How to save yo moolah

Back in university, I was very much aware of the amount of money I was spending and I did the best I could to save every little bit. I used to limit the groceries I bought to only essentials (with the occasional box of cookies when they were on sale), monitor how much I ate to make sure I wasn't using up my food supply quicker than it could last, and hesitate to buy things for  or spend money on myself. But now, with a job and being back at home, I'm a bit ashamed to admit that these habits and my discipline have since dissipated.

Alas, with my return to school and the huge amount of debt that it accompanies on the horizon (less than seven months away!!!), I need to fall back into my old frugal ways, stat. And I thought I would share my tips and advice (this is also for me to refer back to when I lose my way):

1. Buy what you NEED. For groceries, I have my staples (milk, while wheat bread, apples, etc.), and so I shop for what needs to be restocked. But a better idea that I'll probably start implementing is meal planning and buying what I need for whatever I plan to make. For everything else, I always have to ask myself whether I need it or not. "Do I need more toothpaste or do I still have a tube at home?" "Do I really need to get glue sticks for my project, or could I just use tape?" "Do I really need another pair of black skinny jeans???" 

I'm not even kidding; I actually have four pairs of the same black skinny jeans. (So if you are one of my coworkers, or someone I see often - no, I'm not wearing the same pair of pants every single day).

2. Buy things when they're on sale! (Those four pairs of black skinny jeans? All on sale. I bought one pair first, after trying them on in store; and ordered three more online after that.) I'm  a religious reader of flyers, and I'm not even exaggerating. I like looking out for deals and comparing prices between stores. I don't normally get physical copies of flyers to my house so I use an app called Flipp instead; and it has search features which make my price comparison process even easier. I also like to make a mental note of what the general price range is for things like veggies, make-up items and casual pieces of clothing, so I know when they're on sale or when they're at a reasonable price. Ex. I know that the cheapest I've ever bought CoverGirl's LashBlast mascara was $5.99; and the best price I've ever seen for a box of Oreos is $1.99 (and so I often ignore the 2/$5 sales).

3. COUPONING! I haven't been using coupons since coming home because our family shops at Costco and they're too cool for coupons; but I still order a few here and there for items I don't get from Costco. I also use an app called Checkout51 that is kinda like couponing.  Every week, there's a list of specific items (mostly groceries, sometimes other stuff) you could buy and get an amount back by submitting a picture of your receipt as proof of payment. Once you hit $20, you get a cheque for that amount sent to you. So far, I've collected only $5 because I can't ever remember what's on the list of eligible items; nonetheless, it's a neat little way to get a little money back on the items you shop for that may not necessarily be on sale. Groupons and other similar websites are also nice for when you want to do something special on a budget. Most recently, my family went bowling, which normally costs us upwards to $50, but thanks to a Groupon, we went for $27!

4. Sign up for rewards points programs. I currently collect Optimum points at Shoppers Drug Mart which is a good idea, since I shop there often anyway. The points collected can be redeemed for certain amounts that you can use in store. There's also a website called Swagbucks that I've been casually using for the past few years. You collect Swagbucks by doing things like using their search engine, playing games or voting in a daily poll. You don't win points with each task you do, and it is sometimes a bit tedious (ex. You have to watch 10 approximately sixty-second long videos to earn just 3 Swagbucks) but I've been able to collect enough to redeem three gift cards so far (two for Starbucks, one for Amazon). 

5. Peak hours! I'm not sure about other places, but here in Ontario, the hydro billing follows a time-of-use system, meaning the price for your electricity usage varies throughout the day. The rates are divided into off-peak, mid-peak, and on-peak, with in-peak rates being the highest (during the times of day when many people would be using their electrical appliances in the winter (i.e. during the morning rush, and around dinner time); and in the summer when people shouldn't be using their electricity anyway (mid-day; this, I guess is to discourage turning up your AC when no one's at home)) and off-peak rates being the lowest (in effect basically late at night, til early morning (i.e. when no one would be away to use their electricity anyway) and also on weekends and holidays). Paying attention to the time of day that you use your electricity could save you a lot of money!

6. Ignore the haters! I don't know if it's just me, but I think there's definitely a mildly negative connotation associated with trying to save money. I, for one, am always worried about people thinking I'm cheap. But, screw them. Like my mom tells me, the money I'm spending is money that I worked hard for, so there's no reason to not be watching how every single penny dollar is spent.

I hope these tips are redundant - yes, I do mean, are redundant, because in the end, it doesn't take a genius to realize that you could do these little things to save yourself some money; sometimes it just takes a little bit of a reminder from the voice in the back of your head, from your shoulder angel, or from your favourite neighbourhood friendly wannabe-blogger. If you have any unique tips of your own, I would love to read about them in the comments because I am always game for doing things that would save money.

All this being said, thanks for reading this monster of a post. I really need to work on being concise. Okay BYE!