Tuesday, 18 August 2009
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How to Spend Less Than $20 on Everything!
Clothing
The only time I ever pay full price for clothes is when I'm shopping at Target - they have cute stuff for decent prices. And they also have great clearance racks! It takes patience and the ability to walk away if you can't find something you like, but they've usually got great deals!If I'm going to any other clothing store, I shoot for end-of-season sales. Macy's, Dillards and JC Penny all have great deals - I once got a totally cute summer sundress for $4.99 in September. Couldn't wear it for a year, but I was excited when I finally got to pull it out the next May! Again, this takes willpower. You have to walk by all the racks of stuff you'd wear right now, but you can get great tank tops, skirts and summer dresses in September, sweaters and boots in April, swimwear in the fall, etc. The selection may not be great, but with patience, you can find great clothes for $10-$15!
Shoes
Payless. Target. Even Walmart. Pretty much the only places I'll buy shoes. Sure, a nice, costly pair of shoes may last longer and be perfectly molded to my feet, but if I dropped $80 at a department store on one pair of shoes, I wouldn't eat for a week. I have a really comfortable pair of sneakers that I got as a hand-me-down from my sister that I use to work out. All of my dressy work shoes are $14.99 or less from Payless or Target.Eating Out
I love being married. However, I don't love that everything instantly doubled in price when I got married! Suddenly, meeting friends for drinks stopped being my boyfriend buying drinks for me and became us dropping $20+ on two beers each plus tip. So when meeting with friends, we order 1 pitcher of beer, one appetizer to share, and that's our night out.If we do a date night, our first stop is restaurant.com - they have $25 gift certificates for $10 or less. Use Google to find a coupon code, and it might be even cheaper. For $8, I once got 4 $25 gift certificates! I've never had a problem using them in restaurants, and the only catch is some places require that you spend $40 or $50 to get the $25 off. But, for our anniversary dinner, it was a splurge I was willing to make. Our bill was $60 - with the $25 gift card, we both had a great dinner, dessert and a bottle of wine for $35+tip. Not bad!
Groceries
I confess. This is a hard one to keep under $20. But we shop weekly, look for sales, and use the typical advice of sticking to a list. Our grocery store actually has an online list-maker...I can check the weekly ad online, click on the items I want to buy, and it adds them to my list, along with prices. I can add everything I want, then tweak the list to get it at or under budget. I can print coupons from the website - both instore and manufacturer. It computes those into the total as well.Once a month, we go to Sam's Club to stock up on staples. That's never under $20, sorry! But it leaves us free to buy produce, milk and small items from the usual grocery store and keep those costs low.
Household
I clean just about everything non-fabric with a bleach-and-water solution. Bleach is wickedly cheap - and bleach is bleach, so I always buy store brand over Clorox. If it's a greasy stove I'm trying to clean, dish soap works great - I haven't had a problem with any brand that says "Grease Fighting!" on the label, so I go with whatever's cheapest.
Neither my husband or I have jobs that really get us dirty, so I buy cheap laundry detergent. If it smells clean, I believe it's clean! Store brand dryer sheets finish the laundry job, and they're usually around $1 for a box.I use Suave shampoo, conditioner and body wash unless something else is on sale.
While I know it's a controversial corporate giant, I shop at Walmart. I'd love to go organic, shop only at local stores and get produce from the farmer's market, I'm just not at a point in my life where that is financially feasible. Walmart has the same stuff at lower prices, and that's why I shop there. Someday, when I can afford it, maybe I'll develop an altruistic streak, but that's still a few years off!
Any other categories I'm forgetting? Do you have great tips for keeping costs down?
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Comments (15)
damn...talk about being frugal.
Oh, I like this.
Those are great tips. I personally spend a lot on my tennis shoes, because walmart shoes just don't cut it for me. I do get my "fun" shoes for cheaper though. Which is always great. I never really spend more than $20 on any clothing item. That's been my motto since I was 12! I had Christmas money and I had to make it last. So I would get TONS of expensive clothes at stores for so cheap! I usually dress out of season so that doesn't bother me much.
I love this!!!! i need to be MUCH MORE FRUGAL because i've started getting more bills, I guess its time for me to fully grow up! ^_^
These are great tips to follow. I'm the same with laundry detergent; if it smells clean, I believe its clean. Most of my clothes get thrown in the wash after wearing them for a few hours anyhow, or not bc they are "dirty", just bc they smell like a restaurant I was in or something. I spend a lot on my clothes and things, but I appreciate a good sale, too! And (much to my boyfriend's chagrin) I love using coupons in the groc store. Its fun to see the "total amount saved" at the bottom. More $$ for drinks on Friday! haha
You don't have children, because unless you grow your own food, you can't get out of the grocery store with a weeks worth of groceries for $20! I noticed that you go to Sam's Club, so that's how you do it, then. I have a monthly budget for two adults and two teens that covers everything under the heading of 'groceries' - food, household supplies, personal items, etc. That includes Sam's Club. Earlier this year, I raised what we can spend to $340/month, or $85/week. If gasoline keeps going up, I'll have to cut it back again to compensate.
You other lists look great, too. I force my children to shop at thrift stores. We forgo eating out whenever possible. Do you have an auto? We have no bus service, so have to drive some. I told my daughters to learn to ride motorcycles. ;)
i love farmer's market. They are way cheaper than local grocery market and fresher.
@Alatariel40@xanga - LOL - you're correct, no kids yet! I know that's going to wreck havoc on my budgeting when the time comes, but we're concentrating on saving now so we can afford it later! As for autos, my husband and I each drive paid-for cars that get 30+ miles per gallon. We live in a small city - about 100,000 - so our commutes are minimal and we usually only have to fill up every three or four weeks, between $20 and $30 per fill-up.
Good for you, making your kids go to thrift stores! Thrift stores in good neighborhoods are great for deals - same brands, a fraction of the cost!
Greatt post, thanks!
I'm going to go look for the online restaurant coupons. :D
you are my hero =)
Thanks for the site. As a college student I find that most of money is spent on going out, I have wasted more than $20 for food. I heart Payless, I just got 2 new shoes for $30. More then I usually spend on shoes but I needed some new ones.
@StylishMudd@xanga - More like knowing how to budget when you don't have much.
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How about personal products like shampoo etc? Good tips though!