Changes We Have Made

Just a quick list of things we have done this year to help save money:

We cancelled our satellite tv service and now just use the converter box we got when everything went digital a few years ago.

We returned the truck we bought last year, we got it from a buy here pay here type place so it will not be reflected on our credit.  Yes, that is $7000 paid on it that we will never get back, but we still had a year an a half to pay $100 a week on it and we just really need that money elsewhere right now, not to mention the insurance costs on that thing.  We had a 3rd car that was just sitting in the garage collecting dust so we are putting tags on that.  The car and my van were both cash purchases so now we will have no car payment at all.

I plan out a weeks worth of meals and make my grocery list accordingly.  I stick to my list and don’t buy anything that is not on the list unless it is a really awesome deal.  I try not to go to the store between my weekly trips.  Next time I go, I will post my meal plan and list as well as what the final bill is.

I do a lot of my grocery shopping at Aldi and save tons that way.

I stock up on meat when it goes on sale at the store and I have the extra cash to do so.  I recently bought 20 packs of boneless, skinless chicken breast at Kroger for $1.69 a lb. 

At the grocery store when there is a 10 for $10 deal  or  2 for the price of one,  even if you only purchase 1 of the item you still get the sale price.  With my large family, I usually buy more than 10 though, lol, especially when the spaghetti sauce goes on the 10 for $10 deal at Kroger.

I buy almost all my food store brand because it is still cheaper than if I had coupons for the name brand stuff and it tastes just as good.  The only thing I am snobby about is mac and cheese, that has to be Kraft.

I bake cookies and cakes, it is much cheaper than buying them prepackaged.  My favorite new thing is cake mix cookies.  1 box of cake mix, 2 eggs, 1/2 cup oil.  I found Duncan  Hines cake mix at Target for 89 cents a box!

When I can’t get a good deal on fresh veggies I buy frozen.  It just tastes better than canned and 1 bag of frozen veggies costs about $1 and is good for 1 dinner for my family.  If I buy canned, I have to buy 2 cans for 1 meal and at 65 cents a can, I saved 30 cents per meal.

I buy things like lotion, toilet paper, soap, shampoo, batteries, etc. at the Dollar Tree, although I have recently stopped buying shampoo at all and we invested in rechargeable batteries as well.

I wash all my clothes in cold water to help save on the gas bill.

We hand wash dishes, it saves us on our water bill.

We turn off the water when we brush our teeth. 

We bathe the younger kids together 2 at a time and every other day.  My husband, myself, and the 2 oldest kids take a shower every other day and we try to keep it under 5 minutes each.

We participate in clothing swaps for the children.

We don't eat out very often and usually only if we have a good coupon or someone has given us a gift card.

We do not have a house phone and we got rid of the expensive monthly cell plan we had.  I was paying an extra $35 for each of us to have the data package on our phones.  Our bill was up to almost $300 a month!  We now have our phones through a prepaid service and we pay a total of $100 a month and we still have the fancy phones with internet.  Although, we are looking into the Magic Jack but have not made a decision yet.

In the summer we kept our AC set at 76 and now that it is cool out we keep the heat set at 74.  Thats really good for us since last year my husband kept it up to 78 and sometimes 80.  The bill was insane!  It is much more affordable this year.  I think the most often recommended temps are 80 in the summer and 68 in the winter.  Those are too extreme for us :)

I do not use paper towels or paper plates.

We use ripped or stained clothing that can’t be saved for rags to clean with or for my husband to use in the garage (he works on cars in his spare time)

My husband does all our car maintenance and repairs.

We keep all the lights off in the house unless we are eating, reading, or doing homework, even in the evening.

We use those energy efficient light bulbs that seem to last forever. 

We unplug anything that is not in use,  especially phone chargers.  I also keep the  toaster, blender, can opener, etc. unplugged when I’m not using them.  

We use rechargeable batteries.

We sleep the computer when not in use.


My husband quit smoking.  That saved us $5 a day!