, salad, fresh fruit) and cupcakes. Just before her birthday, I lucked out at a yardsale, and got a bunch of decorations for only $3: little girl's tiara that said "birthday girl" on it, lights up. A BIG birthday banner. And a cupcake stand, and a bunch of ribbons. I made the cupcakes from scratch, and used store bought icing and sprinkles. (Bought the sprinkles on clearance after Easter, they were spring colors.)

[jeffcocouponlady]

I am glad I am not the only one that does certain things to save money.
1) I do save tin foil and wash it off if its not too bad
2) Deli meat containers I wash them real good and reuse them instead of buying
Tupperware.
3) If I have a shirt that needs to be ironed out like at the dry cleaners I put on a hanger
and stick it in the bathroom with me when I take a Hot Shower. Free steam actually
does help to take out the wrinkles.
4) Recycle soda cans and take them to the local recycling center which is literally like a
5 min drive.
5) Got rid of our cable TV because all we watched were cartoons. So we got Netflix. There is a HUGE amount of cartoons on netlix

[JulieDB]

I have tried to stop buying gift wrap except for tissue which I get for cheap. I stock up after Christmas or I get it online. Then I try to buy a container of a suitable size to put the gifts in that the recipient can reuse. Might be a lunch bag, shopping bag, beach tote, basket, bucket, laundry basket, etc. I manage to find good deals on these things as well so I am not paying any more than I would for wrapping paper and they get something they can use. I use the tissue to wrap up the smaller items to put inside.

[cdarrow26]

I'm not sure that getting rid of a cell phone is a good idea. What if you were out somewhere and there was an emergency? What if your car breaks down? I don't know how it is where you live but here there are very few pay phones any more. In fact I don't think I've seen any around at all.

Any cell phone is able to dial 911, so you would be able to still call if you had an emergency.

[fungirl2727]

I am not worried about it at all! I don't do any big trips by myself. I only go within a 5 mile with my car 99 percent time. I also will still be able use my ipod as a phone at my house. I will have wifi at my house. If we do have a big trip my hubby comes with his cell phone.

[JulieDB]

Any cell phone is able to dial 911, so you would be able to still call if you had an emergency.

But that's my point! She said she got rid of her cell phone!