My sister recently posted about my fair post where she said I was the queen of cheap. I started wondering if I really was cheap. I think I do a lot of things to save money but I think it's just being smart. Here are some of the things I do to stretch a penny.
1. I buy groceries with coupons and ads. I don't even buy milk or cereal unless they're on sale. I probably save $50 a week doing this.
2. When we go to McDonald's we do not buy Happy Meals. We either get McDoubles or 10/20 piece chicken nuggets. I break the box to make two and divide them up. We also all share one drink and get free refills. If we go to Taco Bell we get the 10 taco grande meal and share one drink. We spend less than $10 when we go fast food usually.
3. I buy used kids clothes. I can't even imagine buying full price for new clothes. That would put me in the poor house. I usually don't buy clothes for myself but I did recently find a used clothing store that has adult sizes. So I bought some jeans for $10.
4. I buy laundry detergent when Meijer has their buy one get two free sale. That's right buy ONE get TWO free. That costs me $12 for enough laundry soap to last six months.
5. If I don't get my kids clothes at a consignment shop I get them from eBay where you can buy a whole box of clothes for less than $20.
6. We only go to the cheap movie theater and we watch the matinee so it's cheaper. We also bring our own snacks which I know you aren't supposed to but why pay twice as much?
7. I bake instead of buying expensive goodies.
8. I put things on the shelf at the checkout counter if I realize it was an impulse buy and I don't need it.
9. I also do without. If it's hard for me to pay THAT much, than I don't buy it.
As you can see from my fair blog and some of these. We still get to have fun. We still go out. I just don't want to pay more than I have to. I never thought of myself as cheap though. I do know that if I wasn't as frugal as I am that we would probably be staying home all the time with nothing to do but wear our one name brand pair of jeans and our one shirt and we'd be eating bread and eggs. Also, my kids don't seem to mind all this so much. I think they are just happy to be doing something. Maybe when they're older they'll think it's embarrassing. I'll just tell them to get a job.
Feet
11 years ago
9 comments:
I just thought of two more. I get discount prices with our phone and internet services because they charge too much. Just call them and say you want to switch to something cheaper. I also make homemade lunchables. Why do they sell crackers, bologna and cheese for much? What a rip off.
of course that's being smart! i buy used clothes for my son too! I asked the store where i buy the clothes about the schedules of the arrival of the packages, so i'll be the first one to get the most OK clothes. I just make sure i wash it really good and i also put antibacterials and pour boiled water to kill the germs! You know, we don't know where that came from. But i get nice cheap clothes, and most of the time, signatured ones!
It is OK to buy cheap clothes and food. Just don't settle for cheap kids. Get the good ones at the hospital.
is mrbusdr speaking from experience? is he saying that he got the cheap kids? hmph!
The most precious things in life are free! A walk in the park, a homemade picnic, home again to press the flowers and leaves that you have collected, all these thing cost nothing, but it's the memories that are priceless. No amount in the world can put a price on them.
There is nothing wrong in dressing your kids in second-hand clothes. Kids are made to run and laugh and they don't care if they are wearing second-hand clothes!
Good for you for using your brain to come up with these ideas! Maybe you could make another post for money-saving ideas. That would be great in todays climes!
I only wish that the hospital had good deals. Like weekdays are cheaper or bogo
um... wait... you DO totally realize that I was only KIDDING when I said you're the queen of cheap, right? i mean in today's society, I am ALWAYS looking for "free" or "practically free"... I was mostly in awe of the fair story, which is why I paid tribute to it... i thought it was cool. i wish i would have thought of it myself, instead of telling my kids we could never go cuz it costs too much. But, the state fair opens in Sept... maybe I oughta look into that! hahaha!
the nut doesn't fall too far from the tree. I don't think the children realized how poor we were until they got a little older. We had Things, just not Everything.
We set a standard of only one present for Christmas or birthday and only 2 parites, one at 8 y.o. and the other at 16 y.o. So that was what they knew as "normal" for us. I do not think it hurt them, I am hoping it gave them a sense of not needing everything new and the value of a dollar. Sounds like you know all that. Yeah, I agree with Emma... it was a tribute to you.
I like to use coupons. I like to shop the sales. I like to plan out my trips so that I'm not doing so much back and forth, and just to save on gas.
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