Our economy is running a bit slower than most of us are used to these days. Here are a few tips and tricks to help get every penny out of your dollar.

1. When you are doing your weekly grocery shopping buy raw ingredients instead of prepackaged goods, along with a good cookbook. Preparing your own food may take a bit longer but it is significantly healthier and also a great way to save money.
2. Bulk purchase those items that you use most often, maybe ask your neighbors and friends if they would like to split the purchase with you.
3. Farmers markets and road side stand generally offer better produce at a cheaper price. This also helps to support your local economy.
4. Use those leftovers, have a left over night.
5. Watch the price per pound of what you buy, many stores now include this information on the price tag of the products. This can be an excellent way to be more aware of the price you pay for food.
6. Your home can be a real drain on your budget. Be sure that your house is being as penny pinching as you are. Seal those doors and windows, lower the temperature on your hot water heater, bump the thermostat up a notch or two, water only when necessary.
7. Close off any unused rooms and shut the A/C vent in that room.
8. Using the oven? Plan to cook several meals at the same time and refrigerate the finished meals for future use.
9. Going out of town for a few days? Flip the breaker on your hot water heater while you are gone.
10. Replace your light bulbs with energy efficient bulbs (CCFL’s)

This entry was posted on Tuesday, October 28th, 2008 at 9:04 am and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.