10 Easy Ways for Families to Save Money
Mighty Mommy is always on the look out for ways to save money. Here are ten tips that have put more cash back into her family’s bank account.
As the mom of eight kids, several who are in college, there’s not a day that goes by that I don’t have my eyes open to finding a new or better way to save some cash. With 11 more months to go in 2016, now is a great time to focus on money saving tips that will put a few (or hopefully more!) bucks in your family’s pocket this year.
Tip #1: Save Without Using Coupons
I’ll openly admit that my history with using coupons, even with a large family like mine, is not consistent. When I get inspired and am having an extremely organized phase, I’m all over coupons like flies to a dumpster. When life is moving along at my usual hectic pace, however, coupons are not usually on my radar. That’s why I love taking advantage of two other amazing sources of saving on everything from groceries to electronics and vacations—Ibotta and Groupon.
Ibotta is a new Android and iPhone app that allows you to earn money by purchasing participating items. You can earn this money in addition to using manufacturer and store coupons. And the best part: You don’t even need your phone while you are shopping! All the work is done once you get home. Visit their website to learn more. You can either submit receipts or link to a loyalty account. I’ve been using Ibotta for a few months now and I literally feel like I’m getting paid to go shopping. It’s a no brainer for busy families.
Groupon is a deal-of-the-day recommendation service for consumers. Every 24 hours, Groupon broadcasts an electronic coupon for a restaurant or store in your city, recommending that local service while also offering you a 40% to 60% discount if you purchase that service. My family has saved more than half off of weekend getaways and some of our larger electronic purchases. If you sign up you can get daily e-mails daily about great local deals.
Tip #2: Turn it Off
Growing up as the oldest of five siblings, both parents being school teachers, we were fortunate to have teachers at our disposal all throughout our school years for help with homework, extracurricular projects, and everything else in between. One lesson that all of us learned, however, wasn’t about our ABC’s or how to multiply fractions it was to never leave a room without turning off the lights! To this day I am fastidious about not walking out of the room without flipping that switch from on to off. I’ve tried to pass this along to my kids as well because believe it or not, when we get into the habit of simply turning off the lights when we exit a room, we can potentially save hundreds of dollars a year. See Also: How to Save Money on Your Electricity Bill
Tip #3: Order Water When Dining Out and Forget the Dessert
You can imagine what a meal out costs for a family of 10—let’s just say it ain’t cheap. We knew when we had a big family that we were going to have to cut corners to make it all work financially, so we learned early on where we could save but still get out and enjoy life. Eating out at a decent restaurant (we’re not talking pizza and burgers!) a couple times a month is something we have done regularly for the past 20 years and two ways we have cut the bill significantly is by not ordering drinks except for water (we have cocktails when we get home!) and we forget the dessert. This makes it affordable and it’s still a great night out. Another tip is to order an assortment of appetizers instead of entrees, especially if you have fussy eaters—gives a variety and no one is stuck with a meal they really aren’t crazy about.
Tip #4: Purchasing Clothing and Shoes for Family
There’s no question that clothing can eat up a large chunk of a family’s budget, especially when you consider the cost of a single pair of kid’s sneakers these days. If you are savvy, however, and invest a little bit of time in strategizing your family’s clothing needs, you can save hundreds of dollars every year. There’s the obvious choices such as thrift and second hand stores but there are other tricks to saving money on apparel and gear such as when you shop. The best clothing sales are typically in February and August so if you can estimate your child’s size six months ahead, you can score some great deals. ShopItToMe.com is a San Francisco company that analyzes more than 750,000 sales items a year from more than 200 online retailers. By running averages, the company found the following interesting patterns:
■ Mondays: Shoppers can save nearly 50% on men’s and women’s dress pants, and about 55% on sunglasses
■ Tuesdays: Expect to save more than 40% on men’s apparel
■ Wednesdays: Shoppers save about 40% on shoes and children’s clothes
ShopItToMe.com is free, and has daily deals on some from some of my favorite stores like Nordstrom and J.Crew.
Tip #5: Re-evaluate Your Cable Bill
We have a bundle plan in our house with our cable company, which includes a land-line, internet services, and cable. Cable companies continually run specials on various packages and when we took advantage of one a few years ago, I was stunned to learn how many extra channels we were paying for that my family never even watched. By renegotiating our bill, we saved over $60 a month and still have premium movie channels to enjoy. In addition I put a “lock” on “on-demand” movies so only a parent has the authority to purchase one.
Tip #6: Choose Lunch Over Dinner When Dining Out
If you would like to experience nice restaurants at a better savings, in addition to only ordering water for drinks, choose lunch time to treat your family instead of dinner. Most nice restaurants have a full menu mid-day so you can fill up on a delicious meal and either have leftovers or something simple like grilled cheese for dinner.
Tip #7: Take a Money Challenge
About ten years ago I met with a new financial planner who had a different approach to managing money. Her advice? Challenge every single expense you have and get your family on board and involved in the process. The object of this exercise was to analyze every single line item we were paying for such as different insurances, car payments, credit card payments, house taxes, cable and Internet, dance lessons, little league fees, clothing budget, grocery bill, movies and entertainment, pet care, babysitting—every single expense we had. Next she advised looking for the “fluff”—in other words, extras that we could fully cut out such as extra magazine subscriptions, costly birthday party gifts, unnecessary warranty packages, drive-thru coffee runs etc. Then, we shopped around and compared our insurance premiums, credit card rates, how much we paid for clothing and so on. This took several long periods of time we set aside to do so, but we included our older kids in the process and it was an eye opener to see what they thought they could and couldn’t live without.
Tip #8: Have a Regular Meal Plan
As the mom of a large family and also a full-time working mother, I couldn’t survive without a regular meal plan each week. In my episode,5 Tips to Make Family Meal Planning Easier, I share the ins and outs of how my family eats on a scheduled meal plan. Not only is it a sanity saver, I’m able to save over $100 per week on our family’s grocery bill because I go to the store armed with a list of what I need and can stick to the list for the most part (especially if I shop without any kids in tow.) Because our average savings is $400 a month, sometimes more, we budget that savings towards our family’s vacation each summer. Ca-ching!
Tip #9: Don’t Upgrade Electronics and Tech Gadgets
Technology changes so quickly that it would certainly be possible to upgrade laptops, smart phones, tablets, and other electronic gadgets on a very regular basis, and believe me, some families I know do this. If your current tech items are working just fine, save your money by hanging on and using them as long as possible. Check out Quick and Dirty Tips’ Tech Talker for dozens of informative and fun podcasts that relate to all the technical parts of your family’s life.
Tip #10: Subscribe to Finance Blogs and Podcasts
I love the expression, “Knowledge is Power” and when it comes to finances that is certainly the case. Too often many of us shy away from money topics because we’re afraid it will be too complicated or perhaps if we ignore it, it will go away. Get into the habit of following financial blogs and podcasts such as quick and dirty tips own Laura Adams, Money Girl. Laura has over 400 helpful and timely podcasts on everything from getting a loan with bad credit to understanding your mortgage options and how to maximize your tax return. The more you know, the more comfortable you’ll be with all types of financial matters including the best strategies for saving your hard-earned money.
For more ideas, check out these 10 Fun, Free Family Activties.
How does your family save money? Share your thoughts in the comments section at quickanddirtytips mighty mommy, post your ideas on the Mighty Mommy Facebook page. or email me at mommy@quickanddirtytips.comcreate new email. Visit my family-friendly boards at Pinterest MightyMommyQDT.
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About the Author
Cheryl L. Butler was the host of the Mighty Mommy podcast for nine years from 2012 to 2021. She is the mother of eight children. Her experiences with infertility, adoption, seven pregnancies, and raising children with developmental delays have helped her become a resource on the joys and challenges of parenting. You can reach her by email.
