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For those with babies such as myself, make your own baby food

I started off by buying those jarred baby food. Not only did my baby refused to eat store-bought baby food but it was very expensive. Those little jars costs around 0.80 cents a piece and I really question how healthy it is to feed a baby food that was made months ago and vacuumed sealed. I’m sure it’s safe, but why not feed your baby fresh food especially when it is so simple to make? With your own fresh and healthy stock as mentioned below in Vicky’s Money Saving Tips Part I, just toss in your vegetables. After a few minutes of simmering, toss the whole thing in a food processor and grind it up so that it’s the consistency of your baby’s liking. Baby’s happy and mommy’s happy that she’s saving money.

Take advantage of coupons and sales

I was never a coupon-person. I never liked the idea of sitting around and going through the crap load of junk mail to save a few cents here and there. I soon found out that there significant savings in coupons. I learn quickly what I need and don’t need so browsing through the advertisements has become a breeze, but that came with practice. I started off by buying anything that had a coupon attached to it even if I didn’t need it. Things just ended up sitting in my pantry or refrigerator until I eventually just had to throw them away when they started taking up space. That’s the wrong approach to saving! You only save when you use coupons for items that you are already going to buy. I know that’s just so obvious but there are those, such as myself, who needs a bit more guidance. Just think of it this way: 50 cents off a $1.00 item. That’s a 50% saving. But if that item was not needed in the first place, I could have saved 100%! Now, that’s some serious saving! Couple the coupons with existing sale items and you will find yourself saving even more! I always look forward to the monthly book of coupons from my favorite store, Costco. There are huge savings on items that I would otherwise buy for regular price. It’s double the saving power when you shop with coupons at Costco! Yes, I love Costco.

Speaking of Costco, try to buy household items and office equipment at Costco

Costco offers a very, very generous refund policy. If you aren’t satisfied with your product or it becomes defective after some time, you can simply return it for a full refund, no questions asked (usually). The best part is there is no time frame. Simply return it at anytime. Of course, there are limitations on certain products such as cameras, TVs, and computer. They can only be returned within 30 days of purchase but that is still very generous. Their generous refund policy eliminates the need to spend money on repairs or replacements. Simply return it and get a new one! I also love the fact that if you misplace your receipt, no problem. They can simply look it up in their system. In short, Costco rocks.

Shop at discount stores

You just may find hidden gems. I always knew discount stores exist, but I always credited their low price to their low quality. One day I noticed that there was a packed parking lot in front of a Factory to You store so I decided to check it out. I soon found out that I landed the jackpot for baby and children clothes. Their baby and children clothes were surprisingly of high quality and were half or more off the retail price! I found the exact same items that I see at department store, but here they were selling them for dirt cheap! Baby clothes are already expensive and they are only worn for a short period of time so I was very relieved to find a place that offers good quality clothes for such a bargain. There isn’t a big selection, but hey, children aren’t very picky. Take advantage of the young stages while you still can. I recently bought an 8-piece gift set for a baby shower for only $9.99. A similar piece at a regular department store would no doubt cost me around $20 or more.

Well, those are my tips to living smart and on a budget. Do you have any money-saving tips? Please comment and share your ideas.

This entry was posted on Saturday, January 24th, 2009 at 8:36 am and is filed under Tips & Advice. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.