1000 WAYS to SAVE MONEY - part 1

I have been thinking about doing a post on this for sometime now and I have been very hesitant about doing so, because I wanted to make sure that I have all my facts straight. I have been jotting down ways that could actually save people money and even stressing about doing a post of this size. Then my wonderful husband told me to just start it and the rest will come. So here I am starting to blog about 1,000 ways to save money - really and truly save money. Can I really come up with 1,000 ways - um, don't know! But with YOUR help I am sure that we can ALL come up with 1,000 ways to save money. I will need YOUR HELP!

Of course this will not be all in one post, I will post every Friday ways that you can save money until we reach 1,000 ways! This should be an adventure and I cannot wait to see your comments on the ways that you save money for your family.

OK, here we go!

#1 - Use coupons!
If you have been following this blog for any length of time then you will know that I am a big fan of coupons. I watch the sale adds, I use my coupons only on sale items, which results in some very good deals, some time even free items!

#2 - Apply for free samples!
Manufactures are willing to give you free samples in hopes of you liking it so much that you will rush to the store and buy their products---don't do that unless it is on sale and you have an awesome coupon!
In the last 4 months I have not bought shampoo, conditioner, deodorant, or body wash, thanks to all the great free samples out their; resulting in lowing our out of pocket expense.

#3 - No land line
We use a cell phone for our home phone. We do have Magic Jack (I'll tell you about this in a minute).

#4 - Cell Phone - lower your minutes!
If you do not use your cell phone that often then have your provider lower you plan. We had nationwide and I think 1400 minutes, and we were paying $69.99 a month, well we were not coming close to those minutes so we checked to see an average of how many minutes that we were using and lowered our plan, now we only pay $39.99, nice savings and remember that we do not have a land line.

#5 - Use Magic Jack
While we do not have a land line service we do have Magic Jack and have had it about 7 months now. We only go this because my husband thought that it was neat and it has came in very handy for the certain area that we are in our lives right now. This is not a land line phone though! Magic Jack is pretty neat. You do need DSL and a Phone. Magic Jack is a jack you plug it into a phone and your USB port. GO to http://www.magicjack.com/ for more information. Ok for the cost:
We paid $39.99 for everything (no monthly cost). We will pay 19.99 to renew (no monthly cost).
If you want to break it down it would look like this....this year $3.33 a month; next year when we renew (for $19.99) $1.67 a month. But remember there are NO monthly bills - you pay for everything up front. Local and LONG DISTANCE all free!

#6 - No cable only Internet
Internet and cable bills run over $100 - a person could turn the cable off and your bill would drop probably over $50.00 a month! (I checked on turning ours off) Besides you can watch movies on the computer at http://www.hula.com/ and http://www.fancast.com/ . I am sure that there are other places that I don't even know about. Also go with a lower meg for your Internet service. Going from a 10 meg down to a 5 meg will save you anywhere from $10 to $12 a month!

#7 - No Internet ---gasp!
Cut your monthly bills by choosing not to have Internet service. You can still have an email address...just check it at the Library or a friends house.

#8 - No gym member ship
Exercise at home, ride your bicycle, or go hiking - to help you get or stay fit.

#9 - No cost Entertainment
Go fishing (dig your own worms), go on a picnic, go for a walk, go hiking, family game night, have a bon fire - tell stories by the fire and roast hot dogs, have a play date, have friends over and have them to bring a dish to pass.

#10 - Buy day old meat

#11 - Shop at Bread Stores
If you have a bread store close by then buy your bread from there, but not your muffins! I have found that I can get a better deal on muffins when they go on sale and I use a coupon from local stores!

#12 - Shop at discount stores for your staples
Shop at Aldis or Save a Lot stores for your staple items or canned veggies. I have found that these items are a lot cheaper at these kinds of stores! See my post on Aldis shopping here.