what kind of steps do you take to save money? buy in bulk? any secrets? Im trying to stick to a good budget and save some money..any tips? advice?
What do you do to save money? any secrets to saving money?
what kind of steps do you take to save money? buy in bulk? any secrets? Im trying to stick to a good budget and save some money..any tips? advice?
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#1 by ames on December 31st, 2009
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using email is good
#2 by an swers on December 31st, 2009
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Step 1. Pay you critical bills first. Mortgage, loans, basic utilities.
Step 2. Save money.
Step 3. Buy things like food, cell phone plan, fun, etc.
What I do:
Stopped using the AC (set it at 86F)
#3 by brooker on December 31st, 2009
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I put a little of each paycheck in an account I dont use.
I only shop off clearance racks and the internet for clothes. I never pay more than $10 for a shirt and $15 for jeans.
I find coupons in the paper, and the internet for food. If a place has a dollar menu I will only order off that.
I go to the theater we have here that is only $5 instead of $8 its less nice but a movies a movie
#4 by Daniel on December 31st, 2009
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well first off before you go shopping have a shopping list, and bring the exact amount of money that you need to buy everything. WHY? because if you Brand the exact amount of money that you need, you wont buy anything that you don’t need like, a cool shirt, shoes etc( unless you need them)
second ALWAYS remember to turn off the lights, and and turn of the water when your don’t need it. you wont believe how much money this saves.
third. if you dint need to, do go out for lunch or any other meal.
#5 by sophia_of_light on December 31st, 2009
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~Yes tell husband, the kids and your friends that you have less then you really do…
~Cook at home more and enough for left overs for your lunch for the next day.
~Drop the high dish net work bill and only pay for basic channels.
~If you have access to enter net, some where other then your home turn it off, do not pay for it, if you have to, go back to dial up for $20.00 per month. Who cares about impressing others or being fastest…
~Buy your clothes form second hand stores a lot of items you find there still are new with tags on them.
~Buying in bulk helps as long as you have $200.00 to $500.00 to blow when you’re shopping in bulk and sometimes it really doesn’t save much more then buying any other way the stuff my last longer but then how much are you throwing out that went bad.?
~Find cheaper insurance no matter what insurance you are paying weather it is car, home, renters, life, ETC. some where else has it cheaper.
~Do not pay others to do things you can do yourself like mow your lawn or house keep or shovel your snow or paint that room you’ve been wanting to or pay the cab driver to drive you three blocks over, walk or ride your bike instead even if you do have a car it will save gas.
~Always pay your bills before you play otherwise you’ll pay, pay, pay!
~Put every dime of your pay check into the bank, you’ll spend less and save more, when it does come time for you to write out your bills you will be amassed at how much money is left over in your account especially if you can do this month after month.
~Stay home, you’ll get used to it…
~Always turn everything off your lights, your TV, your computer, ect.., wash clothes in cold water it will not set stains and won’t run the hot water tank as much in all you’ll save on the electric bill.
#6 by jonathan A on December 31st, 2009
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set up your check for direct deposit and have them divide your paycheck so that the first $20-50 of your check goes into the highest interest savings account you can find. then have the rest of your check go into your checking. get used to not having that $20-50 every week and work hard to get a raise and increase the amount you put in that first account after a while you will start to build up some money.
#7 by broken on December 31st, 2009
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You may find that you have more money if you keep track of your finances on, for example, a spreadsheet or personal finance software. If you keep track of every withdrawal, deposit, and payment you’ll find out where all your money goes and can budget accordingly to set limits. When I kept consistent track of my money, I ended up with more because I kept a better eye on it. That’s my experience, anyway, and it has helped me the most. It’s like balancing a checkbook on a larger scale.
What has saved me on several occasions was setting aside a little money for savings, per month. To do this I opened up a Christmas Savings Club at my bank and deposited $20.00 each month. When the money returns to me around Christmas Shopping Season, I didn’t have to fret about not having enough money to go Christmas shopping.
#8 by Iris L on December 31st, 2009
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1. First and for most thing is, spend less money than you earn. Set a target for savings, ideal would be 10% of your income (this is what i do personally).
2. Make a list before going shopping: Humans simply have a very tough time resisting the temptation to purchase extras while shopping. Without a list you will buy items that you simply do not need. Even worse is when your forget to purchase the actual item you came to the store for in the first place.
3. As you said, Buy in bulk whenever possible: When it comes to non-perishable items, buy in bulk whenever you find something on sale. This can save you quite a bit of money.
4. Regulate your electric use: When not in use, unplug electric appliances. Apparently, unplugging the TV instead of just switching it off can save a lot of electricity!
5. Get control over your financial transactions- track every dollar earned and dollar spent. Pay your bills on time and avoid late fees. If it is ok with you, you could use http://rudder.com/tour/budget-worksheet.aspx it provides reviews of all accounts in one place, track all your bills and also help you with budget and cash flow management.
6. Finally, keep distance from lavish, high-roller friends.
#9 by Washdcwhc on December 31st, 2009
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You have to start thinking S-M-A-R-T. What kind of cutbacks can you make? For example: I drink bottled water. Paying $1 a bottle on something that covers over 65% of our planet is not smart. So I bought one of those water filters that screw into your faucet. I have bottles that I refil over and over again. This doesn’t take much time and you will reduce your carbon footprint as a bonus. Do you have a lot of small appliances around the house that are always on? Televisions, subwoofers, computers, modems, sterio equipment and microwaves use the most energy when they are left plugged into the outlet, even when they are turned off. Plug all your plugs from entertainment system into those 6 prong outlet plugs with the switch on them. When you are not using these items shut the switch off. I noticed a huge difference on my electric bill just by doing this. I also bought some of those florescent bulbs that look a lot like a regular bulb. These things use 80% less electricity than regular bulbs. Ave 60Watt incalescent bulb (old school) runs you 2 cents per hour. Ave 60Watt energy bulb averages 0.5 cents per hour. Wanna be creative? Find yourself leaving lights on? Buy a motion sensor switch, the lights will turn on when you enter the room and will turn off (by a set amount of time) when you leave the room. I have one, they cost $15 at HomeDepot. You would be surprised, but these small things add up. If you really need the money right away start cutting back on your food costs. Romain noodles cost a dime and they taste just as good as campbells chicken noodle that costs over $1 a can. Ok no chicken in romain noodles, but you are probably just missing about 4 tiny pieces of chicken. Adjust your toilet to use lesser water. If you don’t know how to do this then put a brick inside your toilet ‘chamber’. You will use a less water each time you flush, this adds up over time people. Before you know it you will be ahead. Do you really need over 100 channels on your cable tv? Watch shows on-line for free and down grade your cable service. Need new windshield wipers for your car? Who says you have to buy 2? You only need the new one on the drivers side, leave the old wiper on the passenger side. Are you an impulsive buyer?? Listen here’s what you do……always save the receipt. Find a place to save all the boxes, packaging, etc. Try to get obsessed with folding all the packing materials, making them neat and tape the receipt onto the box/package. Make a game out of it. And get yourself into a new habit called “impulse returning” I once bought a shampoo rug cleaner to scrub my carpets. After I was done I didnt need it anymore so I returned it to the store. I like to think of it as free rental. So remember you have to start thinking S-M-A-R-T!
my source: http://www.myspace.com/legalizemarijuanaenergy
#10 by dmf on January 1st, 2010
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http://www.ehow.com/how_5199183_save-money-during-summer.html
There are a ton of great tips for saving money this summer.. I followed some of these and it has helped a ton!
#11 by Joshua on January 1st, 2010
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I cant answer all that in a small Responds on my blog i have over 50+ articles on Saving Money and update Regularly You can visit my blog and follow my blog at http://dailycashsaver.blogspot.com/
#12 by Yoshi on January 1st, 2010
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doing anything to stay in my budget. keep like a paper and take down notes on what you have spent. Its always good to stay in a certain limit.
#13 by Hazel on January 1st, 2010
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A good way to save money or earn money is to use Ecashback
http://www.ecashback.co.uk?referrer=138323
I use it all the time
you can either earn alittle bit of money by compleating surveys and stuff like that
or you can save money when you shop because it gives cash back
for example, if you spend £10/$20 on ebay you get £1.50/$2.00 added to your ecashback acount
there are loads of sites that you can use it on eg: Amazon, NEXT, Game ect.. LOADS!
it doesnt sound like much but it really adds up!
once you get £20/$40 (which is very soon!) they send you the money in the post
also if you refer friends you get £2/$4 !!
its really simple and easy to use and an amazing way to save money!
Good luck and happy saving
http://www.ecashback.co.uk?referrer=138323
#14 by PETA on January 1st, 2010
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walgreens/cvs register rewards/extra bucks: I never ever pay for toothpaste, shampoo, conditioner, bar soap, shower gel, pain reliever, ibuprofen, dish soap and I get so much of these items free I have lots of them stocked up. How is is this. Well these stores adverstise in the ad weekly which you can see in the paper, at the stoyre or online the products that are free after register rewards (walgreens) or extra bucks (CVS). So you go to the store and buy the items for free and then you get back print out coupons for the exact amount back to spend at the store. Also the stores have their own sales which is how I get some items. So say they have dawn dishsoap for .99 as an in store sale, and I have a manufacture coupon I clipped from my sunday coupons for 1.00 off, then I get the item for free. The last 2 weeks at CVS they had 3 day sale of free back to school items and I got a rule, protractor, 3 pocket folder, composition notebook, spiral notebook, pack of pens, sticky notes, eraser, stapler, bookcover, binder clips, pencils. I paid for them and got all the money back in coupons to use at the store within a month. So I use those coupons to buy other items in the store I would normally buy at the grocery store but I look for the store sales and match it with my cut coupons from the sunday paper, items like hair dye, razors, make up, paper towel, toilet paper, and these items are always on sale so it is continual savings. This week I got half of those school supplies (half yesterday), shampoo, conditioner, shower gel, 2 toothbrushes. walgreens has no store card for this and cvs you have to sign up for a card but you can do it at the store in 3 minutes.
Be careful going to wholesale clubs cuz you always see and buy things you did not go there for so you dont save money. Go there for just want you want and dont get a cart cuz your hands can only hold so much and you wont overspend.
Save money on your electricity. See if your electric company has a time of use. That is there are time slots you choose when you use the most electricity and that is when you electric is charged at a low per unit cost and the rest of the time it is at the regular rate. So the time slot when my electric is cheapest I do my laundry, dishwasher, take showers (hot water heater) and have my air a bit cooler but when it is high I keep the air a bit warmer and keep all the lights off when not in use. Also I replaced all my light bulbs with those curly energy star ones and I put privacy film on all my windows. This blocks 80% of UV and heat from coming in and you can still see out. Put a jacket around your water heater.
Rent movies at redbox. Newest release DVDs for only 1 buck instead of 3.99 on demand and 2.99 at the video store. For older movies check out your local library and the thrift stores have lot of dvds.
Buy /Sell on craig’s list. I got my furniture for like new for 1/3 the price new. Dont donate things you can sell. We sold lots of stuff on craig’s list when we moved.
Retailmenot; Shop online? before you checkout check this site to see if there is a coupon code for free shipping, percentage off or free item.
for the best advice on buying things, saving, and avoid getting ripped off check out clarkhoward.com and you can read and watch videos. He is also on the cnn website too.
When buying things find the lowest prices, check the weekly sales, check the internet, ebay first.
Online banking. Dont buy stamps, envelopes, money orders, checks any more. Pay your bills through your bank, set up the account once and every month just click when you want to play in seconds and it is usually paid the next day at no charge.
save water by only washing full loads of dishes and clothes, buy water saving shower heads, dont run water while brushing teeth and handwashing dishes.