I set an intention in January to really look at our budget, and see where we could save some money. A week long spending freeze snowballed into a month! I decided to assess our grocery budget (the largest expense that I am in charge of planning for in our house) and then lumped everything else together into an “other” category. The other category included things like eating out, gas, project supplies, stuff for kids etc. Of course we have our monthly bills that are unavoidable, so this post applies to groceries and “extras.”
Does anyone else find November & December to be hight cost months in their home? I decided to try these 5 ways to save money- and so far they’ve worked! So, I wanted to share them with you- perhaps they will spark a desire to assess how you spend- I know it was really interesting to respond to my “impulse buy” moments differently!
Although I am a relatively thrifty and frugal person already, I was determined to cut down our spending- and so I thought I would share my approach because- well- it worked! Here are 5 ways to save money, that are relatively simple!
Activate a Week Long Spending Freeze
You may have heard of a month long spending freeze- which in my opinion can be hard to do without some careful planning. So I chose something I could commit to immediately. A week long spending freeze. This doesn’t include monthly bills or food. Just the “everything else” category. Just say NO to spending anything for a week. And then maybe let it trickle into 2 weeks. (I am now finishing off 3 weeks!) I think it would be neat to incorporate a “no spend” week into each month.
Cook Your Freezer
We purchase an annual beef share, which means lots of different cuts that I don’t always know how to cook. If there is a sale on meat at the grocery store, we stock up or buy full chickens in bulk. I found we have quite the supply of meat in the freezer. I got into the habit of choosing whatever will thaw fastest, and seems easiest, which means food can get forgotten in the freezer. So I am making a point of cooking through our freezer, which helps with our weekly grocery budget too.
Don’t Eat Out, Meal Plan Instead
Are you seeing a theme? I know- it’s another food related one. We really don’t eat out much, but on the odd night Matt is working late and I am picking up my kids from swimming at supper hour- I am tempted to hit the drive through for some burgers ( usually A&W) just so I don’t have to cook.
While that’s not a horrible thing to do once and a while, because we all need a break sometimes, this month I am making a commitment to meal plan instead. Which means more money in our pocket, and eating all of our groceries instead of having things spoil in the fridge. I hate throwing away food that has gone bad.
Matt has also committed to packing lunches for work- something that we haven’t been good about planning for. Even though he eats relatively inexpensively considering- those savings add up!
Hit Pause on Monthly Auto-Orders, or Cancel them All Together
I buy Young Living Essential Oils as part of the monthly “Essential Rewards” auto Order and have for years. I have to admit I have built up quite a supply of my everyday oils- so I’ve decided to hit pause on that EO…
You might not have a monthly auto order like I do- but maybe its a magazine subscription that you can pick up from the library instead. Yep- the library has many popular magazines- and you can often request items via an inter-library loan. If you like design, I have found a bunch of good home and garden design books, for free, from the library.
Good Ol’Fashioned {Free} Family Fun
If you have kids, or even if you don’t there are tons of things to do that don’t cost a thing. For us, many of them have to do with outdoor activities. Going for a walk, sledding, skating or cross country skiing are some of our favorite outdoor activities. Family game nights with popcorn, or watching a movie at home are both fun things to do too! Look up some tutorials on youtube and sketch something… Curl up with a good book (from the library) There are a ton of free things to do that are entertaining for you and the whole fam 🙂
Saving Money doesn’t have to be hard, right? I find that once I am being more mindful of my spending, it becomes a great motivator to set goals and reach them. Maybe you need to get out of debt, pay down your house, or save for a big reno project or a vacation. Little steps like this add up.
I’d love to hear some of your money saving tips-
Miss Ash
We did a spending freeze in January and also assessed our grocery spending. I put a cease to auto orders such as a paper craft subscription box and my oils as well. Unfortunately, we did have some unexpected expenses that were not planned for but, I still feel good about our progress. We are also being more mindful about our spending going forward into February as well.
We had some unexpected expenses too- for a moment I felt discouraged- but then I realized it was nice that I was on a spending freeze- because those unexpected things didn’t hurt as much!