Money Saving Talk

We all tend to buy enough meat that lasts for the weekly grocery list. Recently I did some experiment with buying meat in bulk and found that it saves more doing so. There are two reasons. First, bulk items including buying meat in large packages usually have lower per unit price. Large pack of chicken breasts are usually cheaper than smaller packages.

Also when you buy large packs, you freeze them and have a better plan how to prepare the family dinner menu. It’s a lot easier to plan meals when you have meat in the freezer instead of taking a quick trip to the grocery store to pick up a pack of meat. It’s always a good idea to keep extra meat in the freezer before your next grocery shopping so your fridge never goes empty. You will also save on gas if you always have extra food left in the fridge before the next shopping.

Many families start trimming their grocery bill before they think about other ways to save. For example, your electricity bills. The good thing about saving electricity is that you’re saving not only money, but also the environment.

Here are few simple tips that you can start right away:

1. Wash your clothes in cold water. You really don’t need warm or hot water for your clothes. Besides, shirts and under wears last longer if you don’t use hot water to wash them.
2. Turn off the lights whenever you go to bed, go to work, step out, or simply leave the room. You would think it saves very little. But if you have a 4-bedroom house, trust me, it adds up.
3. Change all the bulbs in the house into energy savings bulbs. You don’t have to change all of them today since it also adds up the costs. But only buy the energy efficient ones when you shop for light bulbs and switch over gradually.
4. Turn off the computers, TVs, and monitors.
5. Set your refrigerator temperature to medium or high temperature. You don’t really need to be that cold in the freezer.
6. Line try your clothes in sunny hot summer days.

If you think this will only save a little, surprisingly studies show that by making little changes, you can cut your bill by at least 25%. So if you’re paying $100/month now, expect to pay $75. That’s nice if you do that every month.

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Alcoholic beverages (including wine)

Blot spilled drinks promptly and sponge with cool water. This should remove most of the color, even if it has already dried. Rubbing alcohol or white wine may also work in a pinch, but they may affect fabric color. If clothing is washable, follow instructions for non-greasy stains.

Blood

First, soak or rub in cold water until stain is almost gone. Then, if fabric is washable, launder in warm water and detergent. On non-washable materials try a little borax or hydrogen peroxide to get the last traces out. Once blood stains set, they are difficult to remove, but a warm solution of trisodium phosphate will sometimes work on cotton or linen.

Coffee, tea

These are easier to remove if no cream was involved. Treat as non-greasy stain with cold water. If cream was involved, follow directions for combination stains, treating first with water, then detergent. A solvent may be necessary.

Egg

Never use hot water on an egg stain because it will set the stain. Scrape off as much as possible with a dull knife, then sponge or soak with cold water. Launder if possible.

Source: U.S. Department of Agriculture

You use natural and less-toxic household products whenever possible. It’s a great way to save money and save the environment.

Source: U.S. Department of Agriculture

I save money each week when buying fresh bread. My kids do not like bread unless it is fresh but as you know fresh doesn’t last long. I now buy the freshest bread available, but freeze half the loaf right away, that way I can pull out a ‘fresh’ loaf without having to go to the grocery store.

Long term planning is very important to save money on grocery. First you should make a list of complete grocery needs and then divide that list into your weekly, monthly and half yearly grocery needs.

After that break that list into two kinds of purchases i.e. Bulk purchases and weekly purchases. Always try to save maximum money on bulk purchases such as oil, cream, biscuits, etc. Also you should take care of various offers available in the store. You should various permutation and combination to gain maximum benefits from those offers. After some time based upon your experience, you will come to know how to select offers to get maximum savings.

Avoid doing shopping on weekend because on weekend there can be rush and you will not able to explore all the offerings of the store. Do not buy grocery on daily basis, because it increases spontaneous purchasing. Last but not the least you should prepare a proper list of your grocery needs before going for your grocery shopping. If you do not carry a proper list of grocery needs, then you will end up buying so many unnecessary things from the store.

1. If your grocer offers a club card, sign up for it. You will get better discounts.

2. Subscribe to your local newspaper and clip coupons. The coupon discounts will more than pay for the subscription over a year.

3. Many stores that offer Buy 1 Get 1 free specials do not require you to buy two in order to get the discount.

4. Subscribe to different grocer’s email specials. Then you’ll know if it’s worth the trip for a store you don’t normally shop at.

5. Frozen vegetables are cheaper than fresh and are usually frozen within hours of being picked.

6. When non-perishables are on special, stock up.

7. Don’t assume that giant box-stores are cheapest on every item. They’re not.

8. When buying paper products, divide the price by the square feet of product. That will give you a per unit price to use for comparisons.

9. Don’t assume a bigger size package is cheaper per ounce. Take a calculator with you and do the math.

One of the simplest ways to save money, and often achieve a healthier lifestyle is to cut back or eliminate personal vices. Do you really need that extra pack of cigarettes? Couldn’t you make through at least one weekend a month without buying a six pack of beer? If your personal vices tend to be illegal in nature, so much the better.

There’s plenty of money to be saved by for-going an ounce of marijuana. People tend to underestimate the amount of money they spend on their unhealthy habits. Perhaps they do not realize how much money they are spending because each outlay to indulge their vice is often relatively small.

If you are truly interested in saving money though, just take some time to do the math. For example, spending six dollars on a pack of cigarettes may not seem like much, but if you smoke a pack a day this amounts to forty two dollars. This comes to total of over two thousand dollars a year going up in smoke. By quitting your bad habits, not only will you save money directly, but you may be able to save money in other ways as well. For instance if you stop smoking, you may be eligible for cheaper health insurance rates.

Article by Neil A Bartlett

Neil Bartlett is the founder of CheapInsider.com. Cheap Insider provides everyone with Tips and Techniques for saving money and finding bargains. To learn more and INSTANTLY grab his FREE report “10 Money Saving Tips” go to http://www.cheapinsider.com/specialoffer