Living on A Budget

Here's a topic that nobody likes to talk about... money and budgeting.... 

This past year, we have really had to budget due to the fact that neither of us were working while we were in Kingston and now that we are back in our regular area, I am only working part time as I am a full time student, and Wes is working full-time. 

So here are some of my tips I have found useful to help us live on our budget while making all our bills:

• Make the bills equal payments -- this ensures there are no "surprises" when the bills come throughout the month
• Price match and coupon- Flipp is a great app for this- though you can always just use the paper flyers (as I sometimes do) if you get them in a mail-- Walmart and Freshco will price match almost anything and Food Basics will price match but has a limit on how many things can be matched each trip -- Other apps that are great for saving money while grocery shopping is Checkout 51, Snap Saves (along with others similar to these two)-- on average we save around 20-25% of our budget each week (we aim for $50 but usually end up around $60 once we buy things such as cat food)
• Be conscious of the gas used each week.... this is our downful.. insurance and gas kills us as we both commute to work-  We are lucky and live by a reserve so I can fill up on gas if I go through that area for a cheaper cost- If I am in town, I like going to Canadian Tire and using their copuons for 10x or 13x the Canadian Tire money (it adds up VERY quickly and takes 10 extra seconds to run into the store beforehand)-- If I am not near one of these two gas stations, I have all the points cards in my dash for any other emergency gas stops I may need to make 
• Buy things used- children's items especially tend to be grown out of very quickly and hence have alot of life left in them 
• Pack a lunch... again this is another downfall of ours, but we are working on it.  Taking the extra time to pack a quick lunch saves a ton of money 
• If you have the resources and patience to cloth diaper- do it!   Wes and I are able to count on our hands how many times we have had to buy diapers as we have clothed the majority of Peyton's life (except when we were in an apartment with no laundry)... It does take a bit more work than disposable diapers but I would definitely recommend it
• I cut Wes' hair, as he gets very simple cuts and it didn't make sense to go to a hair salon and do this (though I still get mine cut by somebody else)--- A set of clippers and scissors is under $20 and we haven't paid for a haircut for Wes in over 2 years now
• Budget- know how much you have set aside for everything each month and stick to it!

Though Wes and I are by no means "money-saving gurus", I have found these small tips have helped out alot.   

What are some small ways you save money?