Are you a smoker?

If you answered yes, I should be lecturing you to give up as it's better for your personal health and the health of your wallet. I'm not going to do that because I'm a smoker too and I know just how hard it is to give up.

Instead, I'm going to suggest that instead of buying ready made cigarettes which are expensive, buy roll your own tobacco. It is much cheaper to buy tobacco, papers and filters for the week than it is to buy ready made cigarettes. If you don't know how to roll cigarettes properly, there are plenty of different kind of rolling machines you can buy from your local tobacconist starting from as low as a few dollars which will help you to roll them. You can also buy plastic cigarette containers for a low cost too so you can pre-roll your cigarettes and not have to worry about rolling them on the go.

You will be surprised at just how much money you can save in the long term by doing this if you're not ready to give up smoking for good. You could put that extra money in the bank account I suggested you open in a previous post just to see how much money you save.

School uniforms costing too much?

If this is the case, have a look at your schools uniform shop, a lot of the time, they will have second hand uniforms in great condition for a fraction of he cost of the brand new uniform.

Also check with your local buy sell swap pages and groups on Facebook, people will often list their child's old uniforms for heap too. I have also seen them hanging in charity shops so that could be an option in your area as well.

If you are good with a sewing machine, you could very well make your child's school dress or shirt and save money that way too.

Use your car less often

When possible and for shorter trips, swap your car for walking or riding a bicycle.

This will not only improve your health and fitness because you are exercising but you will start feeling better within yourself too.

By doing this, you will save on fuel and wear and tear by not using your car. It's also better for the environment as you're not creating any emissions by walking or riding.

Less take aways

Buy take away good less often as this often leaves you out of pocket more so than grocery shopping. Home cooked meals are cheaper in the long run and you can make more in the meal for less than take away. Just as taking your lunch to work instead of buying it will save you an easy $10-20 a day. 

If you don't like to make sandwiches, why not make extra for dinner the night before and pack it up for lunch the next day? Most work places including construction sites have a smoko shed/room where you can refrigerate your lunch and even reheat it. 

Don't get me wrong, you can still buy your lunch or take away dinner but limit it to once or twice a week. You will be amazed at just how much money you will save.

Recycle your old items into new items

Do you have towels and tea towels that have seen better days? Do you have a sewing machine? Turn your old towels into foot mats by folding them in half and sewing the edges together. Turn your old tea towels into washable dish cloths by cutting them in half then folding them in half and sewing the edges together. This will give your old items new life that will last a little longer before they head for the rag bag or rubbish bin.

Do you have old sheets that are almost thread bare? Why not cut them into 2 inch strips and crochet them into a mat if you know how to crochet? If the sheets are flannelette, why not cut them into squares, sew an edge on them and turn them into new face washers? Your old worn out face washers can also turn into your new dish cloths for extra life.

By doing this, you can save yourself money buyin these items and only replace the bigger items you have recycled like sheets and towels.

Discounts

Every time you find coupons, keep them. Use your coupons and loyalty rewards cards whenever you can, this will definitely save you money in the long term. Here in Australia, we don't get coupons like those in the USA but we still get them in the form of shop-a-dockets, junk mail, etc. Keep all your coupons and only throw them out once they have expired, you just never know when you will use them.

If you like to keep track of how much you have saved, buy a little exercise book to keep note. If you have a high interest savings account, you could always put the money in there that you have saved - this could go towards that holiday or big purchase you've been wanting.

It's amazing just how much money you can save by using your coupons.

Keep your car regularly maintained

I know this is not always affordable for everyone but keeping your car as well as the tyres regularly maintained will save you money in the long run. Regular services done by a mechanic can pick up on just about anything that is about to go wrong and attend to that as well as the service. 

If you cannot afford to keep your car maintained by a mechanic, you can easily do the oil change yourself if you are mechanically minded, that way, it only costs you for the oil and oil filter.

Also, if you regularly maintain your tyres (make sure there is always the correct air pressure), this will help your tyres to last a lot longer than what they would driving around with flat tyres. Not only will you be staying safe on the road but your tyres will last longer (providing you don't constantly do burn outs).

By doing this, you will no doubt be saving money in the long run by preventing mechanical break downs and regular tyre replacements.

Buying in bulk

When you can, buy items that you need in bulk. Some supermarkets sell bulk food items like rice which end up being cheaper per kg the more you buy. For other things like cleaning products, you may have to go to a specialty store. Do your research first though work out what it would cost you to buy what you normally use as to what you will pay for a bulk item. Some things may not work out cheaper but 9 times out of 10, they will when you work out the price ratio. 

Cut your electricity bill down

This is about the easiest bill to slash when you and your family are in the habit of doing so. Instead of having your appliances on stand-by when not in use, turn them off at the wall. 

When things like tvs, microwaves and washing machines, etc are not in use but are still on at the wall, they still use electricity. You may not think its much they use but you will be surprised by how low your bill will can go when you are in the habit of turning them off at the wall when you're not using them.

The money you can save by doing this can go towards better things like food shopping or in a savings account for that long overdue vacation.