AARP Rewards Online Community Smart Saver Contest

I shop at Aldi to buy my healthy foods. They offer great deals on bread, cereal, produce, and pantry staples. The items are healthier and they taste better than their brand name counterparts. 

I go online, select digital coupons, select compare products on websites. Buy recurring Costco items like toilet paper, paper towels, napkins, cleaning wipes. I find some good deals at dollar stores. Basically shop around at garage sales and thrift stores for clothes because nobody cares if I'm fashion-forward. I get a lot of compliments because I wear clothes that fit well with good colors & fabric, no shame about vintage wear. 

I have been eating food we already have in our pantry. We only buy dairy, fruit and vegetables. 

This might be too early for Christmas but once you start, it is never too early! I stock up “ possible” Christmas gifts all year long. The reason behind it is I found out Christmas sale is not necessarily the cheapest you can get, in fact, after some years of observation, Christmas season may not save much money at all. When it comes to November, I already have gifting items ready for wrapping up, well, only if you decide to gift food items then freshly purchase is the best😁 With this, I do not need to rush to any Black Friday sales, do not panic during the holiday season, and I have items to gift away in case of some early gathering arrangements. 

I go to the grocery store the night before the previous ad ends, they usually drastically reduce the left over items if they over purchased or undersold. I have saved 50% or more on meat because they don't have enough space for the new sale items.

Every year starting January I put money in a shoebox. I start with $1.00 and every week I add to it . the second week $2.00 .the third week $3.00 and so on . In December we complete it with $52.00 We accumulate approximately $1378.00. With the money we treat ourselves to a special vacation,

When I first started working, my manager told me, don’t forget to pay yourself for retirement. I joined the companies 401K at 1% of my paycheck and it was automatically withdrawn from my check, so I didn’t miss the pay. I slowly increased the withdrawal and at the end of my career, 35 years later, I was at 27% of my paycheck and ready to make the plunge. 

Saving for a vacation or a weekend getaway is easy with the “VaCa Jar” and a dedicated “VaCa” Money Market account. We keep a decorative jar handy to drop loose change or money from cash sales into.  Any time we receive “unexpected” money (rebate checks, sale of personal items, tax refunds, etc.), it goes into the jar or the VaCa account.  We also deposit or transfer funds to the account to round off the total at least monthly.  When we need a break, the VaCa account is there and ready to support!

Grow food from food. Some vegetables, such as onions, garlic, green onions, celery, carrots, are easy to trim and put in soil. This gives you free food and you know how it was grown, instead of guessing about chemicals. Some grains can also be grown at home from packaged products you've bought. Flax seeds and buckwheat groats are a couple to use this way. Bonus: flax plants have pretty blue flowers that brighten up your garden.

For the last 40 years, when I’ve needed to replace a large household appliance (washing machine, dishwasher, etc.) I’ve purchased from the same small independent repair company because the owner/operator knows his products & provides good service.  Each time I purchase a new appliance I ask, “Is there anything I can do to make this appliance last as long as possible?”  I follow whatever advice he gives.