Money-Saving Tips

[Texasmujer]

I hope this 'elongs' here...I work HARD for my money, and thought many of you readers might like to read these ideas...here goes...

*Think about every dollar you spend. Make yourself wait a month before you make most purchases. A month later, you may not want some things quite as much.

*Develop hobbies and entertainment that doesn't coat much, such as hiking or a book club. Consider developing hobbies such as woodworking or free-lance writing.

* Use your local library more, instead of bookstores. Start a book exchange ar work, trading books with colleagues.

*Eat before going to the movies, so that you're not tempted to pay $37 for a tub of popcorn.

*Rent movies instead of seeing them at expensive first-run theatres.

*When shampooing, lahter up, rinse, ant then don't repeat.

[mstink]

I have heard that if you spend only cash in just one week, you will have at least $30 in change by the end of the week. I have never tried that but I think I just might to see if it is true.

Has anyone ever tried this?

[Texasmujer]

I DO collect all my loose xcahnge, and it does add up fairly nicely---about $60 or so a month. If I put that in stocks, it will grow nicely. (I'm not always that responsible, though! )

[mstink]

That doesn't sound too bad, I might just try it myself. You could build an account and by the end of the year you would have about $700. That could be a good way to save vacation money.

[Texasmujer]

That's right...and, it REALY is "painless" on top of that.

[HollyElise]

Good idea for a thread, Texas!

some of my favorite tips are:

1. Don't expose yourself to as much advertizing. Yeah, it's everywhere, but you can avoid it some by not browsing catalogs, not shopping as entertainment but instead shopping with a list, muting t.v. commercials and doing something else during them, etc. You'll never miss what you don't know you're missing!

2. As i mentioned before, shop with a list! It's not just for groceries. This fits right in with Texas' mentioning wait a month for most purchases. Its impulse buys and buying just because you see something on sale that kills ya. Now i plan my wardrobe... how many pieces and of what before i go, as well as taking only the cash i plan to spend. I get far more use out of it, spend less, but also have far fewer purchasing regrets.

3. As Amy of the Tightwad Gazette pointed out... the time to spend money is when it will SAVE you money... like buying extra food to store when the price goes down, or a pressure cooker, or an ink cartridge refill kit, etc.

[HollyElise]

4. Described as "gazingus pins" by the author of Your Money or Your Life and as "The Latte Factor" by the author of The Automatic Millionaire, watch those little everyday purchases, particularly for on the go food. They add up! I remember i thought i was saavy when i only spend about $5 a day on food at college... until i figured out that over the course of a year at the community college, that was one quarters worth of TUITION! After that i packed my lunches and saved about $4 to $4.50 a day.

5. Buy with CASH. Credit is EVIL. LOL.