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A Few Tips for Living on Less

When I made the decision to stay home with our first baby, it added some stress and challenges to our financials.  While I had been working full time, we were still struggling at times to make ends meet.. Now I felt I needed to stay home with our babies and this meant cutting our income in half.

Here's a few things I learned in order to keep our heads above water:

1. Don't be afraid of used.

On a super tight budget, #Goodwill and Yard sales are the BEST way to go for clothing, toys and household items.
Yard sales! Garage Sales!  Multiple choices less than $1!  LOVE THEM!
If you wait until a yard sale has been opened for awhile, you will get even better deals on already cheap stuff... At this point they just don't want to have to pack it all up.  This is when "Stuff your bag for a dollar" happens!  I can get a LOT of clothes in one grocery bag! :) 
Books $0.25 each???  My kids had lots and lots of books and I never, EVER, paid more than $2 for one!
Goodwill has one particular color of tag 50% off each day... my rule was to ONLY  buy the items of that color that day.  Pink tags 50% off?  Only buy those... This way I was buying cheaper items at an even bigger discount.

2. #Coupons!

There are plenty of websites to print off coupons and I have used these... the only problem I have found is, they use a lot of ink (expensive) and a lot of times don't scan correctly so you don't get the savings anyway.... They are still worth looking into though.  www.couponmom.com was the one I used the most. 
I also told anyone who got the paper that if they were going to toss their coupons, I'd take them. I ended up getting several this way.
Because of where we live Safeway is the only "local" (30 miles away) grocery store I have so its the one I use to load coupons on and deals.  The cool thing with Safeway's JUST4U program is it tracks what you buy each time you use your club card and then offers you personalized deals on what you purchase.  Add paper coupons and you can actually save quite a bit.
That being said... NOTHING compares to making the 95 mile trip into Spokane for a shopping trip to Winco!  Costco, Walmart, Target. etc CANNOT compete with Winco... trust me, I've compared.

3. Forget Name Brands

Seriously, when it comes to food especially, name brands don't do anything for you except take more of your money.
There are a few exceptions to this, laundry soap and specific dressings..... but for basic staples?  off brand works just as good and you save a few cents or dollars Each item! 
If you love dressing your children in name brand clothing, refer to #1.... I found tons of baby Gymboree, Childrens Place and Gap clothes at goodwill and garage sales.

4. DONT KEEP UP WITH THE "JONES"!!!

This is the MOST valuable lesson I've learned (still trying to learn) about living on less.  DON'T compare what you have with what others have!  Don't pressurize your household by having to keep up with your peers!   
I could be looking around my house, loving its cute, cottage feel, how it feels cozy, welcoming, homey and feel so thankful.  The next thing you know, I'd be at a large, gorgeous home, with my dream kitchen and new furniture that DOESNT have frayed edges... and think, "I should probably have this too, man!  my house is TINY!"
Basic human nature.... when we focus on what we DON'T HAVE, we don't see what we DO have!  Being content is an incredible thing AND its somehow easier to do with less... This need to always acquire more doesn't lead anywhere except deeper in debt.
Realize you have what you need, (probably a little more actually, this is America)  and don't put that pressure on yourself or your spouse to live up to others standards, this will save you TONS!

Thanks for reading this little Rambling.
I have more specific saving tips that I will share to those who comment on this blog!

Reenies Ramblings

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