4 Changes We've Made to Cope with Inflation!
Switch it all off, go outside and immerse yourself in nature!
Our family has always loved getting outdoors so this one came easy to us. Turn off your electronics and get outside. This helps us mentally, physically and we get to spend time as a family. Like many of our friends and family, we live in a small apartment. We were blessed with a small l-shaped backyard. So even if we do not go to far, we make it a point to sit in our backyard daily for about an hour. Even if you have a small balcony or a shared courtyard, use it... Get outside. Our other favorite options for getting outside are daily family walks, bike rides, and walking to the nearest park where we play basketball, run around, or visit the nearest rec center. Check your local parks website. It is very likely that there is a rec center in a park near you that allows kids to go play board games, and do arts and crafts with other kids... best part is it's free.
Unsubscribe and Cutting Cost. You won't miss it!
Unsubscribe from apps and add ons that your familiy does not use daily. After unsubscribing to movie apps we were left with the 4 that we use the most of. Prime video (we use prime mainly for shipping but the video is a nice bonus), Disney Plus, Netflix, and Hulu. We've cut cost drastically by getting rid of cable tv. Hulu, we only use for a couple shows and we suspend it in between seasons so that we don't pay monthly for it. We noticed quickly that we don't miss the other apps we were paying for. There are so many ways to cut cost here.
Shop After Season Sales. Save money for next year!
We started shopping after season sales right away when we had our daughter. I would store the clothes in bigger sizes for the next season. This saved us up to 80% on clothes and made it more manageable to shop since I was doing it little by little. This habit made us realize other areas we could do this for... like household items, seasonal decor and items and our business.
Plan ahead and save money groceries and household!
A couple years ago a friend told me about flipp.com. It's a free website where you enter your zip code and they give you access to all of your local and current store ads. If you are anything like me, you are not thrilled to go to 2 or more stores to do your weekly shopping. BUT THE SAVINGS are worth it. I like 3 stores. I'm grateful that they are all within a couple of miles from our home. Pick you favorite stores, go to their website and sign up for their rewards programs and emails. It takes just a few mins to open a rewards account linked to your cell number and email address. Now the fun begins! Make sure to enter your number every time you shop to get points and rewards. Know what days the stores have their biggest sales. Examples.. I love Lucky's 3 day Fri-Sat-Sun sales, Nob Hill's Monday Sales and I clip coupons on Foods Co's website that get linked to my phone number. I start my weekly list on Mondays and slowly plan it throughout the week, taking a few mins every day and I plan our meals around what we have in the kitchen and what is on sale. Flexibility with brands is always a good thing when trying to save $$$. I buy whatever toilet paper is on sale, stock up on at least 1 sales items a week (usally meats and house hold items). This may seem like a lot of work but it really isnt. IF you break it down into different days and only grab what you go for in the store, you will be the savings immediately. For fruit and produce we like to grab it weekly at our local farmer's market. It is fresh and last longer. Buying in bulk helps cut cost to. If you are like us, you may not have a ton of storage space. For this we have bought storage shed for the backyard and bought seal proof storage bins for household items and dry goods. You can also pair up with a friend or family member and split the cost of a bulk item and it is less to store at once. Lastly, if you make anything or offer a service see if anyone is willing to trade with you. I trade candles with a produce family at the market weekly. Bartering is slowly making a comeback. This is a long section because it is where most of our work and savings has gone to. Other things we do to cut cost is shop second hand when we can. We are forunate to live in an area with a lot of second hand store with quality products a great selection on craigslist and fabulous estate sales