- I never spend $5 bills.When I receive them I put them in a separate section of my wallet. Ever so often I empty them from my wallet and put them in an envelope at home. I have been doing this for about two months and I already have over $100. I call this my “Honest Abe’s Saving Technique”.
- The best way I find to save is to have the money taken out before you even see it. I have $50 taken out every paycheck and direct deposited in to a money market account. I don’t miss the money at all and it makes me feel good when I get my monthly statement and see the account growing.
- It may seem time consuming but I clip coupons every week. I save about $15 off my usually $120 grocery bill. That helps me save about $60 / month or $780 / year. I save even more when I am able to double the coupons.
- I always try to buy the store brand of a product. Sometimes they are not as good but I always give them a try at least once. There are some products I cannot even tell the difference between the store brand and the name brand.
- You can almost negotiate on anything you buy. Most people think it is just cars and houses. The price of almost any electronics device can be negotiated. Some other things I get prices lowered on are luggage, jewelry, and camping equipment. I always try to get at least a few bucks off something. The worst they can say is no.
- The Internet has been great for comparison-shopping. There are so many websites that do this now it makes the process so much faster. Sometimes after shipping and handling charges the best deal is still at my local store but I feel much better that I at least tried.
- I save money by bringing my lunch to work everyday. An average lunch when I used to eat out was about $7. At that rate I am saving well over $1200 a year by doing this. I also have lost 20 pounds since I started bringing a lunch.
- My spouse and I don’t go out to eat as often as we used to.We used to go out to eat twice a month. Now we go once every other month. A typical dinner with tip would run us about $60. Going every other month saves us over $1000 and it is more special now when we do go out to eat.
- I rely heavily on “Consumer Reports” magazine for my purchases. I know I am getting a good value for my dollar when I follow their advice. I like how they point out the extra features that you don’t really need and can save you money if you don’t buy a model that has them.
- We used to go away to places like Walt Disney World or Myrtle Beach for our two vacations a year. Now for one of the vacations we go camping. It is very inexpensive and saves us a few thousand dollars a year. The kids like it just as much or more, especially when we go fishing.
- I save money by really looking at every monthly payment I have. These include utilities, car payment, mortgage, insurances, credit card payments, and monthly bank fees. I shop around for the lowest rate and /or premium I can find. For example I switched my bank and saves $8 / month in fees. I lowered my cable package one level and saved $10 / month. I switched car insurances and saved $280 / year. I refinanced my mortgage and car payment which saves me another $320 / month. These alone save me $4336 / year. I have also lowered my credit card interest rate just by calling and asking!
- I used to think I was saving money by doing my taxes on my own. A friend convinced me to let a professional try it and compare it to my own self-prepared return. He was right in that the professional saved me an extra $345. No more doing them on my own.
- I save a little money in the winter when I purchased a humidifier for my furnace.When you add a little humidity you don’t need to have the room temperature as high to still be comfortable. As a result my furnace does not run as much, my bills are lower, and I don’t get the dry skin I used to have all winter. The humidifier will pay for itself in no time at all.
- I have made quite a bit of money in real estate. I buy a house for as little down as possible and just do a few fix-ups and resell it. The fix-ups might include painting, landscaping, or minor updating of a bathroom or kitchen. I usually can make 10-20K per house after my expenses.
- I find the only way to make money quickly (and possibly lose it quickly) is to invest in individual stocks. I went with some reputable stock pickers and started up slow. I had 50% returns on many of the recommended stocks. I like the success “Motley Fools” has had. I have tried to pick a few on my own with limited success.
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