posted on 13 February 2011 | posted in Technology
Here are some tips on how we save money when it comes to daily expenditure.
1. We take our lunches to school and work. If my children want to eat cafeteria food, they have to use their earned “commission” money to do so. This saves money and prevents me the work of making lunches that they skip when its pizza day.
2. If we’re going to go out to eat, I encourage the family to walk to the local restaurants a block or two away. We get exercise. We save gas. And by the time we get there, I know the children are actually hungry. Furthermore, if the family has to walk to get there, my children are more likely to look again in the pantry for something they like.
3. We don’t get kids meals with toys. My children have too often asked for the meal for the toy and then only half-eaten the expensive food. The solution is to only order a burger or sandwich for them along with a drink. If they are still hungry, I can order apples or another side. Yet even the main course plus a side is cheaper than the “kid meal”.
4. We have used the old “envelope” method to manage our budget for eating out. We pull out the cash at that time. If we run out of cash, we don’t get the extra bread-sticks or the 2-liter to carry home.
5. Finally for home cooking, we make sure we use the cheapest gas supplier - we did a search for cheap gas Loughborough and so managed to save a great deal on gas for our cooking.