What's New

More In
Travel & Entertainment

Tell Us Your Story and Win a Free Budgeting Plan!

LearnVest
Posted on February 22, 2012

This week is America Saves Week.

We’re celebrating here in the office with dollar bill garlands and piñatas full of change, plus a lunchtime potluck feast complete with recycled leftovers, napkins, cups and more.

OK, not really! But we’re pretty psyched.

To share our holiday cheer, we’re giving away a free LearnVest budgeting plan to a reader who demonstrates the true spirit of saving. Here’s how it works:

  1. Share this post on Facebook by clicking the handy little button in the top right-hand corner of the page.
  2. In the comments below this post, share your best, most inspiring, most creative or funniest saving story.
  3. The story that fills us with the most ASW cheer (that’s America Saves Week, of course) wins its author a free budgeting plan, worth $69.
  4. Since we love this holiday so much and want it to last forever, we’re giving you until Wednesday, February 29th at 5 PM to enter.

Now if you’ll excuse us, we have to go back to searching for piggy banks online.

More From LearnVest

Want to better the world? Try socially responsible investing.
Our new daily inspiration series will get you psyched to save in no time.
Why do people think women with shorter hair are smarter?

Posted in: , ,
  • Annie A France

    Saving has to be automatic for me – and I see saving as more than just putting money from my account to a savings.  I see it as finding ways to MAXIMIZE.  Recently, my boyfriend bought a house and began to renovate the basement.  He initially went kinda crazy – tearing out things.  I asked him to be careful so I could RESELL the items and mitigate his cost – increase his ROI.  :-)  So far, we’ve saved almost 60% of the cost by trading/reselling items to decrease his out of pocket.  :-)  

  • Cathy

     I clip food/other coupons for purchases, go to yard sales/thrift shops, flea markets for bargains, save a percentage of each paycheck toward retirement, cut my husband’s hair and sometimes my own to save on expenses, I study Charles J. Givens books (and Learnvest site!) to determine ways to invest better, I find free or inexpensive forms of local entertainment, I work part time outside the home (hubby works full time) and grab any extra work I can find such as pet sitting, on-line tasks, etc. I make my own envelopes and greeting cards when time permits.

    • MzNatural

      Wow Cathy, you’re great :)  I will definitely take some of your handy tips and use them :)

  • Tabby822

    There are several ways my family and I save money. We do simple things like I cut my husband’s hair every other week, we use coupons and buy things when they are on sale, I cut my grocery bill back by putting more veg on the plate than meat (which is healthier too), when we do go out to eat we go when it’s kids eat free and sign up for email specials and coupons from our favorite restaurants, we use the fuel efficient car for our family outings instead of the big comfy one, once a week my husband rides his bike to work, we set our thermostat up in the summer and down in the winter, we bought a great coffee machine so I can prepare my daily cup o’ joe at home, and probably the one thing that has really saved us money is saving our son’s clothes so the next one can use them when they are ready. This has saved us a tremendous amount of money over the last 6 years! 

  • Dinah

    I went on dates to get free dinners!

  • Whitney

    Saving is important for us but not easy, especially as a couple who just combined finances. Our latest tax return was a big help- the whole thing went to savings!

  • http://twitter.com/Renee_26 Renee Frisson

     I shop bargains at places like Aldi & yard/thrift sales, hold my own yard sales sometimes & swap my son’s clothes on ThredUp.com.  I have car insurance and retirement deducted from my paycheck and use flex spending for medical & daycare.  I get books & sometimes movies weekly for my 5-year old at the library.  Before I was a parent, my partner and I “house-sat” for homes that were vacant but on the market to save money.  Stopping short of dumpster diving, we “curbside shopped” for things folks put out for “free” (making sure they weren’t intended for donations).  I find that potlucks with family/friends are not only less expensive, but also more enjoyable than eating out.  I’d love to hold a swap one day but, for now, I’m swapping a manicure for hair coloring this weekend with my cousin.

  • http://www.kittybrownart.com/ Kitty Brown

    My college boyfriend was from Portland, OR, where dumpster diving is big.  At one point he tried to convince me to eat dumpster dived food from Trader Joe’s to save money. I get picking up a couch off the side of the road as dorm furnishing, but food is something else! I ended up just buying my food at the local farmer’s market instead.

  • Sjdemo

    in nursing school i went to a home improvement type store with mother and got stepped on by a salesperson. i was wearing sandals and her shoe caught on my toenail and ripped it to the point it eventually fell off. i was bleeding and in pain and had to fill out an accident report. several days later i got a call at school from someone in their corporate offices who tried very hard not to laugh as she said she was checking on the status of my toe. i told her the nail fell off but would grow back, and that i had it checked at the school clinic and it was not broken. they offered to pay the visit, but it was $8 so i said not to bother. they did insist on sending me a check for $385 — i think to close the report and ensure i wouldn’t sue.
    i used that check to start my first savings account, which i eventually used to put a down payment on my first car (well, first that a parent didn’t give me). my family and i refer to it as the “toe check” and since then anytime one of us bumps into something at a store the other asks if “you are okay or do you need a toe check?”

  • Deb B

    As a young parents raising two sons in the late ’90s, we had to be creative in our savings. Credit cards were frozen in cups of ice to make us think twice about any purchases that needed to be made if we didn’t have the cash.  We took an apartment that we couldn’t afford, but needed the space and the schools were very good.  I would sneak out at night and rummage through the trash and collect the empty cans to put toward our weekly grocery bills. My husband was too proud to allow his wife to do such a thing, so I kept my stash of cans hidden in a friend’s garage.  When I heard the apartment complex was interviewing for a new superintendent, I applied for the position.  This allowed me to stay at home with my sons and save money on our rent. I took our monthly rent and put in a savings account. Instead of hiring people to maintain the property, I took on the roles of landscaper, handyman, painter and cleaner.  My husband helped when he could and after 2 years, we bought our first home.  Whenever I see someone throw away that nickle attached to an empty soda can, it makes me cringe!  I told my sons – we bought this home by saving nickles!

    After the kids graduated college, my husband and I divorced and I am now starting over at age 46.  My paycheck does not stretch too far and it is difficult to save like I used to.  The credit cards are back on ice and I am lucky to have great friends who like to share meals (and clothes) to save money.  As a woman, dating has it’s advantages with an occasional dinner or afternoon adventure somewhere.  I still collect the empty bottles to help alleviate the cost of groceries, but I am far from reaching that financial place of owning another home of my own.  This gift from Learn Vest would help me reach my Nickle Goal!

  • SV

    I just got married, and my husband and I both know two things: 1) we need to save money, and 2) we both need to lose weight that we put on recently. So we decided to kill two birds with one stone.  We ordered SlimFast powder on-line from Amazon (which was cheaper than in the stores in NYC where we live, and we chose the powder because it’s cheaper to mix with milk yourself than to buy the bottled shakes), and one can per week plus 2 gallons of milk makes BOTH of our breakfast and lunches for approximately $20! For our snacks that you get on the SlimFast plan and the one meal that you eat daily, we buy only fruit, veggies, and meats that are on sale.  As a result, we are spending less than $100/week on food for both of us!  Two weeks in, he is down 11 pounds and I am down 7.  We have cut our food budget AND are trimming our waistlines!  It feels good to know that we are both working hard to improve not only our physical health, but our financial health as well!

  • l bryant

    Our daughter (oldest0 graduates college in 2 months.  We have managed to help her through college and allow our 4 sons to participate in numerous high school sports and activities while going through school..  We also paid off $100,000. worth of medical bills that went above our medical plan.  When our daughter was 18 months old she was diagnosed with leukemia.  We have always spent less than we made, saved and tried to enjoy the simple things.  I have been a stay at home mom due to this illness  Today we are finally able to start saving for retirement.  If you can say “Thank You Lord” for another day when you first wake up what you have will make you happy.