Could I just start this blog with a huge praise to
Jesus? Yesterday, as you know, Andy and
I went house hunting again. I might add
that, although I had put on my “big girl pants” and wrote all those lovely
things about being willing to sacrifice my dream house for a good school
district, I was still a bit sad about Charlotte real estate. Having just left my dream house in
Greenville, I was swallowing a hard pill but truly believed everything I wrote,
deciding that some things in this world are more important than houses we
love. And then came yesterday….
Andy and I met our agent, a wonderful Christian lady named
Jill Castle (in case anyone in Charlotte is looking for someone), in Ballentyne
to look at six houses. We drove around,
found three we liked, but one we loved at a price we’d wanted. It would need some updates and repairs, but
we were happy. Jill agreed to go home
and research what kind of offer we should make, and Andy and I left to
celebrate over lunch. After lunch, we
drove the 25 minutes back to our home in Myers Park. We hadn’t been in the house 10 minutes, and I
was on the phone yapping away to my mom about the awesome house we’d found,
when Andy came into the room and told me there was one more house Jill wanted
us to see before we made an offer on the one we liked. My sweet husband, good sport that he is,
agreed to jump right back in the car and drive back to Ballentyne to see
it. And will you believe it? It was our dream house! Beautiful, move in ready, went on the market
yesterday and already had had four views.
And it was a fair amount less than the first house we liked. We went home, crunched numbers, looked at our
budget again, and gave Jill the “go ahead” on an offer. 30 minutes later, we found out our offer was
accepted – only an hour before someone else also submitted an offer! If we had not been in the exact right place
at the exact right time, we would have missed this beautiful gift from
God. I’m so thankful that he put us
exactly where we needed to be, and I just wanted to say that with him anything
is truly possible.
Ok, now what this blog is really about – saving money! I have
a few tips that I’m excited to share, but I want to reiterate that I’m not a genius
at this stuff. I’m definitely still
learning, but there are a few things I’ve done (or others I know have done)
that I think are helpful.
Clothes
1. Buy clothes out of season. This is a hard thing to do because when I go
shopping, I usually want something I can wear tomorrow, but the times I’ve been
able to follow this rule, I’m thankful.
My favorite stores are Banana Republic and Ann Taylor Loft. Both
stores put out of season clothes on clearance when the new season arrives. That is the time to shop. You’ll be amazed at how you can find clothes
for 60% off and more. Then, you pack
those clothes away for next year, and you feel like you are going shopping
again (this time for free) when that season comes back!
2. Shop at Outlets.
The stores I mentioned above are my absolute favorite, but I always shop
at the outlets. That is kind of a pain
at times because I don’t live all that close to the outlet stores, but the
savings totally warrant the gas money.
Smithfield, NC has my favorite outlets, but Concord Mills is also good,
and there are outlets in Mebane, NC that I’ve never tried but heard are
good. If you are a shopper and like to
hunt for a deal, you can also find great deals at Goodwill. I had a coworker who found the cutest clothes
at Goodwill for $5 and under. She knew
my size and would often pick items up for me, so all I had to do was pay her
back and skip the looking!
3. Look for sales. This one applies to men’s clothing for
me. JOS A. Bank and Men’s Warehouse will
often have amazing deals – like buy one suit get two free. When you consider how you can mix and match
jackets and pants, you are getting a great deal. It also helps to find those deals when you
have to buy a suit anyway. For example,
this year, Andy had to buy a suit to be in JT’s wedding. Since he was going to spend the money anyway,
we felt like we were really winning to get the deals that came along with
buying a suit.
4. Borrow from a friend.
Do you have a special event coming up and need a cute dress or
shoes? My friends and I swap clothes all
the time. Emily lives in Louisiana, but
every time she came home to Greenville, she would raid my closet. It helped her pack less and gave her some new
items to wear when she was in town. Now
that I live in Charlotte, I steal from my mom all the time. Several of the pictures on Facebook are me
wearing my mom’s clothes, not mine! How
is that for a free way to get a cute look?
Oh, and don’t leave out the jewelry.
My friend, Rebecca, has the best jewelry, and we all borrow from her
from time to time – jewelry completes a look, you know. Men can do this, too, you know. Last night, my brother, Casey, and I were
talking and I told him I wanted to buy a tie for Andy this week to match my
bridesmaid dress for his wedding. He
told me that he had a tie (that I had bought for him, no less!) that he would
bring home with him when he comes this weekend.
Andy was pretty resistant to me buying a new tie for him (and those
suckers are expensive), so this is a win-win!
Food
Last night, Casey and I were also discussing the bills that
make us the most angry. His is his
electricity bill (which I’ll discuss next), and mine is my grocery/out to eat
bill. We were laughing at how ridiculous
our complaints are, but nevertheless, they bother us. So, here are some tips I’ve found to save
money with the food budget.
1. Pack your lunch. I’m
a teacher with about 20 minutes to scarf down my food, make copies, and use the
restroom during lunch. Packing something
that doesn’t need to be microwaved is my only option. My sweet husband has a job that gives him an
hour for lunch. Granted, he often works
through lunch but still. How nice,
right? What was not nice was our food
bill when he was eating lunch (and breakfast) at the office every day. I know that could work for bachelors who
value their time, but it didn’t work for this wife who hates to see that
increasing food bill! Now I pack both of
our lunches every day, and he eats breakfast at home. It saves us insane amounts of money. Another tip on packing lunches – do them all
on Sunday, and then all you have to do is grab them from the fridge or freezer
on the weekday mornings. My go to is a
peanut butter sandwich, cheese its, and apple.
On Sundays, I make all my sandwiches and then freeze them (the bread
stays fresh that way), put the cheese-its in plastic bags (cheaper than buying
the individual packs), and slice up the apples and put them in separate bags. In the mornings, all I do is grab a sandwich,
chip bag, apple bag, and fill up my water bottle, and I’m good to go.
2. Coupon…if you can.
There is a lot of money to be saved by couponing. I know this, and I have friends who do it
sickeningly well. I have tried, and I
did save, but I never saved enough to make it worth my time. I didn’t do it well enough, I know, but it
was what it was. If you are good at
couponing (or want to try it), you need to check out this blog: southernsavers.com. It is so well done and well organized. It teaches you how to coupon and tells you
where to find weekly deals at your local grocery stores.
3. Shop at Aldi and Walmart.
HUGE shout out to Marianne Cox for this one. She is the best budgeter, I know, by the
way. She should be writing this blog. Anyway, I was complaining to her about my
grocery bill, and she recommended trying Aldi and substituting Walmart with what
I couldn’t find (or didn’t like) at Aldi.
She said that she also shopped for two weeks at a time to reduce the
amount of groceries she was buying. I’ve
only gone to Aldi twice since our conversation, but it has made a MIRACULOUS
difference in my grocery bill. I think
we’ve reduced it by around 40% (from shopping at Harris Teeter with
coupons AND the sales flyer). I won’t
know for sure until we’ve gone a whole month on the shift, but I highly
recommend this shift. Just remember to
bring your own bags, a debit card or cash, and a quarter for the shopping cart
when you go to Aldi.
4. Groupon/Social Living/Coupon Books/Cheap Dates. We live in Charlotte. Talk about expensive restaurants all over the
place. However, going out to eat is one
of my favorite things – especially on a Friday night. Here are some tips for making that
cheaper.
A. Buy
Groupons (groupon.com) or Social Living (socialliving.com) coupons. You can pay $20 for a $40 coupon for things
like these. Some people can even buy
them through work. My friend, Laura,
bought a coupon for $4 through her office (Bank of America) that got us $40
worth of Indian food at a popular restaurant in Charlotte. Those coupon books the high school kids are
always selling are also great. They
usually have a buy one get one coupon, and they are good for all kinds of
places. Well worth the buy. When you use them, though, don’t forget to
tip on the full price of the meal – it is only fair to your server.
B. Order
water. DEFINITELY don’t order alcohol. That is a TERRIBLE rip off. If you are into having a glass of wine or
beer, drink that at home. Don’t pay $6-9
for it at the restaurant when you can get a bottle for $12-20. Sodas and teas also rack up your bill, so
think before you drink.
C. Order
Takeout. If you order food to go, you
don’t have to tip or can tip less (depending on the establishment) than you
would if you were eating there.
Sometimes we enjoy doing takeout more than going to the restaurant. We don’t have to wait for our food, and we
can eat while watching a movie if we want.
Or we can set the table, light some candles, and have a very private,
romantic dinner date.
D. Go
cheap. My friend, Emily, and her
husband, Ryan, often take date nights to Chic-fil-a. Granted, they have a toddler, but I still
think it is an awesome idea. It is
cheaper, but it still keeps you from cooking and gives you a night out to do
something fun.
5. Socialize cheaper.
Ok, so here is the deal. I know
that in our age bracket, 19-30ish, going out to eat is a huge way to keep and
develop friendships. Relationships are
important, but so is your budget. Here
are some ideas about how to maintain relationships and your budget: Don’t
do lunch/dinner. Consider going walking,
running, or to the gym together. You’ll
get a free “date” and burn calories! Not
into that? Go to coffee or get frozen
yogurt together. It is cheaper, but
still social. I also had friends that I
would watch a TV show with. We got
quality time together every week, and we were both watching the same TV show,
anyway. Why not do it together? My friend, Marianne, also suggested that she will
use her lunch hour to meet a friend, but instead of eating lunch, she gets a coffee
or smoothie. That way she spends less,
and she eats her packed lunch later or earlier than her lunch hour while she is
working.
6. Eat leftovers. You
can’t expect to have a great food budget and not eat leftovers. When I was single, I cooked one meal on
Sunday night for dinner, and I ate off of it Monday-Thursday, allowing myself
Friday to go out to eat. Now, I cook 2-3
meals a week, but we eat them until they are gone. If you aren’t loving the idea of eating the
same thing all week, maybe you find a group of friends and you swap
dishes. My first year teaching, I met
two girls in my apartment complex, and we’d all three cook a dish on Sunday,
and then get together with our Tupperware containers to divide the casseroles. That way, we all had different leftovers each
night of the week.
Energy Bill
Let’s attack Casey’s nemesis. I have almost no great advice on saving in
this area. Basically, I just keep my
house as cold as possible in the winter and as hot as I can stand it in the
summer. However, my brother, JT, has cut
his energy bill practically in half over the past year or more with a special
HVAC unit and a nest thermostat (I believe he also uses energy saving light
bulbs). He is also in the process of
creating a program where people can share their energy bills online with the
purpose of learning how to save on their energy bills. When we get moved in to our new house, I’m
going to get him to give me a tutorial on all he has learned, but if you want
to follow his blog for insight, you can find it here: http://lamppostreports.com/2012/12/08/share-and-compare-december-electric-bill/
Ok, that blog was MUCH, MUCH too long. Kudos to you if you were able to finish
reading it! Thanks for humoring me this
weekend and happy saving!!
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