25 Ways I Save (and you can, too)

25 Ways I Save Money

This morning I discovered Frugal for Life and Dawn's never-ending list of lists wherein she and others expound on their own personal 25 ways to save money. Herein is my unsolicited contribution.

• Bake my own bread. Yes, really.


• Pick up loose change anywhere I see it and roll it myself rather than using Coinstar or similar services that charge fees. I somehow find the counting and sorting therapeutic.


• Buy dried beans. Soaking and cooking them is not that difficult and I get the combined benefit of saving a lot of money and knowing exactly what goes into them.


• Shop the Famer's Market. Buy fresh, buy local. It not only saves me money but also decreases the number of food miles it takes.


• Coupons. They are free money, period.


• Wait 24 hours before making an impluse buy.


• Pay bills online. Most banks offer it for free now. No stamp, no envelope, no check, no gas.


• Buy music digitally. I don't get songs I don't want and don't contribute to excess packaging waste. It's much cheaper to buy the two songs on a CD that I like (about $2) than to buy a whole CD that I won't listen to ($15).


• Save leftover coffee in the fridge and make my own iced and frozen coffee drinks. It is also excellent to use when baking sweets.


• Turn off lights I don't need. In one month I noted a $15 difference on my power bill. That adds up!


• Use rechargeable batteries. They really do save money.


• Cloth napkins. They're nice, they're reusable and you're washing clothes anyway.


• Limit myself to two trips to the grocery per week and never go for one item.


• Freecycle.


• Round up to the nearest dollar in my check register and deposit the overage in a savings account.


• Sell things I don't want or need on Craigslist or Ebay.


• Limit the amount of TV I watch. If I am home alone, I will not have the television on unless I am sitting down to watch a show. I will not watch TV and use the computer at the same time.


• Cancelled newspaper subscription. I was reading it online anyway.


• I fill the sink when I shave and turn the water off while I brush my teeth.


• Keep clutter to a minimum. The more clutter you have, the less organized you are and the easier it is to misplace items. When you can't find things, you buy new ones that you don't need.


• Thai Deodorant Stone. It works better than anything I've ever used, has no chemicals (like aluminum that may contribute to Alzheimers), no scent and lasts for over a year.


• Grow my own herbs. A tiny packet of fresh rosemary at the grocery costs nearly $2, and I have a plant that cost me less than that and produces more than I could ever use if I was a tiny Italian woman making marinara all day and night. This past weekend I bought a curry plant (yeah, it's a plant and not just a spice blend) and lemon thyme, all of which will make their way into my recipes before long.


• I've tried Netflix, Peerflix and even Pay-per-View and the most cost-effective solution for me is to go to the theatre to see what I absolutely can't do without (which applies mostly to music-based films), wait for others to come out on TV or borrow those that friends strongly recommend. Overall I'm reducing my total TV/big screen viewing as much as possible for less mindless forms of entertainment.


• Save receipts, rebates and warranties and use them. I'd rather let the manufacturer replace that CD player than buy a new one.


• DIY. I believe in doing anything and everything myself whenever humanly (and reasonably) possible.