New Ways We Are Trying to Save

At the beginning of the New Year, I posted that we are learning (and failing) and almost succeeding at actually saving money. And it's become fun. And no, I'm not crazy.

Now that I'm working so hard to save money, it made us both realize how much we were spending unnecessarily. DVDs? That cute top from Kohls? The even cuter shoes from Target? Thousands of bones for fat dog?

Now, before I purchase anything at all, I do a little math.
And math is not my strong point, so I'll break it down real simple.

Example:
Let's say that you are paid $15 an hour. You find the cutest pair of shoes and they are only $45!
Deal, right? Think about it like this. Those shoes are going to cost you 3 hours of work. Are they really worth it?

It's not an exact science, but its definitely helped my need to shop. Normally, I would hit Target when boredom set in. So far this year (January and February), I have gone to Target twice. Once because my makeup was on sale and I had a coupon and another time to buy a birthday card. Nothing else.
Why yes, I am proud of myself. Baby steps.

For the month of January, I saved every single $5 bill I came into contact with. As I stated in an earlier post, I saved $35 that month. So far, for the month of February, I've encountered a few more $5 bills and have saved $65. Do that math real quick. Here, I'll save you the trouble, it's $100.
I easily saved $100 in TWO MONTHS just by NOT spending any $5 bills. Not bad, eh.

For January, our electric bill $106. This month, it's $103. I know it's not a massive savings, but it's a little and it's counts.

I'm also trying to desperately cut out my vices. My Red Bull habit is expensive. Instead of one a day, I'm trying to allow myself only 2 a week. So far so good! Aside from my mood, of course!
On average, Red Bull cost about $2. So, 5 days a week and 5 Red Bulls a week = $10.
Unnecessary spending! 

As far as saving water and washing clothes, I've noticed a pattern. Tay and I both wash clothes the same way. Throw everything into a huge a$$ load and put it on super. Have you ever actually watched to see how much water is wasted when you use the super setting? Try it. Set your washer to super and watch how far the water goes up. I can almost guarantee that regardless, you are wasting water.

Now that we are only washing our necessities, we do one medium load a week. Super load be gone!

We are also starting to try our hand at selling things online via Craigslist and other similar sites. Sometimes you win, sometimes you think you are going to be raped and bludgeoned to death by a stranger who will NOT pay the full asking price for an item you are selling.

I've recently listed some things for a little higher than I know what most will pay, but the benefit of that is, when a prospective buyer inquires if you would be willing to go down by $5 or $10, you don't end up feeling cheated and you get money out of the deal and unwanted items leave your house. Winning!

So far, the only thing we've sold is an old Nikon point and shoot for $100.
Yeah, we paid over $500 6 years ago, but for us, it was extra money in the savings account.