10 Ways to Save Money Now

Posted by admin on March 11, 2008 in Money Saving Techniques

The stock market seems to have entered a definitive slide (good, stock may actually be cheap in the spring) which means, if you want to increase net worth in the short term, the emphasis has to be on finding ways to save money rather than focusing primarily on capital appreciation. Most of us know about the save 10% of your take-home pay rule but I came up with the following 10 ways to save money now based on my day-to-day life.

Carpool or, if you are in the market for a car, buy a car that takes regular gas or diesel and buy a used car. Last year, I bought a used car but it doesn’t take regular gas. I am getting killed at the pump. What I saved on buying a used car is being balanced off by the additional gas bills (one step forward, one step back one supposes). Ideally, buying a used car that takes regular gas and then leave it home to carpool.
Leave your credit card at home during the week-days. I use to work in an office tower with a series of underground malls underneath and I use to watch people die by a death by a thousand cuts buying something on sale here and something on sale there; all these unexpected expenses add up. Leave the credit card at home so you only spend what cash you have in your wallet.
Pack a lunch. I don’t think I need to expand too much on how much it costs to eat out every day. The additional benefit is that if you take a short lunch at your desk, you may be able to leave work earlier (this is my pattern now).
Watch those transaction fees. I give away money every month being on the wrong account plan at the bank and the wrong cellular plan. I am always over the maximum transaction/time allowed and paying through the teeth in additional charges. As counter-intuitive as this seems, I am adjusted my bank plan fees and cellular plan fee to pay more monthly to avoid those extra charges since the increased plan fees save me more money than the extra charges I use to incur.
Save more than 10% at the beginning of the month to make yourself “poor”. I set up automatic debit plans that take out large portions of my pay cheque at the beginning of the month to my retirement account, mortgage payment (I am prepaying my mortgage down every month), savings etc. By the 10th of every month, my bank account looks like I have no money other than for fixed expenses (I get paid once a month). I fool myself into thinking I have no discretionary income to spend.
Buy used or borrow….book, CD’s, DVD’s and all those other entertainment expenses. If you have kids, why do they really need brand new books or clothes- they tend to destroy both in months…
Find free entertainment. I am finding I am spending good chunks of my weekends at the library (books, free internet access, sometimes they have shows- well, they are for the kids but I am young at heart…), window-shopping (credit card at home), at the gym (not really free but it is included in my condo fee so might as well use it). There are a lot of free things to do especially in a large city.
Buy in bulk with other families to really save on items. My family use to do this when I was a kid. You buy in extreme bulk (I am talking about an entire flank of a cow or 60 boxes of tissue) and you divide it up among several families. The savings really add up buying in that type of bulk.
Wait before you buy anything. My friend and I walked past the Hide House two weeks ago (aka the Old Hide House) which is now in receivership (they sell everything you could think of in leather). I saw something I like there for 40% off but it was on my want list so I went home to think about it. It was gone the next week… which is good. The instant gratification would not have been worth the amount of money I was going to pay.
Find the most cost conscious person you know… and ask them before you buy something. They’ll point out to you where you can find the best deal; it seems to be built into their DNA to sniff out good deals. My brother is one of those guys who will research, research and research before he buys anything. I am in the market for a washer and dryer and so is he. I know more than I really want to at this point about front-loaders vs. top loaders and the pricing of each but if it saves me money, I am all for this knowledge.

Anyone care to add to the list?

5 Comments on 10 Ways to Save Money Now

By MillionDollarJourney on March 11, 2008 at 7:33 am

Great list. Here are my 25 ways to save money.

By Nancy (aka money coach) on March 11, 2008 at 3:00 pm

and re: those ‘transaction fees’ – also – using your own bank’s atms. I go bonkers when I see that members of my bank spend $10 – $20/month unnecessarily because they won’t walk down the block to a ding-free atm. And of course, there are lots of really economical banking options (fee free or ultra low fee). There may be a small hassle factor to set up, but over the years, the savings will add up!

By 45free on March 11, 2008 at 3:11 pm

I am gonna throw something out there…what about a lunch pool? Get 4 other people at the office and takes turns making lunch. Might be a neat way to get to know your co-workers and try some differnet types of food.

I have also been trying to keep some kind of breakfast (aka cereal) at my desk as well as granola bars (or something like that). Really helps to resist the urge to grab something on the way in.

Keep a coffee machine at your desk (I have an office so this is easier). I have found most office coffee is awful and as a result I spend a lot buying coffee (I will admit to a small addiction). By keeping a coffee maker at my desk, I can brew my own good quality coffe for a fraction of the cost.

By admin on March 11, 2008 at 7:20 pm

45free- good idea on the lunch pool. I also bring tea bags to work- cheaper than buying one every single day.

Nancy- bank fees: can’t avoid them! Good idea on not using the white-label ATM’s though.

By Derek on September 2, 2009 at 3:43 pm

Adding to your “Poor” comment..
I have an online savings account linked to my checking account. When I get paid I put all of my owing money into it e.g. rent, internet/phone bills, etc. I cannot take money out of my online savings account via interac, but I can use an ATM to get it if I need to. I can also transfer it back from my online savings to my checking. I also roughly figure out how much I’ll spend on groceries and gas and leave that in my checking but put all of my extra money into my online savings. This way I can’t buy things I don’t need or really can’t afford.
It makes a huge difference when you have a savings account that you can’t easily tap into. So when your at the convenience store and the clerk says “insufficient funds”, you put the pop back and grab some iced tea from home.