any ideas on how to save money?

at this rate we'll never get a house!

Some of the stuff we've been doing, and/or did when i knew D was saving for my e-ring

-brown bag lunch (FH still can't get his mind around this.... )

-less expensive gifts for each other or no gifts

-we stopped going to concerts and plays altogether

-fewer trips to the movies and a limit on eating out

- Budgeting down to the last $
- Banking way more than we think we can save and only tapping into it under dire circumstances
- Buying meat on sale in bulk (chicken thighs, legs, chopped meat, etc) and separating it into smaller portions
- Only buying chicken breats and cutting & pounding them into cutlets ourselves

save your change! We save change and bring it to the bank when the jar is full. It adds up quick.
Recycle your soda bottles/cans. When grocery shopping, use coupons (most stores double coupons).
We also brown bag it for lunch and go out only on Saturdays.

The buyng in bu;k thing is good. My mom buys fish in bu;k at the wholesale club and then freezes it in meal sized portions. It lasts for so long and it doens't get wasted that way!

Also I think a big key to saving money is knowing what to buy in bulk and what not to buy. If you buy too much you can wind up wasting it or payin more. you need a to find a balance. Also when there's a relaly good sale, we STOCK up. Pasta was 4 for $1 and we bought a ton of it!

Put a set amount into savings every month that you CAN'T TOUCH and you will be forced to live on a budget.
No designer pocketbooks, no exepnsive dinners, no manicures, etc. Only buy what is necessary. It was hard when we started this 2 years ago, but now I am used to it and even after paying for the weddign and buying ahouse we are still saving. I feel like such a cheapskate sometimes!

there are countless threads on this....

we don't go out to eat really, we don't primp ourselves (haircuts get stretched to the max), we don't really drink which can be a HUGE waste of $$, I ONLY buy things on sale WITH coupons, I use store brands on a lot of things, we don't buy new clothes unless we HAVE to.

I get a weekely newsletter from www.stretcher.com which is a website about stretching your dollars and then I get their tips newsletter which contains tips on how to save money buy doing all sorts of things from buying a car to making your own household cleaners.

I also search the web for freebies and sample sites....you'd be amazed. It got a FREE sample of Electrasol tabs and when it came, there were 3 tabs...that's 3 loads of dishes. ( www.weeklyfreebies.com)

we buy stuff at garage sales and goodwill (I often find books there DIRT cheap and turn around and sell them on Ebay). I'm already asking around for people getting rid of stuff for our new house. We are only buying a new bed and not a whole set ($619 for a king size bed at JC Penney)