Happy Monday friends! In light of the extensive amount of homework I have to finish, my blog posts will be mostly likely be short and sweet this week! For today’s Money Monday post, I would like to share with you three of my favorite ways to save money.

1) Stay out of the store
If you aren’t there, you can’t spend money. It may sound like common sense, but this basic principle has changed the way I shop. I try to limit “emergency runs” as much as possible by planning ahead. I found that when I was making all these “emergency runs” to the store for one or two items, I ended up coming home with three or four items and spending much more than I planed. I only go shopping once a week. If we run out of something, we get creative until it is time again for the scheduled shopping trip. Of course, if we ran out of something essential like toilet paper we would go get it. However, I try to keep ahead of essential items by stocking up on them when they are on sale or there is a good coupon.

2) Make it at home
In the last few months, I have discovered ways to make so many things homemade that I had never thought of before. Last week I discovered homemade chocolate chips, and this week I plan on trying to make crackers (I will let you know how they turn out.) Having a group of homemade essential recipes on hand (breads, snacks, etc) can really cut down on those “emergency trips” I was talking about earlier.

3) Create a price sheet
This is something I have been wanting to do for a long time, and I plan on working on it in a few weeks during break my between spring and summer semesters. The idea behind this concept is to create a list of local stores and their prices on the items you buy frequently, your essentials. This way you can compare stores to find the best deals. You can also refer to the list when an item goes on sale, so you can know if it is actually cheaper than what you normally buy. I plan on starting my list by reviewing my old receipts (I have been saving them for a few months), and then fill in the gaps by actually visiting three or four stores and recording prices. This may sound time-consuming, but I believe it will be a huge money saver in the end.