“The waste of money cures itself, for soon there is no more to waste.”
- M.W. Harrison
Do you feel nervous waiting for the ATM to print out your account balance? Do you find yourself often gazing into an empty wallet, confused?
It’s getting harder to blame savings shortfalls on your miserable pay stub. In fact, how much you save has little to do with your income, research by economists shows. It has more to do with whether you want to save and are willing to adjust to boost your saving.
And you don’t have to be a financial analyst to keep yourself from spending money like a dunce.
Here you will find ten simple, everyday things you can do to put an end to living from paycheck to paycheck.
10. Resist Eating Out
It’s tempting to let someone else do the cooking for you, especially when you’ve just come home from a full day of working. Ordering in or eating out may seem like a way to make your life easier, but it’s an expensive means of doing so.Taking the extra half-hour at night to make your own dinner, or the extra ten minutes to prepare lunch for the next day, may save you a host of worries when it comes time to pay the bills. If you feel a bit in the dark when it comes to cuisine, well hey, you can find a lot of useful advice on the net.
Cash saved: If you’re dropping $6 daily on a sandwich and salad from the cafe in the lobby, slapping some meat and cheese on a bun the night before instead is going to save you $30 a week. If you’re ordering out a couple of nights a week on top of that, at $10 a dish, you’re looking at a total of $220 monthly that could be slashed from your budget.
9. Avoid Brand Names
We’re not just talking Polo shirts here. If you think about what you routinely buy, more often than not you’ll find that you could be buying a generic version, and the only difference would be the price (and perhaps less attractive packaging).When you’re grocery shopping, go for the store brands — it really doesn’t matter who makes the aluminum foil or toilet paper you use. The same rule goes for pharmaceuticals, where you can save yourself a fortune if you stick to the no-names.
Oftentimes, the only difference between brand names and generics is the price. Next time you’re at the pharmacy, compare a Tylenol label with that of a generic acetaminophen: you’ll see that even though the Tylenol is a few bucks more, the ingredients and dosage are identical.
Cash saved: A box of 100 Tylenol PM Extra Strength caplets retails for around $12. One generic equivalent is the CVS pharmacy brand, which although equal in quantity and chemical constituents, is more than 25 percent cheaper.
Now, saving nine dollars over three annual acetaminophen purchases seems trivial, but if you extend this philosophy to the rest of your buying habits, you could avoid blowing up to hundreds of dollars over the course of a year.
8. Kick Expensive Habits
If you’re a smoker, you’re probably coughing up a big wad of cash every month for something you shouldn’t be doing in the first place.If your addiction lies elsewhere, your problems may be way beyond the reach of this particular article. This tip’s a no-brainer: if you have an expensive habit, saving money is probably just one of the many reasons to drop it.
Cash saved: Smoking a pack of cigarettes a day, at $5 a pack, works out to a monthly investment of $160. Not to mention, you’re slowly killing yourself. You do the math.
7. Don’t Spend When You’re Drunk
The sight of an empty wallet is frequently accompanied by a pounding headache and blurred memories of acting like a jackass. The bottle can make a person do foolish things: like picking fights with strangers over their haircuts or buying rounds of shots for the table you met ten minutes earlier.So take out some insurance, bring a reasonable amount of cash with you to the bar, and leave your bank and credit cards at home. Once you’re broke, it’s probably time to crash anyway.
Cash saved: If you’re prone to buying the crew a round of $3 shots at the end of the night, that’s an additional $30 spent per weekend. The amount hinges, of course, on how popular one is.
6. Avoid Prepayment Plans
There’s a reason why the cable company is always trying to push you into prepayment plans. Authorizing your creditors to dip directly into your bank account is essentially condemning yourself to financial ignorance.It’s easy to throw a statement away if the balance has already been paid off, but doing so involves overlooking all the little extra fees and rate changes that may pop up. Take the time to examine your bills thoroughly before submitting your payment, and be conscious of where your money is going.
Cash saved: In 2001, Americans paid $2.2 billion dollars in ATM fees. Eliminating monthly fees from your budget, whether it be by negotiating or switching service providers, can save you around $50-$70 every month.
5. Choose Your Phone Company Wisely
This tip could be extended to virtually any customer service, but it’s on phone bills that people tend to get burned the most. Ask questions before you commit to a phone carrier: is its advertised rate a fixed one, or will it increase after the first two minutes of a phone call or the first six months with the company? What additional fees will be billed every month?If you discover that you’re being billed more than you thought you were, you might not necessarily have to change carriers. Again, competition is intense between these guys, and they certainly don’t want to lose customers. Stage a little freak-out on customer service, and you might find that negotiating lower fees or rates isn’t all that difficult.
Cash saved: Switching carriers or terrifying a customer service agent could cut up to $15 a month off your phone bill, or $180 dollars a year.
4. Don’t Become a Tech Junkie
Gadgets can be terribly addictive. Not only are they fun to play with, but our utter dependence on technology also makes it easy to justify blowing hordes of cash on updating all our toys.But let’s be honest: Unless you’re Bill Gates, there’s no way you can afford to keep on top of every hardware and software upgrade. So why bother?
Cash saved: This amount depends on the extent of one’s technology addiction. Remedying severe cases can literally translate into thousands of dollars saved a year. Even just passing on this year’s upgrade for your four favorite programs and waiting for the next batch will leave you with an extra $800 in your pocket.
3. Go Easy on the Plastic
Nobody in their right mind would pay 18 percent interest on a car loan, but people seem to have no problem paying comparable rates on their credit card purchases.I’m not advocating that you trash your card — keeping a consistent balance, even if it’s a low one, on your Visa is good for your credit rating. Just restrict yourself to one card, and contribute a bit more than the minimum payment when the end of the month rolls around. Paying only the minimum doesn’t help towards lowering your balance, it only eliminates the interest for the past period.
Cash saved: Buying a $200 pair of shoes on a credit card with an 18.5 percent annual interest rate will tack an additional $3 and change on the price tag for every month that you leave the balance unpaid. That’s an extra $40 a year, for a single purchase. Pay in cash as frequently as you can.
2. Use Coupons
You might snub your nose at the granny fumbling through her coupons in front of you in the checkout aisle, but she’s probably walking out of the store with a heavier wallet than you are.Scoop up a coupon leaflet when you go shopping at pharmacies or grocery stores, and keep your eyes peeled for specials.
Cash saved: Following old lady Irma’s lead and clipping coupons could shave a monthly $200 grocery bill down to $150. That works out to a fairly hefty $600 dollars a year.
1. Multiply Your Earnings at the Track
There’s no better place to increase your net worth than at the dog races… I’m just kidding.Do your best to steer clear of the tracks and casinos.
Cash saved: Come on, you’re kidding, right?
Now that you have all this extra moolah at your disposal, what do you do with it? Why not make it work for you? Start saving up for a rainy day.
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December 2, 2007 at 4:47 pm
Luke
You should also try using this service at http://www.myvalidas.com that will analyze your wireless bill instantly and recommend ways to save. I saved $40 a month and it even made recommendations for even better savings if I switched carriers.
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December 3, 2007 at 1:25 pm
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Best way to save money ever-
Marry a spouse who’s frugal, then put them in control of the money. It worked for me.
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December 4, 2007 at 12:45 pm
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Another good way to save money on your phone bill is not to pay for directory assistance. 1-800-Free411 has free business and residential listings. You might not use it every day, but it certainly comes in handy when you’re traveling or away from your computer. You’ll have to listen to a short ad (usually about 15 seconds), but hey, you’re probably saving nearly $2 per call.
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December 12, 2007 at 6:14 am
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Excellent post – you’ve been CPP’d!
December 15, 2007 at 1:30 am
Gina
Here is a way to save $$ and have more time. Cancel cable! We canceled our cable television subscription 5 years ago and haven’t missed it one bit. We made the change initially to save money (about $50.00/month) but found an added benefit — we spent more time reading, walking and choosing to watch free online video content. We ended up a bit more fit, a bit smarter and with a bit more $ saved
December 19, 2007 at 8:24 am
Kenneth - Guy From Personal Development Blog
I do throw away all the coupons I get it for free and never did use one of them before. It was my mistake didn’t realize their true value. I could easily save up to hundred of dollars. Well… I’ll start using them. Brilliant post.. Digged and Stumbled
January 8, 2008 at 10:29 pm
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Top 10 Everyday Ways to Save Money…
Do you feel nervous waiting for the ATM to print out your account balance? Do you find yourself often gazing into an empty wallet, confused? It’s getting harder to blame savings shortfalls on your miserable pay stub. In fact, how much you save has li…
February 16, 2008 at 3:20 am
Matt
All you gotta do is join the Army for a few years. After spending months sleeping in the dirt and rucking in the rain, just a hot shower and a warm bed is all you need to keep you happy. Everything else is just a plus.
It really is surpirsing what some people call a need. I turn on the TV every few days or so just so I dont have to turn the main lights on to put my boots on. Its all garbage anyways. I don’t go to the library, but I would say the number one saver for me is books. My books tend to get dirty sometimes. I buy em used for .50 to 2 dollars. If you live a simplistic life, you will see how much of this other stuff is usless hype.
February 26, 2008 at 2:41 pm
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March 2, 2008 at 10:09 am
Richard Brickley
Coupons are mostly a waste of money and time. First they are for the expensive brand name products so if one buy a generic brand it is usually cheaper even without the coupon. Second is that a lot of the coupons are above $.50 for a quantity of 2 or more of their products. This is done because some stores will double or triple the value of the coupon if they are $.50 or below. A $.25 coupon on one if doubled will be $.50 off which is better than $.75 off two since they will not double the $.75 coupon. The best way to save is to watch for sales and buy in quantity when they have them.
March 19, 2008 at 11:25 am
krissi
I use coupons all the time. I don’t waste my time cutting out the little ones that are for .50 or less or like a $1.00 off if you purchase 4 items. I do find a lot of buy one get one free coupons. I stock up on everyday items like toothpaste, laundry detergent, shampoo and dish soap. You would be surprised. It’s not a waste of time if they are the items you are buying anyway. I buy a Sunday paper and if the coupons are great i buy multiple Sunday papers the following day for a quarter.
Entertainment.com coupon books are the best and they support local businesses…every purchase usually supports a charity as well. 
There are restaurant coupons as well. My husband and I go on a date night once a week and haven’t paid for two meals yet…we get awesome coupons through signing onto company websites. They don’t send a whole lot of emails and they give a free appetizer for joining and a free dessert for birthdays each year.
I save $600 a year just on coupons. That means one month of rent or six months of car insurance.
Ebates.com is a great place to save too. Nothing wrong with coupons…they’re made for a reason.
April 27, 2008 at 3:31 pm
Elizabeth
I have to comment on what Matt said, “All you gotta do is join the Army for a few years. After spending months sleeping in the dirt and rucking in the rain, just a hot shower and a warm bed is all you need to keep you happy. Everything else is just a plus.”
That is so true, we never know how much we have and how lucky we are until we don’t have it anymore. It’s amazing what people think they can’t live without. We are so fortunate that we have so much. But if you take a chance and try to do without something, sometimes it broadens your horizons and you find other things to fill the gap. You might find something new and save money at the same time!
May 13, 2008 at 6:41 pm
TopWaysToSave
I love your top ten list. The only one thing I think a little differently on is the going easy on the plastic. I think people difinitely need to be cautious with using credit cards of course. I find a lot of people who carry cash are just as likely to burn through it. I firmly believe you should charge only what you can afford to pay in full every month. With charging you can rack up some rewards or airlines miles. If you’re going make a purchase you might as well get something back. Also it gives you a nice breakdown where you can see exactly where your money goes every month.
Using credit cards gives you the ability to dispute charges and in many cases can offer built in things like rental insurance, travel insurance or extended warrantee coverage. Always pay the card as soon as possible so you are less likely to forget. One missed payment can increase the Annual percentage incredibly and also tack on a $15-40 fee.
June 2, 2008 at 9:19 pm
yellodeere
Use Direct deposit!
Deposit 90% of you take home pay into a savings account. I call mine “the delayed spending account”. Then when you NEED money transfer it into your checking account.
It’s unreal how your attitude changes about taking any more than necessary, from savings even just to pay bills!
June 13, 2008 at 7:13 am
Odd Lot
Great post! Here are a couple that I didn’t see on the list that have saved me a ton of cash.
Go Semi-Pro
I’ll admit that, during the playoffs and majors, I’d prefer to watch my favorite NFL, MLB or PGA stars over any semi-pro event, but during the regular season I’ll take semi-pro any day! No traffic, cheaper beer, cheaper snacks, and the kids you’re watching are playing purely for love of the game since they don’t have multi-million dollar contracts. This is a much less expensive outing for a family or group of friends than a professional sporting event.
Semi-Pro sports are also becoming a popular form of entertainment again, they’ve had a real revival in the past few years, especially football, baseball, golf and soccer. I’ve been to great coliseum football games, semi-pro soccer, Nationwide tour events and minor league baseball games. The competition actually felt more intense than regular season professional events. The fans we’re really having a blast, you can just sit back and soak up the energy. Some of the players were locals and it’s always fun to watch and pull for hometown athletes.
If Your Company Offers Free Money, Take It
Would you like to get an instant 125% return on your savings plus a bigger tax return? Many company have 401k Matching programs of up to $5,000. This means that they’ll match you dollar for dollar on every penny that you contribute. That’s a 100% free return for any money that they agree to match.
In addition to this free match, all of your 401k contributions reduce your taxable income so you will get a bigger tax return next year. If you’re in a 25% tax bracket, you avoid that 25% tax on every dollar you contribute. If you’re not contributing, I can promise with 100% confidence that you can contribute at least 2 or 3% of your income without even noticing the difference.
For example, if you bring home $2,500 per month and decide to contribute 3% to your 401k to take advantage of this free money, you will still bring home $2,425. What do you get in return? 125% instant gain on your money plus a bigger tax return. The average return on the S&P 500 since 1975 has been 10.75% so a 125% return is a pretty good deal. (keep in mind that this article is about “painless” ways to save, I would normally recommend contributing a much higher percentage. You should contribute at least as much as your company matches, it’s free money!)
Great post, thank you for all the great tips, I’m always looking for more ways to save. (-:
Cheers!
Odd Lot
http://www.blog.Money-and-Investing.com
July 31, 2008 at 8:59 pm
Odd Lot
Great post! Here’s a big one that I didn’t see on the list that have saved me a ton of cash.
If Your Company Offers Free Money, Take It
Would you like to get an instant 125% return on your savings plus a bigger tax return? Many company have 401k Matching programs of up to $5,000. This means that they’ll match you dollar for dollar on every penny that you contribute. That’s a 100% free return for any money that they agree to match.
In addition to this free match, all of your 401k contributions reduce your taxable income so you will get a bigger tax return next year. If you’re in a 25% tax bracket, you avoid that 25% tax on every dollar you contribute. If you’re not contributing, I can promise with 100% confidence that you can contribute at least 2 or 3% of your income without even noticing the difference.
For example, if you bring home $2,500 per month and decide to contribute 3% to your 401k to take advantage of this free money, you will still bring home $2,425. What do you get in return? 125% instant gain on your money plus a bigger tax return. The average return on the S&P 500 since 1975 has been 10.75% so a 125% return is a pretty good deal. (keep in mind that this article is about “painless” ways to save, I would normally recommend contributing a much higher percentage. You should contribute at least as much as your company matches, it’s free money!)
Great post, thank you for all the great tips, I’m always looking for more ways to save. (-:
Cheers!
Odd Lot
http://www.blog.Money-and-Investing.com
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August 21, 2008 at 5:18 am
Robert Labossiere
great list, and great comments too… love the one about the frugal spouse
might add one, don’t carry more than a little cash around with you; it totally burns a hole in my pocket
anyway, this is more important now than ever, i’ve posted your list on my website. Thanks!
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February 1, 2009 at 3:45 am
Bart
Ha, man that is wise. I have taken note of your comment. lol
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