How Do You Save Money?

The best way to save money is not to spend it.

My husband loves this philosophy.

Me? Not so much.

After all, I am the chief purchasing officer of our family. As a stay-at-home mom, I do the jobs that no one else has the time to do. Grocery shopping, clothing shopping, household shopping, home and garden shopping. Husband LOVES it when I stay home and do not spend money, but he doesn't love it so much when we are out of Diet Coke.

What? No Diet Coke? The chief purchasing officer is FIRED!

So for me, the best way to save money is to spend less. That's my philosophy, and I'm sticking with it.

 It works for me!

I have a few tricks that have helped me save a little money during these "still paying college tuition" years.

* Food budget is a big chunk of the monthly spending. I cut coupons for the household items I can pick up at Target, but that's not where I save the most money. When grocery prices sky-rocketed across the country this year, I noticed that my local grocery chain was getting more and more expensive. I would be in the express lane with thirteen items or less, and the bill would still be $75 to $100! That's when I decided to do nearly ALL of my food shopping at ALDI. I checked the other day, and I've shaved $200 off our monthly food spending. That's a lot of money! I find great fresh produce at ALDI, too. We have a new family motto: if we can't get it at ALDI, then we probably don't need it that badly.

* We rarely eat out at restaurants. We reserve this for special occasions, or those times when we are travelling. Otherwise, we make it at home for a lot cheaper.

* I purchase clothing off-season. I buy winter sweaters in July and summer skirts in January. Let me be clear: I LOVE to shop for clothes! But I will be patient. Last year's Fair Isle sweater will not be dated a year later. So I wait and wait and wait. I have a few favorite stores that also have online websites. I sign up for emails and wait for the time when the outlet offerings are all sold for an additional percentage off. I have scored some amazing pieces for 80 percent off original prices. I LOVE a good bargain!

*I purchase used stamps from the Buy/Sell/Trade boards. I try very hard not to buy into the hype of NEW* PRODUCT* RELEASE TIME! Instead, I wait. Three months, six months, a year. Eventually, that stamp set I really love will appear on a forum for a fraction of the price.

So I guess that you could say that one of my big secrets to saving money is to just be patient.

I purchased some great "new to me" stamp sets last month, including this Polka Dot Parade stamp set from Papertrey Ink.

{Today's Brew: Polka Dot Parade (PTI), PTI inks and card stock, Lawn Fawn papers, Martha fence punch, button and twine}

Please, share your secrets for saving money! I need all the help I can get!