My boyfriend and I live in Southeastern KY. We are both disabled and living on disability. We have to budget everything, from electricity to groceries, every month. We are members of several store loyalty programs that automatically apply coupons to your purchase, which helps a lot. You can also use clip coupons along with that to add extra savings. Just about every store has a loyalty program now and you should be able to easily sign up online or at the store itself, just ask a clerk.
Another way that we save money is by getting our toiletries at our local Dollar Tree, where all items are a $1 or less, and you really can't beat that.
For clothes, we go to our local Goodwill store. Goodwill has specific days (color tag days), where a certain day with a certain color tag will be half off the sale price. For example, Tuesday is orange tag day, so on every item with an orange tag on that day, the price is half of that. So if jeans are originally $5.00, if they have an orange tag and it is on Tuesday, you get them for $2.50! Pretty sweet, I think. I usually stock up on the next season's items because they are usually marked down really low. Like in the Winter I will stock up on Summer items, and just put them up, and that saves me for that following summer.
For electricity, there are websites and apps where they pay you to be frugal using your energy. You have to contact your local utility company to find out what information you need. We also have a local community agency that will help you pay your electric bill for one month out of the year, if you are income eligible.
For food, we go online and get prices on what we eat the most and see what deals they offer. We use the weekly flyer coupons, on top of our loyalty card, and find out what day is double coupon day. We shop then to get even more stretch for our money.
It may seem annoying to go through all that trouble to save money but, trust me, in the end, it is well worth it. You will see savings immediately, and hopefully keep some of that hard earned money in your pocket!
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Well done. Great savings to be made with a bit of effort.
I really liked your suggestions. I have been using some of these, but you had some hear I've never thought of! Thank you :-)
You have some great ideas here and this is so helpful if you live on a very tight budget and can't afford the extras in life. This way you have a chance to save up for a few extra items you really want.
Have you ever applied for foodstamps? On SSI or disability you would surely qualify. Just take in copies of award letters that say how much you each receive in a month.
Thanks for this great post! It would be really helpful if you could post any websites or apps that you would recommend. I'm "living" on public assistance, pulling in only $406 a month. I'm waiting to get on SSI/SSD and NOT living on this painful, paltry amount is horribly stressful, and I'm already mentally ill as it is. Having to live with so much so lack makes my symptoms worse, but I'm trying to cope. Thanks for any further information you can provide!
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