7 money saving tips

 

Who doesn’t love to save some money? I have been jotting down some money-saving tips throughout the year that I wanted to share:

 

7. Don’t want to drop thousands on a mattress? Buy a less expensive firm mattress for good support and then buy a good memory foam topper -- this is similar to the one we love from Costco.

I shared this tip for keeping the topper in place!

 

6. Clean out your fridge and freezer before going to the grocery store to see what you need to use. Then make a shopping list that will get you through the week/2 weeks/month, whatever works best for your family. I was so bad about this over the summer and was going to the store almost every day and spending WAY too much. It’s worth the 1/2 hr-45 minutes to do a quick clean out & inventory and plan for the week and makes much less waste.

 

5. Take advantage of store savings! I was cursing Walmart because they didn’t have the receipt look-up like other stores do and I despise keeping paper receipts. My sister told me about their Savings Catcher – basically, you download the app and you can quickly scan the code at the bottom of the receipt after you checkout and it stores the receipt in their database so you can throw the paper one away PLUS if they find a better deal at a local store on any of the items you purchased, you get the difference!

 

I’ve already earned over $10 since I began a few months ago, then you can use it like a gift card on your purchases at the store or online.

 

- I also LOVE the Target Red Debit Card. This is a DEBIT card, not a credit card so it comes right out of your savings or checking account, no getting a big statement from your Target fling a month later. No fees, you save 5% on every purchase in-store or online, you get free shipping on every order, 30 extra days for returns.

 

 

4.  Freebies for good grades! Check around your area. I know Krispy Kreme offers a free donut for every A (or A equivalent), what a fun outing at the end of each term.

 

3. Use Camel Camel Camel  -- I often get asked how I know something is a lowest price on CME + Deals every week and this is what I use! Let’s say I saw LEGO Poe’s X-Wing Fighter at Costco last week for $70 (which I did!)  and I wanted to know if that was a good deal. I find the product on Amazon, paste it into Camel Camel Camel and it will show me that the lowest it has been on Amazon is $67.95 and right now it’s 67.99 so yes, it’s a great deal. So then you can decide if you want to get it at Costco right now or order it on Amazon.

 

 

PLUS, you can set a price watch ^^ on it so you will get an email if it gets down to the price you want and you can jump on it quickly.

 

2. Haircuts! A good haircut around here runs $30-$40. I’ve found that you can save money by going to a less expensive chain salon in between cuts – check the reviews on Google to get good person at the salon, look at how they do their own hair!, and tell them you just want a trim and to follow the lines of what you normally have done. Most people get haircuts 7-8 times per year, so if you went to a cheap salon for 4 of those times for a $10 haircut you would save at least $100.

 

1. Check your auto & home insurance! If you have been with your carrier for more than a year or two, have they raised your rates? Usually companies give great introductory rates  and it is so worth the hour to  call around/ search online and make sure you are getting the best rate every few years. Make sure you are getting all of the discounts with your employer, safe driver, home bundle discount, etc. You can save $50-$100/month by doing this.

 

What are your best money-saving tips? We’d love to hear!