You are such a frugal Ninja! You’ve already mastered Frugal Living 101: 6 Ways to Save Before Nine and now the clock is now ticking. The race is on to lunch and you’ve still many lessons to learn and many pennies to keep in your pocket. Here are 6 more ways to keep saving before the day passes you by!
- Take Out the Papers and the Trash. Granted, you won’t necessarily earn money for this {unless you work for the sanitation department or are in the 4th grade}. However, you might also be throwing away nickels and dimes when you throw out the trash. If you have a recycling program available to you, be sure you’re using it. Not only will you feel all warm and fuzzy for being green, you’ll also be saving green, too. Many bulky containers can go straight into your recycle bin instead of taking up space in the trash bag. That eventually means you purchase fewer trash bags. We also compost our veggie scraps, egg shells, coffee grounds, tea bags, and newspapers. Your garden and your wallet will thank you. While we’re on the subject of trash bags, you might want to be sure that you’re either splurging or couponing your way to quality bags. I purchase ours at ALDI, which I feel has a low price for the quality. If your bags are constantly breaking and not able to be filled to capacity, they’re not really a bargain. AND you can even get reward points for recycling with a program called Recyclebank!
- Throw in a load of laundry. No need to re-invent the wheel here, check out my post Four Ways to Save Money While Doing Your Laundry for ways to save while you’re keeping the fam bright and clean. Now if only someone can tell me why it’s so hard to put the clean folded laundry away off the loveseat.
- Run your errands all at once. Keep yourself from doing the back and forth dance. Make a good list of errand stops {along with the items needed at each stop}, map them out in order of proximity, and then knock them out one by one. Your intentional action will reduce the amount of gas you’re using and keep you from ending up at a red light in crazy town.
- Plan Your Meals. Weekly, I preach the importance of knowing what you’re going to eat for dinner before the 6 O’Clock rush. Even if you don’t make a Monday Meal Plan like we do, it’s a good idea to quickly check the fridge, freezer, pantry, and cabinet to know what you’re having for dinner before you even eat lunch. That way, if you need to pick an item up in the above mentioned errand run, you’ll have it on your list.
- Exercise. This is obviously dependent upon your work and kids’ schedules but if you can at all, exercise in the morning. It will give you a boost for your day, a full but stable belly will be a happier belly, and you’ll be less likely to flake if you knock it out before noon. Regular exercise saves you money by reducing medical bills, maintaining your current wardrobe, and helping you focus at work and at play.
- Chop! Chop! I’ve often referred to it as the Best 30 minutes to get fit that you’ll spend per week not exercising. Produce is much cheaper than snack foods {and better for you too!} but it does you no good just sitting in your crisper unprepared. Spend 30 minutes in the morning cutting your peppers, slicing your strawberries, crying with the onions and yes chopping the broccoli {did you get it?}. Fajitas, pizzas, salads, pastas all come together in a snap when you’ve knocked this simple step out of the way before lunch time.
Stay tuned this week for more ways to keep your budget in check with 6 Ways to Save before Seven PM.
If you haven’t already, check out Frugal Living 101: 6 Ways to Save Before Nine.
