Frugal tips
Always check around the grocery store for better priced items!.
Grocery stores often have things in multiple places in the store. It doesn't hurt to search around to find the best priceI was in the grocery store the other day looking for coconut milk. This can be quiet expensive if you don't look around. In the health food section they had some for $4. I went to the international foods section, there was a couple cans that were priced at $3 per can. I checked the baking aisle and low and behold they had some on sale for $0.99!This happened to me with curry spices too! I looked in the regular spice section and a small bag of curry spice was $3. I searched in the Indian food section and a huge bag was $3. I got so much more for the same price!
Take an online defensive driving course to lower car insurance costs.
It varies by state, but in the state of New York you can get a 10% discount by taking an online defensive driving course. The courses are around $30 and take about 6 hours to complete. Once completed, this discount will be applied for the next 3 years and you can keep taking the course again to renew the discount for another 3 years.If you typically spend $1000 a year on car insurance, you could be saving $100 a year!
Ditch the bleach, and use bluing!.
This nearly-forgotten anachronism from the Victorian era works great, and, over the long run, is much cheaper than bleach! Plus, it doesn't eat your clothes like bleach does. You don't need to use more than a few drops per load, and your whites will come out sparkling white.Bluing in the States is called Mrs. Stewart's Bluing. Your local supermarket will probably carry it; it usually sits--naturally enough--right next to the bleach.Just follow the directions, and you'll save money over the long run.
If you don't need it, don't own a printer. I print event tickets, directions, etc. all at work.
Clean out your "empty" product containers with a spatula.
You'd be surprised at how much peanut butter, etc. is stuck to the sides of an "empty" jar. You can usually recover a tbsp or two by cleaning out the jar with a spatula. Doesn't save a huge amount of money but why be wasteful?
Get bonus cash back in additional categories!.
So this just occurred to me this weekend before I went grocery shopping. I have a credit card that has quarterly 5% cash back category, which this quarter is grocery stores. My local grocery store is Publix, and if you weren't already aware, they periodically run a coupon for $10 off the purchase of a $50 gas card with every $50 grocery purchase. Since I consider gas an inevitable purchase, I always take advantage of the opportunity and do my grocery shopping when they run the coupon. So this weekend I bought ~$100 of groceries, which got me $100 worth of gas prepaid at $80, AND I got 5% cash back on it all!
Gas up at Costco and pay with a credit card that rewards you with 5% cash back for maximum savings at the pump.
I gas up at Costco (currently $0.25 cheaper than other stations near me) and use my CC that gives me 5% cash back at gas stations. This saves me almost $6 each time I fill up. I work outside sales and gas up weekly so this saves our family about $40/month. Note: Obviously this trick is ideal for those who live near a Costco. Driving out of your way to get to Costco could eliminate most of your savings.
For guys (and gals) that like their hair short, cut it yourself!.
Invest in a relatively nice set of clippers and they will last you several years and save you from paying for any haircut.
Turn your jeans inside out to prevent fading.
Have a look at the colour of the inside of your jeans versus the outside. If you don't already invert them in the wash the outside will be more faded than the inside. Also applies to other trousers.
If you can do the digging before calling the plumber it will save you money.
Title says it. You need to do the opportunity cost analysis of whether it's worth your time to dig the hole vs. Paying someone else, but if you're short on money and long on time and need to get a plumber out for some outdoor/underground repairs, digging down to the pipes yourself will save you a good chunk of change. Source: this just happened to me and I paid way less than I thought I would. Also, if I ran into the same problem again, I probably wouldn't dig the hole myself (opportunity cost is probably out of whack for me), but I'm glad I did it this time because now I know more about the plumbing at my house.