Has anyone else seen these PSAs on TV for Feed the Pig? The ads are funny and have a good message – we really need to stop hoping for a miracle and start saving. What are some savings tips you try and use regularly?

There are no miracles and no MIRACLE MAN just a lot of hot air financed with our jobs and our hard earned money!!

Well for every dollar I break I put the change into a jar. When full I take it to the bank and cash it in. Have a special account only for that money. It is my "just in case" fund.

I also never buy anything the first time I see it. I wait a week or so and really think if I NEED (not want) it or not, If I do, I buy it but lately I have thrown most catalogs away and my spending is way down. Am I suffering for having less stuff? Nope!!!

I also do things by myself more now like wash my own car, saves me $18.00 right there. Weed the property, saves me $55.00. I also ride my bike more and that saves me hundreds in gas money. Every little bit helps.

chatty, I like your idea of not buying something the first time you see it. I'm going to give that a whirl. I'm so picky, and rarely buy so if I see something I like, I usually get it - which isn't often

I try to buy things only if they are on sale. Don't shoot me DJ, but I also shop at Wal*Mart for all the food and household staples.

We've had the same patio furniture for 20-some years. Instead of buying new, we're going to paint it. That's a big savings.

I've swapped perennials with friends.

Ross and I often split meals while eating out. It's much cheaper, and still plenty of food.

How about some other ideas...

Grow veggies, unplug unnecessaries in the house and turn lights OFF when not in use, fix dripping faucets, don't eat out so much, swap cloths with friends or purchase in second-hand stores, use the library, give gifts that are not breakable or need to be dusted or need a place to "sit", cool areas of the house where you are...keeping doors closed where you are not, cook once/week (DH barbecues several hamburgers/hot dogs at a time and we reheat.

We also use cloth napkins...never buy paper paper ones. Also never buy tissues....we use toilet paper and have mounted rolls above the sinks in each bathroom just for tissue use! (yes, we have lower ones for the toilet too!)

I'll think of more!

I use a simple equation for budgeting - spend less and you will save money, spend more and you will only end up in debt. I set a budget at the beginning of each month. Since, I don’t have the time to work on all those numbers; I use budget worksheet to do the math, while I just enter the data. It’s really cool as I get to know how much I can spend during the month, so I can make a budget for other items such as having fun and going out.

The best way to realize the pleasure of feeling rich is to live in a smaller house than your means would entitle you to have.
-- Edward Clarke

Biking.

I spent only $20.00 in past 4 wks. on public transit. For cycling distance in past 4 wks., I've cycled over 1,000 kms. We took a bike trip that was 102 kms. last Sunday. It costed nothing in terms of transportation costs.

As you can see, I have no concept of gasoline prices or car maintenance. But I do have lots of knowledge on the fuel that I need : competitive pricing on local produce/food.

I budget for almost everything.......a new car, car repairs, furniture, appliances, house and car insurance, property taxes, home repairs, lawn mower, to name a few. I have done this for about 20 plus years. I have a book that I have made columns in. I add a little money each payday to each of the columns, and the amount of money is as little as 5 to 10 dollars in most of the columns. It doesn't take much money every week to make it add up in the LONG run. 10 dollars a week = around 500 a year. Do that a few years and you got yourself a refrigerator, dishwasher, a nice vacation, or whatever you might need that you can pay for in cash. When I get done paying my car off, I continue to make car payments to my savings account every month so I can buy another one when the time comes. Recently, we bought a new TV and a new car. I had saved for 5 years for the TV and 8 years for my car.

It was hard at first to start the budget. It took a year to get it started, but after that it becomes very easy and comforting to know that the money is there if needed. What if there is an emergency, you ask. The money is there for that too. No...we don't make allot of money and that is why we had to learn to budget years ago. Yes, it took discipline to learn to budget. It has been worth it in the LONG run!

I have never used debit card. Have only 1 credit card. Hence, I discipline my spending by withdrawing abit of cash weekly for groceries, small items. Hence, literally I eat away my pocket money, because I never buy groceries on debit (nor credit). Use credit card for larger amounts of purchases.

hence, I force myself to predict and withdraw a small amount of cash. If I overspend on small things, that means I force myself ..to withdraw more cash. So hence, when it's lousy weather season, I have less motivation to make that visit to ATM! So really, it is a form of self-discipline and conscious spending where I physically experience money disappearing out of my hands.

I haven't bought any new non-cycling clothing for the past 6 months. If I buy a book, no more than 1 every 1-3 months and if i don't get the book on discount it's because the title truly is unique and not commonly found at bookstores with blanket disount off all their titles (20%).

I don't track my spending in much detail since already I live frugally and budget carefully. I track my savings and investments. So I document from the other side...the end result on my portfolio. So that I always have the big picture at any given time and have historical trend ..for past decade. I just can't be bothered to track every purchase. We have a weekly spending maximum limit for ie. groceries: $60.00 per week for 2 of us. We hardly buy any processed foods, most of it is whole/original veggies, fruits and occasionally meat, and staples (pasta, rice, bread). Our weekly restaurant "date" meal must be no more than approx. $10.00-$15.00 per person or less.

Instead of making long distance phone calls when my partner is travelling out of town (he is right now), he and I use Skype. He likes to bring his laptop (and has a webcam) to do his work, etc. Many hotels now offer internet access free or very low-cost.

andrewson, looks like a great resource. Thanks for sharing. I'm learning from all of you that I should be better about budgeting. Thanks. Now that the kids are out of college, well almost, it's getting easier to save. Two kids are off the family payroll so we feel as though we've gotten a raise.