Don't really know what has spurred this post, but lately I have been doing a lot of investigation into our money and savings and am paranoid we'll end up broke some day! Just to add to my paranoia there was a cover story on Yahoo yesterday that $1 million is no longer enough to have saved for retirement for the coming generations and we need over $3 million....that just seems nearly impossible for me to fathom that we can save that much! Here are my latest startegies for us to save some money, so maybe this will help others too:
1) Use Restaurants.com or local tv/radio stations for half-price gift certificates. We go out to eat A LOT, so by using coupons from these places you can save quite a bit. Restaurants.com sells gift certs for a fraction of the price, but there are stipulations on when you can use it and what for, etc. Anyways, if you enter coupon code ZOO, you get 80% off the sale price (valid through 3/31). I got $160 worth of gift certs tonight for $13.80!!!!!!! And with the nice weather, they are all to places that will be going so we can sit outside and enjoy a nice dinner.
2) I use makeup remover towelettes cause are so convenient and seem to go through them like crazy and they seem rather expensive....considering I could just use some soap and water for a fraction of the price! So I started taking the towels and cutting them all in half, so now they last twice as long!
3) We NEVER use coupons when grocery shopping...really the only thing I'll use a coupon for is for clothing stores or Michael's or Bed Bath Beyond. A friend gave me this website that has direct links to some coupons and deals, so I am going to give it a try and see if I find stuff here to save some money on our usual shopping. The site is www.savingmoneyinmissouri.com
4) Take time out to review things you subscribe to and figure out if you really still use it enough to get the value out of it. For example, we have cell phone plans and netflix. With both of these, I looked at some of the cheaper plans offered and based on what we use, I think we could use the cheaper plans and it really wouldn't even affect us. I think a lot of people probably subscribe to higher levels of service than they really use if you take a close look. The hard part on this is convincing dustin though, even though I have numbers to support it!
5) Another website I need to get in the habit of using is www.groupon.com. They will have a cheap deal for your city and if enough people sign up for it, then you all get the deal! Check it out and see if they have in your area! If you decide to create an account, please use my link cause I get referral money after you make a purchase! http://www.groupon.com/r/uu1462625
