Pinching pennies: 50 random ways to save money

Media General News Service
Published: January 8, 2009

Don’t take your children grocery shopping with you. Even more highly fattening, empty-calorie items will wind up in your cart.

Don’t grocery shop without a list. Taking a few minutes to plan meals and needs will save additional trips to the store.

Download grocery store coupons to your store card on the store’s Web site or go to shortcuts.com. When you use your card and purchase the item, the coupon will automatically be applied.

Take advantage of stores that double and triple coupons, like Harris Teeter.

Shop for clothing and other items at consignment stores. This is especially good for children’s clothes, which are outgrown quickly.

Learn how to “CVS” at moneysavingmom.com. Using Extra Care Bucks wisely can result in paying pennies for many dollars worth of items. A tutorial on the site teaches you how to do this.

Trade babysitting with another family instead of paying for a babysitter.

Rent movies from Redbox for $1/night. Go to redbox.com to see what is available in your area.

Browse coupons online at places like coupons.com before you shop and print only the ones you need.

At Wal-Mart, match sales prices on groceries from other stores. This is especially helpful on produce and meat.

Buy store brand items. Most of the time, you can’t tell the difference.

Use a credit card that gives you a certain percent back (usually 1 to 3 percent) on your purchases. Just be sure you can pay in full every month to avoid finance charges. This takes discipline, but can result in free airline tickets and rebates on other items.

Look around your home for things you no longer need and organize a neighborhood or church free swap meet. Take the leftovers to Goodwill, the Salvation Army or the DAV Store.

Sell your items online or to a consignment store. Have you discovered craigslist.com? It’s a great place to find things on sale close by or to sell what you have.

Donate items to a charitable organization for a tax deduction if you itemize your deductions. Donations up to $250 in worth don’t have to be itemized.

Buy a week’s worth of food for a family of four for $30 from your local Angel Food Ministries site.

Change the look of your kitchen chairs by removing the seat cushion and using a staple gun to attach new fabric to the cushion instead of purchasing new chairs.

Turn the thermostat down when you go to work, or at night when you go to bed, since you will be tucked under your covers. Chilly temperatures are better for sleeping also.

Turn off the lights every time you leave the room. It quickly becomes a habit.

Unplug appliances and electronics when they are not in use because they are still using energy if they are plugged in.

Freshen up your house inside and out with a coat of paint. Buy paint when it is on sale or you can get a rebate.

Wash large loads of clothes instead of several smaller loads.

Be aware of what companies will give you money if you refer your friends to them (i.e., pest control and satellite TV companies).

Don’t buy clothes that have to be dry cleaned.

Buy a programmable thermostat and take the disagreements out of changing the temperature.

Check to see if your insurance company allows you to purchase a three-month supply of your prescription by mail for the price of one month.

Put everyone in your family on the same cell phone service provider for free in-network calling and texts.

Check your cell phone usage frequently throughout the month to make sure you are not going over your limit. (Make teenagers and college students pay their own overage fees, which quickly makes them more conscious of how many minutes they use.)

Check all your bills closely and notify the company immediately if there are incorrect charges.

Ask yourself honestly if you really use all those cable channels.

Never buy anything that isn’t on sale. If what you want isn’t on sale, ask if it will soon be on sale.

Buy slipcovers to spruce up furniture.

Order from walmart.com or target.com and get free site-to-store shipping.

Use Hobby Lobby’s 40 percent off coupons from the newspaper or print one from http://www.hobbylobby.com.

Throw all your quarters in a container at the end of a day and cash them in when it’s full. You’ll be surprised how quickly it will add up throughout the year to help out with vacation expenses.

To save money on books, invest in a Barnes and Noble discount card for discounts at B. Dalton, shop PJ’s Books on Piney Forest Road or Goodwill for used books or rediscover the library.

Check out free books on CDs and movies at the library.

Don’t assume larger-sized food purchases are a better deal. Check the unit pricing.

Learn to bake cookies, cakes and pastries instead of purchasing higher priced baked goods.

Find hundreds of store and restaurant coupons on couponmom.com.

Buy gift bags and party supplies at a dollar store. Switch to having big parties for your children to every other year and at other times, just invite family.

Order water to drink at restaurants and knock almost $2 per drink off your bill.

Discover the fun of Saturday matinees and discounted ticket prices.

Sign up at travel Web sites for email alerts when airline prices to your favorite locations drop.

Break the habit of bottled water. It’s expensive, piles up in landfills and isn’t much different than water from the spigot.

Adopt this as your motto for 2009: Make it last, wear it out, use it up or do without!