bearisgray

What do you consider to be "smart spending" ???

(This question includes time as well as money.)

janedee

My home made 'ready meals' - each pay day I pick out some recipes, go shopping then make them up into normal batches, portion them out and freeze them, I am on my own so it saves cooking every night and they usually work out at about £1.30 per portion, I tend to use them 3 or 4 times a week, doing this has reduced my grocery bill by about a 1/3 plus I can be lazy on those nights and spend more time quilting!!!!

judy5cents

Stocking up on sales or using coupons to purchase items that I am going to use on a regular basis, such as laundry soap, cleaning products, toothpaste etc. Some items I never pay full price for. Also buying things at thrift stores... I rarely purchase new clothing and I have found brand name items that are like new at thrift stores. In my quilting, building my stash by purchasing fabric at thrift stores for 99 cents per yard or less, using recycled men's shirts in my quilts. I could go on and on but am interested in hearing what others consider to be "smart spending"

patski

I purchase most of our fruits/veggies from "bountiful baskets" its' a food co op in many areas. We eat at home & I make mosst things from scratch. I use fabric I have and no longer run out for "just the perfect piece", I wash only full loads of dishes/laundry & I always combine trips so I save lots on gas

Mitch's mom

Feeding my dogs top quality, nutritious, dog food. I pay more than I would at the grocery store but I save 3 times as much not having vet visits other than yearly check ups or the occasional 'Dumb Dog' visit if they hurt themselves.

SewExtremeSeams

Great! I need to do more of this.

Rose Marie

Im an avid reader so buying books cheap is my thing.
I download only free books to my kindle and am still trying to figure out how to download library books to it.
No used bookstores in my area so use the web and Bargain Books to purchase.
Im single so cooking meals is not done much. My eating habits are not so good anymore.
As a quilter on line shopping is my only way to buy fabric. Buy a lot from Connecting Threads. It is hard not being able to touch the fabric. Love getting catalogs to drool over.

JenniePenny

Paying auto insurance bills in full (twice a year) instead of opting for monthly payments - saves the monthly installment fee.
Also, having the right amount of income taxes withheld from my paycheck so I have either a very small amount to pay to IRS on tax day, or i get a very small refund. Ideal situation is to be almost even with tax liabilities versus credits. Why is this a savings? (So many people struggle with this concept..... Because if you deliberately have too much money taken out of your check thinking that your tax refund is a grand reward, you are letting the government borrow YOUR money for a year without interest! I do a much better job at putting the extra weekly money aside into an interest-bearing account, or into investment accounts. I realize that bank interest is low. But it's better than zero.
A consistent focused approach to saving is huge over time.

sandy l

[QUOTE=Rose Marie;6293011]Im an avid reader so buying books cheap is my thing.

I am an avid reader also and buy my books from E.R.Hamilton. No matter how many books you buy, shipping is a flat rate of $3.50.

cathyvv

Paying off the loan for my car and then pretending I still have to make the payment - Except that the payment is to my bank account. I wasn't using that money for everyday things while I paid off my car, so there is no lifestyle change involved.

That 'car payment' money can be invested and/or used for the next car I must buy. I keep my cars for about 10 years, so that's a lot of money saved!