I've been thinking a lot lately about how to increase my savings rate and am actually succeeding some of the time (when not using the savings to augment my fabric and yarn stash). Today I picked up a copy of Money Sense magazine because it listed a bunch of ways to save $750 per month. A lot were common sense, many were good but it got me thinking about some that weren't mentioned. Here are 8 of my favourites.
1. Bring your lunch to work - in the food zoos where I work, when I buy lunch, I spend around $8 on average. Multiply that out and it costs almost $2,000 per year. Bringing my lunch has some other advantages - it is handy so when I'm crazy busy, I don't have to take time out to find lunch; it is generally lower in calories than food zoo fare and it generally tastes better. I try to mix things up by bringing sandwiches, salads or leftovers to heat up in the microwave. And when I do eat out, it is a treat which always makes it better.
2. Use the library. I used to buy books a lot. Depending on how much you read, the costs can really get out of control. And then there is the storage issue after you have read the book if you want to keep it. And what if you decide you don't like the book? You have to keep reading because it cost $10 and only reading 2 chapters is not very cost effective. If I don't like a library book, I just stop reading and start something else. Very satisfying.
3. Magazines that provide lists of ways to save money never suggest not buying magazines. Again, you can read the list at the library.
4. Hang clothes out to dry instead of using the dryer. This is one I'm not particularly good at. Since we try to do a lot of laundry during the week so we don't have to face it on the weekend, we tend to use the dryer a lot more than we should. But even a couple of loads a week hung outside reduces the cost of using the dryer and clothes hung outside smell nice.
5. Use coupons if the product is something you would normally buy. Lately the paper has had inserts from P&G with coupons for things I often buy. I also like the web coupon service save.ca. There isn't a ton of variety so I can't use it all of the time - it has resulted to my overflowing stock of whole wheat pasta!
6. If you have the space, grow veggies. We get a lot of produce from our garden. Last year was a more difficult growing season - heat and drought possibly - but the summer before I rarely bought veggies at the grocery store or farmers' market. Even if you don't have a lot of space, container vegetable growing is another way to go. You Grow Girl has a lot of ideas for growing veggies in small spaces. Veggie seeds are inexpensive compared to buying a plant that has already started and if you store them in a sealed container (I used ziplock bags), the remaining seeds can be used in subsequent years. My tomato seeds are 3 and more years old and I have seedlings growing happily in my basement again this year.
7. Where possible, make gifts. I make a lot of gifts and find baby gifts one of the most fun and inexpensive. For $30 in yarn, you can make a lovely sweater for a baby. That same $30 will get you a t-shirt at a baby store. There is no comparison in quality or beauty. The sweater is made from the heart and the mother always appreciates that.
8. Wait for the sales at the yarn and quilt shops - I am not very good at this one myself but most stores have a sale at least once a year so you can feel good about stocking up.
The best thing, none of these tips are painful. They don't change my life since they don't involve sacrifice, making them easier to stick to. Well, except for the last one.
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