Saving Money

Sean and I have learned a lot about saving money in the last few years. Our first year of marriage, we were in a small town called Pampa, TX. We didn't really have the poor newlywed life, which was AMAZING! Sean had a nice job as a youth minister that paid well (considering the cost of living was nothing in the little town)! We had a 2 bedroom house for $485/month and people in Pampa considered that to be expensive!!

We moved to AZ in August 2009 and THEN started to feel like the "poor newlyweds"....Sean is a full time masters student at ASU and I am a music therapist here in the Phoenix area. In March 2010, all of the music therapists in the entire state of AZ received a 51%pay cut....yep...it has been tough, but now we are having fun laughing at ourselves in the ways we try to save money! We have figured out that it is the little things we do that add up the most savings.A couple of my good friends have asked me for some money saving tips....so here are the things we have been doing to cut costs:

• Shopping at Goodwill for lots of stuff and also Costco--CHEAP gas, coffee, cereal, computer ink, paper products...it is worth the $50/year if you live close by! 
• Using the TV antenna...no cable
• Using less toilet paper and paper towels
• re-using notebook paper...don't just write a list on one side and throw it away....use the other side next week
• cooking at home every night....duh....BUT only use one package of meat and make it last the whole week! OR cook a roast or whole chicken on a Sunday and use the left-over meat for the next week or two.
• make a dinner list for the week, then a grocery list for the week and stick to it when shopping!
• using gladware when we pack lunches every day to save $ on plastic zip lock bags
• Setting the air to 80 degrees....stinks, but it helps
• Netflix-the cheapest form of entertainment! $9.64/month gives you movies to watch instantly online, plus one movie at a time in the mail! 
• Staying with friends and family when traveling! We've been able to visit many neat places(such as Hawaii and San Diego) and haven't had to pay for a hotel!
• Walmart price matching program
• Hate those annoying grocery ads that come every week in the mail? Try searching for the good deals on meat, produce, milk, toothpaste, etc....take them to Walmart or Target and show the cashier what other stores are selling items for....you'll save so much $!

Money is tight, but we are still able to have so much fun :)

If anyone else has some $ saving tips, send them our way!