Friday, April 3, 2009

How Do YOU Save Money? {Here Are My Tips}

Forget what the media says. The world has the same amount of money it had two years ago. Certainly it has shifted hands. Many people who merely pretended to have funds (and were buying homes with imaginary Monopoly cash) still have no money today; sadly. The lessons our economy teaches is for us to be CREATIVE (but don't buy into the "woe is me" mentality that seeks to destroy this country). Focus on flowing with the changes. Ask: "How can I thrive in this environment."

Stand very long in any grocery store line or go to a public event and you can readily see that people are STILL out and about: spending their dough.
So while I submit this entry for “SAVING money where it doesn’t hurt” the focus is to empower ourselves – to have more cash to spend wherever we want.

I look at money like a voti
ng ballot. I want my local metaphysical store to stay in business, for example, so I make sure I spend as much there as possible. This summer, I plan to take a trip to New York – so I’m also counting pennies and cutting corners in my grocery budget to be able to feel good about spending more money once I vacation there.


HERE ARE SUNTIGER's MONEY SAVING IDEAS:

PUPPY TREATS: Instead of buying expensive doggie treats to reward good pet behavior – I’m feeding my dachshund & pug CHEERIOS. They love them. The pug will catch them mid-air as I praise him “CHEERIO!” What’s more? The Food & Drug Administration monitors HUMAN food better than any groceries sold through the pet food industry. Therefore, I’m really doing my dogs’ health a big favor by only feeding them people food.
NO MORE TEETH BRUSHING WITH RAWHIDE: Instead of rawhide bones and ears/etc. that my dogs to chew to clean their teeth – Doug and I now serve our dogs regular butcher store bones. They last longer, are not processed and don’t have all the preservative-additives that the processed products do have. (They’re also cheaper.)
PIERCING CARE: Instead of purchasing H2Ocean (cost $12/4 ounces) for cleaning my nostril piercing, I now use the Bausch & Lomb saline solution (costs $8/12 ounces) and it's marketed under the label “Gentle Sensitive Eyes Plus” (which I buy from Safeway). Not only is this saline solution PH balanced . . . but it doesn’t dry out my skin like H2Ocean did and it has potassium. After washing and rinsing with antibiotic soap & water – I do a final rinse with this product and anything that previously felt sore or irritated instantly feels soothed and much better!
HAIR COLOR: I’ve had my very fine, straight hair damaged and even melted by professional salons (not once, twice now) until it felt like old wax and most of it had to be cut off. Now? I always do my tinting at home (and the results are actually better). I have also watched my favorite hair dresser market salon-quality shampoos and conditioners over the years. She’d push one brand (costing $40-60.00) and then a year or two later she would switch carriers to promote a new brand saying the old one was terrible. When I buy tint and shampoo these days it's at ridiculous savings. I buy higher end (PH balanced) grocery store products. *Note: really fun fluorescent hair colors can be purchased from Hot Topics – comb in and wash-out hot pink, for example, can be purchased in a small package for just $1.99. {Great for dressing wild for a Faerie festival or night out on the town and then returning to "boring" for work in the morning}. I occasionally wear my hear pink for months on end! Just be careful which hair color product you buy from Hot Topic, however, because the alcohol-based tints last for many weeks longer than the water-based products, most of which shampoo out after only a few washings (if they’re not labeled "comb-in/wash out" for one-day use).
SHIPPING MATERIALS: I actually got this idea from the Toyota company. My husband works as a master diagnostic technician (aka “mechanic”) up in Kirkland and he orders brand new automotive parts that the company ships with great care. In fact, instead of recycling the cardboard, which requires burning more C02, Doug brings the boxes home to me for reuse. I mail items sold on eBay or Amazon almost daily. After I decorate the box with comics that I clip from the daily news (for my customer’s enjoyment) I stuff plastic baggies with shredded office paper (since I don’t want the bleached paper and potentially toxic ink on the shredded paper getting into my compost). Putting shredded paper to good “package padding” use makes me feel like I’m doing the Earth some good while saving money on packaging materials. The baggies of shredded paper are better than shipping popcorn since they don’t go fall out all over the place when my customer first opens the box. THANK YOU TOYOTA for demonstrating this money saving REUSE (instead of recycle) idea!
IN BUSINESS? SAVE ON ACCEPTING CREDIT CARD PAYMENTS: Anyone who hires me for an on-line psychic reading knows I network with PayPal (that’s when I’m not working through my LivePerson Virtual Office). PayPal processes credit card payments for a much lower rate fee than credit card companies and the process doesn’t take as long to run a payment.
BEST IDEA EVER: SAVE ON HOUSEHOLD CLEANING ITEMS! Here’s the last “save money tip” from SunTiger. Housework is a bitch. {Do it less often.} :D

7 comments:

Breath-e said...

oh my, I've been tagged...Ideas will be posted soon(relative term).

:D

Fijufic said...

I'll post on Monday. Thanks for the TAG!!!!!

GRRRRRR....

I am a tightwad and love to play the saving game. LOVE IT!!!!

Bobby

SunTiger said...

Breath-e. LOL. {Oh the pressure we place on our friends to "perform"}

Fijufic ~ You are so welcome. I seriously look forward to learning from you. :D

LeftCoastLobstah said...

I don't know that I have any tips off the top of my head but I like yours. We feed our dog the raw trimmings from meat we don't like and give her some bone, too (it's good as long as it is not cooked). I think we save a lot of money not going crazy on the dog stuff for her.

SunTiger said...

LeftCoastLobstah ~ I'm certain you are correct (about how not going crazy on the fluffy commercialized products saves money).

becomingkate said...

Great tips! I like reusing a lot too - it's a trait I got from my mom. She made a china cabinet from two console TV's, and recovered chairs from old, heavy brocade.

SunTiger said...

Becomingkate ~ I would love to see what her china cabinet looked like. She must have used the old wooden-framed version? Do you have a picture (if so, definitely share!)

Heavy brocade chairs sound PRETTY!

OTHER WEBSITES MAINTAINED BY SUNTIGER

People Blessed From Visiting Since 2/22/09

Hail And Welcome!