25 Tips to Save Money

When child care took a turn last summer and knocked us down, the choices were difficult -- all leading back to stay home, stay home, stay home.

It all came down to selling one car. That was the difference.

Despite all the Go Green! headlines today, rarely do you see much on how to live with just one car. Never do you see how having just one car with a major commute involved impacts a family. (More on this tomorrow.)

One month after we sold the car, and used the extra money to pay off the other one, we felt very good about our decision to take Jadyn and Liana out of child care. But then the news came -- another tax hike in this Glorious City of ours. Our mortgage went up by another $100 a month.

What looked like it would be pretty easy, wasn't and ever since it's been a very tight squeeze of living month-to-month. Despite the pressures, and the tears some weeks, it's worth it, and I'm grateful. After all, I have my girls all to myself all week instead of passing them off to caregivers. I guess in the end, it was a priceless decision.

And, it's been a very green living decision as well. Now, we wait our turn to downsize and reduce the commute, which are our only other chances to trim our very lean budget.

We are awaiting the next tax bill, and we know it won't be pretty.

Here are 25 ways we have saved money in the last year -- please share your own as well.

1. sold one car
2. paid off the other vehicle
3. cut down or turned off cable (unless there are specials)
4. buy fresh, local meats and produce and walkable farmer's markets
5. meal plan for every meal, every week (I've slacked on this)
6. buy in bulk for items we use a lot to save on trips to the store
7. stopped mis-using paper towels and started using cloth instead
8. cut out most unnecessary items like eating out
9. walk to the closest grocery store in good weather (roughly 10 blocks)
10. clip coupons and use them ONLY with store sales
11. stopped clipping useless coupons
12. stopped subscribing to newspapers and only read online
13. sell unneeded items on eBay or Craigslist or Half.com for extra cash
14. buy used toys at yard sales and thrift stores
15. use the library for books
16. blogging has helped me win me free books, a free Netflix subscription and now gift certificates for Amazon.
17. we rarely go out so we avoid babysitting costs.
18. we avoid professional photographers and just use our own (more fun)
19. Da! takes a commuter bus to work and he walks to catch that bus
20. i avoid buying too many beauty products and just stick to the necessary
21. we have bought bread at a bread outlet when they are open and make our own pizza
22. we have used mostly vinegar and water to clean (not doing this while selling)
23. we've started changing all light bulbs to CFL
24. we avoid touristy destinations and stick to more cultural, less expensive events
25. we are in the process of going paperless with our bills to save stamps and time.


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