7 Creative Ways To Save Money
Written by Michael Lazar - Monday, 29 September 2008
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There are so many people who are just struggling to make ends meet right now that it is actually rather scary when you think about it all. However, there is good news. That good news being: that there are ways that you can cut down on your spending and save tons of money each year, reducing your exposure to the pending recession.
By simply making some minor adjustments to the way that you spend and view money, you can realize a huge monthly savings. You might be surprised at how much money you have been wasting each month on stuff that you may not actually really need at all!
 Find entertainment at home: Most people spend far too much money going out. Think about it. A beer at the bar is $5 + tip, but a beer at home is about $12 per case on average. A movie ticket is $18 on average, and a movie rental is a few bucks. Stop going out as much and find ways to entertain yourself at home. The best way to save money is by cutting down how much of you are spending, that in reality, you do not have to be spending at all.
Now most people will counter this argument with, “Well I only get a beer when I go out…or one cup of coffee at the local coffee shop!” No doubt that you do. However when you add up all the extra bucks, day in and day out, they can make you short a few hundred bucks at the end of the month. Make coffee at home. Drink beer at home. Go out less and see how much you save in the end of the month. Don’t believe me? Check your spending report on your online checking account.
 Consolidate your debts: Take those high interest credit card debts that you are struggling to pay off and consolidate them into one, low interest loan with a locked rate. Pay the payment twice per month and you will even cut that interest in half, shaving thousands off your annual expenses. One of the costliest bills that most Americans have today is their credit card bills. The credit card companies want you to have a maxed out line of credit so you are enslaved to them for years to come. They want to you pay the minimum payment so they own you for the next two decades.
I say rubbish. Consolidate your credit card bills to one loan. With a locked in interest rate, no period finance charge BS and one monthly bill to one creditor, which makes it far easier to manage. If you pay the monthly bill in full, twice per month, with one payment being applied to the principal, you can be out of debt in just a few short years and shave thousands off your interest rate over the term of the loan.
 Refinance your mortgage: Is your mortgage rate too high? Lucky for you the banks are more willing to work with you on this problem than they have ever been in the history of Capitalism. Call your bank and refinance your mortgage in-house, they will be willing to do something to avoid you losing your home. Think about it. The reason the banks are in this mess—the mess that their greed created—was because they wanted to lend borrowers money to buy the homes that they wanted.
Now the banks are faced with historic losses, and many are fighting just to stay in business. The last thing they can afford is to lose another customer or to have another home loan foreclose. They will be willing to work with just about anybody right now, which can mean a better loan with more favorable terms for you, terms that save you thousands per year.
 Get rid of the smaller bills: Do you really need those ten extra features on your phone line? Do you have to get that magazine delivered each day? How about the little things like small-eats when you are out? Try cutting all of the smaller, non-essential bills out of your regiment, it really adds up. It may take you a while to break them all down, but there is an easy trick to doing this all rather quickly.
Make a list that has two sides. One side is essential bills and things that you can not function without, like the internet. The other side is less meaningful bills that you can do without, but you prefer to keep. Get rid of as many non-essential bills as you can, and stomach the difference, but reap the rewards of the monthly savings. Do this and you can truly save thousands per year on otherwise waste monies.
 Carpool and share resources: Do you work with your friends, or do you and your significant other each have your own vehicle? Try carpooling and realize how much money you can really save each day by sharing the costs of gasoline with others. Avoid hypermiling however, unless you are fond of getting flipped off on the road. Most people actually know several other people who work in the same building as they do and live nearby. Get together and create a carpool and save hundreds per month on fuel.
For your soccer moms out there: I am sure that there are other moms who are hurting because of high gas costs right now. Get together and work out a: this mom takes these kids to school in the morning plan. This way you cut down your obligations weekly and free up more time for you and them, and you all save a bundle of cash in gas money.
 Reset your AC temperature: Did you know that by simply turning down your air conditioning just a few degrees you will save hundreds per year, sometimes even more. Use a fan instead; it takes up far less energy. And most people entirely fail to realize that just by turning down the thermostat a few nominal degrees that they are shaving off huge chunks of the power bill each month, and helping the environment in the process.
By simply turning your AC down about two degrees in the summer and your heat down about three degrees in the winter you can save thousands, yes thousands per year on your utility bills. This will be extra money you can save or apply to debts that are weighing you down during the current financial crisis.
 Eat out less: Most people will haplessly admit that they spend a vast majority of their monthly budget wasting bucks on restaurants eating out. Much to the dismay of the restaurant chains, hey – times are tough folks. Try cutting down how much you eat out to just a few times per month, max. You will save a few hundred bucks per month this way and your fridge will always be full of food.
I know that it can be tempting to drive through that local fast food joint, or hop out on the town for a Friday evening with your girlfriend. But you actually experience much more alone time and far greater quality of food when you prepare it at home. You can also use that money you saved to pay down some credit cards or plop into your slim savings account for future usages.
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