What do you do to save Money?

I'm sitting here with a few hours of peace and quiet.  My kids are at church for their once a month fun group activities/learning!

I keep thinking and thinking about ways to squeeze $ out of everything we do.  I believe that our family is in dire need of a vacation since my hubby works so hard to provide for us and we end up just getting by some months and other months are fabulous!  We have to live on a budget and save for those things we want!  Our needs are always taken care of first.  So, I thought I would list the things I do to save $ and it would be great if you can add your saving ideas.

1.  Shop the sales/stock up with coupons.  (This is a great one, but I am careful to not buy things I don't need...that doesn't save me any $ I end up spending more if I try to get all the great deals)

2.  Shop at Goodwill for clothing for my daughter.  I am fortunate enough to have fabulous friends who give me hand-me-downs for my son.  I do buy their shoes on sale...I won't do Goodwill on those...call me picky.

3.  Cook from scratch.  It is wayyy cheaper to buy beans in bulk and soak them on your own.  I also buy rice in bulk, popcorn, etc.  Some days it is hard to remember to plan on having beans ready, so I try to soak a lot all at once and freeze them!

4.  I have a garden in the summer!  This year I plan to expand!  I want to have enough to freeze and can this year.  I did freeze a TON of zuchinni last year...in fact I need to make some bread with that.

5.  I started a Disney Fund Jar with my kids.  I just had the bank count all our change and I added that to our fund.  I labeled it with some vinyl.  I got the kids to help me get some Mickey's on there and they are excited to add some of their allowance to it every month.  I plan to do the same.  All my change from grocery shopping, etc. will go into the jar.  I haven't been spending the change, just adding it to the jar.

6.  I am going to start adding the savings to my fund from my groceries.  If I am under budget then it will go to straight into our fund!

7.  I am working on the kids to keep their lights turned off and we use our adjustable thermostat and turn it off completely when it is warm out.

8.  I try to plan out my errands on the days that my son has school.  I write down my route on a sticky note and put it on my dash so I know exactly where I am going.  I also plan out all my lists and clip my coupons to them.  The hardest part is sticking to the list!  I MUST if I want this vacation!

9.  I signed up for 4 survey companies.  I have spend about an hour on one and have earned almost $10!  Any found money will be added to the fund!  Even what is found in the laundry (sometimes my family tips me and they don't even know it.)

10.  We CUT OUT OUR CABLE!  DONE!  I am so relieve to finally have done it.  Our bill dropped by $58 each month!  That $ will go directly to our fund!  We now have netflix for $7.99 a month, so we are saving $50 a month!  The best part is that we don't even miss it!  YEAH!

Those are my 10 for now.  I will keep listing more as I come up with them.

Have a fabulous weekend!  I am off to check my garbanzo beans...