#1 Have the Motivation to Change
The first money saving idea is to have a desire to change and be willing to make some adjustments. You may not be used to doing things this way. You naturally just do things a lot like your parents.This will be a lifestyle adjustment, and it will take a conscious effort to turn these money saving ideas into new habits. After a while, it will become second nature. At first you’ll just do it because it is good for your health, finances, and peace of mind, But soon you’ll come to love this frugal lifestyle.
If you look at the rewards of any goal, it helps you to stick with it. It is the same way with these money saving ideas. These are some of the rewards of living frugally and eating your home food storage: pay off your car, pay off your home, save money for a rainy day fund, have money to pay all the bills, have better health, peace of mind, and a safety net for your family.
Using these money savings ideas Is so worth it!
#2 Grow and Preserve a Garden
Now that you’ve decided that you’re going write down a money saving goal and stay with the goal until it becomes part of your lifestyle, let’s get started.You save big money on groceries when you eat out of the garden. From July to October almost all the food our family eats comes from the garden. We feed our family on less than “A Dollar a Day” per person in the summer.
Fruits and vegetables from the garden are way healthy. The taste of food straight from the garden can’t be matched. Everything else tastes like rubber in comparison. Let me also point out that your mind, body, and spirit all function at a higher level when you are eating this healthy food.
Dad’s been gardening vegetables for over 70 years. He can help you too. Then learn how to preserve your fruits and vegetables.
#3 Buy in Bulk
Another money saving tip is to buy in bulk. Here are a couple examples:
You can buy 1 pound of generic brand rice for $1.79 and 25 pounds of bulk rice for $10.35. It costs you $44.75 for that 25 pounds of rice when packaged in smaller units. You save $34.40 on 25 pounds of rice when buying in bulk. That’s a 432% savings! Wow! You can buy a 2 lb 10 oz package of generic brand quick oats for $2.69 and a 25-pound bag of quick oats for $7.50. It costs you $25.62 for that 25 pounds of oats packaged in smaller quantities. You save $18.12 by buying in bulk. That’s a 342% savings! Big Savings!
See what I mean. I could go on and on giving you one example after another, but I don’t want to bore you.
If you can find it in bulk, buy it in bulk. Use what you need now, store the rest, and use it later. See how that works?
You can use a 5-gallon bucket with a Gamma lid to store your pantry food. We’ll talk more about this in bulk food storage containers.
#4 Cook from scratch
The next money saving idea is to cook from scratch. Some have the idea that cooking from scratch is opening a cake mix; adding eggs, oil, and water; and there you have it – a cake made from scratch. That’s not the kind of “scratch” I’m talking about. The question was then asked, “Where do I find “scratch”?”“Scratch” is whole food that comes to us from Mother Nature. Here are some examples of scratch: whole grains, fruits, vegetables, spices, meat, eggs, milk, etc.
It takes a little more time to cook using whole foods, but look at the benefits you have when you apply this money saving idea:
- 1. Quality time with your children while you teach them life skills
- 2. Better health
- 3. Tasty food
- 4. Money savings on groceries
- 5. The satisfaction of knowing you can take care of your family
Click on the link to get Food Storage Recipes
#5 Learn to Love Eating Whole Foods
Eating whole foods goes right along with the previous money saving ideas: planting a garden, buying in bulk, and cooking from scratch.Do you like this type of food? Don’t turn your nose up at a something that has a different taste and texture than you are used to. If you don’t like certain foods try this little mental experiment -- As you chew it up, savor the flavor, and pretend that you're trying a delicacy for the first time. Believe it or not, it works. You’ll begin to acquire a taste for it.
Hopefully you don’t have any picky eaters in your home, but if you do – have everyone try a sample of something new each day. They don’t have to eat a lot of it. Make it a side dish so that they don’t go hungry.
In an emergency situation, one of the last things you want to deal with is a whining child saying they don’t like the food. Make it easier on your family by slowly adding new healthy foods to your diet right now.
#6 Eat Sale-Price Foods
Now you only need to buy the fresh produce. If you have a garden you don’t even need to buy that.
Sprouting seeds is an alternative to fresh vegetables in the winter. And it’s something you can buy in bulk! We love the 7- grain sprout mix.
Keep building your food storage by looking for food that is on sale. Now you’re saving 30%-60% on your canned groceries. Use that money to reinvest in your food storage.
It is so exciting when you find a great deal: Like the time I found Campbell’s Cream of Chicken soup for 35 cents a can. I bought 10 cases. Or when I found 3 pounds of butter for $5. I bought as much as my freezer would hold.
When you are looking, you will find deals all over the place. I pray to find deals and then express gratitude to God when he puts one in my lap. A grateful heart receives more blessings (Sorry, I’m getting ahead of myself. We’ll talk about this in a minute)
#7 Stay Out of the Store
If you can just stay out of the store, you will save a lot of money. A store is like a giant advertisement. When you go into the store, you buy things that weren’t even on your list. It looks good, so you buy it.Here's some ideas to save money: Cut down your trips to the grocery store. If you are going every day – go once a week. If you are going every week – go every other week. If you are going every other week – go once a month, etc.
This money saving idea just takes planning. Make a list of everything that you need to buy. Keep this list on the refrigerator or some other handy place so you don’t forget what you need. DO NOT buy anything unless it is on your list.
#8 Eat at Home
This frugal lifestyle tip has benefits that can’t be measured just in dollars. As a family, sit down and eat your meals around the kitchen table. Your family will be stronger because of it. This is a time to talk, laugh, and discuss what happened that day.Up until this last year, this has been our out-to-eat schedule: Mom and Dad would go out to eat twice a month ($80), the family would go out to eat twice a month ($160), and we’d have take-out pizza every Friday night ($80). That’s $320 a month. I can feed my entire family of 12 on $360 a month when I apply all “10 Money Saving Ideas”. Eating at home practically saves me my entire food budget for the month. Look what you can do by staying home to eat instead of going out to eat. You might not want to cut all the out-to-eats because they're fun. Start to implement this money saving idea by eating a home more.
#9 Reusable instead of disposable
We live in the world of disposables. Disposable plates, diapers and wipes, feminine hygiene products, cleaning products, etc. How did people ever live without all these disposable products?Well, try it. Start replacing some of your disposables with reusable products. The average woman spends $3000 - $5000 on disposable sanitation supplies in her lifetime. For around $200 you can buy a lifetime supply of reusable feminine hygiene products for one woman. They work better than the disposables. This is one of my favorite money saving ideas.
Disposable diapers are so expensive. There are some great companies that do an excellent job in providing cloth diapers that really work. Click on the link to learn about my favorite cloth baby diapers.
We use disposable toilet paper, but we do have an emergency portable bidet
toilet paper kit for each member of the family.
#10 Pray and Express Gratitude to God
This last word of advice is the most important of the money saving ideas. It is your life line. Pray over your specific concerns. Express gratitude to God for miracles as he helps you build and use your long term storage and apply these money saving ideas.You are different from everyone else. Only God understands everything about your specific situation. Talk to Him like you would talk to a friend. Explain your detailed plan to him. He’s interested in what you have to say.
Ask him for suggestions and see what His ideas are. There are many ways that He will answer you, here are a few ways He answers me: a great idea comes to mind, a friend shares a thought, or you come across something that fits you perfectly. There are no coincidences. “Coincidence is God’s way of remaining anonymous.”
He will help you accomplish this important undertaking if you will put your best foot forward. Remember to thank him for what he has helped you achieve. Gratitude opens the door for more blessings.
Remember to take one-step-at-a-time. I’ve given you the whole plan so you can see the big picture. Now Just Do It!We all know the saying, “How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time, but don’t forget to enjoy the bites along the way.”
All of this great information was found HERE
