I know I’ve been sharing lots of deals on products and stuff recently. I’m trying to stick with the best deals to help you save money on Christmas gifts and other things you might need to buy this season.
However, I thought that it’d be good to offset all these posts with a link to Simple Organized Living’s post on 10 Things We Don’t Spend Money On. I love how she shows how they are choosing not to spend money in areas, so that they can put their money where it matters to them.
What things do you not spend money on?
This might sound silly, and some places don’t allow it, but we share trash collection with three of our neighbors. We don’t have curbside recycle but we all take it to the collection bin once a month so after recycling, composting and general re-using we only have one bag of trash a month. So do the neighbors. The one neighbor pays the trash bill for a year (cheaper that way) and we split it three ways and all use the same can.
Also, our one thrift store has a half price day four times a year. Everything in the store is 50% off. It can be a bit crazy, but I always stock up on books (.25 cents each) and then donate them back when I am finished. The money from the thrift shop goes to local charities.
Don’t forget church rummage sales. The last one I went to had $1 a bag. I took my own reusable bag and FILLED it with kids clothes (think Gap and Gymboree), clothes for myself, books, shoes, and even new dishware for our home. All for $1. Church rummage sales or swaps are a great place to try for new to you items.
Glad to see so many other people are as frugal as me. My coworkers think I am crazy with some of the things I do (course they think I am crazy for not having CC debt too!).
I don’t pay for childcare. I am home 99.9% with my son who has Autism, and I prefer it that way. When my Husband and I do occasionally go out, we have a friend watch him for free.
Haircuts are something we do at home. My husband buzzes his own head and clips my son’s hair as well. I trim my own hair about twice a year.
I have not paid for a magazine subscription since I was 16 years old… Ten years now of being able to find them for free.
Family Outings- We find local free community activities and spend time as a family there, bringing our own food and drinks of course.
Clothing- I regularly have clothing swaps with friends and their children.
Bath/Beauty/Personal Products- I either make my own or play the drugstore game and come home with some awesome free things.
Date nights are done at home in a creative manner so as not to usurp the budget.
Umm, there is more, but I cannot think of it at the moment.
Love all the ideas you ladies are sharing though!!!
We go to the free events in our area. There is a university here and there are always plenty of free events. Also, we go to a lot of the parades. The universities dental college often hands out free toothbrushes and toothpaste at these. There are also A LOT of pencils handed out at these too! I try to sit next to a group with really young children or senior citizens. The parents of the younger kids usually do not want their pencils and the older generation usually do not want the dental items! So I rarely have to buy toothpaste, pencils or toothbrushes!
LOL! I was just talking about this with my inlaws…I made the comment that I never buy trash bags. I either use grocery store bags or my mother will often give me items she’s bought for the kids in trash bags, so I reuse those. They were teasing me and my hubby about being to cheap to buy trash bags! But I think I won in the end…they had bought everyone gifts, and what was mine? Trash bags! A box of 45 will go a long way around here!