Saving money is something that I believe almost every American wants to do at this point in time. In the following paragraphs, I will talk about 10 Ways (that maybe you haven’t thought of) to save money.
Stop buying new!
We are in a point in time where it’s actually a fad to “thrift,” especially with the younger generation. My thoughts are when shopping at these places are that someone liked it enough to buy it once, so maybe it’s good enough to buy again. It’s better for your bank account than paying full price. Goodwill is a great place to enjoy buying second hand items at a great price. Click here to experience Goodwill online or find a store!
Go to Garage Sales!
Also, check out garage sales. If you find a good one, you can really rack up the savings. They are especially good for getting children’s clothes. Kid’s outgrow clothing so quickly, this is your best bet to save.
Buy from SHEIN
This may be frowned upon supporting a non-American company, but SHEIN typically has some pretty decent deals. Also, unfortunately, momma likes to eat.
So, I’m between an XL and 3X, depending on the fit or brand. Sometimes just finding a size to fit in a store doesn’t happen for me. SHEIN allows you to put in your weight, height, and how loose you prefer it. I have honestly had really good luck finding dresses and shirts to fit me.
Above is a photo that shows one of the dresses that I’m talking about. It was like $10, fits my body type well, and seems to be made of fairly good quality material. Now, I say fairly good quality— I’m comparing quality to Marshall’s or Ross stores— not high end. But for my needs, this quality is perfect. As I’ve mentioned before, I’m a school teacher and mother— I’m VERY likely to mess up my clothes, especially if I’m TRYING to keep it nice. 🤣
So, at this point in the game, there is no sense in me spending a lot on clothing items. That being said, because of my arches and previous injuries while running in high school many moons ago, I do believe in spending money on quality shoes. I have gotten plenty of running shoes from Goodwill or thrifting because I knew the brand. I never pay more than $15 for used name brand unless you can tell they have maybe been worn once.
Don’t Sacrifice Your Body for Poor Quality Shoes
When I say I would be willing to spend decent money on good running shoes, I mean it. When I was younger, 7th-9th grade Mom and Dad had very little money. Therefore, the running shoes I got were poor quality. Back then, $40 was a lot for a pair of shoes only to be worn an hour to an hour and a half per day for a few months.
However, because of my size (130-150 lbs at the time vs. 110-125 lbs) for a runner, pronation, and poor quality shoes I developed shin splints. I know, this isn’t like breaking your leg, but the effects from this still bother me. If I’m on my feet all day without proper tennis shoes, it’ll burn like fire. I’m on my feet from when I roll out of bed until I roll back into bed day in and day out, but that’s why I typically wear running shoes ALL the time.
I know it’s not always cute, but necessary so I’m not in pain during or at the end of the day. Thankfully, tennis shoes are now acceptable attire to put with dresses and dress clothes for work. My go to shoes are Brooks and ASICS, but my next pair will be Hoka shoes.
My parents wear them (they have terrible arches), so I tried my mom’s on. They feel like I’m walking on air. If you walk on gravel or trails, you can’t feel it. It was amazing. Needless to say, the next pair I actually purchase new will be that brand.
Keep that Older Vehicle!
Yes, I know, that older car may be just a little unsightly. It may even smell a little (it’s hard to get spilled milk smell out no matter what you do). However, if she is paid off she looks a lot prettier to you. 😂 If you do need to purchase a new to you vehicle, consider gently used vehicles.
With the current interest rates, I’m pretty confident I will keep my girl until she’s paid off. I haven’t had a paid off vehicle since 2016, and boy does it seem like such a promising prospect to get one again. Even though my payment is only $350, that’s $350 I’ll be saving per month when it is paid off.
Will she have a lot of miles— yes, but I’m not super worried because I have AAA. Several years ago I got AAA and used it twice in a 6 month period. It honestly paid for several years of payments toward AAA in what I would have had to pay for those two tows. All in all, keeping your old vehicle will save you money.
If You Have to Purchase, Purchase Preowned
For our growing family (and I mean growing kiddos), we will have to upgrade soon after paying my Edge off. My son will most likely be taller than me in the next 2-3 years, and so we will probably need to get a bigger vehicle because of the kids shear size.
If I didn’t mention before, my husband is 6’5” flat footed, so my babies will most likely be tall. Neither one of us have a small frame either (even if we lost a ton of weight like we want to) we will still be thicker framed people, unfortunately. My siblings are thin, and are still 20-25 lbs heavier than what they look. Sadly, we are just thick and heavy framed.
The vehicle I would like would be a Ford F-150 (they have a lot of leg room in the back). How do I know this? My husband can sit comfortably in the back seat. I can too. On road trips with my husband’s family, I’m obviously the shortest one— so I get stuck in the back 😢.
If you do need a new vehicle, check out the new vehicles that are significantly marked down because the newer models are fixing to come out. Also, try not to add your previous vehicle note onto your new loan. This will greatly increase the payment amount per month.
Do Updates and Home Projects Yourself!
As interest rates have increased from 2020, from those 2.5%’s to now 7+%’s many have decided to stay in their starter homes and make them their forever homes because of affordability.
In order to make this work for growing families you may need to make updates or upgrades to your home. Now I’m not saying that you need to build everything on your own, but doing DIY, doable projects on your own can be a way to save money.
I’m talking about things like painting- yes, it can be a major pain in the behind to paint. It can be tedious. But, with a small investment, you can probably save $1,000 or more painting yourself vs hiring it out.
DIY Painting!
Depending on how high whatever you are painting is you may need to invest in a ladder or two, acetone or good paint thinner, paint brushes (I get mine from dollar tree. They are the same brushes they have at Walmart, only Dollar Tree is $1.25 per brush versus a little over $5 per brush.), paint, a taping knife or edge paint shield and maybe disposable gloves or food handling gloves.
I have used both types of gloves. The food handling gloves aren’t as form fitting, which worked out for me, because my hands were sweating like crazy. So, they were easier to get my hand into. The downside is that they may get paint on them as they are much larger on your hands. This could spread paint to unwanted places. You can try both to see what works best for you. The good thing about buying items like gloves, is that normally storing them doesn’t hurt them.
If you are handling latex paint, I would say skip the gloves, but oil-based is so much harder to get off the skin without using strong chemicals.
This is our carport before I painted it. It took a couple gallons of Rustoleum paint and several paint brushes from Dollar Tree to paint complete.
We painted it black to match the color scheme of our house which is white board and batten.
Buy Unprepared Produce!
Buy produce that isn’t prepared to eat. For example, buy a watermelon and cut it instead of purchasing pre-cut. This will take more time, and you will need to prepare for this to take a considerable chunk of time out of your day. So, this may not be ideal for super busy parents, but if you want to eat healthier this may be your most frugal option.
A watermelon from HEB can cost between $3 on sale (individual) and $7(large) But prepared watermelon ranges from just over $5 to $10. It may not be a huge savings, but it’s definitely something especially if you eat a lot of produce.
Use Washable Rags Instead of Paper Towels!
While cleaning, use rags instead of paper towels. A few years ago, during Black Friday at Walmart, I purchased several packs of the $1.25 white rags for cleaning. I wanted something you could bleach and be rough on. Click here for cheap, white cleaning rags from Walmart.
So, I use these rags to clean my counter tops instead of disinfecting wipes to save money. Now, I DO NOT use these rags on the toilet🤢. I will use bleach spray (that I made or off brand Clorox Cleanup) and paper towels and throw them away. Sam’s sells a great paper towel. Click here for the link! I just can’t bring myself to use a reusable rag on toilets.
Click here for the bleach cleaner link!
Also, instead of using paper towels to dry your hands after washing them use a towel. They are washable and reusable. Water is also a renewable resource, so it is at least not headed straight into a landfill. My biggest pet peeve used to be purchasing toilet paper, paper towels, and paper plates , because they are literally going straight into the trash. I would literally feel like just imagine throwing cash into the trash can.
Remodel Play Equipment (If Possible) for Your Own Children!
We bought this playscape off of a lady at my work. She said she wanted it to go to a good home and for kids to get use out of it. I bought it for $125. New it was worth between $2,500-$3,000 as it’s a Rainbow Play Systems. My husband and father-in-law, moved it, supported it, and power washed it.
My husband re-built the rock climbing wall on the left, and added half of another swing set to the right.
I took all of the swings and soaked them in a 5 gallon bucket of water with bleach. They came out almost perfect. I then stained the majority of the swing set and my hubby replaced the top canvas.
Eventually, my husband will replace the 2 x 4 legs on the far right with 4 x 4 posts to help stabilize (and make it look more uniform) for our growing kids. We also still need to replace the yellow rope as well. It’s not perfect but we have more projects that have taken precedence over this one to get to.
Do Your Own Landscaping!
To his is a small portion of the front before our DIY landscaping. Of course, if you don’t have a shovel and a pick axe, you may have to purchase or borrow these tools before you begin. I purchased mine from Harbor Freight in town. Click here for an affordable shovel from Walmart.com
The stones came from Home Depot as our small Walmart and McCoy’s didn’t have quite what we were looking for. So, I made the trip to get the rock, mulch, and some flowers.
Click here for the stone edging that we bought from Home Depot!
I did actually get the flowers from a local nursery, and they are still living, thriving even. The red mulch came from Walmart— they even had a few clearance bags that were slightly torn for $1.
My husband used the pick axe to make sure the tops were fairly even and laid them out. I then planted the flowers and added the mulch. For under $100 we completed our landscaping in front of the house.
Click here for an affordable Walmart pick axe!
Do Your Own Vehicle Maintenance!
My husband has saved us several hundred dollars, even thousands fixing minor problems on our vehicles. The last time we purchased brake pads/shoes for our vehicles they were roughly $65-$80, while a brake job may well go for $300-$400 because of labor. Click here to DIY your brakes for under $100.
Click here for O’Reilly’s brake pads!
If you happen to have the equipment and tools to do so, and storage to store them, this would be a great way to save a little money. He has also changed minor sensors and other miscellaneous things on our aging vehicles. Now, if it comes to major mechanical issues, he leaves that to the professionals who have the knowledge and equipment to fix it.