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How we reduced our spending by $23,537.00 in a year (Money Saving Tips)!

By The Busy Budgeter | 21 Comments | This post may contain affiliate links

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Woah! That's a lot! Filled with step by step calculations of what they spent before and after each change. I can't believe how many small changes added up to such a huge number. I can do this!
Since we’ve been married and I began tracking our spending, we’ve made a lot of changes. None were dramatic, but they led to some pretty dramatic figures. The following list was implemented over time and led to us saving $23,537.00 in the last year. By my opinion, we were already living relatively frugally when I began making changes, so if you aren’t already paying attention to how you spend your money, you could easily do even better with these money saving tips.

I also think it’s important to point out that I don’t believe in sacrificing for money. We live just once, I won’t use a product that I don’t like or cut things that are important to me out of our budget. The goal in budgeting for me is to spend less to get the same thing, or something that works better.

The Money Saving Tips That Helped Us…

1. Eliminated Eating Lunches out at work, for better packed lunches that save time, calories and taste better.
Savings: $7,200 (70.00 per week per person) – 2,080 (40.00 per week for lunch ingredients) = 5,120.00 saved

2. Began menu planning and strategic shopping using Wegmans online tools to reduce grocery spending.
Savings: $10,400 (200.00 per week) – $6,240.00 (120.00 per week) = $4,160.00 saved

3. Began using the library exclusively and stopped buying books at all.
Savings: $3,600 (about 70.00 per week on average) – 0.00 = $3,600.00 saved.

4. Stopped drinking bottled water and switched to filtered water in reusable bottles exclusively.
Savings: 42.97 per month (from water bottles and deer park delivery – cost of filters, and purchasing high quality water bottles and the occasional gallon water bottle to bring to work to refill) x12= $515.64 saved.

5. Established a home stock room, researched best unit price for all items. Also saved significant time running errands and shopping. Click here for more information on my home stock room and here for my free inventory workbook to keep track of it.
Savings: $1,357.43 per year. (see next weeks post for specific break down of savings).

6. Cancel cable and use hulu plus for TV exclusively (Jon also hooked up our seldom used desktop computer to the TV so that you can watch the free full episodes on the network sites in the TV). You can read more about that here.
Savings- $2,220( 185.00 per month) – $1,092 (for epic Internet- 91.00 per month) = $1,128.00 saved

7. Cancelled the Gym membership and began using the community association gym and pool for free.
Savings: $600.00 (50.00 per month) – 0.00 = $600.00 saved.

8. Began using moderate coupons on items I’m already buying.
Savings: 260.00 per year (an average of $5.00 per week)

9. Switched to Suave Rosemary and Mint shampoo and conditioner from Pantene:
Savings: $101.65 per year

10. Signed up for RX by mail through my health insurance company:
Savings: $360.00 (30.00 per month) – $120.00 (10.00 per month) = $240.00

11. Began the $10.00 Christmas Tradition with my extended family.Click here to learn more about that.
Savings: $300 per year – $80 per year = $220.00 saved.

12. Purchased clothing needs at thrift stores and discount stores. (Not exclusively- still a few pieces purchased at retailer).
Savings: $620.00 less spent this year on clothing than last year.

13. Stopped purchasing music on iTunes and began renting all of my CD’s from the library (which can be turned into MP3’s by hooking up to your computer.) Note: While likely unenforceable, please delete MP3 after CD is returned to the library to avoid copyright infringement. While no one would ever find out, it’s the honest thing to do. Also- No one (except me), even rents CD’s from the library, so you can just keep re-renting it if you love it). Learn my tricks for that here.
Savings: $14.95 per month for Rhapsody and 40.00 in iTunes purchases (approximate- I can’t tell from iTunes which is apps and which is music) = $219.40 saved.

14. Implemented a Spending Freeze for two weeks (I’ll write a post about this later- you don’t buy ANYTHING except absolute necessities for 14 days- it’s actually pretty fun!)
Savings: about $400.00 (though this is highly debatable – just my assessment).

15. Cancelled Netflix and switched to Amazon Prime.
Savings: $300.00 per year ($25.00 per month) – $70.00 (also get free 2 day shipping on most products purchased on amazon) = $230.00

16. Refinanced Mortgage to historical low interest rate. (I’m just using our monthly mortgage payment to calculate savings, not savings over the life of the loan which are considerably higher).
Savings: $274 per month: $3,288.00 per year.

17. Talked Jon out of purchasing every single video game that his group of Xbox friends want to play in favor of finding games that have longevity.
Savings: Last year we spent $380.00 on video games, this year we spent $35.00 (Thank you Dayz and Minecraft!)= 345.00

Update: 5/19/15: Three years later, he’s still playing DayZ! Best $20 spent ever!

TOTAL SAVINGS IN ONE YEAR FROM THESE MONEY SAVING TIPS?

$23,537.00!!!!

Now the challenge is to reduce it by another $10,000 for next year and come up with a whole new set of money saving tips!

 

If you think this was great, you should see The Ultimate Money Saving Workbook!: 200 Ways to Decrease Your Spending, Increase Your Savings and Achieve Your Dreams! It’s available for FREE to you for email subscribers. It’s filled with all of the ways we’ve learned over the last 5 years about saving money. This workbook was instrumental in reducing our spending enough for me to quit my job so I could stay home with our kids. Click here to get your FREE copy!

 

 

This post was shared on Thrifty Thursday and Frugal Friday.

 

Woah! That's a lot! I can't believe that so many small changes added up to such a huge number in the end! I can do these! I love how the calculations are included so you don't have to do the math yourself.

 

 

Woah! That's a lot! I can't believe that so many small changes added up to such a huge number in the end! I can do these! I love how the calculations are included so you don't have to do the math yourself.

This post may contain affiliate links. If you click & make a purchase, I receive a small commission that helps keep the Busy Budgeter up and running. Read my full disclosure policy here.

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FTC Disclosure of Material Connection: In order for us to maintain this website, some of the links in the post above may be affiliate links. Regardless, we only recommend products or services we use personally and/or believe will add value to readers

Filed Under: Budget, Budget, Budget Basics, Cutting Costs, Save Money

Comments

  1. A. Pipke says

    March 17 at 6:03 am

    I haven’t switched over (yet), but I have a lot of girlfriends who have opted for menstrul cups over tampons. They’re approx $50 but some last around 10 years! I haven’t done the math for savings, but if you’re in a pickles and have to get tampons full price (i try to keep a stock pile haha) they’re like $10 a box for just one size. So that’s like.. $20 a month for enough for say,.. 3 months? (Given this is all in Canadian so it might be less where you are).

    Reply
    • The Busy Budgeter says

      March 17 at 7:21 pm

      I’ve heard that a lot too! I haven’t tried it (I feel like I’ve been pregnant for the last 3 years straight), but let me know if you do.

      Reply
  2. TriciaToo says

    March 22 at 2:59 pm

    You probably already figured this out but the best cleaning solution is white Vinegar infused with lemon or orange peels. Vinegar kills all germs and the lemon/orange leaves added shine and great smell. I put vinegar and lemon peels in a mason jar for 3 to 4 weeks then strain, pour into a spray bottle, and add water at about 50% strength. Very cheap to make. I also use Vinegar in the rinse cycle instead of buying fabric softener. Saving money and living healtier.

    Reply
    • The Busy Budgeter says

      March 23 at 4:07 pm

      Yes Ma’am! And vinegar is super cheap!

      Reply
  3. Pamela says

    March 26 at 10:28 am

    Wow. All of those things seem doable and fairly painless.

    Reply
    • The Busy Budgeter says

      March 26 at 3:29 pm

      They really were Pamela! The secret to this is to realize the impact of small changes over a year. Now, we’ve been doing these things for several years!

      Reply
  4. Deborah Robinson says

    April 3 at 6:30 pm

    Thank you for promoting public libraries! In my county it’s $25 a year out of a person’s tax bill to operate our eight branches. Best use of tax-payers money! Signed a Grateful Librarian

    Reply
    • The Busy Budgeter says

      April 8 at 1:38 pm

      Librarians are pretty much my Idols. Thank you for everything you do! You have the greatest job in the world!

      Reply
  5. Amanda says

    April 20 at 2:05 pm

    These are great tips! Too bad I already do all of these lol! But for real great list.

    Reply
    • The Busy Budgeter says

      May 6 at 3:35 pm

      You can try the Ultimate Money Saving Checklist, found here https://www.busybudgeter.com/ultimate-money-saving-checklist-200-ways-reduce-spending-increase-savings-achieve-dreams/
      Thats what we use, we’re about 75% of the way through I think now. We compiled a list of every single way that you can save money.

      Reply
  6. sylvia rothe says

    August 17 at 2:32 am

    no one could buy 70 a week in books and have time to read them all

    Reply
    • The Busy Budgeter says

      August 20 at 3:51 pm

      Sadly true. I’m an obsessive reader and even I never read them all. But I had a super impressive library of books. 🙂 Well, *had*, this was several years ago, I use the library exclusively now so I ended up selling or donating all of those books. Ack. I try not to think about the money I wasted on that.

      Reply
    • Julia says

      September 14 at 4:19 pm

      That’s exactly what I was thinking! And with the library, if you don’t like the book then you didn’t waste any money on it

      Reply
  7. Kristi says

    April 12 at 12:44 pm

    I noticed that this post was from 2012. Have you reduced the extra 10 000 / year since then? Or even more? Any follow up posts to this story?

    Have fun! 🙂

    Reply
  8. Ducks 'n a Row says

    April 30 at 9:55 am

    I shop at Wegmans and had no idea they have that online tool! I am checking it out 🙂
    Congrats on your smart maneuvers. Do let us know how the next $10,000 happens!
    Sinea ♥
    Ducks ‘n a Row recently posted…Recipe Sharing Blog PartyMy Profile

    Reply
  9. DemiLune says

    August 2 at 12:07 pm

    Don’t know where you “saved” $300 on switching Netflix to Amazon Prime. At the time of your post, Netflix cost was $7.99/month x 12 = $95.88/year. I now pay $9.99/month for a total of $119.88/year.

    Reply
  10. Shelley says

    July 26 at 10:46 pm

    Sorry grossly over inflated…$3,600 a year in books? Umm no…try $360 a year.

    Reply

Trackbacks

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    February 11 at 10:05 pm

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  2. 9 Top and Inspiring Mom Bloggers that make me start a blog right away - Live Better Lifestyle says:
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  4. 6 Financial Blogs All Bloggers MUST Read - ASSISTANT MELISSA says:
    March 22 at 6:12 am

    […] How We Reduced Our Spending by $23,537.00 in a Year (Money Saving Tips)! – Remember how I said your personal finances have a big impact on your business? Rosemarie went a step further and was able to reduce her family’s spending enough (over $20k!) that she could quit her job. These savings tips are easy to follow and even easier to implement. Just think what would happen if you cut back significantly and created a money making blog… […]

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