I’ve been thinking a lot about what I wanted to feature on this blog. And one thing that’s very realistic with my life that could be fun would be cutting costs and ways to do so! I’ll be getting married next year and we’d really like to save up for not only our wedding, but also a nice house for us to live in. Those two things have pretty large price tags and most people only succeed by saving up for years. But it’s not just as easy as saying that and POOF! Years pass and we have our own home. There are methods and skill levels such as everything else we do in life!
So as I pondered what the secret is to cutting costs, I realized it’s not so much secret tips, as it is just a way of life. One life tip we’ll be focusing on is “If you can pay someone else to do it, you can probably do it yourself”. Let me explain!
Do you go to a mechanic for an oil change? Go to the salon for eyebrow waxes, hair coloring and manicures? How about small home repairs? If you take something that you’d usually pay for and think “I could probably do that myself if I tried”, then do it yourself! I come from a family of very handy people. When I grew up I thought my dad could basically do everything, and that’s because he did, and it saved us so much money. He would paint the house (he was a painter), fix the roof, repair the cars, bust down walls and put some up, build sheds (and cute play houses for my sister and I!), fix small appliances as well as the big ones. As long as it doesn’t consist of expensive tools that would cost more to purchase than it is to just pay someone, just do it yourself.
I don’t really hold up to this fully yet, and that’s the point of writing about it, these tasks are something that I will be implementing into my life as I write about them. A few things that I already do at home are eyebrow upkeep and manicures. I know of girls who spend a good amount of money on both of these things. In fact, I used to pay upwards to $15 (with tip) to get my eyebrows waxed at least once every other week. That’s $30 I could be saving for our home! Now I do it myself which is tedious but I’ve taught myself how to do a good job.
All it takes it to teach yourself how to do something yourself, and you’re already saving money. Simple as that!
I would definitely be interested in going further in depth with this life tip since it really is a huge and helpful one. If anyone has anything they’d like to see featured (how to do this…etc.) and I’m sure I know how to do it, I’d love to feature it here. Leave a comment with any ideas!
KB
Kim-First of all, I love the wallpaper on your blog page. Second of all, I agree. If it is not something electrical....you can do it! And as far as the price of tools...between your father and mine, i am sure they have something that we could borrow.
ReplyDeleteMy cousin once told me to have a housewarming party...meaning everyone come ready to work and then celebrate afterward. Although I never took her up on this offer/suggestion, it sounds like a fabulous idea. When she and her husband were building there home, they had more than one of these get togethers. She provided food and beer for the after party and all were happy to work and play. Their friends all had different abilities they could bring to the table. A group of friends working for a few hours and admiring their work afterward....with a few beers, sounds good to me!
Now that s one way to cut costs and have a good time!
That was me-Janine
DeleteJanine, that's a good idea! I'll have to remember that when we get a house. :)
DeleteKim, I love this blog!!! I feel the same way. I used to get my eyebrows and nails done all the time. To save money I just do them myself now! We also save money by having people to our house for dinner instead of going out. We decided to go all out and stock our bar (instead of paying $4-10 per drink) we have enough liquor to make ANY drink at a whoping 25 cents per drink. I make my own bread, cookies, cakes, beer, body scrubs, pretty much anything I think I can make, I do. I'm going to be starting a garden this summer and canning my vegies for over the winter. We do anything to save! I think people will find this subject quite usefull!
ReplyDeleteNicole, that's such a good idea! I have a small bar area in my apartment but I haven't up kept it. I've always wanted to make my own bread. That might be something I can post about ;) any tips you'd like to add would be very helpful
ReplyDeleteMy tip to you Kim on making bread is this: Start with a simple recipe. 3/4c luke warm water, 2tsp dry active yeast, 1/2tsp salt, and around 2 1/2c flour. Put the warm water, yeast, salt, and a half cup of the flour into a bowl and whisk for a few untill it's well combined. If you want an herbed bread this is the time to add the herbs. I like to use a salt-free garlic and herb seasoning, or I'll use fresh rosemary and garlic. (garlic is my favorite!) Ditch the whisk and move to a wooden spoon. Start to add the rest of the flour a half cup at a time untill you can't mix it with the spoon any more. Preheat the oven to 400. Put the rest of the flour onto a counter surface and kneed the rest of the flour into the dough. (kneeding for about 10 minutes) This dough is the best and easiest I know of, you can EITHER grease a bread pan (I use this for making sandwiches) and put the dough in the pan covered with a damp bread towel (I use a wetter paper towel, I've found it works better to put the towel ON the bread instead of hovering it over) and let the bread rise to double it's size, slice it 3-4x across the top and pop it in the oven for 30minutes. You can also make it into artisan rolls by letting the dough rise to double it's size in the mixing bowl covered by the forementioned towel, then punching the dough down and seperating the dough into small balls, put them on an upidedown and ungreased cookie sheet and bake for about 10-20 minutes. OR you can let the dough rise to double it's size in the mixing bowl, allways with the towel punch it down (Punching it down is simply putting your fists into the dough untill it's small again) then form the dough into a ball about 5inches and place on the bottom of the ungreased cookie sheet bake for 30 minutes. Any way you cook this dough to see if it's done, hit it with a wooden spoon. If it sounds hollow, it's done!
ReplyDeleteI've found with all the different kinds of bread I've made, this is the most simple. And remember Kim, rising times vary huge amounts! This same dough one day could take only 15 minutes to rise, then the next day take 2 hours. The bigger the dough gets the fluffier the bread will be. Try this recipe and if you like it but think it's a little bland, add 2tsp of sugar with the yeast at the beginning. Makes for perfect PB&J bread! Good luck and happy baking! :o)
Hi Kim, there are a couple ways I try saving money: couponing, and shopping around/price comparing.
ReplyDeleteI used to buy the name brand cat litter but I've since stopped and I use the cheap WalMart brand instead, same with cat food. The litter isn't great but for something my cat is pooping on it does the job and is less than five dollars for 25 pounds, I can't really argue with that. Th canned cat food is .70 for 13 ounces and I can stretch that out a couple days. I read the ingredient list on the back and it's pretty much identical to the name brand stuff for twice the price. I spend less than twenty dollars a month on my kitty!
Another thing I look out for is avoidable fees. When I got my bank account at Northeast Credit Union the first thing I did was look over the list of fees that they charge customers for various reasons. The first thing I noticed is that they charge a small fee for sending out paper billing statements (and they're not the only ones who do!) so I made sure to sign up for e-statements instead. Oh and don't forget to pay your bills on time!
Great blog and thanks for sharing.
-Hannah
Hannah- Buying wet cat food, may be cheaper for you but Wet cat food is not healthy for your cat, Ive worked with animals for 6 years and I haev learned that the cheaper the food is, the less healthy it is for your critter. Wet cat food causes tooth decay 10X faster for your kitty than dry food- because cats don't brush their teeth (obviously lol)- dry cat food scrape the plaque, One thing to watch for on dog or cat food is if there are dyes int eh food- and if the first few ingredients have corn meal or any By Product- those are warnings that the food is unhealthy for your animals most people do not know this though because companies do not disclose this information. I always try to get this information out when I get a chance! something to think about!
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