How Do You Make Your Pennies Stretch?

ROFL....oh my, I misread your title! ((Well my son has been trying to since he was a toddler!))

Couponning doesn't work for me. Coupons are soooooo rarely on items I actually buy... I'm NOT saving money buying MORE stuff. Even when coupons come out... the item is usually STLL more expensive than what i pay for it.

I DO shop sales (we eat sale-ish-ly instead of seasonally) an I shop 5 different stores for the best prices. EX) Nearly every store locally milk is about $4 per half gallon. WholeFoods & TraderJoes have milk for less than HALF that... so I buy milk through them. Meats at either TJs or WFs are twice as expensive as the regular stores... so I buy meat through regular stores. Reg hottdogs = $5 per package. Turkey or chicken hotdogs = $1.50 per package. So I buy those. 50lb, 10lb, and 5lb sacks of potatoes, all codt the same in our area.

Turkey goes on sale over the holidays...11-33 cents per pound. Vs $6-8 per pound the rest of the year, and $10-12 per pound for lunchmeat. So I buy between 6 & 10 holiday turkeys and cook &/OR PROCESS (like grind)one every or every other month. Voila. Turkey burgers, lunchmeat, chili, sausage, etc.

Other money savers:
- no cable (netflix + hulu+ = 1/10th of basic cable)
- DIY almost everything (lowest fence bid = 4k. Total material cost? $550)
- no subscriptions (i can read news online for free)
- ALL personal expenses (like work lunches, or haircuts) come out of personal expense budgets ((my husband was buying *cheap* work lunches @ $10 per day. That's $400-$450 a month. He now has a personal budget at HALF that.))
- bussing to work (saves us $600 s month in parking and gas)
- etc

I've never used them, but I know people who get their food from angel food ministries and it helps their budget. They have a website where you can order food at a reduce cost and pick it up. Do you have an Aldi's or a Save-A-Lot in your area? They have good food prices especially canned foods. If you have a Kroger/Ralph's in your area they have the reward card which if you sign up, you can get store coupons mailed to you. I usually end up getting a dozen of free eggs every three months. What about a farmer's market or a fruit market in your area? They are usually cheaper than the grocery store for fruits and veggies. I get my coupons and circulars from the Sunday morning paper. I have found great deals on toiletries and certain foods using coupons at Walgreens or CVS. Walgreens usually has their store coupons, plus if you use the manufacture coupon, it's additional savings.

Cheap meals...here are some ideas. In my house, we eat alot of chicken and ground beef. We're not seafood eaters, so that saves us a bundle. I like hamburger helper or chicken helper in a pinch. Plus make a salad with that and it's a delicious meal. Spaghetti is also easy and inexpensive. If you like potatoes, make latkes or potato pancakes. Peel 6 medium size potatoes, grate them or puree them in a food processor along with a small onion, one egg beaten, one teaspoon salt, and 2 tablespoons of flour or pancake mix. Mix it all up until it forms a lumpy pancake-like batter. Scoop about 1/4 cup batter with a ladle, fry them like pancakes on vegetable oil, each side about 5-6 until brown and flip over until that side browns up. Eat them with sour cream or applesauce---very yummy, filling, and you get alot of pancakes. Store the leftovers in the fridge to eat the next day or two or freeze them in ziploc bags for later and microwave them later.

Hope this helps.

Cook all your meals at home. Cheap foods:
- whole chickens, dry beans, eggs, noodles, rice.
Have those be your base in your meals. I cook two chickens at a time in the oven and then use it in meals all week long. I got a cookbook where all recipes include cooked chicken. Most have a rice or noodle with them plus a vegetable too. Fav recipes I make include:
- chicken salad sandwiches
- fried rice
- stir fry
- salad with chicken on top
- enchiladas
- tacos

I let the ads decide what I'm goinng to make that week for dinner and lunch.
Shop at thrift stores. Shop the clearance asiles. Don't buy stuff you don't need.

Bttrfly:

Cut out or change cable, internet or satellite TV.
Cut the landline and go with cell phones only....check out other cell phone companies to see if you can get a better deal.

Turn off lights behind you.
Make a list of errands you have to do and do them in order instead of criss-crossing across town.
Make a menu for the week...it will help you shop smarter and help you use what you have in the house instead of wasting food.

Don't eat out. Make it fresh from home.
Pack a lunch for work... this is at least $50 a week for one person.
Don't do Starbucks...or Dunkin Donuts - this can save at least $25 a week for this.
Do laundry on specific days instead of every day.
If you have a cleaning service - cancel it...that's the hard one for me!! :)

Coupons sites:
Pillsbury.com
Generalmills.com
hotcouponworld.com

GOOD LUCK!!

Hook all your appliance up to a strip that has a shutoff button on it, totally saves on your power bill to shut off the strip.
What luxuries do you partake in? Cut them out if they arent necessary.
Eat to live, dont live to eat.

No ideas, but Jo W and Riley, I misread this title too!!! I was like hmmmm..... hahahaha!

We live on a pretty tight budget and actually manage to save while not making a ton of money. We've made gradual changes over time, so doing this all at once may seem like a lot. We do not have cable or a home land line. We have an internet only package, which is $35 a month. We have an antena that gets all of our local channels and we watch TV online sometimes or check out movies from the library (although we aren't big TV watchers anyway). Our cell phones are basic, no smart phones, and this saves us $60 a month.

As far as food goes it is important to me to have quality food and mostly organic, which is not cheap. In order to save money we eat locally and in season. I buy most of our non-perishables at Whole Foods by the case, which saves me 10%. We also joined a CSA, where we pay for all of our produce at the beginning of the season and they deliver organic produce to us each week. This is a big chunk of money up front, but overall it costs us less. I also buy dried beans and we don't eat meat, so that's a big money saver as well. I spent a little time pricing things at various places, so now I know which stores have which items for less money and I rotate through which one I go to each week and stock up on things I need.

I also buy my son's clothes in advance of when he needs them in the clearance section. I'm also not above hand me downs and we've been lucky enough to have generous friends who have passed things along to us.

I rarely use grocery coupons because they are usually on name brands and generic will still be cheaper. Not in every case, but I work full time, so I factor in my time wasted. I stock up on door busters. We have 5 grocery stores within a few blocks of each other, so, if one has an unbelievable sale on something, I just go stock up on that. I look at the grocery ads side by side and make a plan of attack. I also go to managers special and day old section 1st. I plan meals based around what's marked down that day.

I only shop at stores like Kohls when they are offering a discount. I never pay retail for any merchandise. Always check the clearance isles.

Angel Food ministry was an amazing program but sadly ten days ago it folded. So that option is gone.
I make most things from scratch and that helps a lot.
We also added in a meatless option once a week. Black bean burgers and chickpea patties have both been huge hits for us. I did huge chicken dinner saturday that fed all 6 of us. Soup today from it covered dinner for 4 and lunch for the next day or two. I will also freeze a lunch as well.
My bill is high, but we eat really good. I make gourmet level meals so by comparision it is low i am sure