A money-saving expert and mom-of-two has shared some of the genius tips that she has used to cut her grocery, electric, and gas bills down by thousands of dollars.
Becky Guiles, from Syracuse, New York, who is known as the Freebie Lady on social media, quit her job to take care of her two young kids in a few years ago – but she and her husband, Jay, soon found themselves in $35,000 worth of debt.
After struggling to make ends meet for some time, Becky decided to research ways in which she could save money – and she was able to cut their yearly spending by $30,000 – which resulted in the couple being able to pay off their debt in less than eight months.
Now, she has shared some of the simple ways that helped her turn things around in a series of videos posted to her TikTok account, earning her more than 398,000 followers in the process and leaving many people on the web enthralled with her expertise.
A money-saving expert and mom-of-two has shared some of the genius tips that she has used to cut her grocery, electric, and gas bills down by thousands of dollars
Becky Guiles, from Syracuse, New York, quit her job to take care of her two young kids – but she and her husband, Jay, soon found themselves in $35,000 worth of debt
After struggling to make ends meet for some time, Becky decided to research ways in which she could save money – and she was able to cut their yearly spending by $30,000
According to the mother, one of the main ways she has saved money is by reducing the amount of food that she wastes – which she claimed has resulted in her grocery bill going from $1,400 a month to just $400 a month.
Now, she has shared some of the simple ways that helped her turn things around in a series of videos posted to her TikTok account, earning her more than 398,000 followers in the process
‘As a money saving expert, the question I get asked most often is, “How do you easily reduce the cost of groceries?” The answer is to reduce your food waste,’ she said in one video.
Becky explained that you could turn old food into other things – like soft strawberries into a strawberry vinaigrette, mature veggies into vegetable broth, and stale bread into bread crumbs or croutons.
‘Every time you throw food away, just think about it was throwing dollars directly into the trash can,’ she added.
The influencer explained in a separate video, which was shared by Good Morning America, that she uses something called the BORES system when grocery shopping.
In the acronym, the B stands for budget, while the O stands for organize. As for the R, it stands for reduce and reuse, while the E stands for extend.
‘When you are not organized, you waste money,’ she explained. ‘How many times do you go to the grocery store and you’re like, “Do I need that?” And then you buy it and go home and find out you already have it.
According to the mother, one of the main ways she has saved money is by reducing the amount of food that she wastes
Becky explained that you could turn old food into other things – like soft strawberries into a strawberry vinaigrette or mature veggies into vegetable broth
The influencer explained that she uses something called the BORES system when grocery shopping – which stands for budget, organize, reduce, extend life, and simplify
‘Reducing your waste is a huge way to save money on groceries. Extend the life of your food. You will not believe the amount of things you can freeze. Many people don’t know that you can freeze milk.’
Last but not least, the S in BORES stands for simplify – and according to Becky, this has helped her immensely.
She explained that she plans out all of her meals in advance and keeps them simple – like tacos every Monday or soup and salad every Tuesday, for example.
‘By simplifying the meals in this way, it will simplify your grocery list, thus reducing your [spending],’ she pointed out.
Other shopping tips and tricks from Becky included not purchasing items that are on ‘eye level’ since those are normally the ‘most expensive’ and buying toiletries and cleaning products in bulk.
She also suggested getting the generic versus brand-name supplies when you have the option.
‘Generic and name-brand items are often made in the same factory using the same exact formulas,’ she dished.
‘What you’re paying for most of the time is just the packaging and the name-brand marketing.’
And Becky has mastered saving money in other ways too – not just at the food store. She has also figured out ways that you can cut your spending on school supplies, explaining in another video, ‘Check what you have at home before going to the store.
‘Buy basic supplies [in bulk] during back to school sales, and buy quality backpacks instead of cheap character ones.’
‘When you are not organized, you waste money,’ she said. ‘How many times do you go to the store and you’re like, “Do I need that?” And then you buy it and find out you already have it’
Other shopping tricks from Becky included not purchasing items that are on ‘eye level’ since those are normally the ‘most expensive’ and buying toiletries and cleaning products in bulk
Before making the lifestyle swap, Becky (seen with her husband) recalled being plagued with ‘crushing anxiety’ over money
She also recommended not waiting until the last minute to get your kids’ school items, and renting out expensive stuff like computers and calculators rather than purchasing them.
Before making the lifestyle swap, Becky recalled being plagued with ‘crushing anxiety’ over money.
But she decided she finally needed a change after realizing that she didn’t even have enough money in her account to purchase a $25 item at Target.
‘I was in Target one day and I wanted to buy this really cute silverware set that was $24.99, and I realized, we don’t have $24.99 in our bank account,’ she recalled on Instagram.
‘I was like, I’m done. I am done. Every single second of my free time, I was researching how I could change it. I was done with the crushing anxiety that money was bringing me.’
‘We all have had that moment in life that defines us,’ she added in the caption. ‘That defines our future. The moment that you refer to as ‘”before (insert moment)” and “after (insert moment).” That ah-ha moment if you will.
‘For me, it involved the power of new motherly love, a silverware set, and realizing if we keep going the way we are going this feeling of struggle will continue.
‘Through it all, I wrote down everything we did to change and that’s why I’m here. I’m so passionate about helping YOU do the THINGS a that will create the change.’
In other videos, Becky shared more ways in which she has shaved, like never buying an extended-warranty and waiting to wash her kids’ clothes.
![When it comes to cutting your spending on school supplies, she suggested, 'Buy supplies [in bulk] during back to school sales, and buy quality backpacks instead of cheap character ones'](http://moneysaversexpert.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/money-saving-expert-and-mom-shares-genius-tips-for-cutting-your-grocery-bill-by-1000-a-month-daily-mail-13.jpg)
When it comes to cutting your spending on school supplies, she suggested, ‘Buy supplies [in bulk] during back to school sales, and buy quality backpacks instead of cheap character ones’
When it comes to saving on your energy bill, she said it’s important to unplug wires that aren’t being used
‘These are things that are drawing power and not doing anything,’ she added. ‘Also, make sure you have some wool dryer balls. This can decrease your drying time in half’
‘The extended warranty industry is a $40 billion industry, making billions on the chances that your item is not going to break – did someone say rip off?’ she said.
‘If [clothes are] dirty, I wash them. But unless you’re rolling around in dirt, chances are, your clothes aren’t dirty the first time you wear them.’
‘For Christmas or birthdays, I don’t always give my kids new stuff, sometimes I buy them used stuff because they really don’t care.’
When it comes to saving on your energy bill, she said it’s important to unplug wires that aren’t being used.
‘These are things that are drawing power and not doing anything,’ she added.
‘Also, make sure you have some wool dryer balls. This can decrease your drying time in half and significantly reduce the power that your dryer uses – saving you energy and time.
‘Remember that your dryer is one of the most energy-sucking appliances in your house.’
In addition, Becky said to make sure your ceiling fans are rotating in a counter-clockwise motion as it pushes air down while the other direction makes it go up, and to turn off lights when you’re not in a room.
‘Your grandma was right,’ she joked. ‘You don’t know how much you can save by making sure your lights are off for as long as possible during the day.’
