5 tips to save money today

Monday's Money Matters
No Money Tree in my backyard.  How about you?

I am always looking for ways to keep more of the money we make.  With today's economy, you probably are too.  Here are five simple ways we save money each day.

1. Everyone in my family brings a lunch to work or school everyday.  When I added up the amount of money we were spending on lunches each day, I was SHOCKED to say the least. Lunch for my husband and I cost about 10 dollars each.  Lunch for my children (and I have three) is about 5 dollars each.  Both of those costs are per day.  Add them all up and we were spending around 35 dollars a day for lunch!  I though that was just crazy!
2. Make your favorite coffee drink at home instead of going to the local coffee house and paying around 5 dollars for one coffee.  Your local grocery store chain should carry all the coffee flavorings and the whipped cream, so you can make your own at home.  Need it to go?  Buy a travel coffee Mug  . You say there is no time in the morning to make it?  Get the coffee pot ready to go the night before, and set out all of the ingredients for your coffee. If you spend at least 5 dollars a day on coffee house coffee, then making your own will be a 35 dollar a week savings!
3. Stop going to the dry cleaner.  Purchase a good iron and ironing board and do your own. I have the Shark Professional Iron and it works great!  I also buy the concentrated starch instead of the spray starch in the can.  I found that the spray starch would only last about 2 weeks and they were about 3 dollars a piece.   Sta-Flo Liquid Starch - 1/2 gallon doesn't cost much and it lasts for months because it is concentrated.  You will need to purchase a 32 oz spray bottle to mix the starch and water.  I add 1 cup of starch and fill the rest of the bottle with water. We spent about 25 dollars a week on my husbands dry cleaning.  By doing it myself, I am now saving that 25 dollars a week! See video below on how to iron a shirt
4. Instead of buying bottled water each week from the store, buy a re-usable water bottle for everyone in the family.  To be honest with you, it has been so long since I bought bottled water I would not be able to tell you how much they cost now. Add up how much you spend on bottled water and see how much of your money you can keep by buying a re-usable water bottle .
5. PAY CASH for as much as you can.  It hurts more to part with your cash in hand then it does to give someone a credit or debit card to pay.  These are the things we pay cash for; clothing, food, gas, car maintenance, pet supplies, haircuts, cosmetics, and gifts.

Try these tips out and see how much you can save

Here is the video

How to iron a shirt

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