Saving

So this is just sort of an overview of what we've done so far in attempts for saving, especially with a new addition to the family.

1) Buying things used

Especially with a lot of baby things - we have found craigslist to be great. We spent about 150 dollars and got a full wardrobe of baby girl clothes to last from birth-12 months and some pieces up to 2T. It's all in good condition - nobody would know the difference. We got our swing on craigslist, our glider, way better than paying full price. We also went to a consignment shop to buy our Ergo baby carrier. Obviously you don't want everything used, but there's a lot of good stuff out there. The Boston area has a very good craigslisting population.

2) Coupons

Initially it was my husband who wanted to start couponing and I thought he was crazy. I saw those shows on TV with people diving through dumpsters for coupons and coming out of the stores with 1000 cases of ramen and sports drinks and having it take over their whole house. Well, I've found that couponing has worked well for us even though we only do it really basically and just get one set of coupons from the Sunday paper which we get delivered to us. What's really helped is Kathy Spencer's How To Shop For Free (HTSFF) - she posts coupon match ups and alert you to good deals. But what I think is the best is there is a coupon database. So now all I need to do if I know I want to buy something is type it into the coupon database and it will tell me if there's a coupon for it and if so, where to find it. I also recommend Kathy Spencer's book - I checked it out from the library - I didn't read the whole thing but it was good to skim through for the basic information I was looking for.

3) Lifestyle changes

We already downgraded our TV package, changed insurance companies to get a better rate, and big things like that. The biggest change for us is really going to be with regard to our food budget. We are used to eating out way too much so my new goal is to eat at home more. We've really kicked the comparison shopping into high-gear - for everything, but especially groceries. My new goal I'm just starting out with is meal-planning. I want to at least have good things to eat instead of just making junk because it's fast and easy, you didn't think ahead, and now you're starving. Still a work in progress, but hopefully I will find some good recipes and can post them here.