Sharing Some of My Tips
Tips — By Dr. Mommy on October 16, 2008 at 2:57 pm
So, although my tips are not new and amazing, they have helped our family of 7. We eat healthy meals and have clothes to wear and still have some money for the occasional luxury. However, we have taught our children the importance of savings and they have begun to help clipping coupons too.
Here are some of the things we do in our family to save money.
- I always make a menu for our meals – I usually will make a menu for 2 weeks. This helps with determining what we will need to shop for and not spend over and beyond what is on our list.
- After our menu is determined we make our grocery list. I know what you are thinking–how is it possible to shop for 2 weeks at a time? Well, with a large family that is a decision that we had to make as well as finding the room to store all the items purchased. We purchased a stand-up freezer and store many of our meats, bread and milk when we purchase in bulk.
- Grocery list is made according to menu along with circulars and coupons. My hubby and I share the responsibility and plan out our strategy to tackle our list. We will usually go to 2 different grocery stores, produce stand and Dollar store for snacks, cleaning supplies and spices.
- Frugal clothing shopping – with many children, you can imagine what our clothing bills are like. I will usually assign a month per child and will go through their clothes. We will determine what they have outgrown and separate. There are consignment shops that will purchase your clothing that is in good condition which we then use to purchase more items for that child. We frequent thrift stores as well as clearance racks at large department stores. Children grow very fast and will wear their items for a short time. We save for special occasions, but even then I will shop for sale items.
- Never pay full price – that is a mantra that we use for everything. I have found that if I really like something in a shop that it never fails that it will go on sale as soon as I purchase it. So…I will usually determine if I truly need it and if I do, then I will research and find the best price. The thrill of the hunt is fantastic and I love the challenge.
- No credit cards – one thing that has helped us tremendously is cutting up our credit cards. Like many people we have fallen into the traps of credit cards and determined long ago that once they were paid off that we would never use them again. If we can’t pay cash we wait until we can, and usually by then we decide not to purchase the item.
Well, those are just some of my tips…I know you have probably read them all before but they surely work. I have read many books and studied many methods and of course had to adapt ones that would fit our needs.
There are many, many other ways to save money and will begin sharing those if there is an interest:)
The Chronicles continue….
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4 Comments
Just found you via twitter.
Love your tips.
Me and my family have downshifted to a simpler way of life and already follow a lot of your money saving tips.
We also sell our unwanted clothes and items on ebay and buy needed ones from ebay. It’s a great invention.
Isn’t it a great feeling when you get a real bargain. Much better than retail therapy.
Love & best wishes
Heather
As a family of 8, we do much of the same thing. Our cupboards aren’t big enough for shopping for 2 weeks, but we do menu planning and shop accordingly for that week, it helps us stay on budget, too.
I like your idea about assigning one month to go through one child’s clothing. Interesting
For us we keep all clothes and shoes(so long as they’re still in good condition) for the next child, and shop at consignment shops and sales (we used to live at a place in NC where a local church had a bi-annual consignment sale I used to sell and buy at, used to stock up BIGTIME.) We also shop at end-of-season sales where they mark down drastically clothes that are going out of season. My almost-2 year old has brand new clothes up to age 6 since she was first born because of these sales, going for $1 or so a piece because of how good the sale is.
We’re getting there on the credit cards, should be paid off within a year or two
Great great tips, I look forward to more
Thanks for this post Daisy! You’re an encouragement to me.
These are all great tips. I use a lot of them that you suggested, like NO credit cards, never pay full price, and the clothes shopping one.
But the idea to shop two weeks in advance never really occured to me, and considerng how much I dislike grocery shopping the less time I spend in the store, and even planning, the better.
I think I will have to try that tip out!