My spending has been a little off lately, meaning I've been spending way over my budget. Oh, wait a minute. I don't have one. Guess I'd better make one. Aside from that I do have a few good methods that I use regularly and has become part of my lifestyle over the last few years.
Save that loose change
Make it common practice to empty your pockets of loose change at the end of everyday and place it in a container. I also treat loons and toons as change. Do this all year round and don't touch it. I can assure you you'll have a few hundred dollars or more at year's end. Throughout the year you should be rolling any coin you have that can make full rolls.
Roll your pennies too. Did you know that a million pennies is $10,000? Some of us dream of saving a million dollars, but how about saving a million pennies? Not as hard now is it. You don't necessarily have to use pennies. Just save up one million cents which can be comprised of any combination of denomination (quarters, dimes, nickels, pennies etc.). A few years back I lived in an apartment which required me to use quarters for laundry. Since I bought a house I now save those quarters.
Wash everything in cold water
Yep. That's right. Cold water. I wash my clothes and dishes both in cold water. They even make detergents for cold water washing.
Replace all bulbs with CFL's
For now I have replaced all household bulbs with CFL's just because of the huge savings and longer life of the bulbs. I would recommend switching to the more efficient LED bulbs, but they are pricey at around $20 to $30 each and availablity is also a problem. LED bulbs are the future and it's only a matter of time before you start switching out CFLs with LEDs. The problem with CFL bulbs, as per a CBC news show I recently watched, is that they give off more radiation than incandescent bulbs and the Federal Government is currently looking at that. CFL's are said to cause various illnesses including skin rashes and dizziness. I would recommend what they say on the show I saw by staying a foot away from those bulbs when turned on.
Use those blue dryer balls
Instead of fabric softener for your drying needs you can buy dryer balls. A set of two is around 7 bucks and worth it. The only problem you'll have is they don't eliminate static very well, but your clothes will be soft. These balls can be used over and over again.
Buy Produce and Meats at specialty shops
Instead of buying everything at the grocery store you can save big bucks by shopping for your produce at local farmer's markets where the middleman is eliminated meaning bigger savings for you. I bought a pound of asparagus at Joseph's Farms here in town and it was .99 cents where it was $2.99 at the grocery store. Meats work the same way, inthat, you should buy all meat and poultry from the local butcher. You'll get more for less.
Stop buying bottled water
In most laboratory testings it is found that bottled spring water isn't much better than tap water. Buy yourself a Brita filter either in the form of a pitcher to be filled as needed or as a faucet attachment for clean drinking water right out of the tap. I have a Brita pitcher and it's great. Now, I don't have to spend 5 or 6 bucks on a case of water every week or two. I'm also saving a lot of waste on plastic bottles. When I go to work I take my Rubbermaid reusable water jug which stores 900 ml of water. Save waste and save money. Just buy the replaceable filter once every 3 or 4 months. You can get a pack of 3 for 20 bucks which should be good for about a year. Doing this will save you about $15 to $20 a month. Here's a link to an article I recently read about bottled water.
While these methods seem minor they'll save you big time if you stick to them. Over the course of a year it can add up to hundreds or even a few thousand dollars depending on your level of commitment.
Those are my thoughts for the day. Enjoy and comment away! Love to hear your thoughts.
