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There are lots of lists out there on how to save money. Here's my list. I've used these ideas for over a decade …
There's a whole market that matches up people who want to sell gift cards they don't want (for whatever reason) to people who want to buy them at a discount to face value. As long as you buy them safely (which mostly involves using common sense) then you can save a few percent up to 20% or more right off the bat.
Brew my own coffee
We recently got a Starbucks less than a mile from our house. Talk about temptation! We do grab some now and then but for the most part, we brew our own. Most of the time we use a Keurig 1.0 with EkoBrew reusable cups. We've found that Folgers Black Silk brews well through these cups. Other times we use an AeroPress with some of our specialty coffees, like my beloved Death Wish Coffee. (And yes, I totally got suckered in by the 2016 Super Bowl ad. Drink Vikings AARRRRRR!)
Stay away from vending machines
The markup on stuff from a vending machine is horrendous! It's easily 100%, sometimes 200% or more. There are tons of alternatives to buying from a vending machine. Carrying only $5 bills and larger helps me to reduce the temptation (because the machines at work only take coins and $1 bills!)
Buy cars (and lots of other things) used
Buying quality used items saves money because the original owner paid the retail markup. The two cars we own were bought used. My Corolla was three years old, and my wife's Sienna was five years old. They're still going great, and we paid a lot less than if we had bought new.
It's easy to save a few percent or 30% or more just by clicking through a rebate site instead of going to an online store directly. They keep track of your rebates and send them to you either on a specific schedule or after you have accrued a reasonable amount. I've gotten hundreds and hundreds of dollars back from these kinds of sites. I even have a rebate comparison engine that can help you to find the best rebate on your favorite store!
Drink water in restaurants instead of soda
We easily save $5 each and every time we ask for water instead of soda, lemonade, etc., when we're eating out. Your mileage may vary depending on whether your locality charges for non-bottled water (ours doesn't).
Get big carrots instead of baby carrots
Sometimes our local Walmart is out of bags of regular-sized carrots but we prefer the 1- or 2-pound bags of carrots to bags of baby carrots, or julienned carrots, when we are cooking soup. Peeling with our OXO Peeler and slicing the carrots with a Ninja blender takes but a few minutes, and tastes a bit better, too.
Stock up on sale items when I can
Buying in bulk isn't always the answer, of course, because you need to be able to store the stuff, as well as consume it all before it goes bad. But the cost per unit usually goes down when you buy in bulk so it's a good way to save money.
Buy generic or store-brand over name-brand
Walmart has Great Value products. Costco has Kirkland products. A good chunk of the time these products are every bit as good, and every bit as effective, as the name brand. We use store-brand body wash, laundry detergent, whey protein, and more — and save a bit of money on all of them.
Go easy on the accelerator
Accelerating and braking quickly uses more fuel than accelerating or braking gradually. I'm glad the power is there, but I don't use it if I don't have to, and my tanks of gas get me farther.
Negotiate, wheel and deal
One yard sale we went to had a large, nice collection of Vera Bradley purse sets. My wife and daughter were poring through them, because the prices weren't bad. I offered what my wife thought was an insanely low price for the lot, and the seller accepted it. My wife loves to give gifts, so this was an opportunity for some very nice gifts at a giant discount.
Thrift stores, yard sales, and auctions
Each of these has their own flavor, but all of them have lots of good deals to be found. Thrift stores offer some room for negotiation, but typically not as much as yard sales. And for estate auctions, high bid wins. We've gotten box lots at auctions where one item more than paid for the entire box (or set of boxes!)
Comparison-shop online
There are all kinds of websites to compare prices. Google Shopping is the most far-reaching of them. With the world's information at your fingertips, it's easier than ever to find a good deal.
Cut or eliminate cable service
First, we got rid of the premium cable package, and we're now considering getting rid of the rest of the cable channels. I watch TV maybe twice a year (the Super Bowl and New Year's Eve watching the ball drop). Is it worth it keeping that? (We may hold off until the Olympics are over, but not much after that.)
Dilute ultra-concentrated dishwashing soap
If you're really careful and only put a couple of drops of dishwashing liquid in the water, it works fine. But it's easy to put too much in, and that wastes it. If you dilute dishwashing liquid about 10:1, it makes it easier to control putting in the right amount.
Save money on Amazon and eBay
We've found some items on eBay that we weren't able to find anywhere else. And with over a million items for sale every day, Amazon is becoming our go-to place for checking out deals on things we get regularly. Combining Amazon Prime and Subscribe & Save helps us to save a bit on our regular favorites.
Re-use plastic bags of all sizes
Plastic grocery bags can be reused in a number of ways. One way we reuse ours is to put one in the van over the armrests in between the seats and use it as a trash bag. They also work well for bathroom vanity garbage bags. We'll also get a couple of uses out of gallon-sized zipper bags by washing them out. They're strong enough to handle that without ripping.
Pay more than the minimum on our mortgage
We round our mortgages up to the next $100 and that extra money goes straight against the principal. That makes the interest part of the payment on every subsequent payment less. It's a way to reduce the total number of payments without refinancing.
Buy used books online or borrow from the library
Some titles on Amazon are available used for one cent (plus shipping). Even cheaper is waiting for them to come into the library. Some libraries have electronic lending, so if you have an e-reader you don't even have to go to the library to sign out a book!
Save money at pawn shops (with caution)
The people who lose out at pawn shops are the people who borrow money from them, or who sell their stuff at giant discounts. For buyers, they can be a great source of deals. We got our daughter's computer there for a sweet price. I found out the hard way that it's probably not best to get cordless power tools from there. The batteries are usually toast, and it costs just as much to get a new battery as it does to get a new drill (with the battery!) So it's not the best place for all kinds of merchandise. Jewelry can be a decent deal, though.
Get maximum matching out of my employer's retirement plan
This is free money, plain and simple. For example, put in 5% to a 401(k), and the employer kicks in another 5%. This is hard to pass up.
Buy used toys
A couple of reasons. First, your kids will outgrow them quickly. Secondly, toys seem to only get more cheaply made with time. One game that I used to play when I was younger still worked when I was a grownup. When we bought the current version of the same game a few years ago, it broke that day. Older (i.e. used) games stand a good chance of lasting longer! A good way to save money is to not buy things again and again when they break!
Take advantage of continental breakfast at hotels
Consider looking for hotels that include continental breakfast with the room price. Sometimes it's been really good (and often hot!) Easy way to save $20 or more on a vacation or trip.
Collect change and deposit into savings (away from checking)
There are lots of tricks to socking away more money. It can be just as easy as throwing change in a jar and then carting it off to the bank or credit union. (Our credit union takes in coins for free.)
Use reward credit cards
This isn't for everyone, but it works well for us since we pay off our balance each month in full. Every purchase triggers a 1% or greater reward, with almost no extra effort on our part. All we have to do is allocate the rewards to something (like a statement credit or a gift card). So easy!
Your turn!
How do you save money??
(Note: This is an update of an “oldie but goodie” post originally September 2006, inspired by Dawn from Frugal For Life. Check out her original post here for more ways to save money!)
20 thoughts on “Save money (here’s 25 ways I do it!)”
I notice the number 2 (Go easy on the accelerator when I drive)
I should make this my number two as well, sadly, it is more of a 37 or 38. Perhaps this winter the habit will kick in more and it will move up in ranking.
You named a few I forgot and reminded me of a couple I should do more, thanks!
I'm always amazed at the number of people who won't change their own oil! Unless you drive something like a Mercedes, it's not that hard, and you can save $15 *easy*. I've heard so many horror stories of lube places that forget to actually add oil or don't really change the filter that I'm nervous when I pay for an oil change.
The pawn shop tip is a really good one. I needed a hammer, and was ready to hit the hardware store when my husband came home with a pawn shop one he picked up for $1. I'll have to browse them more often when I need something.
I've challenged myself for the past few months to buy clothes only via eBay. I've saved a lot of money and gotten good brands–Coach, Calvin Klein, Anne Klein, Banana Republic, etc. (Of course, if you don't need new clothes, spending ANY money isn't wise.)
Great list…sadly, I never remember to get my foot off the gas until i'm ON it. So to make up for that, I ease onto the brakes slowly from farther away. I'm curious about your pawnshops saving tip – what do you get and why the caveat? Thanks!
Those are some great money saving ideas. What I really like about your money saving ideas is that not only do they save money, but the environment as well. Going easy on the accelerator saves money on more than one way(ie. speeding tickets)! I like your idea to collect change. I have started doing this and it is truly amazing how much money this can save over time(especially here in Canada where we have loonies and toonies). I am currently on medical leave and have come up with Eight Easy Ways To Save Money. Not nearly as many as your 25 though! Read a few blogs today on ways to save money and I'm amazed at all the great ideas people have for saving money.
Hey, here's a tip that I'm amazed I don't see on such lists more often: Recycle the other side of all those reams of printer paper we use every day! Most things we print out from Web sites, e-mail and drafts of homework and reports will be tossed or (maybe) filed anyway.
I even bring home cast-off sheets from the office printer and copier (non-sensitive of course!) to use in our 3 home printers.
Oh, and to save ink, make sure your printer is set to "fast draft" or whatever the lowest setting is. All 5 of us in my family use computers and the savings really adds up.
Obviously, if you're printing out a resume, final report or business letter, temporarily switch back to the good paper and higher print quality.
Hi, Recently I found a great list of 15 ways to save money constructively, through one of the forums. When I started using the same I was amazed to find that could save lot of money . This taught me one thing that if one wisely handle the porfolio, the savings will be mind boggling. Browsing internet everyday will help in finding many unknwon information hitherto not known.
I already do alot of these, while alot of deals can be found on ebay, one can also pay more in the form of shipping fees. Some ebay sellers charge exorbitant fees for shipping.
You can also free coupons for things you buy, just by searching for them on Google, and you can also find a lot of legitimate free downloads using bittorrents!
I'm glad to see so many comments about the doormats! I never thought of that one, either. I was pleased to see that our family does most of the things on the list already. We live very frugally and it has made a huge difference in our lives. We don't feel deprived either. Not only do we buy used but you'll find us turning around and selling those used items on ebay. In fact, we bought a used baby bjorn carrier for our daughter on ebay. My wife found a nicer one at a thrift store for $1.99. We turned around and sold the other one for what we paid for it! Now, THAT'S insurance for brighter financial future.
Here's something that is so easy and makes so much sense. Everyone will pretty much need to purchase cartridges so…I came across information through a business customer and looked further into it. Here is what I found, "
Over 700 million cartridges were thrown away world-wide in 2003 – and since more and more people use inkjet cartridges this amount will continue to grow year after year.
Empty cartridges contain residual toner powder, ink, a plastic casing, aluminum and other parts. These parts are all non-biodegradable and they will take more than 1000 years to decompose in landfill sites.
The remanufacturing of cartridges as an alternative to producing new ones currently reduces world demand of oil by 300,000 barrels and saves 17,000 tons of aluminum as well as 10,000,000 tons of timber. Besides helping to reduce carbon emissions, a major cause of global warming, it conserves resources and reduces waste.
1.5 pints of crude oil are needed to produce one cartridge. In the last 6 months alone inkjet cartridge recycling has saved more than 50 million liters of oil, more than the Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska's Prince William Sound in 1989."
Wow, so my whole point is this client twotonellc.com remanufacturers ink and toner cartridges and considering the above information it only makes common sense to buy remanufactured ink and toner cartridges. You save money, get a higher yield (more prints) and save the environment.
Shopping strategy makes a difference and timing certainly does. We saved quite a bit of holiday budget to wait for the expected after-holiday sales. That was part of our plan ahead of time. Since then, we have been looking through bargains worth picking up. It’s not about being overly frugal, but simply smart shopping. In fact, we bought a large LCD TV over the holiday. We also sold or gave away some stuff on Craigslist to those who can need some stuff more than we do.
As consumers, we are all trying to make do and get as much as possible for each dollar spent. Lately my family and I have been doing more research before buying anything, and have also done more online shopping and looked harder for better deals. As mentioned previously, we have not stopped spending, however.
They do have some interesting bargains listed that are not available even on price search engines. We were able to get more for each dollar. Hope that's useful info for some.
I have found that my library website has a Hoopla application, you can watch movies and old TV shows through this application. It is Free. It may not have every movie on it, but you can find one that you may want to borrow. You can also read digital copies of magazines and I just need my library card number and I can read them it saved me lots of money because the price of magazine subscriptions keeps on rising. The public library is a great resource. It is taxpayer supported and you can get your tax dollars worth.
Agreed! We only get a limited number of magazines (most are from airline miles that we redeem because we don’t fly a whole lot). We also drive by the library pretty regularly so it’s not out of the way.
John, I haven’t seen this mentioned and am wondering if it’s only a local, state or east coast phenomenon: freecycle. It was started with the idea of reducing the amount of stuff going to landfills. People post useable items they no longer want (with an accurate description of its condition), or you can post a request for something and hope somebody has one and wants to get rid of it. The only catch is that everything has to be 100% free, hence the name. Most freecycle groups are within one city or county boundary.
I notice the number 2 (Go easy on the accelerator when I drive)
I should make this my number two as well, sadly, it is more of a 37 or 38. Perhaps this winter the habit will kick in more and it will move up in ranking.
You named a few I forgot and reminded me of a couple I should do more, thanks!
I'm always amazed at the number of people who won't change their own oil! Unless you drive something like a Mercedes, it's not that hard, and you can save $15 *easy*. I've heard so many horror stories of lube places that forget to actually add oil or don't really change the filter that I'm nervous when I pay for an oil change.
The pawn shop tip is a really good one. I needed a hammer, and was ready to hit the hardware store when my husband came home with a pawn shop one he picked up for $1. I'll have to browse them more often when I need something.
I've challenged myself for the past few months to buy clothes only via eBay. I've saved a lot of money and gotten good brands–Coach, Calvin Klein, Anne Klein, Banana Republic, etc. (Of course, if you don't need new clothes, spending ANY money isn't wise.)
Great list…sadly, I never remember to get my foot off the gas until i'm ON it. So to make up for that, I ease onto the brakes slowly from farther away. I'm curious about your pawnshops saving tip – what do you get and why the caveat? Thanks!
Those are some great money saving ideas. What I really like about your money saving ideas is that not only do they save money, but the environment as well. Going easy on the accelerator saves money on more than one way(ie. speeding tickets)! I like your idea to collect change. I have started doing this and it is truly amazing how much money this can save over time(especially here in Canada where we have loonies and toonies). I am currently on medical leave and have come up with Eight Easy Ways To Save Money. Not nearly as many as your 25 though! Read a few blogs today on ways to save money and I'm amazed at all the great ideas people have for saving money.
Hey, here's a tip that I'm amazed I don't see on such lists more often: Recycle the other side of all those reams of printer paper we use every day! Most things we print out from Web sites, e-mail and drafts of homework and reports will be tossed or (maybe) filed anyway.
I even bring home cast-off sheets from the office printer and copier (non-sensitive of course!) to use in our 3 home printers.
Oh, and to save ink, make sure your printer is set to "fast draft" or whatever the lowest setting is. All 5 of us in my family use computers and the savings really adds up.
Obviously, if you're printing out a resume, final report or business letter, temporarily switch back to the good paper and higher print quality.
Hi, Recently I found a great list of 15 ways to save money constructively, through one of the forums. When I started using the same I was amazed to find that could save lot of money . This taught me one thing that if one wisely handle the porfolio, the savings will be mind boggling. Browsing internet everyday will help in finding many unknwon information hitherto not known.
I already do alot of these, while alot of deals can be found on ebay, one can also pay more in the form of shipping fees. Some ebay sellers charge exorbitant fees for shipping.
I already do a lot of these but I am wondering about the last one. Hmmm….How does one do it?
Great post!
You can also free coupons for things you buy, just by searching for them on Google, and you can also find a lot of legitimate free downloads using bittorrents!
The doormats really made me chuckle. It is those small simple things that makes all the difference.
what the heck…weave a doormat with rubber u found on the road??? who DOES that?! lolol
I'm glad to see so many comments about the doormats! I never thought of that one, either. I was pleased to see that our family does most of the things on the list already. We live very frugally and it has made a huge difference in our lives. We don't feel deprived either. Not only do we buy used but you'll find us turning around and selling those used items on ebay. In fact, we bought a used baby bjorn carrier for our daughter on ebay. My wife found a nicer one at a thrift store for $1.99. We turned around and sold the other one for what we paid for it! Now, THAT'S insurance for brighter financial future.
I never thought about doing #9 (Dilute ultra-concentrated dishwashing soap). I will now! Thanks for the other great tips as well.
Here's something that is so easy and makes so much sense. Everyone will pretty much need to purchase cartridges so…I came across information through a business customer and looked further into it. Here is what I found, "
Over 700 million cartridges were thrown away world-wide in 2003 – and since more and more people use inkjet cartridges this amount will continue to grow year after year.
Empty cartridges contain residual toner powder, ink, a plastic casing, aluminum and other parts. These parts are all non-biodegradable and they will take more than 1000 years to decompose in landfill sites.
The remanufacturing of cartridges as an alternative to producing new ones currently reduces world demand of oil by 300,000 barrels and saves 17,000 tons of aluminum as well as 10,000,000 tons of timber. Besides helping to reduce carbon emissions, a major cause of global warming, it conserves resources and reduces waste.
1.5 pints of crude oil are needed to produce one cartridge. In the last 6 months alone inkjet cartridge recycling has saved more than 50 million liters of oil, more than the Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska's Prince William Sound in 1989."
Wow, so my whole point is this client twotonellc.com remanufacturers ink and toner cartridges and considering the above information it only makes common sense to buy remanufactured ink and toner cartridges. You save money, get a higher yield (more prints) and save the environment.
Shopping strategy makes a difference and timing certainly does. We saved quite a bit of holiday budget to wait for the expected after-holiday sales. That was part of our plan ahead of time. Since then, we have been looking through bargains worth picking up. It’s not about being overly frugal, but simply smart shopping. In fact, we bought a large LCD TV over the holiday. We also sold or gave away some stuff on Craigslist to those who can need some stuff more than we do.
As consumers, we are all trying to make do and get as much as possible for each dollar spent. Lately my family and I have been doing more research before buying anything, and have also done more online shopping and looked harder for better deals. As mentioned previously, we have not stopped spending, however.
They do have some interesting bargains listed that are not available even on price search engines. We were able to get more for each dollar. Hope that's useful info for some.
I have found that my library website has a Hoopla application, you can watch movies and old TV shows through this application. It is Free. It may not have every movie on it, but you can find one that you may want to borrow. You can also read digital copies of magazines and I just need my library card number and I can read them it saved me lots of money because the price of magazine subscriptions keeps on rising. The public library is a great resource. It is taxpayer supported and you can get your tax dollars worth.
Agreed! We only get a limited number of magazines (most are from airline miles that we redeem because we don’t fly a whole lot). We also drive by the library pretty regularly so it’s not out of the way.
John, I haven’t seen this mentioned and am wondering if it’s only a local, state or east coast phenomenon: freecycle. It was started with the idea of reducing the amount of stuff going to landfills. People post useable items they no longer want (with an accurate description of its condition), or you can post a request for something and hope somebody has one and wants to get rid of it. The only catch is that everything has to be 100% free, hence the name. Most freecycle groups are within one city or county boundary.
Hi Nancy! Freecycle is international! We’ve unloaded some things there that we couldn’t unload anywhere else.