06/22/2016
33 MONEY SAVING TIPS
1. Save all your loose change. Putting aside your loose change each day over the course of a year will allow you to save around $500 for an emergency fund or for a special occasion. Also, aim for short-term savings goals, such as setting aside $20 a week or month. You can save more successfully when you keep a short-term goal in sight.
2. It pays to practice preventative dental care, since a good cleaning routine helps prevent cavities, root canals, and dental crowns, which are expensive and no fun.
3. Save money by buying items in bulk. Some companies even offer free shipping on large online orders. Clearance items are sometimes available, and good savings can be found on non-perishables such as groceries and diapers.
4. Sign up for every free customer rewards program you can. Even if you rarely shop at that place, having a rewards card for that place will eventually net you some coupons and discounts. Here’s the basic game plan for maximizing these programs: create a Gmail address just for these mailings, collect every card you can, and then check that account for extra coupons whenever you’re ready to shop.
5. Maximize yard sales. Stop by yard sales if you see them. Be careful about what you buy and negotiate to lower the prices. That way, you wind up with a really big bargain – or else you can just walk away with the money in your pocket, having at least been entertained for a bit.
6. Plan meals around your grocery store’s flyer. Instead of just planning your meals based on a cookbook or whatever you can dream up, plan all your meals around what’s on sale in your grocery store’s flyer. Look at the biggest sales, then plan meals based on those ingredients and what you have on hand, and you’ll find yourself with a much smaller food bill than you’re used to.
7. Drink more water. Not only does drinking plenty of water have great health benefits, water drinking has financial benefits, too. Drink a big glass of water before each meal and not only will you digest the meal better, you won’t eat as much (saving on the food bill). You may also find yourself feeling a bit better as you begin to get adequately hydrated.
8. Bring lunch to work. If buying lunch at work costs $9, but making lunch at home costs only $3, then in a year, you could afford to add over $1,000 to your emergency fund and still have money left over.
9. Invest in a deep freezer. A deep freezer, after the initial investment, is a great bargain. You can use it to store all sorts of bulk foods, which enables you to pay less per pound for it at the market. Even better, you can store lots of meals that have been prepared in advance, enabling you to just go home and pop something homemade in the oven.
10. The next time you make a casserole, make four batches of it and put the other three in the freezer. Then, the next time you need a quick meal for the family, grab one of those batches and just heat it up. Doing this allows you to buy the ingredients in bulk, making each casserole cheaper than it would be if you made each one individually.
11. Eat out one fewer time each month. If it costs you $25 to eat out, but only $5 to eat in, then the $20 you save each month allows you to almost completely fund a $500 emergency savings account or a “spluge fund”.
12. Use what you've got. Make dinner out of what's in your pantry and refrigerator at home at least once a week.
13. Ask your physician if it is possible to prescribe generic drugs. Generic drugs can cost several hundred dollars less to purchase annually than brand-name drugs.
14. Also, find the lowest-cost place to purchase prescription drugs. Make sure to check out not only your local pharmacist but also local supermarkets, area discount centers, and reputable mail-order pharmacies.
15. Purchase store brand over-the-counter medications. Store brand medications often cost 20-40 percent less than nationally advertised brands. The savings could easily exceed $200 a year.
16. Always make your monthly credit card payment on time. The $35 to $45 you save by not being charged a late fee each month on one card would save you about $500 per year.
17. Shop around for auto and homeowners insurance. If you are renewing your existing policies each year, check out the rates of competing companies. Their annual premiums may well be several hundred dollars lower.
18. Raise the deductibles on your auto and homeowners' insurance: If you are willing to pay $500 or $1,000 on a claim, rather than only $100 or $250, you can reduce annual premiums by as much as several hundred dollars.
19. Assess your need for life insurance coverage. If your children are now on their own, or if your spouse works, you may not need as much life insurance protection.
20. Consider dropping credit insurance coverage on installment loans. Many consumers don't need credit insurance because they have sufficient assets to protect themselves in the event of death, disability, or unemployment. Terminating this coverage often reduces financing costs by three percentage points, a savings of about $2,000 on a four-year $40,000 installment loan.
21. Change your oil about every 5,000 miles. This should prolong the life of your car engine. Clean your car’s air filter. A clean air filter can improve your gas mileage by up to 7%, saving you more than $100 for every 10,000 miles you drive in an average vehicle.
22. Keep your car engine tuned and its tires inflated to their proper pressure. Doing both can save you up to $100 a year in gas.
23. Shop around for gas. Comparing prices at different stations and using the lowest-octane (recommended by the car owner's manual) can save you hundreds of dollars a year. In some areas, websites post the locations of stations with the cheapest gas prices.
24. Choose home repair contractors wisely. Favor contractors who have successfully performed work for people you know. Insist on a written, fixed-price bid. Don't make full payment until satisfactory completion of the work.Check the internet for possible ratings and referrals.
25. Buy appliances based on reliability, not what’s cheapest at the store. It’s worth the time to do a bit of research on the internet when you buy a new appliance. A reliable, energy efficient washer and dryer might cost you more initially, but if it continually saves you energy and lasts for fifteen years, you’ll save significant money in the long run.
26. Ask your local electric or gas utility for a free or low-cost home energy audit. The audit may reveal inexpensive ways to reduce home heating and cooling costs by hundreds of dollars a year. Keep in mind that a payback period of less than three years, or even five years, usually will save you lots of money in the long-term.
27. Install a programmable thermostat to regulate the temperature in your house automatically according to the schedule that you set.
28. Weatherproof your home. Caulk holes and cracks that let warm air that is inside your house escape in the winter and let cold air escape in the summer. Your local hardware store has materials, and quite possibly useful advice, about how to inexpensively stop unwanted heat or cooling loss.
29. Use window coverings to block or let in sunshine. In summer, use these coverings to block sunlight, keeping your house cool. In winter, open the coverings to let sunshine warm the house. You could easily save more than $250 annually while being more comfortable.
30. Assess clothing in terms of quality as well as price. Consider fabric, stitching, washability, and other quality related factors in your selection of clothes.
31. In families, discuss limits on monetary spending for gifts. These limits not only tend to reduce expenditures, they may also be greatly appreciated by many family members.
32. Do holiday shopping right after the holidays. Many people use this technique only for Christmas, but it works for every holiday. . Get a Mother’s Day card for next year the day after Mother’s Day. Get Easter egg decorating kits the day after Easter. Get wrapping paper and cards and such the day after Christmas. The discounts are tremendous, and you can just put this stuff in the closet until next year and save a bundle.
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North Carolina Furniture Guide's photo.