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.

[ToomuchStuff]

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.

Isn't part of that kind of the same logic as Dave Ramsey's pay off your lowest amount first? To establish a new mindset so you do look at/for the big things.

[Teacher Terry]

So when my kids were cub scouts one of the badges asked what do you do with a iron? My boys said patch pants because that’s the only thing they ever saw me do with that. My mom said Terry that’s so wrong. We laughed about that for years.

[flowerseverywhere]

You are correct, but people who are beyond this point move down the chain and continue to whittle away. Each year DH gets insurance quotes, our total energy bill is less than $90 per month, it is not going much lower. We drive as little as possible.
But our biggest savings involve food. Going out to eat, buying coffee, prepared food can add a massive amount to your spending.
another big area is buying things you don’t really need. Crafters are potentially really bad in this area but it is not exclusive. Clothes and shoes you really don’t need are wasteful spending. Just so many areas to save a little here and there. Then $10 is a hundred. And so on .
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.

[ApatheticNoMore]

$10 - food and not that much else at this point. $7 on fresh figs recently, yea figs! Though I refrained from some coconut almonds today because I point blank couldn't do that, oh it's some boutique healthy enough (no sugar) concoction around here but yea $10.

As for clothes and shoes, I'd kind of question if there are real savings there or merely the illusion of savings. For instance shoes last longer if you alternate them, as would a few more clothes etc.. So it might really all break even in the long run. So long as it's manageable enough that they are getting worn fairly regularly.

[Teacher Terry]

Is there a way you and your boyfriend could live in the same house or is it impossible with job situations?

[ApatheticNoMore]

Is there a way you and your boyfriend could live in the same house or is it impossible with job situations?

Be two hours to an hour and 40 minutes EACH WAY to my present gig with that. I wanted to hang on to my present apartment as it's the nicer one (and nicer isn't luxury, but it's pleasant), but I was resigning myself to moving out because with little unemployment left, I could go for broke paying rent and paying rent (and rent isn't even unreasonable on this place but with out income of course it is ...), and sure I could do it for awhile, but it would be pretty stupid. So I worked on resigning to moving.

But then I got an offer, the present offer. So that's now. And yes my boyfriends job is completely in the opposite direction so it would make no sense for him to move here, then he'd be doing that type of 3+ hour a day commute. I did try to get a job anywhere near there, I also tried to a get a closer job anywhere near here, and in between, and neither so long as it was long term enough to move for, might have been picker at first, but by the end I tried anything almost except out of the area entirely.

[rosarugosa]

Glad to hear you got an offer, ANM!

I get $60 per week allowance. I sock away $20 for some currently undefined longer-term want, $20 goes in my wallet for spending money, and $20 goes to short-term wants, e.g. currently paying for a couple of pants I ordered from LL Bean (I basically borrow from us and pay it back from my allowance). So my allowance is where most of my ten dollars comes from.
I also earn about $5.00 per month from Microsoft doing Bing searches, I get $3 per survey from Pinecone, and I get a small amount from Topcashback for making many of my online purchases through them.
I try to save money in our household budget mostly by shopping carefully for groceries and using Costco wisely.

[Gardnr]

I think needing to find $10 and wanting to find $10 are different. 20 years ago we needed to find every available penny. Now, we don't.

Could we stop eating out? Yes. Could I never go out after work for a cocktail with a girlfriend? Yes. Could I stop buying organic fruit/veg/meats? Yes. Could I buy farmed salmon instead wild caught Pacific? Yes. Could we quit traveling? Yes. No more concerts? Yes.

But we don't need to.

[happystuff]

Lately the savings gained by cutting back on one thing (i.e. just cut the chord on cable) is immediately gobbled up by increases in other things (i.e. last garbage bill was increased). The age old problem exists in that everything seems to be increasing except the salaries. LOL.

[Tybee]

Very true, Happystuff. It's hard to 10 dollar save your way to anything when the bill just went up 15.

[SteveinMN]

You are correct, but people who are beyond this point move down the chain and continue to whittle away. Each year DH gets insurance quotes, our total energy bill is less than $90 per month, it is not going much lower. We drive as little as possible.
But our biggest savings involve food. Going out to eat, buying coffee, prepared food can add a massive amount to your spending.
another big area is buying things you don’t really need. Crafters are potentially really bad in this area but it is not exclusive. Clothes and shoes you really don’t need are wasteful spending. Just so many areas to save a little here and there. Then $10 is a hundred. And so on .
I "get" the additive effect of multiple $10 bills. I'm not against that.

I'm just saying that an hour spent canning garden produce (for example) may provide a much smaller return than an hour spent trying to make larger expenditures more wisely. Right now I'm furnace-shopping for both our house and my investment property. Not knowing what I'm buying (Is it the right kind? The right size? Is there a good contractor out there?) will cost a whole bunch of $10 bills more than I'll save canning. Spending an hour reading articles on where investment markets are headed can earn us way more than $10 -- or avoid much larger losses than $10.

Neither of these are set-it-and-forget-it activities. Maybe I won't buy another furnace for 15-20 years but I'll likely end up buying a roof. Or entry doors. Or a car. Or selling a house and moving. Or going on vacation. Seems there's almost always a bigger-ticket item out there to spend lots of $$$ on.

Neither approach is invalid. I'm just wary of being so busy saving dimes that I don't watch how I make (or lose) dollars.

[Teacher Terry]

Every year I shop around for home and car insurance because that can add up to big savings.

[catherine]

Neither approach is invalid. I'm just wary of being so busy saving dimes that I don't watch how I make (or lose) dollars.

I think it's very possible to be "penny-wise and pound-foolish." I think DH and I are guilty of that. I'm surprised at how easily we'll let go of $1k and then argue over whether we buy take-out pizza at $15 vs 2 frozen ones at $10.

I know that sounds ridiculous, but from the time we cosigned on that house for MIL to the easy jump into student debt for DD's private liberal arts college to hosting a dinner for my college friends at a nice restaurant... I've always accused DH at projecting a persona of having a champagne appearance when he really has a beer income, but I see the same traits in myself. Not in terms of wearing high end clothes or driving high end cars, but more the "I can pick up that tab" mentality. I think that my social insecurity which started when my family was the poor black sheep of the neighborhood might play into a) the need to make money and spend it on other people and b) the feeling that money isn't that important--"hey, I did without it for a long time and survived, didn't I?"

I'm feeling introspective these days about my own motives for spending money, as you can see. Maybe a too little too late for that, but there's always hope.

[happystuff]

I think it's very possible to be "penny-wise and pound-foolish." I think DH and I are guilty of that. I'm surprised at how easily we'll let go of $1k and then argue over whether we buy take-out pizza at $15 vs 2 frozen ones at $10.


While I agree that is it possible to be "penny wise and pound foolish", do you think maybe the reason you are able to let go of $1k is BECAUSE you were "penny-wise" with the pizza?

I know that time is money, but money is also money! And pennies DO add up to dollars.

[catherine]

While I agree that is it possible to be "penny wise and pound foolish", do you think maybe the reason you are able to let go of $1k is BECAUSE you were "penny-wise" with the pizza?

I know that time is money, but money is also money! And pennies DO add up to dollars.

I love that positive spin. Maybe there's some truth to that. But I still think there are a few grands we could have saved along the way along with the pennies.

[Tradd]

For me that $10 is pretty much what it costs for lunch out at work. Nothing fancy - Subway, usually. I need to make the time to get up that wee bit earlier in the morning to put a quick lunch together. I finally got off my duff and used the InstantPot I got free through a work incentive program about a year ago. Made chicken noodle soup. Making shredded chicken (with taco seasoning and jar of salsa) for tacos with the remainder of the chicken breasts I didn't use in the the soup. Having quick dinner stuff to nuke when I get home saves a ton of money.

[Gardenarian]

I might be one of those you think is penny-wise, pound foolish. I'm very frugal in everyday things but am willing to spend quite a lot in some areas: home maintenance and improvements, travel, dentistry, health and fitness, education/cultural, dog related, and charitable donations. I have an expensive bike; just spent $650 on a new battery for it.

I'm not a foodie or fashionista, so I have no trouble eating simple home food and buying used clothes. I don't like restaurants, wine, or nightclubs. I dislike driving and avoid it. Reading is important but I can borrow books for free or get them from the library book sale for a quarter. I find that used furniture and household goods are often of better quality than new. I don't follow trends at all. I like to throw an occasional party, but pot luck or a backyard concert costs little (I hear some people spend a lot entertaining.) I like to go the theater so I volunteer 30 hours per year - in return I am given all the tickets I need. (This is something I would happily pay for, but unlike most volunteer work, I actually enjoy this.)

My daily expenses are low, but my yearly expenditures are fairly high - but well within our means.

[iris lilies]

Every year I shop around for home and car insurance because that can add up to big savings.
Dont you have umbrella insurance? Here, they require all property insurance

[Teacher Terry]

Yes but price varies a lot by company. After a while the cheap company starts to raise their prices and I tell them the deal I found and sometimes they will match it. I am careful to only shop reputable companies.

[SteveinMN]

I might be one of those you think is penny-wise, pound foolish. I'm very frugal in everyday things but am willing to spend quite a lot in some areas: home maintenance and improvements, travel, dentistry, health and fitness, education/cultural, dog related, and charitable donations. I have an expensive bike; just spent $650 on a new battery for it.
I see that differently. We all have stuff on which we're willling to spend big money but we do tend to research that spending and get something of value from the purchase.

I'm talking more bigger/more abstract expenditures. I can spend $3,000 on a furnace or I can spend $6,000 on a furnace. The same company and contractor sells both. If I know what I need for my house and comfort level, I can resist the sales pitch and the bells and whistles and save up to $3,000. That's 300 $10 bills -- a lot of canned tomatoes, home haircuts, and soap. I could let my investments ride in a savings account or I could find a better place with about the same level of risk and make many more $10 bills. I'm talking walking away from lots of $10 bills for not knowing just what you need to have or could have for the same cost if you apply a little research.

[razz]

Different strokes work for different folks in pretty much everything that we do in our lives including saving $10 in ways that make sense to each of us.

[Tybee]

I definitely have the big spending/little economies thing at work. I do, however, do the research as Steve suggests to save on things like a new furnace. But we also do without a lot of things we really do need--kind of anorectic then binge spending. I wish I felt more confident to supply my needs.

My mom was intensely frugal, which was good, but also practiced self-neglect in some ways, which is not good or healthy. So yes, she did become a millionaire. But I don't want the life she had, where she could not spend money to do something like go out to dinner or pay to have the house repaired.

I need to start tracking spending again, as I hope this can help to point out the imbalance in certain areas.

[catherine]

I definitely have the big spending/little economies thing at work. I do, however, do the research as Steve suggests to save on things like a new furnace. But we also do without a lot of things we really do need--kind of anorectic then binge spending. I wish I felt more confident to supply my needs.



I identify with that.

Related to the metaphor, we were at our most financially dysfunctional when we couldn't afford anything at Christmas time. We'd do our best with the kids. But for DH and I, in an O Henry-esque (Gift of the Magi) manner, we would go to Nordstrom and buy each other beautiful things. We'd open them up on Christmas Day and ooh and ahh, and express our thanks. Then the next day we'd quietly return everything, knowing we couldn't afford to keep it. It became almost an unspoken rule for a few years. I call those years my Christmas Bulemia years.

[Teacher Terry]

I spend a lot of time researching big ticket items and looking for good sales. Last January we bought a new couch and I wanted something quality that would last at least 10 years. Our last tv and guest mattress came from overstock and were great deals.