I love getting a peek inside people's lives and seeing how they live and what they buy. I always think it's so interesting, plus a great way to get ideas. So today I am bringing you 7 things we don't spend money on.
Cable TV
We cut our cable years ago and I am sure we have saved thousands because of it. Years ago it was sometimes boring without cable. But now, with great options like Netflix, Hulu, Amazon
and we never even miss it. If you haven't tried Amazon Prime you can get a free 30 days when you sign up here. The best part is almost everything we watch is commercial free, so we don't get the urge to buy more things we don't need.
Dry Cleaning
I dry clean almost everything at home. It's so easy to do and it saves us money. I do take my husband's dress coat in once a year to be dry cleaned, but besides that it just all goes in the washer. Never dry cleaned your own clothes at home? You can see my tips here.
Movies
We don't buy DVD's or movies, in fact we rarely even pay to rent them. We love to rent from Redbox, but usually find a free code so we don't have to pay. Our library also has a great selection of new movies so we can check them out from there.
Household Cleaners
I make almost all of my own household cleaners. Most of them use baking soda or vinegar and only cost pennies to make. You can see my favorite granite cleaner, dusting spray, and lemon vinegar cleaner. Not only are they cheap to make but I can make my own scents.
Pre-Cut Fruits and Veggies
Honestly, who buys this stuff? The pre-cut watermelons and other fruits and veggies are so expensive. I don't think it takes that much time to cut them up and wash them myself. Although, I will admit to buying Aldi's box of lettuce. I love the spring mix and it's still pretty cheap.
Starbucks
I am not a coffee drinker, so I don't ever go to Starbucks. I am happy to skip the $4-$5 Frappuccino.
Shipping
Gone is the day that you pay $4.99 to ship something. I have found so many codes for free shipping or I just use Amazon. We have Amazon Prime which gets you free shipping on everything. If I am buying from another company I usually just search for free shipping codes, more often than not I find a code.
I do have my own guilty pleasures that I spend money on. I love Coke Zero and buy it even though I know that water is free. My biggest waste is probably paper towels. I have lots of microfiber clothes, but I still use paper towels for some things. We probably use a roll a week.
What about you? What things do you not spend money on and what do you splurge on?
Jessica H. says
Amazon Prime is the BEST! I've also heard (but not tried) that Amazon's subscription service is money saving, too. It's definitely interesting and helpful to see how others save!
Kristen @ Joyfully Thriving says
To further stretch our savings, we actually split a Prime membership with my brother. It's a little known fact that you can actually do that! We don't get the free movies but we get the free shipping. We are also on a Netflix family plan with him and my sister. That makes affordable Netflix even more amazing!
Julie says
That's a great idea! I had no idea you could do that. Thanks!
Sheena says
Most of those are true for me but Starbucks is one that I have to treat myself to from time to time. Its not a regular thing but I don't get up early like ever so when I do have to get up early to go somewhere I treat myself.
Julie says
I am not an early bird either. 🙂 Although I don't care for coffee I completely understand the need for it. Coke Zero is my big splurge. I almost always have a 2 liter in the house.
Amanda says
If you use Bing as your search Engine and are a registered user, you can use your points to get $5.00 gift cards for Starbucks. I like Starbucks as a treat too, but will only go when I have "free drinks" coming from Bing.
Julie says
Great tip! Thanks Amanda.
Heather@ My Overflowing Cup says
I shared a post on my blog called 17+ Things We Don't Pay For. Most of yours were on my list except for the dry cleaning. We don't have many clothes that need to be dry cleaned, but I did just buy a "dry clean only" dress at a thrift store. I'm heading over to check out your tip right now.
Thanks so much for sharing!
Julie says
I love your list of 17 things you don't pay for. I will admit I am terrible at using too much disposable paper products. Your #1 is my favorite! I remember seeing the Steve Martin video years ago on SNL. It's so funny because it is so true. 🙂
Travel Animal Doctor says
All great advice! Amazon is extremely useful.
Lisa @ Fun Money Mom says
Great post! I also hate to spend money on dry cleaning and won't even buy clothes that say dry clean only. We do dry clean my husbands dress shirts only because when I tried to iron them myself years ago, it was a complete disaster! I also don't like to pay for shipping and always google to at least try to get a free shipping code or some kind of coupon.
Thanks so much for linking up with #ShareTheWealthSunday!
xoxo
Lisa
Julie says
I am terrible at ironing too! 🙂
Jayleen @ How Do The Jones Do It says
We rarely spend money on going out to eat, movies, dry cleaning, Starbucks, and pre-made food. We splurge on cable (I know, I know ... can't talk the hubby into this one), music lessons for the kids, and organic foods!
Nina says
Yup, agree with you on nearly everything on this list! The only things I spend on are dry cleaning and cleaning supplies. Dry cleaning because I rarely have it done (like, once or twice a year?). With cleaning supplies, I get an eco version of it, and just buy the concentrate so I can fill it with water. Lasts a long time!
Julie says
Great idea! I like the idea of buying concentrate so there is less to store.
Teresa Miller says
I love v8, and take a bottle to work with me every day. But I don't buy the small bottles often. Generally, I reuse the bottle and pour from a larger container. At the convenience store, a small bottle is $1.50, but I can spend $3 for a large container and get about 5 or 6 small bottles worth. I use this same method with a variety of food items-- so much cheaper to repackage small quantities. Also, when I buy hamburger in 10 pound packages, I repackage into 2/3 pound packages. When a recipe calls for a pound of burger, who will really notice two less bites of meat?
Julie says
Great tips! Thanks for sharing.
Michele says
I have given up soda and only drink water but, thanks to co-workers and family I save the My Coke Rewards caps and end caps on twelve packs. Last year I was able to get 9 movie tickets with 9 large soft drinks by redeeming my points. My son's whole family (9 of them) each got a trip to a movie and a drink for Christmas and it cost me nothing but a little time to enter the codes weekly. The teenagers really loved it.
Julie says
That's a great idea! Thanks for the tip.
Shelbi Lyons says
I am a huge coffee snob & LOVE my Starbucks... To avoid the prices I use Ibotta app to earn money. I then use the money & redeem it as a Starbucks gift card. Load that to my gold card to earn additional free coffee! (Fyi my drink of choice are the white choc mocha.. I now order a brewed coffee, ask to add white chocholate & sweetner...costs me $2 less than ordering off menu!)
Julie says
Great tips! Thanks for sharing.
Angela says
I gave up Netflix and Amazon prime years ago. We have an antenna (basically free tv) and drop by Redbox about 10 times a year. I found that I bought more carelessly on Amazon prime and didn't use the streaming service.Now I fill my shopping cart and think about it for a few weeks until I reach the $35 for free shipping. It's cut down my spending considerably. If I need something immediately I check ebay, usually the item is the same or cheaper on ebay.
Julie says
I will have to check ebay next time. Thanks for the tip!
Diane Van Minsel says
I, too, am a brand snob about some things. But I'm able to shoprovide on base for a lot of things, since my husband is retired military. That especially helps with my grocery bill. I totally agree about the toilet paper!!!! I'll find a way to get toilet paper!!! An idea - my women's bible study does gleaning once a month on the second Wednesday of the month. This helps me a LOT ,especially for things like toilet paper. We don't use a lot of paper towels, but I do keep some. Starbucks is an occasional treat for me, as well. We have a Keurig at home, so I usually just have coffee at home.
Julie says
Shopping on base for deals sounds great. I have heard you can get some really good deals.