Keeping Your Cash -- Savvy Savings for Students
Several of my current students are doing experiments on money management -- always a hot button for students! I thought I'd share some of my favorite frugal tips because I've learned over many years that paying attention to the littlest savings can add up big over time! Let these tips inspire you to find small savings in your life, and let those little savings add up to big bonuses over time.
Shampoo Savings: Cut your shampoo with water. Save your next empty bottle and use it to mix about 1 part shampoo to six parts water. You'll still get good suds but your shampoo will last about six to eight months instead of six weeks or less. Savings: about $36 per year.
The Razor's Edge: Let your razor blade dry thoroughly between uses. Shake the water off and put it in a dry spot. A cheap disposable razor will last up to two or three months. Savings: $25 or more per year.
Moisturizer: Ladies, spritz your face with water before applying moisturizer. A little dab will go a lot further and the moisture will be held in and hydrate your skin. My moisturizer lasts four times as long this way.
Frugal Fruit Juice: Do your children love fruit juice? Pour a couple of ounces of their favorite in a glass and fill up with plain selzer water for a delicious fizzy drink. Much cheaper, plus much less sugar and less hype! That carton or bottle of juice will last about four times longer.
Stock up on Specials: Read the grocery flyers from your favorite market and plan your shopping around the "loss leader specials" -- the great prices on meats and seasonal veggies that are designed to get shoppers into the store. (Just buy the specials and those things on your list. See below!) I've heard students say that it's cheaper to buy fast food and frozen dinners, but that is not true. It is much cheaper (and healthier) to buy what is on special and cook up a big batch to use and freeze for several meals. It might be more expensive the first month as you are switching your buying habits, but after that, you will have a stockpile of wonderful homemade food and you won't have to dash out for frozen meals. Believe me, all the preparation and packaging of those high fat, high salt, chemically loaded dishes make them MUCH more expensive per pound and per calorie than your fresh, healthy, home made delectables. Even without a large freezer, cooking for yourself will save money and with a bit of planning, you can save time as well.
DIY for Tender Savings: Do you like chicken tenders and nuggets? Learn to cut up a whole chicken and how to bone a chicken breast. You can make soup from the bones and have your own tenders or nuggets taken from bone-in breast halves at about one third the price of prepared frozen ones. Five minutes to cut up a whole chicken (when on special at 99 cents a pound) will save you about half on bone-in pieces. Get your grandmother to show you how! (My dad taught me, when I got my first apartment in college. Wow, have I been grateful!)
Lickety-split Lunches: Buy the fresh veggies you like (mini-carrots, for instance) and repackage them in small plastic bags in portions to carry with your lunches or snacks. Repackage chips and crackers into portion-sizes to help you conserve on calories, time and money all at once. You'll have family lunches ready in no time all week.
List-Mania: Shop with a list of your needs, based on a plan for the next week, plus a longer term plan for stocking up on sale items you know you will use on an ongoing basis. (This builds your pantry and helps you save a lot more money in the long run.)
No Hungry Eyes: Shop after you have eaten, so you won't let your immediate hunger trick you into foolish purchases!
Clip Tips: Clip grocery coupons from the Sunday newspaper inserts and ones you print from the internet. (It can be worthwhile to buy a Sunday paper just for the coupons.) My husband used to make fun of me, but one year I saved my receipts and added them up in December. Grocery shopping just for the two of us, I saved over $1000 with coupons. He stopped laughing and became a better shopper himself!
Clip your coupons to your shopping list and use them! If you can combine an advertised special with a coupon this week, so much the better.
Packaged Money: If you run out of money before you run out of week, use the envelope method of budgeting. Put cash into envelopes for rent, utilities, groceries, gas or busfare, clothing, gifts, and so forth. You are more likely to shop carefully when you can see exactly how much you have to make it through the week. Aim to save a little wherever possible by keeping costs even under the amounts in your envelopes. Start a savings account (or a piggy bank) with the extra. Even a little will add up quickly.
Free is Better than Cheap: Use your public library. Read magazines and use computers there. Check out books. Check out videos and audio-books on tape. Find more frugal tips in books in your library.
Let me know some of your favorite money saving tips by responding to this post!
Shampoo Savings: Cut your shampoo with water. Save your next empty bottle and use it to mix about 1 part shampoo to six parts water. You'll still get good suds but your shampoo will last about six to eight months instead of six weeks or less. Savings: about $36 per year.
The Razor's Edge: Let your razor blade dry thoroughly between uses. Shake the water off and put it in a dry spot. A cheap disposable razor will last up to two or three months. Savings: $25 or more per year.
Moisturizer: Ladies, spritz your face with water before applying moisturizer. A little dab will go a lot further and the moisture will be held in and hydrate your skin. My moisturizer lasts four times as long this way.
Frugal Fruit Juice: Do your children love fruit juice? Pour a couple of ounces of their favorite in a glass and fill up with plain selzer water for a delicious fizzy drink. Much cheaper, plus much less sugar and less hype! That carton or bottle of juice will last about four times longer.
Stock up on Specials: Read the grocery flyers from your favorite market and plan your shopping around the "loss leader specials" -- the great prices on meats and seasonal veggies that are designed to get shoppers into the store. (Just buy the specials and those things on your list. See below!) I've heard students say that it's cheaper to buy fast food and frozen dinners, but that is not true. It is much cheaper (and healthier) to buy what is on special and cook up a big batch to use and freeze for several meals. It might be more expensive the first month as you are switching your buying habits, but after that, you will have a stockpile of wonderful homemade food and you won't have to dash out for frozen meals. Believe me, all the preparation and packaging of those high fat, high salt, chemically loaded dishes make them MUCH more expensive per pound and per calorie than your fresh, healthy, home made delectables. Even without a large freezer, cooking for yourself will save money and with a bit of planning, you can save time as well.
DIY for Tender Savings: Do you like chicken tenders and nuggets? Learn to cut up a whole chicken and how to bone a chicken breast. You can make soup from the bones and have your own tenders or nuggets taken from bone-in breast halves at about one third the price of prepared frozen ones. Five minutes to cut up a whole chicken (when on special at 99 cents a pound) will save you about half on bone-in pieces. Get your grandmother to show you how! (My dad taught me, when I got my first apartment in college. Wow, have I been grateful!)
Lickety-split Lunches: Buy the fresh veggies you like (mini-carrots, for instance) and repackage them in small plastic bags in portions to carry with your lunches or snacks. Repackage chips and crackers into portion-sizes to help you conserve on calories, time and money all at once. You'll have family lunches ready in no time all week.
List-Mania: Shop with a list of your needs, based on a plan for the next week, plus a longer term plan for stocking up on sale items you know you will use on an ongoing basis. (This builds your pantry and helps you save a lot more money in the long run.)
No Hungry Eyes: Shop after you have eaten, so you won't let your immediate hunger trick you into foolish purchases!
Clip Tips: Clip grocery coupons from the Sunday newspaper inserts and ones you print from the internet. (It can be worthwhile to buy a Sunday paper just for the coupons.) My husband used to make fun of me, but one year I saved my receipts and added them up in December. Grocery shopping just for the two of us, I saved over $1000 with coupons. He stopped laughing and became a better shopper himself!
Clip your coupons to your shopping list and use them! If you can combine an advertised special with a coupon this week, so much the better.
Packaged Money: If you run out of money before you run out of week, use the envelope method of budgeting. Put cash into envelopes for rent, utilities, groceries, gas or busfare, clothing, gifts, and so forth. You are more likely to shop carefully when you can see exactly how much you have to make it through the week. Aim to save a little wherever possible by keeping costs even under the amounts in your envelopes. Start a savings account (or a piggy bank) with the extra. Even a little will add up quickly.
Free is Better than Cheap: Use your public library. Read magazines and use computers there. Check out books. Check out videos and audio-books on tape. Find more frugal tips in books in your library.
Let me know some of your favorite money saving tips by responding to this post!
Labels: budget, cheap, free, inner peace strategies, inner peace tips, money management, save, savings, Student frugality, techniques
posted by Ilenya Marrin, DSS @ 9:02 PM
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