The Save Money Blog

Archive for the ‘Saving Money Tips’ Category

I am not talking about competition between retailers who are lowering prices and having sales to lure you into buying their goods. I am talking about competition between you and those around you. If you are buying things because your neighbours have them or your friends are buying new items and you can't afford or need them then you need to rethink things. In short, you need to live your own life on your own terms and within your own means.

If you watch people that save money or don't spend money you will notice that they would rather visit a charlotte dentist chair then spend money. I notice with the group of guys I golf with, once one buys some new clubs or a club others will show up with new clubs. I have even been guilty myself. The ones that are good at saving money don't get caught up in the spending frenzy because it is needless spending. They make due with what they have because there is nothing wrong with their clubs.

You aren't in competition with anybody, except maybe with yourself to save a little bit of money.

I was helping an old friend clean out his basement last week. He had quite a collection of garbage ready to be hauled off to the dump. Amazingly he had a few boxes of old books. Some of them novels and some of them text books from his old days as a student. I asked why he was throwing them out. He thought that they wouldn't be worth anything. After a brief discussion I convinced him to drop them off at the local used bookstore. He has to drive by it on the way to work most days.

He called a couple days later and thanked me for the tip. He didn't make enough to retire on but he said he made a few bucks. It's one way to get a bit of cash. You just have to sell books that you have laying around collecting dust. Never throw them out. You never know if some of your old text books are worth money. I went through my old boxes and found a few that I am going to sort through and trade in at the used book store myself.

I was walking by a co-workers desk today and she had a calendar on her desk with eating healthy and living right tips. Some of those tips were about saving money. They were some of the usual tips about shopping smartly and turning down the heat but one stuck out in my mind. It stated that to save money you have to tackle one issue at a time.

At a quick glance I thought okay but the more I thought about it I think I disagree. Saving money is no easy task but by not facing a few or more of your challenges at once you are going to be throwing out bad money while trying to save money. So they are saying to you if you have bad credit card debt and shop poorly just to focus on one and not the other.

I would suggest writing down your main places that your money goes and try to improve each one at least a bit at a time so you can tackle your main expense. For example, lets say you have terrible credit card debt. I would focus on saving money at the grocery store by buying in bulk and buying no name products and put that savings into paying off your debt. At the same time work on how you can save on your daily transportation expenses and put that savings into getting your credit card debt paid down. You get the idea.

To say you have to work on one point is misleading. You can't pay off your credit cards if you don't work on saving money elsewhere first. It doesn't grow on trees.

I was at a friends houes last night watching hockey. He is a bachleor. I noticed a ton of little grey plastic bags all over his kitchen and I asked what he was buying that he would have so many bags. He told me they were from the corner store because that's where he does his shopping for bread and milk and whatever.

As one who is trying to save money I was beside myself. You don't get any deals by buying your groceries at the local corner store. I told him I have a Costco membership and can pick some things up for him but he wasn't interested. And then I thought some people complain about the price of things and how much things cost but then couldn't be interested in saving money. Crazy.

I could probably save my friend a hundred bucks or more a month with just a few quick changes to his spending habits but he isn't interested. I think he is probably just as happy gripping about the cost of things.

I am not suggesting about being one those people on hoarders but I am suggesting to look things over before you throw them out and think about if they might be useful in the future. Case in point. I am in the midst of tearing my basement apart and putting a new frame up so I can have it spray foamed for insulation purposes.

Tonight I tore out all of the old baseboard and trim. I cut it up into small pieces to use for kindling. I had nowhere to put it or to store it and haul it outside. Then I remembered that I had an old shipping box that I saved for just such an emergency. By saving the box I had a free little storage/haulage container and I also had some free wood that I can use to burn in my fire pit.

I also saved a few pieces of good wood that I pulled out of the framing around the duct work. They might come in handy later on down the road. I also tore down an old shelf, spruced it up and put it outside by my hot tub and made a nice shelf to put my speakers on. No charge. I love saving money. Don't be so quick to throw things out.

Saving money when you are behind the eight ball is probably one of the toughest things in the world to do. It's kind of like reducing belly fat. It takes alot of hard work, self control and among other things time. Saving money and changing your spending habits isn't something that is going to happen overnight. It's a lifestyle changes that takes a commitment from you.

If you have made the decision to start saving money don't expect to see results the next day. Choosing to incorporate some of the tips and ideas you read on this blog will help you save money. It just takes time. Next time you are out say no to buying something you don't need, buy no name brands at the grocery store and put a blanket over you and turn the heat down. You will save but it's a long road.

I spent most of the weekend inside. I had a few home projects I was working on but found myself in front of the computer quiet a bit. I caught myself on ebay more than a few times for no reason. Do I really need prenatal vitamins? Obviously not. No more than I need anything else I was looking at. I was just shopping because I was bored and had nothing better to do.

If you feel the urge to shop when you don't need anything. Fight it and save your money. There are lots of other things you can do to fight the feeling. You can go for a walk, put on a movie, call a friend on the phone or do anything else. I know too many people that just take off shopping because they have nothing better to do and spend money they don't have to spend. You can save money by simply not spending it.

Winter and the flu season in full swing I decided today that I was going to get on board with putting a few more healthy things into my diet. My brain plan is to replace my daily coffee and bring on the green tea. Having none I walked down the grocery store on my break at work and picked up two boxes of flavoured green tea. Since it all tastes the same to me I picked up two boxes that were on sale for $2 off over most of the other brands.

When I went back to work I did the math. I usually bought two or three coffee or teas a day at about $1.50 a pop. That's pretty $23 a month I have been spending during the week on coffee and tea. When I buy my own from the grocery store it's .19 cents a tea. That is a considerable amount of savings. I figure it was about $700 a year I could save by not going to the coffee store everyday. Imagine how much more you would save if you are buying your fancy pants designer coffees.

Here are some frugal tips to get you through:

1. Buy your coffee or tea in bulk or when on sale. Shop around and get the cheapest price possible. If you are trying to save money don't buy expensive brands. Regular brands will do just fine.

2. Grab yourself nice custom mugs to drink out of so you always have one ready to go when you need it. I have about three on the go. One at work and two at home. I found a nice brand that was inexpensive and keeps my tea warm for quite a long time. That way they don't get cold and you don't have to throw them out beacause they get cold too fast.

3. Most place I have ever worked in have communal sugar, sweeteners and milks. There are usually big bowls of sugar packets sitting around from the big whigs having meetings. Save by using those during the day.

4. Stick to the plan. I was telling my friend how to save and he complained how awful homemade coffee tastes compared to coffee shop coffee. You will get used to the taste. You have to get the monkey off of your back. It takes time but stick to it. Remember the goal.

5. If you must go to the coffee shop, find a place that has a rewards card so at least you get the odd freebie.

I was out and about the other day and really noticed how many people were walking down the street texting or playing with their cell phones. I have a basic type of corporate plan and pay about $25 a month and that is without any texting or internet. You really have to ask yourself, do you need that big cell phone bill every month? I am sure that if you are looking to save some money that you can get by without at least some of the features of your plan.

Check your services and see if there are any you aren't using. For instance, are you paying for conference calling and never using it? Are  you paying for internet surfing and finding that you really aren't online that much each month. Review your services and see if you can cut back on features that aren't that important to you or aren't used.

Can you take advantage of a family or friends plan and save money? There are so many promotions out there that include some sort of group rates that it may be worth checking into. Like I said, I have a corporate plan and compared get a pretty good deal.

If you are a cell phone junkie maybe consider cancelling your home phone. There shouldn't be any reason to have both if you find that you are on your cell phone all the time. You can save a pile by cancelling your home phone if you don't use it. You don't need both.

Those are just a few things to think about. Review your plan and see if you can cut your phone costs.

If you are like thousands of people you have a gym membership that you are paying for and not using or maybe you buy diet pills that you never use. Either way you are throwing money away. There are lots of free or cheap ways to get exercise or to stay active. You can try walking to work or to the store. You can find cheap gym equipment on any of the free sites on the internet or trader columns in your local newspaper. You can try rollerblading or bike running, both are cheap ways to stay fit.

My wife recently piced up Wii Active and we have both had fun doing our daily exercises. It was a much cheaper than buying a monthly gym membership. A membership that we both probably wouldn't use after the first month. There are many alternatives to shelling out a ton of money each month to stay fit. You just have to be creative.

I don't know about you but spending money seems to come in bunches for me. It is almost as if everything that can go wrong goes wrong at the same time. It's at that time when you have to make a big purchcase and if you haven't been trying save money all along it can be hard to swallow. Here are some more tips to help you become a better shopper and save some money when you are shopping.

Compare prices online, in flyers and at stores as you visit them. Read comparable reports. I always think of something like electronics or diet pills. There is always lots of comparable information available to make a wise shopping decision and get the price possible. Just don't shop at one store. Shop around.

Try to have a set goal of how much money you want to spend and make a list of your items and prices when you go out. This will help you budget better and become a wiser shopper.

Shop in dollar stores or discount stores if you have any near you. You can find lots of deals and cheaper prices on things that you buy everyday. I bet your will be suprised how much cheaper everyday things are that you buy at these stores. If you don't have it then don't spend it at a name brand store.

Be aware of items that you may need or that you buy on a regular basis. That way when you are out and about you will be quicker to spot a deal or a high priced item.