More Ways to Save $200 – Extra Money for Your Family
Since saving money is one of my favorite past times, I thought I would share some more ways to save $200. Saving money usually doesn’t take much time. Be intentional and you’ll see how quickly you can save a lot of money in a short amount of time.
When you focus on saving money, you can do more with your life. By packing lunches for a while, you can save money and go out for a very special dinner with your spouse.
Spend less money on frivolous things and reduce your stress level by having more money in the bank.
How To Save Money:
Save Your Loose Change – One of my daughters has a big jar that she forces herself to put all her loose change into. She uses it as her travel fund but you could easily use this idea to help increase your savings account.
Focus on putting loose change away. You’ll be surprised how fast it piles up. When you have less dollars in your wallet, it will help you to spend less too.
Make Your Own Gifts – There are many easy ideas on Pinterest for making your own gifts. Many gifts require no talent or imagination and just require purchasing a few ingredients and little assembly. This can save lots of money over the year and provides unique gifts that people can’t get anywhere else.
Make sure you plan ahead for this though. Making gifts takes a bit more time so you don’t want to be scrambling at the last minute to get your gift made. Pick a couple items you like making that people enjoy receiving and work on them a little at a time all year. Then just stock those completed gifts so you have them on hand when you need them.
More Ideas to Save Money
Buy Clothes at Resale Shops and Garage Sales – When you buy an item of clothing new and wash it once, it looks like most of the items I see in resale shops at a fraction of the cost. Most cities have a good selection of quality clothing available at resale shops. Shop the ones in your area and keep going back to your favorites. You will save lots of money over the years.
There was a time that my teen girls hated this option, but they outgrew that quickly. They saw how many more items of clothing they could get from a garage sale than a clothing store. One Christmas they even asked to go pick out clothes from a resale shop instead of having me buy them new.
Use the Library instead of Buying Books – I have a friend that has 7 children and she reads to them many hours a day, yet she only has 1 bookshelf in her house. She gets almost all her books and videos from the library. This not only saves money but also saves storage space in a house. I love how little clutter she has in her home.
We homeschool, so we go through a lot of books. I’m always happy to use a book from the library and be able to return it and not have to store it in my house.
Food Costs
Eat Out Less – If you eat out 3 times a week, how about switching that to once or twice a week? However much you eat out, try reducing that a little bit each month. It will take a little planning on your part but can be a huge cost savings over a year. If you need help planning meals, check out my ebook Cooking from Your Cupboard for help with eating out less and eating at home more.
Besides saving money, eating at home is SO much better for your body. There are so many additives and chemicals in food these days. Not only will you save money, but you will probably save your health too when you eat at home more.
I hope these tips have been helpful to you. Want more ideas, check out my last blog post on Ways to Save $200. Feel free to check out more tips on my facebook page.
