The truth is, I’m on a never-ending mission to reduce my family’s household expenses. I’m frugal, and I’m proud! It just doesn’t sit well with me if I have to spend an insane amount of money on so-called “essential” expenses.
Over the years, these 10 practical tips have been the most consistent ways my family has been able to save money at home. The best part is, they can easily be done in your home too! Although there will be small upfront costs to implement some of these money-saving tips, it will be well worth it because it will pay for itself time and time again!
Ditch Cable/Satellite
When we had cable, we watched maybe 8 percent of the channels and paid $110 per month! What a waste! After some research, we decided to cancel the cable and go with the Amazon Fire Stick. We found that it offers more bang for the buck with all the perks of cable!
As an Amazon Prime member, you’d have access to its Prime library where you can watch movies, TV shows, listen to music, and play games. This was an added bonus for us since we were already Prime members.
If you’re worried about Amazon Prime not having your favorite shows or movies, you can download other apps, including Netflix, Hulu, and other streaming services. If you’re a news junkie, there are several news networks you can download to stay caught up on current events. Since we prefer on-demand television, we signed up for Discovery+ for $8 per month. Doing this has saved us over $100 per month!
If the Amazon Fire Stick is not your cup of tea, there is the Roku, which we have in our kid’s playroom. It works just as great and has the same benefits.
Trust me, whether you choose the Amazon Fire Stick or the Roku, you won’t miss cable!
Ditch Your Land Line Phone
With landline service from a national company, we were paying about $38 per month. That amount was not worth it to me! I learned about something called VoIP, which is Voice Over Internet Protocol.
VoIP is phone service over the internet. A VoIP device simply connects to the internet and can be hooked up to a regular phone and boom, you have a home phone!
After looking into several VoIP providers, we chose MagicJack. We purchased the device for $35, and 12 months of service were included! We were also able to keep our current phone number!
There are a lot of perks with MagicJack. Some of these perks include unlimited calling, conference calling, and free mobile calling with the free magicApp! Score!
The setup was easy, the connection is great, there is no lag time, and honestly, I can’t tell a difference between regular landline service and VoIP service.
Annually, we renew the service for $35 per year! PER YEAR! That’s $421 savings per year! We absolutely love our MagicJack!
Ditch Your Cell Phone Contract
We previously paid over $140 per month with our contract phones with Sprint and T-Mobile. Yuck! After a ton of research and even using a prepaid service with Straight Talk Wireless for a while, we discovered Pure Talk USA.
Pure Talk USA is U.S. Veteran owned and supports veterans and active duty military. They offer no contracts, 5G service, unlimited talk and text, tablet plans, and more. One of my favorite things about Pure Talk is their U.S. based customer service! We pay about $90 for two lines and we got to choose a free phone when we signed up! You can even bring your own phone if you like.
Don’t Pay For More Internet Than You Need
The amount we were paying for the internet was insane so I called and asked our internet provider if they had newer promotions or deals that could help me lower my bill. Usually, this works if a company wants to keep its customers happy, but they said no, so I gave them the boot and saved almost $30 per month!
Don’t be afraid to give the boot!
Depending on what provider you have, most mid to basic internet plans will offer plenty of speed that you will need in order to properly use your Amazon Fire and MagicJack. However, if you’re like us and use other devices frequently, you may need to look at a higher speed. Just don’t go overboard. Know what you need.
Save Money On Your Natural Gas and Electric Bills
When we first heard about energy deregulation, we were extremely skeptical. Luckily we had a friend who was very knowledgeable and walked us through everything. Once we had the information, we gave it a chance.
Without getting into the boring details, energy deregulation means that you, as the consumer, have the right to choose the rate that you pay for your natural gas and electricity bill.
It costs you nothing to make the changes!
You simply choose the option that works best for you. The good thing about it is that you don’t have to stay locked into one rate. You can opt for a rate and choose a different rate at any time.
You also don’t have to change who provides you with gas or electricity, you’re simply changing the supplier. That means you pay your bill to the same company as you always have.
When we made the switch, each month our bill was different because of our usage, but it was a lot cheaper than what we were previously paying!
It’s a very simple process. Unfortunately, this option isn’t available in every state, Click Here to see if this is available in your area!
Make A Weekly Food Menu
You know how it goes, you go to the grocery store just to buy a few things and you leave with an entire cart full of food, spending more than what you planned.
Been there, and done that way too many times!
Here’s what we did; we plan our menu for a week, sometimes two, write out our shopping list (and stick to it) then shop once per week. Doing this has really helped us save money on groceries and keep us focused only on what we need.
It’s important to stick to what’s on your list! If you see certain items on sale that you can’t pass on, buy them and use them for a future menu meal. It’s best not to go overboard and instead make sure it’s a steal of a deal. Produce is the only thing I don’t recommend buying when it’s marked down. Maybe the one exception is if you’re going to use it on the same day. If not, skip it.
We’ve cut our grocery budget significantly by doing this because we are not shopping blind. It’s not always easy but we go in with a plan and stick to it!
These 8 Simple Ways To Save Money On Groceries will help give you more ideas as well!
Shop Clearance
I love clearance racks!! Don’t be afraid to buy things when it’s on clearance. You can find all kinds of goodies from A-Z. It all depends on what you’re looking for.
The best time to buy items on clearance is at the end of the season. For instance, with clothes, you can stock up on winter items when springtime is around the corner. You can do this for any season of the year! At the end of last summer, I purchased a $120 grill for my husband for $30! Score!
I always shop clearance racks first, especially for our kids!
Shop Online
Bargain shopping is my jam and shopping online has become one of my favorite ways to shop! There are TONS and TONS of ways you can save money by shopping online. Retailers like Amazon, Walmart.com, and Facebook are my absolute favorites.
An Amazon Prime subscription is a no-brainer for us. With this subscription, you will save even more money with free 2-day shipping. If you need something asap, Amazon offers a service called Prime Now, where you can choose from thousands of items and it is delivered to your door on the same day within 2 hours! Unfortunately, Prime Now is not available in certain areas.
You can buy just about anything on Amazon! You name it, they probably have it. We shop at Amazon at least a few times per month. There are things that I buy on Amazon that I just can’t find in stores anymore. And if you are a book junkie, like Steven, it’s also a great place to buy affordable books. Amazon has saved the day time and time again for our family.
Buy Sell Trade Groups:
Facebook has surprisingly become a great place for me to shop. Their Marketplace and Buy-Sell-Trade, or BST groups are like a huge yard sale where people post items they want to sell. Many people, like me, find it easier to post their items for sale in these groups rather than having an actual yard sale.
When I have something I want to sell, I post it and it’s usually sold within a week! If I want to buy something I browse the groups and see what’s up for sale. And if I’m looking for something in particular, I search the Marketplace and BST group first before I shop elsewhere. I can usually find what I’m looking for and if needed, I negotiate for a lower price.
The BST groups have rules you must abide by or you’ll get kicked out. So make sure you’re a civil and respectful person. You’ll also need to go pick up your purchases either by meeting with the purchaser at a public location or doing a porch pick-up at their home.
Be smart about who you’re selling to and buying from. Unfortunately, spam/scams have become an issue on Marketplace so I thoroughly check profiles to see if they’re real before I even respond to messages. Use your gut instincts better known as that still-small voice from the Holy Spirit. If something doesn’t feel right, pass on the item you want to buy, or move on to the next person interested in the item you’re selling. I’ve had to do this several times.
Make A Budget
Budgeting is crucial when it comes to saving money. You need to know how much money you have before you spend it. Otherwise, you’ll overspend and waste money.
By budgeting, you know what is being spent, where it’s going, and when it’s going to be spent. Write down what’s coming in and what your monthly expenses are. After budgeting for bills, I recommend that you withdraw the amount of cash you need for expenses like gas for your vehicle, groceries, household items, and other miscellaneous items. Once your cash is spent…spend no more!
If you have extra left over put it into savings.
Pay Yourself
This one is important and to the point. Don’t forget about paying yourself! Saving money in today’s economy is very important because things can quickly turn upside down. Knowing you have a cushion to rely on will be more reliable than asking and/or waiting for Uncle Sam!
Do you have any tips to help you save money at home?
I’d love to hear your favorite tips and tricks in the comments!
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Such solid advice! I’m gonna check out energy companies!
Loving language correction: #4 THAN
Thank you!
I love these tips, we got rid of cable two years ago, and definitely don’t miss it! Now if only I could get more strict with sticking to a menu!
Great tips!
These are great tips! We’ve done most of them. Writing out a budget seems so overwhelming for some reason, but we need to do it! Thank you for sharing!!
These are great tips! We haven’t had a landline in 11 years and haven’t missed it. We gave up cable last fall. Little changes do add up!
Nicely written article. We’ve been thinking about a couple of these but now will consider several more that we hadn’t thought of!
I love a good money saving tip! Thanks for an awesome list of ideas!
Great tips! I recently started implementing a few of them myself! It’s shocking how much money we waste on needless things at home!
Great ideas! I’m going to look into straight talk wireless. Our cell phone bills are horrendous. We cut cable a few years ago and we haven’t looked back!
These are great tips. The only area my family is not able to save money is on internet. We pay sooo much, but need the high speed for work. I would agree that Amazon Prime is worth the money. I love it and will keep using it.
Any tips on convincing hubby to axe the cable? *sigh*
What are the things he enjoys watching?
Wow, I love the idea of cutting the land line, but I worry about when the power goes out.
Great tips. I need to get into the habit of the weekly menu plan. I always want to and then never make the time for it. I know it costs me tons more money when I don’t.
These are all awesome ideas. I have been pulling my hair out over the stupid tv bill, but I didn’t have an option to offer me husband. I will tell him about the amazon fire stick!
Great ideas! the one we struggle with is making the menu for the week. we know we really need to start doing that one!
These are some great tips! We don’t really stop often enough and think about our spending!
#6 is tops for me. With seven kids, eating out is ridiculous, even for fast food. And it’s kind of hard to throw together something on the fly when you are feeding nine people, five of whom are basically grown men. Meal planning rocks!
Love e these practical tips — I’m a Dave Ramsey buff it’s all about simple at first