Saving Money Around the House

Common Sense Tips and Tricks to Saving Serious Cash Around the House

Something my own Mother was famous for was driving miles for sales. This woman would drive for 50 miles to save 10 cents on cans of corn. Again, I remind you, your time is valuable too, you must learn to use it frugally as well! And with the ever increasing prices of gas… do the math… is it really worth it? And what always happens when you take a little day trip? You want something to drink - so you blow a buck on a convenience store beverage. Maybe you get hungry, so you blow 5 bucks on fast food. So where’s the savings?

Many sources promote buying in bulk. This only saves you money if you actually use it all. Many times I’ve ended up giving the remaining item away because my family was burned out on it. Most recently this happened with Jalapeno cheese spread. My kids went thru a phase of just loving nachos. So, I bought cheese in gallon size cans, saving that money! The first can was great, I think someone even licked it to get the last dollop. The second can… not so much. I ended up freezing some of it to use in cooking later on and giving the rest away. Unless you can store it in some manner and use it later, I wouldn’t suggest buying in bulk on things your family might tire of.

In the 50’s some people built bomb shelters and stored mass quantities of dried and canned foods and no one really thought it that crazy. However, in today’s society, they’ll assume you’re a separatist in a non-governmentally approved militia. However, I do encourage staying a “step ahead”. My family has a rule of always having at least “one more” on hand. Why? Because if I run out of ketchup this week - it might not be on sale at the grocery store. But if I have “one more", I have time to shop and find a good price. When I find that good price, I buy more than one. You’d be amazed at what this system can save you in the course of a year! By sticking to it, you’ll rarely be caught in the position of having to pay full (non-sale) prices.

Lay-A-Way is a wonderful thing! How many times have you been in a store that was having a fantastic sale - and you were broke? Ask if they have Lay-A-Way! Snag those bargains, pay a small percentage of the price (usually 20%) and go back and “bail them out” when you have more money! There may be a small interest fee applied, but when you’re talking a 75% off sale - who cares?!