How to save money in tough times: you’re not stuck

There is hope. You can meet your financial goals and save money even on a low income with a big family. It takes a clear goal and plan, a budget, cutting expenses, selling stuff, doing without, even having a second job. But you can do anything for a short period of time when the end result is more freedom!

The dream inside of me was wilting, withering, wasting away. 

I was mad! 

Unfortunately, I was taking it out on the one person closest to me, my husband. I was irritable and annoyed, hopeless and frustrated. 

I thought we had a goal, I thought we had a plan. 

Tim had finished university, had a permanent teaching job. Now, we were going to buy our home-sweet-home; our little house on the prairies, and live happily ever after. 

It felt unattainable- a big hammer crashed down and shattered our plans. 

Acreages were too expensive, too outdated, too far to drive. 

Until one day, God shook us, rattled us, ignited us. (Read more about that here)

Hope sparked.

Flared.

Exploded. 

Like gas on a flame, we were bright, excited, focused, purposeful. Any slight progress was fuel on the inferno. 

Eventually, the flame flickered, the fuel ran out, all that was left was a pile of smouldering coals and ash.

We were exhausted, but a gleaming white smile stood out in stark contrast on our soot covered faces.

We’d made it.

We were here. 

I have experienced the hopelessness of being stuck,

I have experienced the thrill of focus, determination, and overcoming.

And I know one thing:

You can too.

So here are all the money-saving tips and tricks I could think of, that helped us reach our goal of buying an acreage and paying it off as a single low income family of 6.

Now it’s your turn to defy all odds, attack your debt, and shatter your savings goals. 

Lets do this!

Identify and clarify your goal

First thing, we needed to be 100% sold out. Our goal had to mean more to us than the discomfort we would encounter to accomplish it. Our reason ‘why’ had to be more important than what we were giving up. We set specific goals (save a 20% down payment for a $250,000 house, a house payment no more than 25% of our take home pay- more from financial experts at Ramsey Solutions).

Set a time line

We didn’t know how long it would take for us to reach our goal, but we decided that we could sacrifice intensely for a couple of years. The end game, the big picture was worth it. It wouldn’t have to be forever or long term. Delayed gratification.

Make it visible

Write it down. It’s an easy way to make it tangible and real. We made colouring sheets and had them posted where we could see them as a constant reminder. It felt so good to colour in each line! With our focus on the progress we made, rather than what was left, we were eager to reach the next milestone. One line at a time, made it much less overwhelming, it was a way to celebrate every small win. 

Sell a tonne of stuff

$5 and $10 sales on Facebook Market Place or Kijiji or Varage Sale added up! As we deposited our change jar into the checking account and kept track of the items we sold, we earned well over $1000. Tim sold a few bigger ticket items: a couple of tools over $100 and an old school garage sale was a success.

Wrestling the budget

Here’s the point where we have a honest look at the difference between needs and wants.

Make a budget. The budget is king. Using the EveryDollar budgeting app¹, we made sure that every penny was recorded and matched our bank account. By the end of the month, every dollar was either spent or transferred to its allotted savings account. Our monthly income at the time (as a first year teacher) was $3,800 plus $1,250 from the federal child tax benefit (we had 4 children at the time). 

And you better believe, the credit card was off limits. We were working the Dave Ramsey plan so had saved a $1000 emergency fund (for any unexpected expenses that could potentially derail us), paid off every debt except our mortgage, and then beefed up our rainy day fund to 3-6 months of expenses (which we popped into a separate savings account; a high-yield savings account). We followed these steps to accomplish all of our financial goals.

P.S Have a separate savings account where you can immediately transfer that extra money before it disappears or you’re tempted to spend it. 

How to save money on the grocery bill

This was a budget line that we hit hard. 

We nervously calculated exactly how much we were spending on groceries, figured what a comfortable, reasonable amount should be, and stuck to it. Cash in hand, I filled my shopping cart, but ended up putting items back on the shelf when I went over. With groceries strategically lined up on the conveyor belt, I’d ask the clerk to check our total nearing the end. Darn it, I was over. I could feel my checks flaming hot as I asked her to remove the last item and sorry, but we wouldn’t be taking these remaining ones either. Yes, it was embarrassing. I don’t know why, but it was. Maybe it has to do with our privileged culture viewing self denial as poverty.

Apps like Flipp and Flash Food, show groceries that are discounted. Some are close to expiry and highly discounted, others are sales and promotions. 

I could price check and save a few dollars on our tight budget by looking at the apps before I made my list. They had to be something we would regularly buy. I didn’t spend money to ‘save money’. Don’t buy something just because it’s a good deal!

I rarely took advantage of getting discounts for buying multiples. The exception was something we used very often, like pasta, but I had to have the money left in the budget. 

A great way to save on groceries is to shop generic. It may seem silly to put so much effort into saving mere cents with such small changes, but every little bit counts. That mindset infiltrated every spending category. I was putting so much effort into saving 50 cents at the grocery store, there was no way I was going to spend $10 or $20 without it being necessary, otherwise it felt like all of my effort before hand was wasted! 

The lowest monthly grocery bill we did was $500. It was do-able, but it was not fun. There were no extras. It was fruit, veggies, meat, bread, milk, and hopefully some baking staples so I could add a bit of variety.

I made everything from scratch, no processed food, wrote a monthly meal plan, and on occasion only shopped once a month.

Tim either packed a lunch or ate at school (they had $2 lunches).

Save the tax return

Tim’s income was heavily deducted as his dependents were not included, so every spring we were guaranteed a hefty tax return. It was often $7000 or more. This would instantly go into the savings account.  We have since reduce the withholding amount, so that we can have more money in our pockets every month. We put those dollars to work saving for finishing our renovations and investing with a financial advisor in our personal retirement accounts. 

Ask for discounts and ye shall receive

Telus discounted our phone bill and increased our data because Tim asked. A friend said he approached their utility company and asked for a better deal and the company lowered the rates. There is only one power and energy provider in our province, but I wonder how that approach might pan out? 

I remember another conversation with the bank about our mortgage where Tim asked if they would reduce the interest rate. She replied, “now that you’ve asked me that question, I can tell you this…” It was like they weren’t allowed to advertise good news until we said the magic words. 

I don’t condone this next one because its not really ethical…but we ‘borrowed’ internet from a neighbour. We picked up his signal really well in our living room and paid him $25 a month. And jokes on whoever logged into their Netflix account on our computer. Hehe, sorry… 

When in doubt, do without

Other than pirating Netflix, zero other subscriptions! No amazon prime, no magazines, no monthly apps, no gym membership, homeschool courses, or online shopping. 

We did have a Costco membership, maybe I should have gotten rid of that, too. I had to really be careful shopping there, in order to make sure we were getting the benefits rather than spending more. We made our list before and if it wasn’t on the list, we didn’t get it ! We could add it to the list next time if we deemed it truly beneficial.

No eating out, no coffee shop. If there was ever a time we wanted to eat out, we got a rotisserie chicken, a small block of cheese, a bag of plain chips, and mini cucumbers. Price: $25 for a family of six. Costco hotdogs could be an option too.

We didn’t go on holidays. Our vacations were going to visit family or friends, throw in an occasional local camping trip.

For fun we went biking and walking at local trails, enjoyed spending time at the library, parks, and visiting friends. 

Honk, honk, rattle, crash, beep, beep

We drove two old used vehicles. When one inevitably needed work done, the mechanic students at school would do it and only charge parts. Tim would then be out a vehicle for quite a few days, so he would have to bike to school. 

We repaired our vehicles instead of upgrading. $1000 can seem like a lot of money to spend on an old vehicle, but its a lot less than a $10,000 replacement vehicle. 

After a spit shake and pinkie swear to never have a car payment or any monthly payments ever again, there was no other option. We determined to save up cash to buy our next vehicle . Since we didn’t have enough money, the best way was to keep repairing and turn a blind eye to the rust spots. 

 PS. We made sure that we set aside a small amount of money every month, so that when a repair came it wouldn’t gobble up every spare cent. We would also direct deposit a little extra money every month for property taxes or saving for buying meat in bulk; big purchases we knew would come.

Bring home more bacon- The Side Hustle

The greatest momentum came from Tim working an additional part-time job. He worked really hard for those two years. Like a dog. Like a coal miner in the 1800’s. Someone desperate to change their life. 

He would work from 530am- 830am on carpentry jobs before going to teach at school. One particular job was in the dead of winter. It was bitterly cold, -35 celsius. Tim would talk about how he had to keep pausing work to warm his hands up on the halogen lights. Lights- because it is pitch black at 5 am in the middle of winter! He worked a full day at school before returning to the construction site, but he always made it home for supper. “There’s one place to go when you’re broke: to work;”² every Saturday, every holiday, every summer break. We made huge progress from the extra income. More side hustle ideas.

This motivated me to save as much money as possible in the home because I didn’t want any of Tim’s sacrifice to be in vain.  Every dollar I saved was a dollar toward our savings target. A dollar he didn’t have to work for again.

Little things add up

We saved recycling and got a few hundred bucks over the year returning them for a deposit refund.

Any Christmas money or birthday money went straight into the pot.

There was a change jar that we would use for any extra treats. Once or twice a month the boys would have a special ‘Nights Up’. It was a one-on-one little date we would take to Menchies, a frozen yogurt joint. Before heading out, we would raid the change jar of loonies, quarters, nickels and dimes to buy that $8 dessert. A sucker for a sweet treat myself, I would enjoy a few extra sample cups while the kids were picking out their flavour. No way I was spending another $8 on my own.

Reducing expenses- cut!

We downsized to a small, cheap house. After our first year living in Regina, we realized our living situation wasn’t going to be sustainable. Tim was a full time university student, I was at home with our two babies. I talk about our transition to the tiny house more, here. It was only 680 square feet and the neighbourhood wasn’t always idilic, but we were in the right place at the right time. 

Buying second hand clothes. Grandma probably bought all the kid’s clothes anyways. 

Be intentional with using utilities: turn the lights off, have quicker showers, hang the laundry to dry, turn the thermostat down. 

How about DIY’s? Its very simple to make a host of household products: make hand soap by adding a couple tablespoons of dish soap to an empty foaming soap dispenser. Make all purpose cleaner using vinegar and water in a spray bottle- you can use this to clean absolutely anything and everything.

Make saving money a game

One afternoon, we realized we were really close to colouring in a $1000 line. The kids were adamant that we make it happen, so we reefed through a box of souvenirs and keepsakes, where we found a bunch of coins Tim had tossed in there over the years. We saved any that were unique or special, and wrapped the rest up. We had over $200 dollars, yet it wasn’t quite enough to colour in that next line! The boys ran to their room, grabbed their piggy banks and were insistent that we use their $30 to finish it up. Now, they are proud to say they helped buy our farm. We never once asked them to do that, it was their own idea, they were excited to be a part of our family goals. Engaged and on board. 

There were moments when I felt tired and discouraged; when I wanted to be done sacrificing. To be able to do what I wanted without having to think so much about planning and saving. Funny thing is that hasn’t stopped. We still have to be intentional in our spending habits. We are still a single income family with a bunch of kids and lofty goals.  

At the end of the day, I hope you are encouraged to set aside excuses and take that next step toward financial freedom. 

If you’re in the middle of your debt free journey, I hope you feel a sense of camaraderie as you pinch pennies and do without (you can send me an email to vent).

In the long run, it’s more than worth it.

You can do it!

1. EveryDollar Budgeting App free version available. Ramseysolutions.com ↩︎
2. Dave Ramsey ↩︎