How do you save that $10

[Tybee]

I am piggybacking this off of Catherine's post about the MMM blog about individual 10 dollar increments, and how they add up.
That is why I put this here and not in consumerism or something similar.

My question is, how do you save that $10 she is writing about? I thought if anyone wanted to contribute an idea or two, it would help inspire us to save that $10 to invest, like the blog is talking about.

We make our own laundry soap, which saves us $10 every month or two.
We use the Duggar recipe.

We make our own dog food. We can use things like apples from our tree or the five dollar bags of carrots from the gas station. The price of dogfood has risen more than college tuition! Not sure how much this saves us as we supplement with the incredibly expensive dogfood, but our dogs stay healthier on what we make ourselves as we can really watch the ingredients.

[catherine]

That's interesting: When I think about "saving" $10, I think about not spending it on something superfluous--kind of a reactive approach. I like your way of looking at it--proactively looking for ways to eliminate $10 from your regular budget.

For me, that would be cutting out "luxuries"--the $5-$10 movie on a streaming channel. Or, resisting the urge to do take-out pizza if I've had a long day at work. I can always find something to eat that doesn't require taking money out of my "splurge food" account (I have two food budgets: a "basic food" and a "splurge food". I try to minimize the "splurge food" but it's hard to get it down to nothing.)

Like you, I don't spend much on cleaning products: I try to stick with vinegar, baking soda, and bleach, but I do love Mrs. Myers!

I guess the only upside to my dog dying is I no longer have pet food in my budget

[Yppej]

I am trying to get better at stocking up on staples when they are on sale. My state recently made the sales tax holiday permanent and I would like to plan ahead to take advantage of that. This year the governor approved the holiday just 2 hours before it went into effect. It was a pain for retailers including the retail division of my employer. So predictability now is a great thing.

[JaneV2.0]

I regularly shop at Grocery Outlet for staples, and fill in with (preferably) sale items at other stores. I usually save about 40 percent over retail there.
I more than cancel that out by splurging elsewhere, though.

[catherine]

I am trying to get better at stocking up on staples when they are on sale. My state recently made the sales tax holiday permanent and I would like to plan ahead to take advantage of that. This year the governor approved the holiday just 2 hours before it went into effect. It was a pain for retailers including the retail division of my employer. So predictability now is a great thing.

Yes, my son makes fun of my love of Costco, but they're great for stocking up. I really try to not fall into the trap of buying something in bulk that is really not that great a savings. My go-to Costco products are:

Case of organic diced tomatoes
Case of organic tomato paste
Case of sweet corn
Case of Bush's baked beans
Peeled and cooked organic beets in a box
Big box of Kodiak pancake mix (it's double the price in Target)
Big bag of pine nuts
Condiments like ketchup and mayonnaise
Half and half
Kirkwood mixed nuts

For rice, when I'm in NJ I go to one of the many Indian markets in town and I get a huge bag of basmati rice for about $12. Herbs and spices are also much cheaper in the Indian markets.

[razz]

I am more in the mode of choosing not to spend until I feel it is important to do.

That said, my grocery will have specials on items that are close to BB date which I buy and freeze. I have no qualms about sharing these with others. I bought Lindt chocolate that normally priced at $2.99 for $1.35 due to expiring in a month and gave these away on our Thanksgiving as an early Hallowe'en treat; cheese of al kinds for about 20% of the usual price due to the BB date.

Mostly it is a matter of thinking very seriously of the benefits of a new purchase and 90% of the time, I talk myself out of it with few regrets.

[Teacher Terry]

We shop at winco which saves us a lot of money and also have a cheap place for gas close to our home. Our home is baseboard electric heat which is expensive. When we go to bed we turn the heat down to 55 in the rest of the house and close our bedroom door. During the day the heat is off in our bedroom until 2 hours before we go to bed. We spend a lot on pet food and treats. Once the 80lb dog passes that will change since the others are tiny.

[Tybee]

I am more in the mode of choosing not to spend until I feel it is important to do.

That said, my grocery will have specials on items that are close to BB date which I buy and freeze. I have no qualms about sharing these with others. I bought Lindt chocolate that normally priced at $2.99 for $1.35 due to expiring in a month and gave these away on our Thanksgiving as an early Hallowe'en treat; cheese of al kinds for about 20% of the usual price due to the BB date.

Mostly it is a matter of thinking very seriously of the benefits of a new purchase and 90% of the time, I talk myself out of it with few regrets.

That's a good way to look at it. But I tend to give myself permission to buy things that cost a lot more than the ten dollars, that is part of my problem I think. Maybe I can find a way to put what I would have spent on dog food or laundry detergent into an envelope and then invest the total each month. Then I could see it adding up better.

[ToomuchStuff]

There was a book I read some time ago, I liked; The Wealthy Barber. First rule was to pay yourself first. I would say the percentages are arguable of course (lower income, actually needs to save more), but it was the rule that I thought was the way to go.
The cash that you use (or money in your debit account if you do the plastic thing), is limited to what you give yourself. That is your money that you shouldn't really have to feel guilty about.
Now you don't have to be a Dalton Humphries (save 90%, live off 10%).

[SteveinMN]

While I think it's admirable to save $10 amounts and watch it pile up, I'm wary of saving by the ounce and throwing it away by the pound. Would the time spent DIYing something relatively inexpensive be better spent, say, shopping around one's car insurance or figuring out ways to cut the heating bill? Granted, they're not daily/weekly savings, but they usually are whole bunches of $10 bills at one time.