How I Save Money- Eat Oatmeal for Breakfast

I get it if oatmeal just isn’t your thing, but not only does this meal help your pocket book it is great for your waist line too. I use 1/3 cup of oats for my morning meal which is less than ten cents per bowl.It is also a great way to use up fruit that isn’t going to get eaten before it goes bad. When berries or bananas are on their last day, I throw them in the freezer. Then I add them to my oats before I bake them. Joy the Baker’s Recipe got me started on the baked version of oatmeal. I unusually do a simpler version in the morning; oats, a dash of baking powder, milk, fruit, and just a little bit of brown sugar.

How I Save Money - The Library

My library saves me hundreds of dollars a year. I read too much to justify purchasing books. It is a great place to take the kids and adds some new material to our nightly story time. Even my husband who isn’t much of reader has gotten into books on CD. He spends a lot of time in the car and the stories make the time fly by.

I order my books ahead of time online through the libraries website and they call me when they are ready for pick up. That way if I’m in a hurry I can be in and out in minutes. My library also has eBooks that I download to my Kindle Fire. This usually means I have to wait for the latest and greatest stuff, but the list of books I want to read is long so I can usually find something available.  

How I Save Money- Programmable Thermostat

For Christmas I got a programmable thermostat, a penny pincher's dream gift. Minnesota has some pretty extreme temperatures. In the winter we keep the house too warm for the kids. They never keep the blankets on through the night. I loathe waking up any more than necessary and until they figure out the blankets I choose sleep over pennies. It makes me feel better that I can set the program to save us a little during the day while we are out. There is some debate if these actual save money, but according to Energy.Gov “By turning your thermostat back 10° to 15° for 8 hours, you can save 5% to 15% a year on your heating bill -- a savings of as much as 1% for each degree if the setback period is eight hours long.” Even if we are closer to the 5% range this thing will pay for itself in no time.