Save Money-A Bunch of Simple Ways to Save Money
People are concerned with saving money and budgeting. They want to get the best deals and prices and know the most useful cost-cutting strategies. There are myriads of little tips and tricks and money-saving options, and hopefully there’s a few here that some may find useful.
Special coffees are an American favorite these days, but they are expensive to have every single day. However, with all the new flavored creamers available we can make coffee at home that’s just as tasty! Cutting expenses by switching to homemade java can save someone upwards of $20 a week!
Turn Gift Cards to Cash
Gift cards are really trendy and well-liked, but sometimes a person gets one from a store that only carries things that are of no interest to them.. Go to giftcardrescue.com or plasticjungle.com to exchange the card for real cash!
To cut costs, for birthday, holiday and Valentine’s Day, make those cards that go out to every friend or coworker, or even the child’s Valentine’s party at school. Unique and beautiful cards can come from home, and it makes a good activity for parents and children to share together.
They say that using a dishwasher uses less electricity and water than washing them by hand. Cost reduction strategy: just make sure it has a full load and turn off the drying function. There’s usually a button on the front for this.
Cutting costs at home: Turning off lights when leaving a room is pretty blatant, but some people still don’t get it. Lights left on in an empty room are just wasting electricity. And, another energy waster is leaving items plugged in when not in use. Even if the item is turned off, there’s power being used so that it’s ready to power up when use is needed. Cost reduction: Unplug it when not in use.
Reduce Your Costs
Kids grow out of clothing so quickly, it seems a shame to spend a lot of hard-earned money on something that is only usable for a few weeks or months. Buying clothes at yard sales and thrift stores can often net brand-new items, sometimes with the tag still on them.
eBay carries clothing for kids at ridiculously low prices, and when the kids grow out of them, simply list them on eBay or put them in a consignment shop and resell them! Or, donate them – it’s tax deductible and keeps the closets clean. Lastly, someone could have a yard sale, too.
Renting movies is so much cheaper than going to a theater! But, going to the local library and checking out a DVD is even cheaper than renting. Libraries often have well-stocked movies for people to check out. If a person likes to read, the library is a great source of entertainment that will never run out.
Spend only cash – paper money, not the coins. Pull out the paper for every purchase and the change will begin to add up quickly. It’s been proven that people will spend less if they have to get out the cash for every purchase. Don’t even take plastic with you when leaving the house.
Simple Ways to Save Money
Save gas and time with organized errands. Making a big loop out of the routine, try to hit all the places in one trip. It’ll save someone (and save gas) from making several trips in one day.
Keeping the tires inflated to manufacturer’s suggestions is important. People don’t realize it, but they can save on gas-per-mile by having tires properly inflated.
When changing the toilet paper roll, give the new roll a good squish (so the roll isn’t round, but more oval) before installing it. This will prevent the roll from spinning when someone gives it a good yank. The result will be less toilet paper wasted and less rolls to buy, as well.
More Ideas on How to Save Money
Have a garage sale! Garage sales are very popular everywhere, and it’s a good way to clean out unwanted items and make some cash on the side. Make sure prices aren’t too high; price them to go fast and make deals with everyone who asks. A good idea is to have children selling lemonade to the customers, too. People love to help kids succeed and the kids will make a bundle!
Advice for saving money: Reset the details at the job so that less money is being taken out for taxes; a worker gets more on the paycheck, but less of a (or no) refund. Everyone can use a bigger paycheck! On the same lines a worker could have more money taken out to ensure getting a decent-sized refund. The government gets money by collecting interest on it and the larger refund feels like a windfall.
Look around, be creative and just think in simple terms. There are ways to save money all around us. Here’s another article with another complete set of tips and tricks to save money.
Easy Ways to Cut Costs and Save Money
It isn’t easy making a living these days, especially when the living keeps getting more and more expensive! Who knows how to save money each month, now? However, there are things everyone can do to make the dollar stretch further than it already does. Here are some money saving ideas that are small efforts that make a big difference, especially when someone uses them all.
One of the best cost reduction techniques: For the avid reader that devours romance novels or other genres of reading, there’s a website called Half.com; it’s eBay owned but there’s no auction. The user does a search for the book, CD, DVD or other item and the site gives them results of every one of those items that meet the search criteria on the site. The user can then scroll through them to find the book (etc.) they want at the price they want to pay. This is also a great way for someone to get rid of excess books and such, and no photo is needed for a listing, the site provides that.
Cost reduction strategy: Take advantage of all the free things the community offers. Most cities have summer programs for day camps, movies, lunches and concerts that are free – if the programs haven’t suffered from budget cuts. Sometimes people forget their own backyards; inviting friends for an afternoon of fun and food right at home can be a load of fun. Then it’s another parents’ turn and kids get another afternoon of free fun.
Save more money; use an alternative form of transportation at least twice a month. Using a bicycle benefits travelers in more ways than one and it saves real money. A great health boost while saving on gas, fare and pollution is a win for everyone. Another good cost saving idea is to use public transportation when possible and walking is even better, yet. Nobody knows their neighborhoods anymore, and these are great ways to get familiar with neighbors and the ‘hood.
How to Cut Costs at Home
Cost-cutting ideas: When shopping remember that often 60-80% can be saved on items purchased off-season. Bathing suits, bicycles, sporting goods and other seasonal items should be gotten well ahead of time.
When grocery shopping don’t bring the kids. They will ask for things that aren’t needed and unless saying no to big blue eyes comes easy, the pressure is too great. Just don’t do it.
Pass on foods that are aimed at a certain customer graphic, for example, food for toddlers, food for babies (for any age), syrups (cough, fever) for children; these products are the same as for adults but the medicinal dose is different. If a toddler can eat a cracker, he can eat graham crackers and doesn’t need ‘toddler crackers,’ and anyone can use a blender to puree foods so the baby can eat wholesome baby foods. Buying commercial baby food is very expensive, but making homemade baby food is so cheap that it’s almost free.
Unique Saving Techniques
Saving money in the home: A good reward or gift for a child is a coupon (or coupon book) to use whenever the child wishes. Good gift coupons are:
- Good for getting out of the dishes (or any chore) once
- For an evening/weekend of fun and games with the parent of choice
- Gets their favorite food for dinner
- Gets to help cooking dinner or dessert
- Gets an advance on allowance once
- Good for anything the child enjoys, parents can customize them for their children
Adults should use coupons, too; saving money with coupons can be exciting. Store-specific coupons are helpful, especially if a store has a double-coupon day, and some stores accept any store’s coupons. That saves a trip to a different store and is the best scenario, but the best coupons are for brand-name items. These can be found at good discounts online and in the local paper and they can be redeemed anywhere.When going holiday shopping, do it just like going to the grocer – make and take a list, and stick to it! Know what each person shopped-for wants so there’s no shopping blindly. Shopping blindly quickly leads to buying more, and buying ‘eye-level’ and ‘end aisle’ products, which are the most expensive.
Turn the hot water heater down to 120 degrees (F). They’re usually set around 140, and turning it down this much won’t be noticeable in the shower and it’ll save 4-9% of the cost of operating it. Wrapping a hot water heater with an appliance-specific wrap can save 45% of the operating cost in winter.
Think of All the Ways to Cut Expenses
Investing in a set of electric hair sheers is a good idea for any home with males in it. Haircuts are essential for boys in school and if the man of the house grows a beard, the sheers will come in very handy. They usually come with attachable combs that will cut hair to different lengths, so it’s really easy.
Make pizza from scratch! Pizza is a cheap dinner idea when made at home. A crust can either be purchased or the crust can be homemade (for literally pennies!); both methods work well and are still cheaper than having a commercial pizza. Marinara doesn’t have to be the sauce; use sour cream, cream cheese, apple sauce and barbecue sauce, just to name a few. Sour cream and cream cheese used as a spread over the dough is quite tasty with crab, shrimp, halibut and salmon, and not to mention any kind of red meat or fowl, too.
And, last but not least, grab a friend and give each other a mani/pedi! It’s not hard to do and can save upwards of $40 a pop.
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