I recently read an article How to Save Money: 100 Great Tips to Get You Started by Trent Hamm, published on thesimpledollar.com on 11/23/15.
The following are just 25 of Trent Hamm’s 100 tips (see link at the bottom to get all 100 tips):
- Sign up for every free customer rewards program you can.
No matter where you live, you’ll find plenty of retailers who are willing to reward you for shopping at their store. Here’s the basic game plan for maximizing these programs: create a Gmail or Yahoo address just for these mailings, collect every card you can, and then check that account for extra coupons whenever you’re ready to shop.
You can add to those rewards and discounts by using rewards credit cards to earn points on purchases at a wide range of stores that can be redeemed for cash back or other benefits.
- Negotiate rates with your credit card company or complete a balance transfer.
If you’re paying a lot of interest on your credit cards, it’s important to know that you do have some power as long as you’ve been making your payments. Not only do you have the right to negotiate your current interest rate with your credit card issuer, but you have the right to transfer your balance to an entirely different card as well. (In fact, that is perhaps your biggest bargaining chip.)
Start by calling your card issuer at the number on the back of your card and explaining your request. If you don’t make any progress with them, check out these balance transfer credit cards to find one with an introductory 0% APR that could help you save hundreds of dollars in interest over time.
- Install CFLs or LEDs wherever it makes sense.
Energy-efficient light bulbs might cost a bit more initially, but they have a much longer life than normal incandescent bulbs and use far less electricity. It might be hard to decide which type to use, but either type of bulb will probably be an upgrade from whatever you’re using now.
CFLs, which use a quarter of the energy of incandescent bulbs and last for years, are the next cheapest option after traditional bulbs. But they also have some drawbacks: They take a while to warm up to full brightness, and they also contain a small amount of mercury.
Meanwhile, LEDs are more expensive. However, they’re getting cheaper all the time, and they are easily the best lighting option available: They light up instantly, are efficient as CFLs, produce a warm glow without getting hot to the touch, and can last for decades.
You don’t even need to replace every bulb in the house at once. Even swapping just your four or five most-used light bulbs can save you $45 or more a year.
- Install a programmable thermostat.
Installing a programmable thermostat is a no-brainer if you want to cut down on energy usage while you’re not at home, or simply regulate the temperature in your home. By setting it to heat or cool your home at certain times, you can ensure that your utilities aren’t being wasted while you’re at work or asleep – and save money in the process.
- Buy quality appliances that will last.
It’s worth the time to do a bit of research when you buy a new appliance. A reliable, energy-efficient washer and dryer might cost you quite a bit now, but if it continually saves you energy and lasts for 15 years instead of five, you’ll save significant money in the long run.
When you need to buy an appliance, do research: Start with back issues of Consumer Reports at the library. An hour’s worth of research can easily save you hundreds of dollars.
- Clean or change out 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 driven in an average vehicle. Cleaning your air filter is easy to do in just a few minutes – just follow the instructions in your vehicle’s manual and you’re good to go.
If yours is beyond help, also consider changing it out for a new one. At most stores, a new air filter goes for less than $10.
- Quit using credit cards.
If you have a habit of getting into trouble with credit cards, hide your credit cards and keep them in a safe place in your home, not in your wallet. If you need to keep a card for emergencies, that’s okay. Just don’t carry it around with you. If you’re often tempted to use it, keeping your card “out of sight and out of mind” might help.
- Do a “maintenance run” on your appliances.
Check them to make sure there isn’t any dust clogging them and that they’re fairly clean. Look behind the appliances, and use your vacuum to gently clear away dust. Check all of the vents, especially on refrigerators, dryers, and heating and cooling units. The less dust you have blocking the mechanics of these devices, the more efficiently they’ll run (saving you on your energy bill) and the longer they’ll last (saving you on replacement costs).
- Declutter to save your sanity and some cash.
Go into a room and go through every single item in it. Do you really need that item? Are you happy that it’s there, or would you be just fine if it were not? If you can find stuff to get rid of, get rid of it – it just creates clutter and it might have some value to others. You also improve the perceived value of your house – and you’re likely to get a lot of cleaning done in the process. It’s a frugal win-win-win.
- Switch to term life insurance.
Repeat after me: insurance is not an investment. If you’re stuck in an expensive whole life policy, choose cheaper term insurance instead and use that difference in cost to get yourself out of debt and start building some wealth.
Universal and whole-life policies are much more expensive and offer a subpar investment opportunity. In almost every case, you’ll be much better off with a cheap term policy and more money in your pocket. You can get rate quotes here:
- Create a visual reminder of your debt.
To put your debt into terms that are easy to understand, make a giant progress bar that starts with the amount of debt you have and ends with zero. Each time you pay down a little bit, fill in a little more of that progress bar.
Keep this reminder in a place where you’ll see it often, and keep filling it in regularly. It can help keep your eye on the prize and lead you straight to debt freedom.
- Brown bag your lunch.
Instead of going out to eat at work, take your own lunch — if not every day, then at least a couple of times a week. With some thoughtful preparation and just a few minutes of time, you can create something quite enjoyable for your brown bag lunch – and save a fistful of cash each time you do. Your co-workers may not understand your desire to save money, but that’s their problem.
- Try to fix things yourself.
Years ago, it was far more difficult to find ways to fix everyday items we have in our homes. But today, it should be a piece of cake. You can find online tutorials and videos that show you how to fix almost anything, and all for free. No matter what you’re trying to fix, it’s always worth a shot. Learning a new skill never hurts either.
- Check out free events in town.
My town has several wonderful parks, free basketball and tennis courts, free disc golf, trails, and lots of other stuff just there waiting to be used. You can go have fun for hours out in the wonderful outdoors, playing sports, hiking on trails, or trying other activities – and it’s all there for free. All you have to do is discover it. Here are more than a hundred free things to do if you need more inspiration.
- Inflate your tires.
For every two PSI of air pressure under the recommended level in your tires, you lose 1% on your gas mileage. Most people’s car tires are five to 10 PSI below the normal level, so that means by just inflating your tires, you can improve your gas mileage by up to 5%.
It’s easy, too: Just read your car’s manual to see what the recommended tire pressure is, then head to the gas station. Ask the attendant inside if they have a tire air gauge you can borrow (most of them do, both in urban and rural settings), then stop over by the air pump. Check your tires, then use the pump to fill them up to where they should be. It’s basically free gas!
- Start a garden.
Gardening can be an inexpensive hobby if you have a yard. Just rent a tiller, till up a patch, plant some plants, keep it weeded, and you’ll have a very inexpensive hobby that produces healthy food for your family.
I like planting a bunch of tomato plants, keeping them cared for, then enjoying the huge flood of tomatoes at the end of each summer. We like to eat them fresh, can them, and make tomato juice, sauce, paste, ketchup, pasta sauce, and pizza sauce.
- Do some basic home and auto maintenance on a regular schedule.
Instead of waiting until something breaks to deal with it, develop a monthly maintenance schedule where you go around your home (and your car) and perform a bit of maintenance where it’s needed. This little activity, taking you just an hour or two a month, will keep things from breaking down and help you catch problems before they become disasters. Maintaining your home can also keep it in better shape and improve the value of your property over time.
- Hit the library – hard.
Don’t look at a library as just a place to borrow books. Look at it as a free place to do all sorts of things. I’ve used it to learn a foreign language, meet people, use the Internet in a pinch, check out movies and CDs, grab local free newspapers, and keep up on community events. Best of all, it doesn’t cost a dime.
- Learn about allof the benefits your company offers.
Spend some time with an HR person at work learning about all the benefits of your job – you might be surprised at what you find.
After sitting down with someone at my job, I gained access to free tickets to sporting events, free personal improvement opportunities, and an optional employee match on some retirement funds that maximized the money I was socking away. This not only cut down on my own spending on things like sporting and community events and educational classes, but also improved my retirement plan.
- Make your own cleaning supplies instead of buying them.
I like to make my own laundry detergent and my own Goo-Be-Gone, for starters. I also like making my own Glade, Windex, and Soft Scrub. In all these cases, it’s way cheaper than buying the commercial versions.
Hunt around for recipes – it’s amazing how many things you can make at home in just a few minutes to save a ton of money compared to the commercial version. Our Frugal Spring Cleaning Checklist can give you some ideas.
- Always ask for fees to be waived.
Any time you sign up for a service of any kind and there are sign-up fees, ask for them to be waived. Sometimes (but not always), they will be – and you save money just by being forthright about not wanting to pay excessive fees. I did this with my last cell phone sign-up and got them to wave the fees, lowering my bill significantly.
- Use a brutally effective coupon strategy.
To save as much money as possible, use the coupons in conjunction with your grocery store flyer and shopping list. Doing so can help you save double – both through the initial sale savings and through the use of the coupon. This strategy also helps you avoid purchasing items you don’t really need just because you have a coupon or discount.
- Air seal your home.
Most homes have some air leaks that make the job of keeping it cool in summer and warm in winter that much harder – and that much more costly for you. Spend an afternoon air sealing your home and keep your energy dollars from leaking out. The DoE has a great guide on basic air sealing.
- Make sure all your electrical devices are on a surge protector.
This is especially true of your entertainment center and your computer equipment. A power surge can damage these electronics very easily, so spend the money for a basic surge protector and keep your equipment plugged into such a device. To save even more, unplug anything you aren’t using frequently to avoid phantom energy use.
- Utilize online bill pay with your bank.
This serves two purposes. First, it keeps you in much closer contact with your money, as you can keep a very close eye on your balance and be that much less likely to overdraft.
Second, it saves you money on stamps and paper checks by allowing you to just fill in an online form, click submit, and have your bill paid. Try it out – and take advantage of it if you’re not already. Some of the best free online checking accounts offer this perk.
For the full article with the list of all 100 tips, please go to:
http://www.thesimpledollar.com/little-steps-100-great-tips-for-saving-money-for-those-just-getting-started/
Your Money: Time to Take Another Look 