100 ways
to save money!! 1. Switch your bank accounts to a bank that respects you. You shouldn’t be spending your hard-earned money on maintenance
fees – you also should be earning some serious interest on your checking and
savings accounts. I use ING
Direct as my primary bank – I earn roughly 3% on my checking account
and 3.4% on my savings account and they’ve never dinged me with a fee. Here’s a guide on how to make that switch.
2. Turn off the television. One big way to save money
is to watch less television. There are a lot of financial benefits to this: less
exposure to guilt-inducing ads, more time to focus on other things in life,
less electrical use, and so on. It’s great to unwind in the evening, but seek
another hobby to do that.
3. Turn a critical eye to your “collections.”Most people
collect something – what do you collect? Is it something that consistently
brings you joy? Or is it something that you just do out of habit at this point?
Does the collection itself have value? Could you perhaps “trim the fat” from
this collection by getting rid of duplicates or getting rid of the items you no
longer use? Also, could you perhaps cut down on your spending on that hobby?
Focus on trimming the things you don’t feel strongly about – if you dig into
things that bother you, you’re going to eventually relapse.
4. Sign up for every free customer rewards program you can. Even if
you rarely shop at that place, having a rewards card for that place will
eventually net you some coupons and discounts. Here’s the basic game plan for maximizing these programs:
create a Gmail address just for these mailings, collect every card you can, and
then check that account for extra coupons whenever you’re ready to shop.
5. Make your own gifts instead of buying stuff from the store. You can
make food mixes, candles, bread, cookies, soap, and all kinds of other things
at home quite easily and inexpensively. These make spectacular gifts for others
because they involve your homemade touch, plus quite often they’re consumable,
meaning they don’t wind up filling someone’s closet with junk. Even better –
include a personal handwritten note with the gift. This will make it even more
special than anything you could possibly buy down at the mall, plus it saves
you money.
6. Master the thirty day rule. Whenever you’re
considering making an unnecessary purchase, wait thirty days and then ask
yourself if you still want that item. Quite often, you’ll find that the urge to
buy has passed and you’ll have saved yourself some money by simply waiting. If
you want, you can even keep a “thirty day list” where you write down the item
and the day you’ll reconsider it, but I prefer just to keep this one in my head
– that way, I often just forget about the unimportant things.
7. Write a list before you go shopping – and stick to it. One
should never go into a store without a strong idea of what one will be
buying while in there. Make a careful plan of what you’ll buy before you go,
then stick strictly to that list when you go to the store. Don’t put anything
in the cart that’s not on the list, no matter how tempting, and you’ll come out
of the store saving a bundle.
8. Invite friends over instead of going out. Almost
every activity at home is less expensive than going out. Invite some friends
over and have a cookout or a potluck meal, then play some cards and have a few
drinks. Everyone will have fun, the cost will be low, and the others will
likely reciprocate not long afterwards.
9. Instead of throwing out some damaged clothing, repair it
instead. Don’t toss out a shirt because of a broken button – sew a new one
on with some closely-matched thread. Don’t toss out pants because of a hole in
them – put in a patch of some sort and save them for times when you’re working
around the house. Simple sewing can be done by anyone – it just takes a few
minutes and it saves a lot of money by keeping you from buying new clothes when
you don’t really need to.
10. Don’t spend big money entertaining your children. Most
children, especially young ones, can be entertained very cheaply. Buy them an end roll of newspaper from your local paper
and let their creativity run wild. Make a game out of ordinary stuff around the
house, like tossing pennies into a jar, even. Realize that what your children
want most of all is your time, not your stuff, and you’ll find money in
your pocket and joy in your heart.
11. Call your credit card company and ask for a rate reduction. Take any
of your credit cards that are carrying a balance, flip them over, and call the
number on the back. Tell them that you want an interest rate reduction or
you’ll take your business elsewhere. If the first person you talk to won’t do
it, ask to talk to a supervisor. If you have a $5,000 balance, even a 3% rate
reduction saves you $150 a year.
12. Clean out your closet. Go through your closets
and try to get rid of some of the stuff in there. You can have a yard sale with
it, take it to a consignment shop, or even donate it for the tax deduction –
all of which turn old stuff you don’t want to use any more into money in your
pocket. Not only that, it’s often a psychological load off your mind to clean
out your closets.
13. Buy video games that have a lot of replay value – and don’t
acquire new ones until you’ve mastered what you have. My video game buying habits have changed quite a
bit since my “game of the week” days. Now, I focus on games that can be played
over and over and over again, and I focus on mastering the games that I buy.
Good targets include puzzle games and long, involved quest games – they
maximize the value of your gaming dollar.
14. Drink more water. Not only does drinking
plenty of water have great health benefits, water drinking has financial benefits, too.
Drink a big glass of water before each meal, and not only will you digest it
better, you won’t eat as much, saving on the ol’ food bill. You’ll also find
yourself feeling a bit better as you begin to get adequately hydrated (most Americans
are perpetually somewhat dehydrated).
15. Cut back on the convenience foods – fast foods, microwave
meals, and so on. Instead of eating fast food or just nuking some prepackaged food
when you get home, try making some simple and healthy replacements
that you can take with you. An hour’s worth of preparation one weekend can give
you a ton of cheap and handy meals that will end up saving you a lot of
cash and not eat into your time when you’re busy.
16. Give up expensive habits, like cigarettes, alcohol, and drugs. Those
habits cause money to flow away from you with nothing in return. Call up your
fortitude and work hard to kick the habits and you’ll find that money staying
in your pocket instead of burning up and floating away.
17. Make a quadruple batch of a casserole. Casseroles
are nice, easy dishes to prepare, but on busy nights, it’s often still easier
to just order some take-out or eat out or just plop a prepackaged meal in the
oven. Instead, the next time you make a casserole, make four batches of
it and put the other three in the freezer. Then, the next time you need a quick
meal for the family, grab one of those batches and just heat it up – easy as
can be. Even better, doing this allows you to buy the ingredients in bulk,
making each casserole cheaper than it would be ordinarily – and far, far
cheaper than eating out or trying a prepackaged meal.
18. Be diligent about turning off lights before you leave. If you
spend one minute turning off lights before a two hour trip, that’s the equivalent of earning $50 an hour. That’s
some impressive savings, particularly if you do it before longer trips. The key
is to use less energy, particularly when you’re not using the device.
19. Swap books, music, and DVDs cheaply on the internet via
services like PaperBackSwap. You can
very easily swap the books and CDs and DVDs you’ve grown bored with via the
internet with others. Just use sites like PaperBackSwap, clean out your media
collection, and trade them with others online. The best part? You’ll get a
flood of new books (or CDs or DVDs) to enjoy, mailed right to you – for free.
21. Install CFL (or, even better, LED) bulbs wherever it makes
sense. These bulbs might cost more initially, but they both have a
longer life than normal incandescent bulbs and they both eat far less
electricity. CFLs tend to use about 25% of the electricity of an incandescent –
LEDs use about 2%. CFLs are cheaper than LEDs right now and produce better
light, but not quite as good as incandescent bulbs. My policy? Put LEDs in
closets and out of the way places, use CFLs for hall and some room lighting,
and use incandescent bulbs (until the other bulbs get better) where you read
and do other eye-intensive activities. This will trim a significant amount from
your electric bill.
22. Install a programmable thermostat. These
devices regulate the temperature in your house automatically according to the
schedule that you set. Thus, when you’re not home, it allows the heating or
cooling to turn off for several hours, saving you on your energy bill. A
programmable thermostat can easily cut your energy bill by 10 to 20%.
23. Buy appliances based on reliability, not what’s cheapest at
the store. It’s worth the time to do a bit of research when you buy a new
appliance. A reliable, energy efficient washer and dryer might cost you quite a
bit now, but if it continually saves you energy and lasts for fifteen years,
you’ll save significant money in the long run. When you need to buy an
appliance, research it – start with back issues of Consumer Reports at the
library. An hour’s worth of research can easily save you hundreds of dollars.
24. Clean your car’s air filter. A clean air filter can
improve your gas mileage by up to 7%, saving you more than $100 for every
10,000 miles you drive in an average vehicle. Plus, cleaning your air filter is easy to do in just a few
minutes – just follow the instructions in your automobile’s manual
and you’re good to go.
25. Hide your credit cards. Take your credit cards and
put them in a safe place in your home, not in your wallet where it’s
easy to spend them. If you argue that you need it for “emergencies,” just be
sure to keep a small amount of cash hidden in your wallet for these
emergencies. Don’t keep plastic on you until you have the willpower to not use
it even when you’re sorely tempted.
26. Plan your meals around your grocery store’s flyer. Instead
of just planning your meals based on a cookbook or whatever you can dream up,
plan all your meals around what’s on sale in your grocery store’s flyer. Look
at the biggest sales, then plan meals based on those ingredients and what you
have on hand, and you’ll find yourself with a much smaller food bill than
you’re used to.
27. Do a price comparison – and find a cheaper grocery store. Most of
us get in a routine of shopping at the same grocery store, even though quite
often it’s not the one that offers the best deals on our most common purchases.
Fortunately, there’s a simple way to find the cheapest store around.
Just keep track of the twenty or so things you buy most often, then shop for
these items at a variety of stores. Eventually, one store will come out on top
for your purchases – just make that one your regular shopping destination and
you’ll automatically save money.
28. Challenge yourself to try making your own things. Before I tried it myself, I thought homemade
breadmaking was complicated and a waste of time and money. I came to find out
that it was pretty easy and it was actually much cheaper, healthier, and
tastier than buying a loaf from the store. Now, we rarely ever buy bread
products at the store – and we save money by making that choice.
29. Don’t spend money just to de-stress. Quite
often, I used to spend money just to wind down from a stressful day at work.
Instead, I’ve found that I quite often feel much better by going home and
taking some quiet time just to stretch and then meditate. I end up feeling much
more together, happy, and ready to face an evening with the kids in the right
mindset than I ever would by just blowing some cash after work. Instead of
spending to de-stress, try some basic meditation techniques, stretching, or
yoga and see how you feel.
30. Talk to your loved ones about what your dreams are. This
seems like an odd way to save money, but think about it. If you spend time with
the people you love the most and come to some consensus about your dreams, it
becomes easy for you all to plan for it. If you’re all planning and working
together towards this dream, it becomes easier to stay focused on it and reach
it. Set a big, audacious goal together and encourage each other to be
financially fit – soon, you’ll find you’re doing it naturally and your dreams
are coming closer than ever.
31. Do a “maintenance run” on your appliances. Check
them to make sure there isn’t any dust clogging them and that they’re fairly
clean. Look behind the appliances, and use your vacuum to gently clear away
dust. Check all of the vents, especially on refrigerators, dryers, and heating
and cooling units. The less dust you have blocking the mechanics of these
devices, the more efficiently they’ll run (saving you on your energy bill) and
the longer they’ll last (saving you on replacement costs).
32. Cancel unused club memberships. Are you
paying dues at a club that you never use? Like, for instance, a gym membership
or a country club membership? Cancel these club memberships, even if you think
you might use them again someday – you can always renew the membership
at a later date if it turns out that you actually do miss it.
33. When shopping for standard items (clothes, sports equipment,
older games, etc.), start by shopping used. Quite often, you can find
the exact item you want with a bit of clever shopping at used equipment stores,
used game stores, consignment shops, and so on. Just make these shops a part of
your normal routine – go there first when looking for potential items and you will
save money.
34. Keep your hands clean. This one’s simple – just wash your hands thoroughly each time you use the bathroom
or handle raw foods. You’ll keep yourself from acquiring all kinds of viruses
and bacteria, saving you on medical bills and medicine costs and lost
productivity. That’s not to say you shouldn’t explore the world and get your
hands dirty sometimes – that’s good for you, too – but basic sanitation does
help keep the medical bills away.
35. Remove your credit card numbers from your online accounts. It’s
easy to spend online when you have your card information stored in an account –
just click and buy. The best way to break this habit is to simply delete your
card from the account. That way, when you’re tempted to spend, you’ll be forced
to spend the time to dig out your card – and really think about why you’re
spending this money.
36. Give a gift of a service instead of an item. For new
parents, give an evening of babysitting as a gift. If you know pet owners,
offer to take care of their pets when they travel. Offer up some lawn care as a
gift to a new homeowner. These are always spectacular gifts for anyone – I know
that, as a parent of a toddler and an infant, I love receiving a
babysitting gift, probably more than any “stuff” I might receive.
37. Do holiday shopping right after the holidays. Most
people use this technique for Christmas, but it works
for every holiday. Wait until about two days after a holiday, then go out
shopping for items you need that are themed for that day. Get a Mother’s Day
card for next year the day after Mother’s Day. Get Easter egg decorating kits
the day after Easter. Get wrapping paper and cards and such the day after
Christmas. The discounts are tremendous, and you can just put this stuff in the
closet until next year, saving you a bundle.
38. Join up with a volunteer program. It’s a
great way to meet new people, get some exercise, and involve yourself in a
positive project that can lift your spirit. It also comes without a cost to you
and can provide a lot of entertainment and a fulfilling day when you’re in the
right mindset. I’ve come to spend more and more of my time volunteering,
serving on various committees and groups in the community – and it’s the best
thing I’ve ever done.
39. Reevaluate the stuff in the rooms in your house. Go into
a room and go through every single item in it. Do you really need that item?
Are you happy that it’s there, or would you be just fine if it were not? If you
can find stuff to get rid of, get rid of it – it just creates clutter and it
might have some value to others. You also improve the perceived value of your
house – and you’re likely to get a lot of cleaning done in the process. It’s a
frugal win-win-win.
40. Try generic brands of items you buy regularly. Instead
of just picking up the ordinary brand of an item you buy, try out the store
brand or generic version of the item. Likely, you’ll save a few cents now, but
you’ll also likely discover that the store brand is just as good as the name
brand – the only difference between the two, often, is the marketing. Once
you’re on board the generic train, you’ll find your regular grocery bill
getting smaller and smaller.
41. Prepare some meals at home. Get an accessible and
easy-to-use cookbook (my favorite “beginner” cookbook is Mark Bittman’s
excellent How to Cook Everything) and try making
some of the dishes inside. You’ll find that cooking at home is much easier than
you think – and way cheaper and healthier than take-out or dining out.
Even better, you can easily prepare meals in advance – even handy fast food type meals.
42. Switch to term life insurance. Repeat
after me: insurance is not an investment. Switch to term insurance
instead and use that difference in cost to get yourself out of debt and start
building some wealth. Universal and whole policies are much more expensive and
offer a sub par investment opportunity – you’re much better off getting
yourself free of a debt burden than spending extra on such things.
43. Go for reliability and fuel efficiency when buying a car. A
reliable and fuel efficient car will save you thousands over the long haul.
Let’s say you drive a vehicle for 80,000 miles. If you choose a 25 miles per
gallon car over a 15 miles per gallon car, you save 2,133 gallons of
gas. At $3 a gallon, that’s $6,400 in savings right there. Reliability can pay
the same dividends. Do the research – it will pay off for you.
44. Don’t go to stores or shopping centers for entertainment. Doing so
is just an encouragement to spend money you don’t really have on stuff you
don’t really need. Instead, find other places to entertain yourself – the park,
the basketball court, a museum, a friend’s house, or even in your own home.
Don’t substitute shopping for entertainment and you’ll be way better off.
45. Master the ten second rule. Whenever
you pick up an item in order to add it to your cart or to take it to the
checkout, stop for ten seconds and ask yourself why you’re buying it and
whether you actually need it or not. If you can’t find a good answer,
put the item back. This keeps me from making impulse buys on a regular basis.
46. Rent out unused space in your home. Do you
have an extra bedroom that’s not being used? Rent it out. In our home, we
could, if times were tough, rent out our entire basement – it has a “living
room,” a bedroom, and a bathroom and has a stairwell right by the kitchen. If
we found the right person, this would bring in a lot of extra money.
47. Create a visual reminder of your debt.
Basically, just make a giant progress bar that starts with the amount of debt
you have and ends with zero. Each time you pay down a little bit, fill in a
little more of that progress bar. Keep this reminder in a place where you’ll
see it often, and keep filling it in regularly. It keeps your eyes on the prize
and leads you straight to debt freedom.
48. Get rid of unread magazine subscriptions. Do you
have a pile of unread magazines sitting around your house? Likely, it’s the
result of a subscription that you’re not reading. Not only should you not renew
that magazine, you should give their subscription department a call and try to
cancel for a refund – sometimes, they’ll give you the prorated amount back.
I’ve had to cull my subscriptions in the past, but I’ve never regretted it.
49. Eat breakfast. Eating a healthy breakfast
fills you up with energy for the day and also decreases your desire to eat a
big lunch in the middle of the day. Not only that, breakfast can be very healthy, quick, and inexpensive.
A bowl of oatmeal in the morning is often the one thing that keeps me from
running out to eat an expensive lunch later in the day – and it keeps me peppy
and full of energy for the entire morning instead of in a coffee-laced daze.
50. Swap babysitting with neighbors. We live
in a neighborhood with an army of young children out and about. Because of
that, there are a lot of parents out there who are quite willing to swap
babysitting nights with us, saving you the money of hiring one for an evening
out. A few families even take this to incredible extremes. Try to find
another set of parents or two that you trust, and swap nights of babysitting
with them. That way, you’ll get occasional evenings free without the cost of a
babysitter, saving you some scratch.
51. Don’t fear leftovers – instead, jazz them up. Many
people dread eating leftovers – they’re just inferior rehashes of regular
meals, not exactly enjoyable to the discerning palate. However, there’s nothing
cheaper than eating leftovers and with a few great techniques for making leftovers tasty,
you can often end up with something surprising and quite delicious on the other
end. My favorite technique? Chaining – using the leftovers as a basis
for an all-new dish.
52. Go through your clothes – all of them. If you
have a regular urge to buy clothes, go through everything that you have
and see what you might find. Take the clothes at the back of the closet and
bring them to the front and suddenly your wardrobe will feel completely
different. Take the clothes buried in your dresser and pull them to the top.
You’ll feel like a brand new person who doesn’t need to spend money on clothes
right now.
53. Brown bag your lunch. Instead of going out to
eat at work, take your own lunch. Lots of people think that this means “nasty
lunch,” but it doesn’t. With some thoughtful preparation and just a few minutes of
time, you can create something quite enjoyable for your brown bag
lunch – and save a fistful of cash each day, too.
54. Learn how to dress minimally. Buy
clothes that mix and match well and you’ll not need nearly as many clothes. If
you have five pants, seven shirts, and seven ties that all go together, you
have almost an endless wardrobe right there just by mixing and matching. This
is exactly what I do in order to minimize clothes buying and still look
professional – I just mix and remix what I wear by using utilitarian clothes
options to begin with.
55. Ask for help and encouragement from your inner circle. Sit down
and talk to the people you love and care about the most and ask them for help.
Tell them that you’re trying to trim your spending and you’d love it if they
offered any suggestions and support they might have – and pay attention
to what they tell you. They might have some personal insights for your
situation that will really help.
56. If something’s broken, give a fair shot at repairing it
yourself before replacing it or calling a repairman. Get a
handyman’s book or advice from the internet and give it a shot yourself. I’ve
fixed clocks, air conditioners, and VCRs by doing this before, saving
significant cash by saving on a replacement or on a repair person.
57. Keep an idea notebook in your pocket. I’ve
wasted countless amounts of time and money simply because I’ve forgotten things
in my head. Instead of relying on my memory, I keep a small notebook with me to jot down ideas and things I need to
remember, then I check it regularly throughout the day. This keeps me from
forgetting to pick up milk and having to backtrack ten miles, for starters.
58. Invest in a deep freezer. A deep freezer, after the
initial investment, is a great bargain. You can use it to store
all sorts of bulk foods, which enables you to pay less per pound of it at the
market. Even better, you can store lots of meals prepared in advance, enabling
you to just go home and pop something homemade (and cheap) in the oven.
59. Look for a cheaper place to live. The cost
of living in Iowa is surprisingly low, enough so that I’m quite
happy to give up the cultural opportunities of other places to enjoy Iowa all
year around. When I want to enjoy the cultural opportunities of another place,
I’ll travel there – after all, I can afford it. Take a serious look about
moving to a less expensive area – if you can find work there, then a move can
definitely put you in better financial shape.
60. Check out what your town’s parks and recreation board has to
offer. My town has several wonderful parks, free basketball and tennis
courts, free disc golf, trails, and lots of other stuff just there waiting to
be used. You can go have fun for hours out in the wonderful outdoors, playing
sports, hiking on trails, or trying other activities – and it’s all there for
free. All you have to do is discover it.
61. Air up your tires. For every two PSI that all
of your tires are below the recommended level, you lose 1% on your gas mileage.
Most car tires are five to ten PSI below the normal level, so that means by
just airing up your tires, you can improve your gas mileage by up to 5%. It’s
easy, too. Just read your car’s manual to see what the recommended tire
pressure is, then head to the gas station. Ask the attendant inside if they
have a tire air gauge you can borrow (most of them do, both in urban and rural
settings), then stop over by the air pump. Check your tires, then use the pump
to fill them up to where they should be. It’s basically free gas!
62. Start a garden. Gardening is an
inexpensive hobby if you have a yard. Just rent a tiller, till up a patch,
plant some plants, keep it weeded, and you’ll have a very inexpensive hobby
that produces a huge amount of vegetables for you to eat at the end of the
season. I like planting a bunch of tomato plants, keeping them cared for, then
enjoying a huge flood of tomatoes at the end of the summer. We like to eat them
fresh, can them, and make tomato juice, sauce, paste, ketchup, pasta sauce, and
pizza sauce. Delicious (and very inexpensive)!
63. Dig into your community calendar. There
are often tons of free events going on in your town that you don’t even know
about. Stop by the local library or by city hall and ask how you can get ahold
of a listing of upcoming community events, and
make an effort to hit the interesting ones. You can often get free meals, free
entertainment, and free stuff just by paying attention – even better, you’ll
get in touch with what’s going on around you.
64. Take public transportation. If the city’s transit
system is available near you, take it to work (or to play) instead of driving
your car. It’s far cheaper and you don’t have to worry about parking your
vehicle. When I lived in a larger city, I bought an annual transit pass that
actually paid for itself after less than two months of use compared to using an
automobile – and after that, for ten months, I basically could ride to work
(and to some events) for free. That’s money in the bank.
65. Cut your own hair. I can cut mine myself with
a pair of clippers, for example. I just cut it really short every once in a
while and don’t worry about it too much. Just put a garbage bag over the
bathroom sink, bust out the clippers and scissors, and get it done. Two or
three cuts will pay for the clippers, and then you’re basically getting free
haircuts. With a bit of practice, you can make it look good, too.
66. Carpool. Is there anyone that lives
near you who works at the same place (or near the same place) that you do? Why
not ride together, alternating drivers each day? You can halve the wear and
tear and gas costs for your car – and for your acquaintance as well.
67. Design your “debt snowball.”Everyone needs a plan to
help them get out of debt, so sit down and plot out what debts you’re going to pay off and in what
order. Simply having a plan goes a long way towards bringing that
plan into action, and paying off debts early is one of the surest ways to put
money in your pocket over the long run.
68. Get a crock pot. A crock pot is perhaps the best deal on earth for reducing cooking costs in a
busy family. You can just dump in your ingredients before work, put
it on simmer, and dinner is done when you get home. There are countless
recipes out there for all variety of foods, and every time you cook this way,
you’re saving money as compared to eating out.
69. Do some basic home and auto maintenance on a regular schedule. Instead
of just waiting until something breaks to deal with it, develop a monthly
maintenance schedule where you go around your home (and your car) and perform a
bit of maintenance where it’s needed. This little activity, taking you just an
hour or two a month, will keep things from breaking down and help you see
problems before they become disasters.
70. Pack food before you go on a road trip. Have
everyone pack a sack lunch for the trip. That way, instead of stopping in the
middle of the trip, driving around looking for a place to eat, spending a bunch
of time there, and then paying a hefty bill, you can just eat on the road or,
better yet, stop at a nice park and stretch for a bit. Plus, you’ll save a lot
of money and a fair amount of time this way.
71. Go through your cell phone bill, look for services you don’t
use, and ditch them. Sit down and go through each item on your bill and see if there’s
anything there that you don’t use, like a surfeit of text messages or web
access or something to that effect. Then call your cell phone company and ask
to have those services eliminated. Boom, you’re saving money.
72. Consolidate your student loans. Interest
rates are quite low right now, so it might be worthwhile to consolidate your
student loans into one low-rate package. Look into the various student loan
consolidation packages – even a 1% reduction on a $10,000 loan saves you $100 a
year – and your loan is probably bigger than that (and the rate cut you could
get is probably bigger).
73. When buying a car, go for late model used. These
are typically cars coming straight off of leases, meaning they were cared for
by reliable owners. My truck was purchased with this criteria and has lasted me
several years already with only one significant issue – and I saved a ton of
money on the purchase price over buying new. Only now is it beginning to show
significant signs of aging – and with the money I saved on that purchase, I was
able to get out of debt that much quicker.
74. Hit the library – hard. Don’t
look at a library as just a place to get old books. Look at it as a free place to do all sorts of things. I’ve
used it to learn a foreign language, meet people, use the Internet anonymously,
check out movies and CDs, grab local free newspapers, and keep up on community
events. Best of all, it doesn’t cost a dime.
75. Use a simple razor to shave. I’ve been a big advocate of the basic safety razor
for a long time, but that’s just one piece of the puzzle. For “normal” shaves,
I just shave in the shower and dry off the blade afterwards, using just soap
for lather – incredibly cheap, since I only swap blades once every few weeks.
The real moral of the story? Use a simple razor – not an expensive electric one
that stops working in three years – and shave your face when it’s wet. You can
get a very good shave with some practice and save a lot of money over the long
haul.
76. Find daily inspiration for making intelligent moves. I’m
usually inspired by my children. Perhaps you’re inspired to make changes by
your spouse – or even by someone in the community you respect. Maybe it’s just
a personal goal, like an early retirement. Find something that makes you want
to make positive changes, then use that person or thing as a constant reminder.
Keep a picture of it in your wallet, in your vehicle, and on your bathroom
mirror. Keep it in your mind as much as you possibly can.
77. Find out about all of the benefits of your job. Most
people aren’t even aware of all of the benefits available to them. Spend some
time with an HR person finding out about all the benefits
of your job – you might be surprised at what you might find. I found
free tickets to sporting events, free personal improvement opportunities, and
an optional employee match on some retirement funds that maximized the money I
was socking away. This not only cut down on my own spending on things like
sporting and community events and educational classes, but also improved my
retirement plan.
78. Make your own items instead of buying them. I like
to make my own laundry detergent and my own Goo-Gone, for starters. I also like
making Glade, Windex, and Soft Scrub. In both cases,
it’s way cheaper than buying the commercial version. Hunt around for recipes –
it’s amazing how many things you can make at home in just a few minutes that
saves a ton of money compared to the commercial version.
79. Encourage your friends to do less expensive activities. This is
often a tricky thing to do, but there are a number of techniques you can try. My
favorite one is to be the first one to suggest something – that often gives you
the power to steer the group towards things that are cheaper. If you can
convince your friends to go to the park and shoot hoops instead of going
golfing, those green fees are going to stay in your pocket.
80. Don’t speed. Not only is it inefficient
in terms of gasoline usage, it also can get you pulled over and cost you a
bundle, as I discovered a while back. It’s highly
cost-efficient to just drive the speed limit, keep that gas in the tank, and
keep the cops off your tail.
81. Read more. Reading is one of the
cheapest – and most beneficial – hobbies around. Most towns have a library
available to the public – just go there and check out some books that interest
you. Then, spend some of your free time in a cozy place in your house, just reading
away. You’ll learn something new, improve your reading ability, enjoy yourself,
and not have to spend a dime. Here are some more techniques for getting into the reading flow.
82. Buy a smaller house. I currently live in a
2,000 square foot house with my wife and two kids. Frankly, it’s just the right
size for us – if anything, it’s a little big. We often find ourselves in the
same room in the house, just surrounded by empty space. You don’t need a giant
place to live. Instead, buy something more modest and you’ll find yourself with
plenty of room – and still plenty of cash in your pocket.
83. Drive a different route to work. This is
an especially powerful tip if you find yourself “automatically” stopping for
something on the way into work or the way home. Get rid of that constant drain
by selecting a different route that doesn’t go by the
temptation, even if the new route is a bit longer. You’ll still be
time ahead (because you’re not stopping) and you’ll definitely be money ahead.
84. Always ask for fees to be waived. Any time
you sign up for a service of any kind and there are sign-up fees, ask for them
to be waived. Sometimes (but not always), they will be – and you save money
just by being forthright about not wanting to pay excessive fees. I did this
with my last cell phone sign-up and got part of my fees waived, cutting down
significantly on the bill.
85. Don’t overspend on hygiene products. For most
people, inexpensive hygiene products do the trick – for example, I just buy
whichever toothpaste is the cheapest, and the same goes with deodorant and the
like. The key is to use this stuff regularly and consistently – bathe daily,
keep yourself clean, and you’ll be just fine. No need to buy a $40 facial scrub
if you actually scrub your face properly.
86. Eat less meat. For the nutritional value,
meat is very expensive, especially as compared to vegetables and fruits. Simply
change around your regular meal proportions to include more fruits and
vegetables and less meats – eat a smaller steak and a bigger helping of green
beans, for example. Not only is this a healthier way to eat (saving on health
costs), it’s also less expensive.
87. Use a brutally effective coupon strategy. Here’s
the trick: wait a month before using the coupons. Save
your coupon flyer out of your Sunday paper for a month, then bust it out and
start cutting anything that might be of interest. For a bonus kicker, use the
coupons in comparison with your grocery store flyer that week to find out ways
you can use a coupon to reduce the cost of an item already on sale – you can
wind up paying pennies for some things and, on occasion, actually get food for
free (I’ve came home with a ton of free yogurt containers before, for example).
88. Air seal your home. Most homes have some air
leaks that make the job of keeping it cool in summer and warm in winter that
much harder – and that much more costly for you. Spend an afternoon air sealing
your home – the DoE has a great guide on basic airsealing.
89. Make your own beer or wine. If you enjoy an occasional
drink, this is a great way to enjoy some of the beverages that you love at a
very cheap price. You can easily make five gallons of beer or wine at once and
it doesn’t take that long, either, once you have the basic ingredients. Even
better, it’s a great activity to do with friends – you buy the equipment, they
bring the juice and you both get a few bottles of delicious homemade wine out
of the deal. A nice entertainment, plus some free beverages – that’s a great
frugal deal.
90. Make sure all your electrical devices are on a surge
protector. This is especially true of your entertainment center and your
computer equipment. A power surge can damage these electronics very easily, so
spend the money for a basic surge protector and keep your equipment plugged
into such a device.
91. Get on an automatic debt repayment plan for any student loans
you have. Many student loans offer a rate reduction if you sign up for
their automatic debt repayment plan. This way, not only do you save a few bucks
a month, you don’t have to go to the effort of actually paying the bill. Our
automatic plan saved us about $60 a year.
92. Cut down on your vacation spending. Instead
of going on a big, extravagant trip, pack up the car and see some of America
some years for vacation. One of the best vacations I’ve ever taken was when my
son was an infant – we just packed up the car and drove around Minnesota,
eventually camping for a few days along the north shore of Lake Superior. For a
week long relaxing vacation, it was incredibly cheap and quite memorable, too.
93. Cancel the cable or satellite channels you don’t watch. Many
people with cable services often are paying for a premium package but rarely
watch those extra channels. For the longest time, my wife and I were subscribed
to HBO, Starz, and Cinemax, yet we would only tune in once a month at best. We
argued that it was worth it because we could watch a movie or a great drama
whenever we wanted, but it would have been far cheaper just to rent a movie. Get rid of the excess channels and put that
cash back in your pocket.
94. Exercise more. Go for a walk or a jog
each evening, and practice stretching and some light muscle exercise at home.
These exercises can be done at home for very little, meaning you’ve got an activity
without a lot of cost, and the health benefits are enormous. Just set aside
some time each day to get some exercise, and your body and wallet will
thank you.
95. Utilize online bill pay with your bank. This
serves two purposes. First, it keeps you in much closer contact with your
money, as you can keep a very close eye on your balance and be in much less
danger of overdrafting. Second, it saves you money on stamps and paper checks
by allowing you to just fill in an online form, click submit, and have your
bill paid. Try it out – and take advantage of it if you’re not already.
96. Buy staples in bulk. We buy items we use a lot
of in bulk, particularly items that don’t perish – trash bags, laundry
detergent, diapers, and so on are purchased in the largest amounts possible.
This cuts down on their cost per usage by quite a bit and, over the long haul,
begins to add up to some serious money. Even better, we don’t have to shop for
these items very often, saving time and a fraction of the cost of a trip to the
grocery store.
97. Connect your entertainment center and/or computer setup to a
true smart power strip. A device like the SmartStrip LCG4 basically cuts power to all
devices on the strip depending on the status of the first item on the strip.
So, if you have your workstation hooked up to this, every time you power down
your workstation, your monitor powers down, your printer powers down, your
scanner powers down, and so on. You can do the same thing with your
entertainment console – when you turn off the television, the cable/satellite
box also goes off, as does the video game console, the VCR, the DVD player, and
so on. This can save you a lot of electricity and significantly trim
your power bill.
98. Don’t beat yourself up when you make a mistake. Even if
you make ten good choices, it’s easy to beat yourself up and feel like a
failure over one bad choice. If you make a big mistake and realize it,
think about why you realized it now instead of then, and try to apply that
later on. The memory of that mistake can end up being very valuable, indeed.
99. Always keep looking ahead. Don’t let the mistakes of
your past drag you down into more mistakes. Look ahead to the future. The
choices you make now won’t affect the past – but they definitely will affect
the future. Think back, and remember how the bad choices you made earlier are
costing you now, and constantly remember to not make those mistakes now so that
they don’t cost your future self.
100. Never give up. Whenever the struggle
against debt feels like it’s too much, go read a personal finance blog and
remember that there are a lot of people out there fighting the same fight. Read
around through the archives and learn some new things – and perhaps get
inspired to keep going, no matter what.
