Part of being a frugal person is that you have to figure out where your money is going. After you sit down and do a little bit of budgeting, you quickly begin to realize the problems areas that you have in your life. Now, this isn’t fun, because it’s never fun to spend money on the necessities in life when you’re just aching to go on a vacation. However, maybe you’re spending too much money on those necessities? Below, I’m going to go over some things that you’re spending too much money on.
#1. Groceries
We all have to eat and we all have to drink. If you don’t, you’ll die, so it’s a no brainer that we all need groceries. Unfortunately, you’re probably paying way too much for groceries. Did you know that American throw away as much as 40% of the groceries they buy, because the groceries ended up going bad? Well, it’s the truth and it can be summed up to our eyes being much bigger than our stomachs. Now, I know you’re not going to be able to cut groceries out altogether, but you can save some money.
First, you’ll want to take advantage of this website and the coupons listed here. We always have the latest and greatest coupons, so make sure you keep checking back. Next, you need to make sure that you have a meal planner for your family. Write down all the meals you plan on making for the upcoming week and only buy the things you need at the grocery store to make your meals for the week. That way, you have less of a chance of throwing out food, because it ended up going bad. Also, you should always consider store brands, rather than name brands.
#2. Clothes
It’s a fact that all of us have to wear clothes. Also, kids grow rather quickly as they’re growing up, so you likely have to go shopping for clothes a decent bit. There’s definitely no reason to kick yourself for buying clothes, as long as you buy them within reason. However, keep in mind, you should never pay full price for clothes. There are plenty of discount clothing stores out there, such as T.J. Maxx and Gabriel Brothers that you could shop at. Also, you could shop online at websites like Ebay to find clothes that still have the tags on them, but the price is significantly discounted. If you decide to go to a regular store for clothes, you should consider buying clothes while they’re out of season to save more money. For instance, I love to shop for spring/summer clothes while it’s still snowing outside.
#3. Vehicles
As stay-at-home moms we all live fairly busy lifestyles, so we all certainly need a nice, reliable vehicle to get us everywhere we need to be. Unfortunately, you’re probably paying way too much for your vehicle. We’ve all heard it before that your car’s value drops significantly the minute you pull off the lot and it’s the truth. Did you know that your vehicle’s value can drop as much as 60% in only two years? Yeah, those are some pretty surprising numbers. Instead of getting a brand new car, you may want to get a car that’s just a couple years old and has low mileage on it (no more than 30k). That way, you’ll save thousands of dollars, but still have a very nice vehicle. Also, you’ll save money on insurance, because the vehicle’s value has depreciated.
