'Ms. Save a Buck' shares how to save $6,500 a year
3 EASY WAYS | Clip coupons, bring tea, meals to work
At work, they call her "Ms. Save a Buck," but Chicagoan Veronica Loewy doesn't mind the label.
The 38-year-old single Lake View resident does not own a car, cell phone or iPod, and readily admits, her "No. 1 thing" is saving for retirement.
(Al Podgorski/Sun-Times)
To cut costs, she enters free movie contests, attends free city events, goes to beauty schools to get her hair done and shops at thrift stores.
Loewy, a human rights investigator with the Cook County Commission on Human Rights, also takes her breakfast and lunch to work every day. And she brings her own coffee and tea bags.
"You can buy Lipton tea bags on sale for $2.50 for 100 tea bags, minus 60 cents manufacturers coupon," she said. "That is $1.90," or 2 cents per bag, compared to roughly $1.50 to $2 per tea at a cafe, she noted. Her savings -- at least $1.48 per bag -- adds up to more than $500 a year, she said.
She estimates her savings on breakfast and lunch at $75 a week or roughly $3,600 annually.
Her use of coupons saves her about $2,400 a year, she said.
Still, Loewy has felt the sting of higher food prices and utility bills this year, and that's prompted her to be even more frugal.
"Little things, jewelry, entertainment type things, if I don't really need it, then I'm not going to buy it at this point," she said.
She views saving as a lifestyle, but added that doesn't mean one has to be deprived. Last year, she took a two-week vacation to Brazil, which cost her roughly $3,000. And yes, she used her airline miles to cut costs.
What are you doing to make ends meet? Having a garage sale? Selling items on eBay? Write to psmith@sun times.com or comment at sun times.com.