Sushi Money

Okay, let’s be honest. How many of us have little quirks or habits that we use to save money? I was thinking about this the other day while doing a cost-benefit analysis in my head over some purchase. Then I realized I do this everyday almost unconsciously. So I began to wonder- how “normal” is it to think of saving money in various ways as a routine habit or way of life? After all, many of our friends and acquaintances enjoy spending money and living like there’s no tomorrow.

For those of us interested in personal finance and growing our wealth, does frugality just naturally go along with our goals? Or is something we pursue and challenge ourselves about? Somehow I believe we develop our own financial knowledge and strategies because it meets the values that are important to us. And how many of us wish we learned these values, or lessons, at a far earlier time in our lives?

But do you know any people who don’t even seem to care about saving money? I’m not sure I could go that far, it’s more likely that some people are just not aware of why it’s so important, or that they are spending much more of their income than they should.

So after I thought about it a while, I realized I do a lot of things to try and save money. I say “try” because I may not always be saving money, but just believe I am. And I have various habits or quirks that to try and find ways to become more efficient financially. Maybe it’s a disease… the same one that had me running around changing lightbulbs the other day after realizing I didn’t finish all the bulbs in the house last year. By my accounting, it saves us $5-$10 a month on our electricity bill.

So here’s my short list of strategies for saving money at home. These are things I do, or we focus on as a family:

1. Installed and use programmable thermostats for the house… but I still fiddle with the thermostats everyday to optimize the settings if we don’t need the heat or cooling. I even shut doors/vents to rooms that we don’t use, and are colder in winter, and circulate the fans where possible in living spaces.
2. Installed 40 compact flourescent lightbulbs instead of using the traditional incandescent bulbs throughout the house.
3. When putting gas in the car I hold the pump hose up to drain as much gas out of the line as possible… if it’s possible!?
4. Try not to drive excessively fast, but try and maintain constant speeds (a little higher than Grandpa..), and I coast as much as possible, especially going downhill and between stoplights. Also saves on brake wear.
5. Try not to shop for groceries when we’re hungry. I’ve proven that I’ll buy all kinds of useless junk if I’m hungry! We use coupons if it fits our lifestyle, but don’t clip that many. We minimize junk foods, and pre-packaged processed meals.
6. Pay bills online for free instead of using stamps and checks if possible.
7. If we go out for fast food, I’ll order from the value or dollar menu, and often order water instead of soda. But in general we eat out a lot less these days. We splurge on dining out once or twice a month at a decent restaurant.
8. We buy groceries and dry goods in bulk where possible, especially if the item is on sale.
9. Make our own coffee in the morning; having coffee out is a rare treat.
10. Prepare brown bag lunches for work/school, instead of eating out.
11. Eat and stay healthy… avoid the doctor and look for alternative health ideas for common ailments.
12. Use the library for books and videos. Find free recreation and activities for the kids.
13. Use the least expensive cell phone, land-line telephone and internet service plans as possible. But we do have broadband internet- it makes life so much more pleasant. We also keep land-line telephone service because we live in a semi-rural area and it works during electricity outages, or else we’d ditch that too.
14. Avoid bank and credit card fees in all ways possible. Find another bank if the current one charges too many fees.
15. Cut the kids hair at home. Pets are also bathed and groomed at home. Not that kids and pets are the same mind you…
16. Carefully research larger purchases (greater than $50-$100). When ready to buy, we purchase quality items that will last. Often we’ll shop online after finding a lower price, and save on taxes as well.
17. Pay off credit cards each month unless financing a temporary item at very low rates, or 0%. Don’t carry a balance.
18. Do most of our cleaning, landscaping and auto maintenance needs at home when possible.
19. Grow a garden to eat our own vegetables.
20. Don’t shop for more clothing and shoes than absolutely necessary, and purchase items on sale.

Oh… one more I just realized. Use the same old computer until I can’t stand it anymore! I’m typing on my second laptop- the first lasted almost three years. This one has just passed two years and still going strong, but I would really like to get a bigger desktop… some day.

So what things do you do to save money? I’m sure there’s a lot more… does this seem normal to you, or do you live carefree and not worry about it? I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to do that…

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