Ways to save money

[oli1234bear]

WOW! I am blown away by all the tips.
Here are my two cents: I keep my fridge relatively empty that is I can see the backwall of it - this way I always know what is inside and rarely have spoiled food or throw food out. I also have large freezer where I keep leftovers, bulk purchases and vegies (buy in superstore or grocery store large bags at discount then chop and freeze. works for most vegies and fruits. I also grow herbs and some vegies.)

My mother in law taught me to fry bunch of onion and freeze it and now I do it all the time and not just onions ( eggplants, tomatoes, mushrooms), saves from frying and washing the pan.

I mix laundry detergent with borox or Oxi clean powder (whatever leftovers I have) and use only half the reccomended dose and it still works great.

[momg]

I use tide cold water laundry detergent.It may seam to cost more but it is energy efficiant whites come very white even in cold water.I think that spending a little more on my detergent saves more on energy than i spent.also if you use liquid there are 2 lines you don't have to fill the cap it says to the first line for regular loads.

[Young_Freebie]

Only issue with Tide is some people, like myself, have a rash with it.

Buying generic foods is also a great way of saving money.

[bcteagirl]

Yeah, Tide does not agree with me either. Generic food is a good way to go... if you can combine coupons and sales, you can often get name brand for cheaper than generic!

[Kero_1116]

When filling up your car with gas, when it is done filling, shake the nozzle and move the pipe as if there is more gas inside the pipe. This can save you a few dollars per year. Every drop is precious.

[momg]

tide is one of the only laundry soaps that don't break out my family. at least not most of them . the one with febreeze is not very friendly to us. unfortuatly i had 20 sample packets of it.
another great way to save is if you know the person who does your local flyers they sometimes get samples of make-up lanundry soap ,chips and other neat stuff. just ask for extras. the person who has been giving me my flyers for years has often extra samples and shares with me.

[spinster_30]

Get yourself a membership at CO-OP( if u have one in your area).It costs $5 and you give your "CO-OP #" everytime u put gas in your car.We usually get in between $150 -$250 back from them once a year.It's a nice bonus to get for something that u are already buying.Plus they have full serve for the same price as self-serve.

[bcteagirl]

When filling up your car with gas, when it is done filling, shake the nozzle and move the pipe as if there is more gas inside the pipe. This can save you a few dollars per year. Every drop is precious.

Good tip!

Also, carry your coupons with you.. then if you spot something on sale, you don't have to make a seperate trip, forget about it, or forget you have a coupon you could have used with the sale. They sell really great little coupon organizers at the dollar store.. bought one in Regina, and it has paid for itself already!

[blistex]

take samples when you go to hotels!
like the soaps, shampoos, lotions and slippers they give you!
i've been using the soap as my hand soap! not bad quality too

[ips]

Check out this site for some cool tips... not all of them might save money directly, but still, its a great collection of ideas:

http://tipnut.com/

[bcteagirl]

Thank you, I am going to try making that window cleaner with vinegar!

[docbosh]

Of course if you're going to save money you need to create a budget, knowing how much is coming in and how much is going out and on what is essential. I can be a very simple accounting style sheet of assets and liabilities.

When my now wife and I needed to survive on one pay cheque a couple of times over the years if was the budget that saved us, in fact we found ways to save, and made savings...

One big area for budgeting is food it is one of the economic indicators of wealth/poverty along with shelter and clothing.

Having done a degree in Professional Cooking I learned to menu plan, but there is so much more to this than meets the eye. When you have your recipes, and you can create your menu plan, you can also take the time to cost out each recipe, I used to think tacos were a inexpensive meal, turned out to be one of the more costly.

You have to calculate you EP (edible portion) from the raw materials, for example how much is trimmed in the way of bones and fat from meat? What is left percentage wise is your EP. Once you know that you can figure out the cost of each ingredient and then the overall cost, divided by the number of portions.

Trust me being aware of these costs is extremely helpful, they allow you to plan for leaner times, because you know how much you can afford, and you know what kind of meals ought be considered celebratory meals when you feel like breaking the bank.

May be this sounds to simple, but you should try it. Plus know what you're going to eat for the next couple of weeks takes out some of the problems of thinking about what to eat tonight. You can also shop around you menu plan, or plan you menu around what is on sale.

[alajen]

I use tide cold water laundry detergent.It may seam to cost more but it is energy efficiant whites come very white even in cold water.I think that spending a little more on my detergent saves more on energy than i spent.also if you use liquid there are 2 lines you don't have to fill the cap it says to the first line for regular loads.

I do the same thing with Cheer detergent....

[ips]

I'd say don't put your money in a brick-and-mortar bank savings account. Go to an online bank instead like ING Direct or HSBC direct.

I used to get a paltry 0.05% with my TD and CIBC accounts. Now, I am getting a good 3.5%. I feel just great watching that money grow!

Anyone using one of those?

[ips]

@ bcteagirl: let me know how the cleaning tips work for you. I am yet to start my spring cleaning. Or shall I say summer cleaning?