Ways to Save $10 a Week

You say that you can’t squeeze one more dime from your budget for savings? Times are hard, groceries and gas prices are soaring? Here are some simple ways to save $10 a week, without really changing your lifestyle, but by just planning ahead.

• If you eat out, for a family of 5, the price of adding soda can be expensive. Drink water instead and save $10 (average price of $2/soda!).
• Plan your trips to the store, and save $10 a week in gas from going back for items forgotten.(For an average of 20 miles round trip, two trips to the store at 15MPG and $4/gallon for gas)
• Instead of going through the drive-thru for lunch on your busiest days, purchase a cooler/warmer that plugs into the ciggarette lighter. They run about $35 and keep food either warm or cold. Pack a picnic style lunch and save at least $10 (eating off the dollar menu for a mom and 3 kids)
• Go meatless. At an average of $2.59/lb for hamburger in our area, we save over $5 by serving spaghetti with just the meat sauce from the jar twice a week. The kids don’t notice a difference, but our budget does.
• If you like to buy soda on the run, try buying it in 12 packs at the store on sale. At the average price of $1.50/soda at the convenience stores, and a rate of 10 per week, you are spending $15. Save $10 a week by buying it in advance and having it in the fridge (or your plug in cooler in the car).
• Try brown-bagging lunch for hubby 2 days a week, if he typically eats out. The average price of lunch can be anywhere from $4-$10, and just by bringing lunch two days a week, you can save $8-$20 a week.
• Consider starting a babysitting swap with other mothers. You can fill out questionnaires about things such as guns in the house, movies, snacks, pools, overnights, whatever is important to you. Each hour you watch someone else’s kids earns you a ticket for a free hour for you. My sitter (although wonderful!) charges $7/hour. For a date night, with the swap, we have saved $28.
• Instead of purchasing a high priced item, try Freecycle. You may find that someone has what you are looking for, and is willing to give it away!

These are just some of the ways I have used to stretch our budget a little more. Do you have any others that I missed? I would love to hear them and share them with others!

Heather is a stay at home mother with 3 blessings to take everywhere with her. Teaching women to shop and save and get the most for your dollar are a vision that has been a long time in the making. She enjoys sharing her trials and triumphs at the local stores, as well as some good (and some not so good) recipes to help make those dollars stretch. Her column is a must read for the thrifty homeschool mom. Visit her blog at Titus 2 Woman.