Tuesday tips! Six "strange" things I do to save on cash (and a few quick cost cutters!).

I’ll be honest, before I was a widow, I rarely paid attention to the bills; my late husband worked in finance, and would practically salivate over a neatly organized excel spreadsheet of monthly expenditures. Yet over 3.5 years of managing life on my own, and through a pandemic, I’ve become much more aware of things like “want” versus “need,” and different ways I can manage to balance spending, saving, and an occasional splurge. Since I love getting tips from my friends, I thought I would share what I’ve learned with you! The next several weeks I’ll be putting out some “Tuesday Tips,” of how to save some cash. If you have anything to add, I’d love to hear it! Today, I’ll be sharing…

Strange but true! 6 “odd” things I do to cut costs, and 5 things you can start TODAY, to save some cash before the holidays.

1). Repurpose coffee grinds as a shower exfoliant.

I am a self-care JUNKIE! I have spent my fair share over the years, but I draw the line at body scrubs. They are pricey, at their least expensive, and there are things around the house you can use, that work just as well! Coffee grinds are found in many store-bought brands, and I have a pile of them going in the garbage every day (seems silly to me!). While you can try any variant of your own concoctions (honey, milk, and coconut oil all work well) I keep it simple and mix it with my creamy Dove body soap.

2). Online “window browse.”

This is a little game I play with myself that almost ALWAYS cures my itch to shop. When I feel the urge to spend, I browse my favorite sites, click “add to cart” with impunity, and walk away. I can’t say why this helps, but it’s cut my online spending big time.

3). Extend the life of my hair color.

I used to have my hair cut, and colored, every other month. At its “cheapest,” it could be $75, although anything that included a well dimensioned look usually cost upwards of $150 (about $900 per year!). Given that I have *some* grays, but not a lot, on a tip from my favorite hairdresser, I began to buy a color enhancing conditioner: I use Aveda Color Enhance Conditioner, in clove. At $36 a bottle (which has lasted me a year), I haven’t needed my color done in 13 months (just two cuts, at $40 each – which, over 12 months, is a whopping $800 savings).

4). Twin perks! Coffee calorie (and cost) cut!

When I am craving a seasonal latte, I order a drip coffee with a pump of the flavor I want (my fall go-to? Medium dark roast, 1 pump of pumpkin and a splash of cream!). This not ONLY saves cash (at DD, a medium latte drink is $4, same sized coffee is $2.25), it saves a TON of calories (latte: 410 calories at base, coffee, 10 calories at base). Although I know it seems miniscule, if you have a daily coffee habit, it adds up to almost $50 a month.

5). Buy Christmas gifts all year!

This is a multi-purpose strategy, for me. Being a widowed Mom means ALL OF LIFE is on me, and it becomes super overwhelming from mid-October, until January. If I spread the gift buying when there are sales throughout the year, it cuts my anxiety, and my risk for expensive impulse purchases.

6). Subscribe/sell.

Subscribing to a specific brand for monthly replenishment often comes with a discount. If you really like a product, you can also sign up to sell them, earn products for free, and even make some money. I sell Willing Beauty (it’s a nontoxic skincare company, which is important to me). I chose WB because it has a lower cost point, and higher quality products, than what I found at beauty retailers like Ulta/Sephora. I have friends who sell Arbonne, and Beauty Counter, and I know they share a similar sentiment.

While a lot of these things are cost cutters across time, here are four things you can do RIGHT NOW to jump start your bank account…

7). Cut cable/unnecessary APPS/extra streaming services.

Last year, I opted to cut cable. My kids and I NEVER watched “regular” tv, anyway. My bill was cut by about $50 a month immediately. Last month, I cut Hulu LIVE out of my monthly expenditures, too (we can live with commercials - this saved me another $30 per month). You can opt to share streaming services with family members to cut the monthly fee, as most streaming services offer multiple screen usage.

I also “keep tabs” on how often my kids use certain apps that I pay for (like ABC Mouse, or other educational sites). If they have only used it once or twice in a month, it’s cut from the rotation.

8). Do your own nails.

This is a multi-beneficial cost cutter. Nail salons are not the greatest environment for, well, any part of your body. Inhaling polish fumes? Ewe. Fungus from a pedicure? Gross. Toxic chemicals being adhered to your hands? Pretty…but also…ugh. I buy my own polishes, that I feel safe wearing, AND putting on my kids (I prefer Olive and June, or Zoya). Even Target has their own “clean” brand. If you get two “powder” manicures a month, and even just one pedicure, that is a savings of at least $70 a month (an underestimate, for sure).

9). Reduce expensive (and unhealthy) habits.

Drinking, smoking, eating out, etc. A “cheap” bottle of enjoyable wine runs at least $10 a bottle (a four pack of craft beer can be $12-$14). When you routinely share a bottle/a couple of beers, the habit can add up to $120-$200 per month. I have enacted a “no alcohol during the week” rule – for both my wallet, and my health. Eating out -ouch!  I don’t even want to know how much money went into my big blue garbage can this past summer, with all the takeout and groceries we didn’t end up using. Instead of googling restaurants for the nights I’m bogged down, between virtual learning and my own work, I began to have “kid friendly” options on hand when I just cannot fathom cooking (chicken nuggets, mac and cheese, turkey corn dogs, heck, even eggs or waffles!). Meal prep on the weekends is another big weeknight savior. We made pasta and meatballs on Saturday, that my kids also ate Sunday…and Monday.

10). Find lower cost/free entertainment

If COVID taught me anything, it’s that my entertainment budget was out of control. The amount I would spend on a day at a trampoline park, the movies, in an arcade, or at a theme park was astronomical. Now, we do a lot of hiking, bike riding, utilizing streaming services for movie nights (and a trip to dollar tree for snacks), baking at home, and game afternoons. This not only saved mega bucks, I realized I enjoyed our quality time far more when we were doing “connecting” activities, rather than “expensive” activities.

Check back next week for more ways to save, and even few household items, goods and services to INVEST in. XOXO!