Saving money

I just signed up for some night classes at a community college by my place, then I took a look at my bank account. Cool, I can’t eat this month. I started thinking of some ways to save money, like today at Potbellies, I was really trying to decide if I needed that oatmeal chocolate chip cookie. My reasoning became : Ugh whatever, it's Friday and it’s only a dollar.

Here are some of the great ideas I came up with.

Things to do during your downtime:

· Library –

o the library is an awesome time waster. And it’s free! Unless you have a ton of fines. Then I’d avoid the library. I found Johnny Weir’s autobiography at the library. It made my day. However, I’d probably only give that book 3 out of 5 stars. I don’t really recommend it. Anyways, the library has movies too! There are some good ‘80s classic movies and lots of other mediocre but watchable films.

· Half price books –

o I love this store. I always find books I want to read. I also sometimes take a risk and buy a book I’ve never heard of. I found one of my favorite books that way, Music For Torching by A.M. Homes. But not all books are gems. Be selective, especially since you don’t have money to throw around right now.

· NetFlix –

o if you don’t have Netflix, I recommend getting it. I know this is a post about saving money, but I don’t care Netflix is awesome. and it probably saves money if you always go to the movie theater or rent from Redbox. I actually don’t know how much RedBox costs so I could be wrong. But you can definitely get your money’s worth on Netflix if you watch a ton of unlimited instant movies.

Food:

· Make food at home–

o I found this Spanish grocery store by my house with insanely cheap produce. 15 limes for $1. Yes. Cooking at home saves so much money. Spaghetti, tacos, grilled cheese, salad, omelets, anything you can buy at a restaurant you can make yourself. Sometimes getting all the ingredients you need for a certain recipe turns out to be more expensive than just actually going to a restaurant, so be careful about that. Drinking beer at home is also more cost efficient than going to bars all the time. I feel like that is common sense, but it is something I have to tell myself all the time. You can buy a six pack of Milk Stout (pictured above) for the price of two Milk Stouts at a bar.

· Milk instead of coffee creamer –

o I told my sister that when she moves out of my parent’s house she will start using milk instead of Coffee Mate because milk is cheaper and it’s already in the fridge most of the time. She was like “I’ll never be too poor to not be able to afford coffee creamer”. She moved out a few months ago and not too long after she said “You were right, I stopped using Coffee Mate. I have no money for it!” This is probably the smallest change you can make, but one less thing helps. If you buy coffee daily, start making it at home. It probably takes as long to make as it does to wait in line at McDonalds.

· Drink specials –

o If you're not too picky about what you drink, the specials usually work for me. yeah a mimosa may not sound too appealing at 11pm, but if it's $4 dollars... that's a whole different drink.

· Order water at restaurants instead of pop-

o This one may be hard for some people. I love water and it's free! Plus it's always the healthiest option, if you care about that.

Shopping:

· Alter clothes –

o Before you decide to just buy a ton of cheap clothes that will actually end up costing you more money because they will fall apart or look old after two washes, try altering some clothes you already own but never wear. Go through your closet and try on all your clothes. I am sure you will find things you don’t wear because of one reason or another. Try to pinpoint what makes that shirt look weird or how you can make it look better. If it’s too small you probably should just throw it away, but if it’s too big, that’s easy to fix. Just turn it inside out . Place a good sized shirt over it and trace around the good shirt (leave a little extra room when tracing). Use a sewing machine and follow the traced line. Done. New shirt!

· Salvation Army -

o Thrift shopping is fun and sometimes you can find really solid things. Almost half of my dishes are from resale shops and thrift stores. You can find unique things and some of them look like dishes you’d buy at Urban Outfitters. The best part is that they are so cheap. Coffee cups are around $1 or less. If you’re paying more than $8 dollars for any one dish, you are not in the right type of thrift store. They also have side tables, couches, lamps, clothes, shoes, books, really everything. Take a look there before you buy something new.

· Sally Hansen Nail Effects –

o I’m obsessed with Sally Hansen Nail Effects. They come in really cool designs like zebra print, glitter, and lace. They stick on to your nails and last about 10 days. I have never gotten so many compliments on my nails before (mine are zebra). There are enough pieces to let you do it twice if you don’t mess up. They only cost $8. I realize that telling you to buy something isn’t really saving you money, but if you get manicures all the time this would be a good replacement.

Also, I always keep an eye on my checking account. It’s so easy for me to go out to dinner a few times a week and then look at my checking account and realize I’m down $100 +. If you track it the same day you’ll be aware of how much you have to spend the next time you go out. Don't let things get out of control. And pay off your credit card! Think of how much money you are giving away in interest. It will really make you mad. I hope this helps. I already saved money by writing this instead of going out to the bar tonight with my friends!