How have I already saved money for my family? We negotiated with our cable and internet provider to get the best rate. I leave this to the husband since he is so good at it! We also switched our home owners and car insurance. These three things alone should be looked at yearly and renegotiated to save your family money. A lot of times companies will raise your rates, with no apparent reason, and a lot of people just accept it, but you don'y have to. We also refinanced our car into a lower interest rate, which dropped our payments by $45 a month! When we bought our car, we took the high interest rate because we knew we were upside down in our old car loan (the truck we traded in for a more family friendly vehicle), and plus we were expecting baby #2 any day at that point.
I also trade my services for what I need. I watch a 3 year old one day a week, and instead of charging to watch her, I ask her mom to bring me extra paper goods, toiletries, etc. One less thing I have to buy! I also do the basics to save my family money; coupon, shop at consignment shops, shop the clearance racks, shop end of season sales, etc.
I also take additional steps to save our family money. I have the heat on the lowest comfortable setting right now (no, we're not freezing, we just wear long sleeve shirts and we're fine!), highest possible setting in the summer, I take advantage of Spring and Fall by not using the furnace or ac until we need to. I also do not turn on the lights in the house unless it is dark. The windows help bring in lots of sunlight which is just fine for us. We also invested in really, really good windows! Yeah, it was pricey to install all new windows, but we have saved so much on our heating and cooling bills. We also installed low flow faucets and shower heads to save water, and the cool spiral light bulbs (had three years have never burnt out!), which are well worth the investment.
I spend about 3 hours a day online writing articles and blog posts, doing homework, and......wait for it.....save money! The reward sites I use offer lots of different gift cards (including Amazon and Pay Pal). I collect them all year and then I a bunch of FREE money to spend on food, household needs, or Christmas shopping! When I do shop, unless I need to do it in store, I prefer online. I do this because I am enrolled in Upromise, so I get cash back to help pay off my husband's student loans, and for my kid's college funds!
Every step, no matter how small, that I have taken has saved my family money. Even with the pay cut my husband took to get his dream job, we have still managed to stay one step ahead.
I also trade my services for what I need. I watch a 3 year old one day a week, and instead of charging to watch her, I ask her mom to bring me extra paper goods, toiletries, etc. One less thing I have to buy! I also do the basics to save my family money; coupon, shop at consignment shops, shop the clearance racks, shop end of season sales, etc.
I also take additional steps to save our family money. I have the heat on the lowest comfortable setting right now (no, we're not freezing, we just wear long sleeve shirts and we're fine!), highest possible setting in the summer, I take advantage of Spring and Fall by not using the furnace or ac until we need to. I also do not turn on the lights in the house unless it is dark. The windows help bring in lots of sunlight which is just fine for us. We also invested in really, really good windows! Yeah, it was pricey to install all new windows, but we have saved so much on our heating and cooling bills. We also installed low flow faucets and shower heads to save water, and the cool spiral light bulbs (had three years have never burnt out!), which are well worth the investment.
I spend about 3 hours a day online writing articles and blog posts, doing homework, and......wait for it.....save money! The reward sites I use offer lots of different gift cards (including Amazon and Pay Pal). I collect them all year and then I a bunch of FREE money to spend on food, household needs, or Christmas shopping! When I do shop, unless I need to do it in store, I prefer online. I do this because I am enrolled in Upromise, so I get cash back to help pay off my husband's student loans, and for my kid's college funds!
Every step, no matter how small, that I have taken has saved my family money. Even with the pay cut my husband took to get his dream job, we have still managed to stay one step ahead.
What is your favorite way to save money?
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