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Live on less to reduce your stress

By Lisa M. Petsche

If you or your spouse is facing a job layoff or contemplating becoming a stay-at-home parent, or if you are trying to dig yourself out of debt, there are many ways to reduce your family’s daily living expenses. The following tips will give you a good start.

Transportation

Give up one of your vehicles. Combine errands to reduce the frequency of outings, carpool, walk and cycle more, and use public transportation.

Food

Cook from scratch whenever possible. Keep on hand a collection of recipes for quick and easy meals, along with the necessary ingredients, for times when you’re rushed. Preparing and freezing ahead a meal or two - or cooking double portions and freezing half - is another way to prevent the need for expensive convenience or takeout foods when you’re tired or on the run.

At the beginning of each week, go through the flyers that arrive on your doorstep or come with the newspaper and pick out the best buys. Plan your outings to cover several stores in one trip. Stock up on sale items: perishable foods you’re able to freeze and non-perishable foods, as well as toiletries, paper products and cleaning supplies. Clip and collect coupons, keeping them organized and regularly checking expiry dates. Bring them with you whenever you go shopping.

Buy in bulk - economy sizes, club packs, and so on - whenever feasible. Just be sure to calculate first whether it really is a good deal.

Plan the coming week’s meals around grocery store specials. Limit dining out and ordering takeout food to an occasional treat. Watch for special offers, advertised in flyers or on signs in front of restaurants. Save coupons that come in the mail and use them whenever possible. Keep track of which places offer a discount on pickup orders and/or cash payments.

Pack lunches for school and work.

Clothing

Make it a challenge to buy second-hand clothing and accessories as much as possible.

When buying new, never pay full price. Wait and watch for a sale.

Choose timeless, season-spanning pieces that can be mixed and matched. Avoid trendy colours, styles and fabrics, and brand names where you’re paying a premium for the logo.

Entertainment

Regularly visit your local public library, where you can borrow not only books, but also magazines, books on audiotape, CDs and videotapes. In addition, the library offers many free programs and activities - pick up a take-home calendar of upcoming events.

Brainstorm other ways to have fun without spending money. These include hiking, bicycling, canoeing (if you already own a canoe or can borrow one), taking walks around town, and visiting area parks and playgrounds (some operate free wading pools or water play areas in the summer).

Read your community newspaper to keep informed of free events in your area - festivals, concerts, parades, nature walks, educational presentations, grand openings and other special celebrations.

Purchase a family pass to your local recreation centre, public swimming pool, skating rink or regional or provincial parks.

Rent videotapes instead of going to the movies. If you wait until they are no longer new releases, you can usually keep them longer, allowing you the opportunity to share them with another family and split the cost (or take turns renting).

Cancel your cable television service or cut back to the basic channel package. At the very least, look into bundling telephone, cable and internet service to save on monthly costs.

General tips

Whenever you decide to purchase something, try obtaining it second-hand first. Become familiar with local thrift stores and consignment shops and visit them regularly. If there’s something specific you are looking for, you may have to check back several times before finding it, but persistence usually pays off.

Yard sales and rummage sales organized by churches or other community groups are another great source of bargains - watch for them in your local newspaper’s classified advertising section.

If you must resort to buying new, check out discount stores, bargain warehouses, factory outlets and liquidation centres first. Otherwise, watch for a sale.

With items you need only occasionally - such as certain power tools - consider sharing them with someone else and splitting the cost.

If you need something only once, or very infrequently, rent instead of buying it. (Bonus: you won’t have to be concerned with storage or maintenance.) Put away those credit cards, saving them for emergencies. If you prefer the convenience of using them, ensure you will have enough money to pay off the balance each month.

Track where all your money currently goes - every last dollar and cent. You might be surprised. Even seemingly little things, like a daily cup of takeout coffee or weekly lottery tickets, add up over the course of a month.

Be honest with yourself in distinguishing needs from wants. If there’s something you don’t need but really want, regularly set aside money for it and watch for a sale. In the meantime, you may end up deciding it’s not that important to you.

Lisa M. Petsche is a freelance writer and veteran dollar stretcher.