Top ten ways I save money

A lot of people wonder how I live the way I do. My husband and I have a 3br house, 2 cars and no debt beyond our mortgage and we pay extra on that every month. We also live on very little a year and sometimes go without paychecks because of my husbands job. So here's the top 10 ways I save money:

1. Set up a budget, stick to it, and revisit it when necessary
-This s really important. You need to know where your money is going in order to save it. There are tons of tips on budgeting but I suggest looking at Dave Ramsey products to help you out.
2. Set up automatic payments for as much as possible
-By doing this you can be sure that you won't be paying late charges again. And if your budget is set up and you're sticking to it then you'll also know that you have money to make the payment.
3. Use the envelope system
-Using your budget you can begin to put cash in your envelopes for things like groceries, gas and spending money. This will help you to not overspend. Once the cash is gone you're out. And it wouldn't hurt to put any plastic you might have in the freezer.
4. Get rid of the extras
-Think of all the little luxuries you might pay for and cut out as many as possible. Cable can go because you can watch regular TV or catch it online. Cancel your subscriptions to magazines and newspapers. The library carries all of these and you can get a lot of the magazines for free just by checking out my site. Get rid of your netflix subscription and start using the library or redbox. Again, my site can show you lots of ways to get free or cheap movies.
5. Learn to do it yourself
-Home Depot is a great resource for this. Their staff can give you instructions on almost any project you face. When we bought our house I wanted to refinish our hardwood floors. I had never done this before so I went and asked an associate at the Home Depot. They told me everything I needed to know and more. And now I have a beautiful original hardwood floor. You can find a lot of resources at the library as well as online.
6. Don't do anything without a coupon
-My husband was teasing me the other day saying that when I die I'll get the plot half off because I had a coupon. When we're going to go out we do it based on our coupons. I have an Entertainment book and a Local First book that have already paid for themselves. Actually the Entertainment book was free. For example, Valentines day was a huge coupon day for me. I started by renting a car for the weekend using the Hertz deal I posted earlier. Then I took my husband to Louis Benton Steakhouse using a gift certificate from restaurant.com that I got 70% off and got cash back using cashbaq.com. Then we went to the opera which I had a buy one get one coupon for. I saved so much money just by using coupons and deals. And we had a great time.
7. Make your money work for you
-I put away money every month to save for a new car when our current ones finally die. Once I've reached a good amount I switch it to an account that will make me extra money. Now I don't get into investments because I'm a simpleton but I do understand CD's and the like. This last year alone we made $500 on one account. One time we used Home Depot's special of Buy now pay in one year. We already had the money to pay for it but we put it into an account that would end before it was time to pay up. We made about $100 because we did that and still got what we needed.
8. Use what you got
-A lot of people struggle with being content. They feel that they never have enough or what they "need". The truth is we usually have more than enough. Dust off those old board games instead of spending $50 on a new video game. The car you have is still running and could last a little longer with minimal cost so don't go buying a new one because you'd like a change. The bottom line is you've probably already got something to do at home and that thing you want to replace can probably last longer giving you more time to save money for it.
9. Empty your pantry first
-Just because it's Monday doesn't mean you HAVE to go grocery shopping. Look at your cupboards and get creative. Try using as much as you can before grocery shopping again.
10. Gifts can be made and bought cheap
-I have most of my upcoming celebration gifts already because I plan ahead. I shop all year round at thrift stores and garage sales looking for what I need. I'm a frequent shopper at the Saturday night madness sale at Salvation Army where the color tag of the week is just .49cents. I've also gotten really big into making my own stuff. There are lots of books and resources at the library to help you with this.

That's just a sample of the ways I've saved loads of money. Give at least one of these a try and see how it works. And keep checking this site to help you save money as well.