Moving to a new place & essentially starting a new life has brought on a new set of challenges. For one, the town is smaller, so some of the places we used to frequent just don’t exist for us anymore (unless we’re willing to drive to “the next town over”). Additionally, I’m not able to shop as much as I used to, & I’m learning to make better use of my dollars. So here are some substitutes I’ve made lately. I’m hoping to make even more in the future, & that y’all will have lots of ideas for me.
From Ulta… to Sally Beauty, Wal-Mart, etc.
I was addicted to Ulta. Addicted, I tell you. I was always getting coupons in the mail & finding excuses to stop in & try something new. There was rarely a time when I was out running errands that I didn’t pop into Ulta & buy at least one item. Solution: Here, there is no Ulta. I’m learning to hunt down the products I love at other {cheaper} places, or find substitutes at places like Sally Beauty Supply.
From salon… to DIY
This is something I still need to blog about. I did my own hair for the first time since college back in the first part of June. Since we were moving, I knew I’d need to find a new salon. But where was I going to find a place that was a) trustworthy, & b) affordable? So I decided to take matters into my own hands. I mean, I couldn’t screw it up any worse than one of those chain salons, right? Plus, think of all the money I’d save! Armed with blog posts, message boards, & a squeeze bottle, I tried. Then I toned. Then I tried again. Then I got a haircut. Then I tried again. Then I had a bad batch of toner. Basically, I hate(d) my haircut & I couldn’t get the color just right. But I’ve learned a lot & I think I’m starting to get the hang of it. I bleached it about 2 weeks ago & really liked it, but it’s in need of another bleaching already. With all this high maintenance blonde, I’m thinking of going brunette for the fall {something else that hasn’t happened since college}. Thoughts & feelings? Advice? Prayers? I also need to find a place that will give me a decent haircut. I have really weird hair & apparently some people just can’t handle all of this!
From shopping… to A Year of Thrift
Click the link for more details. I’m having a TON of fun with this one!
From cable… to Netflix
We took the plunge & cancelled cable… & are actually loving it. The only thing Michael misses is ESPN. I miss NOTHING. I’ve been getting into some new shows & watching more movies. Unlike TV, there’s always something on, & no commercials! $eriou$ $aving$ too. {Yes, I took it there with the dollar signs. Apparently I’m Ke$ha.}
From Petsmart… to Wal-Mart
I’ll admit it. We were those people. We’d take our dogs to Petsmart with us & spend way too much on food, treats, bones, etc. Then we figured out they sell all the same stuff at Wal-Mart for a FRACTION of the price. Seriously?! I felt so deceived. Petsmart said those meaty treats were on sale! Liars. Needless to say, we’re reformed. And Pancho & Leia don’t know the difference.
There are lots of other little changes we’ve made & I’m sure there will be even more to come. My next big step will be letting go of some of my more “expensive” products in favor of trying some cheaper ones. Except my $18 hairspray. I’m not giving that up.
What things have you “cheaped out” on lately? What are some splurges that you must keep, no matter how tight things are?
Comments on Change.
From Emily:
My husband’s in grad school, too, and I love hearing what other ladies are trying :) One of our changes has been buying all fresh food from the local Farmers Market. We live in Florida, so we fortunately can find fresh produce almost year-round. I feel good knowing I’m helping out the community (especially since we’ve been pretty hard-hit by the oil spill) and it’s forcing us to try new recipes with more unusual veggies.
From Stef:
I’ve started couponing. I don’t think I’m getting the hang of it yet but I’m trying. My friend is saving a ton at CVS b/c they give you cash back. Try http://www.southernsavers.com/ She tells you what’s on sale at what stores and when. You can plan your meals around the sales. One thing I can’t give up is my expensive foundation and powder. I’ve tried all kinds and I can’t find anything that works better for me than my ‘old lady’ Merle Norman makeup.
From Amy:
Since buying the house we have started doing things like actually LOOKING AT the flyers to see where things are on sale, instead of just running out and grabbing whatever we wanted, regardless of the price. We’ve started cutting out coupons too. Apparently Bed Bath and Beyond has a 20% off any item pretty much every week! I bring my lunch and coffee to work almost every day. There are a lot of things we could be doing (trimming our cable package, buying local produce)…I’m going to be looking into both of those things over the next couple weeks.
From Sturgmom:
OK, I’m all for saving money, but I will not, CANNOT, do my own hair. Girl, there has to be someone in town with the ability to do good hair. ;)
From san:
I think you’re doing a fantastic job on slimming down your budget… it’s hard to do when you’re so used to something.
I use coupons when I can (a lot of coupons are just for stuff that I wouldn’t buy anyway, because it’s unhealthy and/or gross), I buy pretty much all our produce at the local farmer’s market now and we cook our own dinners almost all the time (we go out maybe once or twice a month for dinner). I also almost always bring my own lunch and coffee to work.
Oh, and I love thrift stores… like I commented earlier, I haven’t thrifted in a while, but I’d love to go again and see what treats I can find:)
From Valerie:
Please tell us about your hairspray – I still haven’t found the perfect HS. Lately, my biggest money saver in the hair department is Dove products. I LOVE thier mousse and replaced it ($4) with my $25 salon mousse.
From Sonal:
My all-time favorite hairspray is Aussie Mega Flexible Hold ($3-$4). I have thick, wavy hair that I often straighten. This hairspray keeps things in place without feeling sticky or unnatural like some hairspray. I’ve converted about 5 girls to this hairspray already, lol. Plus it smells like grapes!
From Kyla Roma:
I love this, I want to do one of my own! :) I do all of these things – including DIY hair dye lol If you’re going to go brunette, the only thing I’ll recommend is go super, super light and then work your way darker slowly. I’ve found that the tones *really* jump, the light browns are beautiful and the medium browns can be really dark.
Love your adjustments! :)
From Suburban Sweetheart:
I don’t spend too much money… on anything but FOOD. Namely, eating out… because I can’t cook, live nowhere near a grocery store, & am TIRED, yo. But I think cooking is in my broke-ass future…
From Suburban Sweetheart:
PS: I color my own hair. Feria by Loreal is a Godsend.
From Liz:
Yes yes yes yes yes! I am right there with you on basically all of these. Great ways to $ave :)
From Jenifer:
Living near SF we have every beauty counter it seems like. Not to mention my local Sephora is 10 mins from my front door. I usually buy Mac Blot powder $19 but switched to Maybelline Dream Matte Powder. It’s $6 bucks and works great Im on my 4th one. And, I usually buy Mac eye kohls $14 or so and recently switched to Rimmel eye pencils $3. My only splurge recently has been Urban Decay primer potion, I love this stuff.
Any ideas for a great shampoo and conditioner for color treated hair? I currently use Redken All Soft which I love, but I would love to save some extra money. Let me know ladies!
From Erin:
$18 hairspray! You nuts, girl. Cutting back is definitely something we’ve had to do… Most of my changes have to do with groceries (since I don’t really buy much else), I buy store brand foods & cleaners instead of the fancy shmancy brands. And we go to the kid’s consignment shop for Will’s clothes- considerably cheaper than brand new clothes, and not much wear! I’m with ya girl. :)
From wifeychronicles:
We’ve been budgeting also.
I quit going to Target because if I go I have to buy something and we are cooking all our meals which has made a huge difference. We ate out way too much
From Amber:
We sold one of our vehicles when we moved to Houston, so we’re saving big on gas and insurance. Mark commutes with a combination of cycling and light rail. I was terrified of having just one vehicle, but it hasn’t been a big deal at all.
We’ve cut way back on dining out (soooo cheap and easy to dine out constantly here, a trap we fell into the second we arrived). Not really to save money, but that’s one benefit.
I recently impulse-bought a Rimmel nail polish and was blown away — $3.50 and I like it better than any other brand I’ve tried.
From Samantha:
I love your little switches… I bet they all add up to a lot of savings.
My hubby and I are looking at different ways to save, so I started a monthly budget sheet so that we can see exactly where we spend our money. For the past year, I’ve been into couponing (and I get all excited when I see how much I saved!) and sticking to my grocery lists. I try not to buy things that aren’t on my list to avoid extra costs of things we don’t REALLY need. For the most part, I cook our meals at home, and we only eat out once or twice a month. We, too, made the switch away from Petsmart and other pet boutiques, and I only visit ULTA when I have a coupon or when they have their liter bottles of shampoo and conditioner on sale. We’ve also thought about switching to Netflix, because our cable bill is outrageous!!
The ONLY things I do splurge on are my makeup and skincare products. After many years, I finally found products that work for me and show me results, and I’ll never stray away from them!
From Meghan:
I was thinking of coming up with a weekly “this is one way I save money post/turn things you didn’t think you needed into things that help you better or help others”. What do you think? I swear I have a shorter title.
I am the cheapest person on earth, and when combined with my boyfriend, we seek out deals like bloodhounds. He is still paying off his college debt and I am in the middle of my grad degree, so we can’t afford to not be thrifty.
We have an amazon prime account (free shipping) and it pays for itself with the deals we find on there for things like razors and beauty products. And we recycle all of the ridiculous boxes that pile up. We also have a local Kroger that allows us to load coupons onto our Kroger card. I love not having to load my coupons around.
We also use space heaters in the winter because gas is so expensive. If you run cold anyway, like I do, I do not recommend that. I hate the first ten minutes out of the shower.
Like I’ve mentioned to you before, Netflix, girl nights and streaming video are all wonderful ways NOT to pay for cable. If you are willing to do so, strike a deal with your neighbors to share bandwith.
The list goes on and on.
From Kaci Johanna:
GOD I know what you mean! After college, I moved from my college town (which was small, but had a lot of variety because of all the students) to a small town with less variety. Now we live out in the boondocks, so to speak, and my town doesn’t have a single store. Nothing. We used to eat out a lot (a LOT) and now we cook. Together. The only shopping I really do anymore is online, and I rarely let myself wander off the sale pages. It’s hard, but living on a budget can be good for the soul.
From Kathleen:
I do all of these things, except we haven’t canceled cable. I keep talking about it, but I just don’t have David convinced yet. I will miss DVR though.
I also don’t do my own hair, but I have a good friend who does it cheap and I’m on a break from coloring it. Basically I spend $20 on hair every six months. I even gave up moussing it.
As for shopping for anything other than food or necessities, it is dead to me right now. Thrifting is even too expensive. David has been walking around with one broken sandal for the past month (they’re the only pair he owns) even though I finally broke down and told him he could buy a new pair.
I can’t wait till our savings in these areas can actually be used for SAVINGS – not just medical bills and surviving!
From Nora:
I’m sure Michael may already know this but you can catch a lot of the action on ESPN and sometimes live gamecasts/videos depending on what he likes to watch.
I have dyed my own hair for as long as I can remember, but I’ve never tried to tone/go blonde. I’d likely screw it up (and look mighty odd since I’m not born to be a blonde)!
From Meghan:
Soooo… I read your blog ALL the time, but I don’t comment. I don’t know why exactly, because I should :)
I’m always looking for quality, budget products. One of my favorites is Aveeno Nourish + Condition leave-in conditioning spray. I have SUPER dry, SUPER fine hair and most leave-in treatments weigh my hair WAY down so I look like a drowned cat by the end of the day. This is lightweight, but it detangles and makes my hair super soft. LOVE.
The one pricey beauty item I REFUSE to compromise on is my Bare Escentuals foundation. I have used it for about 5 years now, and I never want any liquid foundation on my skin again. It’s pure, 5 igredients in most formulas, and it looks just like my skin. I cannot say enough about this foundation. NO substitutions!! <3
From Jill:
Giving up Ulta is bound to be a money saver. When I go in there it’s like I can’t get out without spending $25+…thus why I don’t go in there much at all!!! Too easy to spend a lot of money.
From osarah:
I’d love to see you go brunette!
As for saving money, earlier this morning I read about baking your own shampoo and conditioner. The shampoo consists of baking soda and water and the conditioner is a little bit of apple cider vinegar and water. I might give it a shot. If you’re interested, I read about it here: http://www.ourlittleapartment.com/2010/08/shampoo-free-seriously.html
From steph anne:
Wow, I could never let go of cable. I’m all for cutting back on other things just to keep cable AND get my hair done. I’ve messed up my hair way too many times that I retire because I don’t want my hair to start falling out! :)
Good luck and I think it’ll pay off soon and you can reward yourself every once a while!