Your Daily Savings Tips

This post is Part 9 of our ongoing series of tips designed to help find ways to spend less and save more.  Each day for the next two weeks we’ll offer three new tips you can put to work immediately.  Here are today’s tips:

27) Buy in bulk. For some people buying in bulk almost becomes an art form—and for good cause.  When you buy in bulk, your per unit cost of food (and thus your per unit serving cost) goes down and that cost reduction can really add up.  For example, if you cook for a family of four, and if you can cut just 25 cents off the cost of a serving, your meal costs $1.00 less.  Add that amount up over the course of a year and you save $365!

I'm flipping out over bulk savings!

Just about every grocery chain regularly offers sales on “bulk food” items—including canned veggies, pasta, rice, dry beans, etc.  Some stores are known for their huge quantities and great prices—Costco is a good example.  The key to any bulk purchase is to only buy those items you intend to use up within a product’s shelf life.  The shelf life for canned goods is longer than the shelf live for meat.  Paper products like toilet paper and paper towels last virtually forever.  In other words, depending on your circumstances, it may only pay to stock certain items in bulk.  Here’s a final note: Even when a store offers unheard of savings, it might pay to hold off on buying more if you’ve already got the item stocked in your pantry.

One good tip for buying meat in bulk is to get heavy duty freezer bags, try to get as much air out of the bag as you seal it up and double bag before freezing.  That will cut down on freezer burn, which means the meat will taste better and last longer. Also, be sure to mark the date of purchase on your meats, and try to remember to rotate out the oldest items in the freezer first as you go to use them up.  Another bulk tip: If you’re shopping for dry goods, like beans or rice, go check out the prices in the bulk food bins at your local grocer.  Those often beat any of prices for the prepackaged options.  For more great tips on bulk food buying see this Woman’s Day article: What’s Worth Buying In Bulk.

28) Pay attention to where you do your shopping. I happen to love small Mom and Pop stores, especially when I only need a single item or want to avoid a big weekend crowd.  The problem is making a habit of purchasing at a “convenience” store without regard to price will usually cost me big time.  You may not think much of paying an extra quarter here or an extra buck there, but these little purchases can really add up.  As mentioned in the previous tip, buying in bulk can really help out with the family budget.  Therefore, buy those items you tend to use most at the stores with the lowest prices—this will most often be larger grocery stores, or discount retailers like Wal-Mart or Target.

Buying something like a single roll of toilet paper at the corner convenience store is only going to make sense if you’ve completely run out of paper at home and sense an oncoming emergency. Other products best purchased at a full-sized grocer include canned foods like soup or veggies and cleaning products.  A final note:  It’s important to remember that there are times that life will be a whole lot easier on everybody if we break the general rule.  This means shopping at a more convenient store from time to time is fine.  While you “grab and go” this time around, just try to be more conscious to stock up as you head out the door on your next major shopping trip.  For other good tips on shopping see our article: Six Highly Effective Habits For Saving Money On Groceries.

I'm saving big time by jogging to work twice a week.

29) Cut your gasoline usage. While the real cost to run an auto includes repairs, maintenance and insurance, today’s tip focuses on gasoline.  Here are 7 money saving fuel tips:  (1) Map your route before you go.  Your goal is to eliminate unnecessary side trips.  (2) Share rides or driving duties whenever possible, or try telecommuting, biking or taking the bus to work at least once a week.  (3) Smooth out driving by increasing your following distance.  More space between cars gives you more opportunity to avoid braking and the associated re-acceleration.  Also, avoid quick stops and quick starts to improve mileage.  (4)  Check your tire pressure frequently.  Keep tires properly inflated as under or overinflated tires use up more gas.  You can get an inexpensive air gauge at the local hardware or auto supply store.  (5) Remove all the extra junk in the car.  Extra weight burns more gas.  (6) Use the recommended grade of gas in your car.  Most cars do just fine on regular fuel.  Use it and you won’t pay the “premium” for premium.  (7) If you have more than one car, drive the one that has the best mileage (a) as often as possible and (b) on the longest regular commute.

Come back tomorrow for 3 more tips!

By Bob Anderson

© Javabird LLC.  All rights reserved.