Cash

Every cent counts and is the beginning of a dollar.  Every dollar gets met closer to my goal of paying off the house quicker, and paying off the house quicker gets me closer to investing in more properties.  With this in mind, I try to use cash when paying for purchases or paying bills.

If I pay my telephone bill by credit card, I am charged $1.14 for the honor.  If I pay for my groceries by credit card at Aldi, I have to pay a percentage of my purchase for that pleasure.  However, if I use cash, I save those few extra dollars here and there and those dollars can be put toward the interest on my mortgage. Simply by using cash instead of credit card, we could save $10 or more on charges.

Plus, rather than getting a big bill at the end of the month for my credit card, the money comes out as it is spent.  Luckily we are able to pay off our credit card each month, but if we didn't then there would be credit card interest as an additional expense to consider.

We are now paying cash wherever possible to save on these unnecessary expenses.

Chop Vegies to Freeze

Its funny, but I had never thought much about waste when both my husband and I were working.  I would clean the vegetable crisper in my fridge out weekly, throwing out countless dollars, just because I hadn't used it that week.  What a waste!

Now at the end of the week, I cut up my vegies into serving sizes and freeze them in zip lock bags.  There is definitely a weekly saving there, as hardly any of my fresh vegies are going to waste now. 

Bulk

I am a major fan of buying in bulk.  At my favourite store Costco www.costco.com.au I have saved packets of money.  For example, we needed toilet paper and our usual brand was on special at Coles for 0.37cents per hundred sheets.  Costco had the same brand selling for .19cents per hundred sheets.  Of course I did have to buy 60 rolls.  Our pantry is full bulk purchases.  I even buy bulk in fruit and veg.  What I cant cook up over the week, I chop and freeze.

I also like to give some away to family members.  Often they will give us the produce from their gardens, or are extremely generous in buying gifts for us, so it  feels good to share in our 'abundance'.

If we dont have spare cash however, we do not buy in bulk.  Buying in bulk on a credit card that can't be repaid before the end of the month is not really any saving at all because you are paying interest on your bargains.

BPAY

I really love rewards linked to credit cards, but when it comes to paying bills, sometimes you are better off using BPAY.  Our telephone company charges a payment processing fee of 2%.  With an average bill of $100 per month, that is a saving of $2 per month, and $24 per year.

The other benefit is that it has already used my cash and I dont have to pay off the credit card at the end of the month.

Breastfeeding

To start with breastfeeding for me was boring and a little uncomfortable.  How do I hold the baby? Which side did I feed last? etc, but now I love it.  In fact, I love it so much, that at 15 months, my son is still on two feeds a day.   Check out http://www.breastfeeding.asn.au/ for more information on breastfeeding your baby.

I will be honest, my main motivation for breastfeeding was because I had heard you can lose massive amounts of weight and eat what you want.  I believed that myth, and consumed a packet of chocolate biscuits daily, until the figures on the scales started to rise.

In addition to all the pros regarding the health of the mother and child with breast milk, it saves heaps.  I have read that it saves approximately $2,500 a year on formula.  Now that is pretty substantial.

Brushed Potatoes

Shopping for vegetables at the supermarket is not ideal as far as I am concerned.  I prefer to go to a green grocer, or a market, because they are usually cheaper but convenience rules when the pantry resembles Old Mother Hubbard's Cupboard. 

I found that buying the dirty looking 'brushed potatoes' saves around $2 a kilo, when compared with washed potatoes.  I usually buy a kilo of spuds a week, so that saves me over $100 a year.  Yay for saving.

Apples

My husband likes an apple a day, and because I am not such a fan of them I find it hard to get nice ones.  Last week I got a kilo on special thinking I had made a great deal, came home to find that they were floury and yuk.  I would normally have thrown them out, but I just cant waste now, so I have added them to some other older fruits to make a yummy juice.  I just throw them in the juicer, and viola, there it is.

Another thing I like to do is stew them up on the stove, just de-core, peel and chop into a saucepan of water with a bit of cinnamon.  Once they have been cooked to my liking, I can add them to the top of porridge or any baby cereal for my son.