HRGuru

So my salary used to seem to cover enough but with prices rising on everything I am starting to notice the toll on my bottom line. Any good tips on saving money right now?

I saw on the Today show a clip about saving money at the grocery store. One thing they said to do was buy all your groceries at the beginning of the week to cover the entire week rather than going a couple times a week. I am trying it for the rest of this week and so far so good.

Also, I've been taking my lunch to work this week and that seems to save a TON of money!

Here's a couple I thought of:

-Get books from your public library even over a used book store.

-Entertain yourself with free community events, festivals, outdoor movies, etc.

-Buy your staples from the store manufactured brand instead of a mainstream ones.

-Get makeup samples from the department store counters to put off the time between needing to buy them.

-Cut out coupons from your Sunday paper for stuff you actually NEED (not just stuff that you'll figure you'll buy cause you have a coupon.)

Bshields, that's a great strategy, I may steal your idea!

 tapan, you're too funny!

Here is an article I posted on my personal blog, which I will not spam, so I just copied and pasted the article!

Portion Size Savings

  Raising gas prices, rising food cost, and stagnant wages are thinning everyone’s bank accounts these days. There is a way however to accomplish lowering food cost, and as a benefit you may see a shrinking waist as well. One of the things I noticed that drove our food bill up each month is when we cook, or snack no one ever ate the suggested portion size listed on the food nutrition label.

In addition to my diet journey, I also started buying healthier foods and noticed that healthy foods cost WAY more than unhealthy foods. This could have been why the jump in the food bill was so large, because in order to get the same quantity of food you buy more food than before. So, I started watching what I ate in accordance with the portion size listed on the labels. I asked everyone in the family to do the same and I noticed a couple things. Not only was the food bill shrinking, but out waistlines are too! By eating just the portion size we were obviously also consuming less calories, which equals a smaller waist line. This is most easily accomplished at breakfast and lunch, but dinner is a bit trickier.

To get started you need to first look at your nutrition label. Here is a sample one:

Notice the Portion Size. Also pay attention to the nutrition contents, this is the easiest way to count calories for those who do this to control their weight. Remember, calorie counts don’t need to be exact, as long as you average the right amount daily. The next part is the tricky part for some foods. For out of box ready to eat foods it is easy to eat the portion size, however for foods like soups, vegetables, fruits, and other such items you will need to measure your food. It’s a pain the first few weeks, but after a while you can eyeball the right amounts of what you eat. The measuring part is usually needed the most at dinner time when you prepare foods that probably contain more servings than it takes to feed. This lends to over eating. The best thing to do is measure out what you need, and store the rest for later that week.

Doing this your food will stretch further, your grocery cost will go down, and if your eating the right things your waist will start to shrink. I can already see a $200 reduction in food cost over the past few months. Take that money and save it since your used to spending it anyway, and you can watch your savings account grow or get some good investments going.

Hope this little idea helps everyone, it has certainly helped out here, and is a great way to kill to birds with one stone.

Hard works pay . Psychologist I agree as far is your write up is concerned .  But frankly speaking  ,I will not follow . Because I dont want to be  like the formula of math 2+2= 4. Let there be some thrill ,joy ,sorrows,triumphs ,defeat and victory

DJP I agree . growing plants or vegetable is rather  a happiness rather than savings or earnings.

Buying produce in the grocery store now days is expensive, and most of the produce has been sprayed with a lot of different chemicals.   The money you saved is a lot more then you realized.  How much would you have to earned to have the amount you saved after taxes?  Plus your home where you can spend time with your family.  Great health benefits in getting all the excerise working in the garden.   If your a person who finds theirself  getting bogged  down with stress,  I think you have a lot less when you do those kinds of things at home.  Of course I live in the country where I have room to do things like a garden.  Recently our remodel included a porch wrapping around the home and I now have a place to sit down and enjoy apples I grow while I read a book.  Take time to enjoy life.  Help fill the world with smiling faces, "SMILE."

Sorry I did not mean getting stressed out working in gardens, but a lot of people for some reason are highly stressed all the time.  Working in a garden or around the house helps to reduce that stress.  For some reason I don't have stress, and I am very happy about that.  Yes, Farmers markets are very good, and their products are better for you then the grocery stores.  You can still save lots of money at the farmers market.  Have a good day.

Thank you.  Life is very good to me.  Every day I focus on being positive, and being thankful for the breath of life.  With that in mind I am encouraged I have a lot to live for, and I strive to improve myself as a person, a family member, and on my job for my employer.  I make it a point to never have a bad day.  It is not a bad day when God provides you with the breath of life.