Third Thursday Thoughts {Living With Less, So Your Family Has More}

Today, I'm joining in the Hearts at Home Blog Hop with Third Thursday Thoughts.  This month's topic is "Living With Less, So Your Family Has More."

Here's our top 5 ways that we're cutting back on our spending:

1.  Menu planning -- I used to go into the grocery store with a half-devised list and wander around, putting items in my cart that I thought I might be able to use to create some meals.  The trouble was that this tactic usually resulted in multiple return trips to the store, because we didn't really have the things we needed.  (and spending a lot more money in the process.)  Finally I figured out that if I wrote out our weekly menu BEFORE going to the store, we ended up saving a lot of money (and it also keep me more sane, because it takes care of the "what's for dinner" question.)

2.  Making our own laundry soap -- Recently, I began making our own laundry soap, using this recipe from Jill Savage.  It works great, and is a huge savings  (About $7 worth of ingredients lasts 6+ months)

3.  DIY -- I'm very lucky that I married a guy who is extremely handy.  He has completed so many projects at our house that we never could have afforded to hire someone to do for us:  fencing, flooring, patio doors, decking....he's installed them all!

4.  Using store brands -- Often time, there is no real difference between store brand items and the brand name ones (except for the price.)

5.  Keeping gift-giving in check-- with Christmas approaching, it can be easy to go crazy when buying gits for the kids.  To help us remember to keep things in check, Hubby and I follow a "3 gift rule" for our kids, since the wise men brought three gifts the Jesus.  It's just a good way for us to keep spending under control and focus on the real reason for the season.

What's your favorite way to save?