What Are Your Favorite Ways To SAVE Money?

[Hesaidblissfully]

I know the main focus of the WF is making money, but since a penny saved is a penny earned, what are your favorite tips and strategies for SAVING money?

I wish I had more to share myself, but mine are:

1. Quit or cut back on drinking alcohol. Especially true if you go out to bars and nightclubs a lot, where drinks are generally more expensive than elsewhere. One day I did a bit of math and realized that I'd spent over $10,000 over the course of a couple of years just on alcohol, mostly just beers. It hurts to think that I could've invested that into my business or other assets.

2. Quit smoking. Yeah, I know some people will hate this one But aside from the money you spend on cigarettes themselves, you could potentially be saving yourself from costly medical expenses down the line if you develop health problems due to your smoking (which I've had happen to relatives of mine.)

3. Eat healthy, exercise regularly, and reduce/manage stress. Related to #2, the better your diet and overall fitness, the less likely you are to develop medical conditions that lead to hospital stays or need to be treated with medications, etc.

4. Cook meals at home and eat less fast food.

What are some of your favorite ways to save money?

[GeorgR.]

NOT having my 52" Plasma on for the wife...because i know she doesn't even LOOK at the screen while she is playing WoW on her computer. But she constantly insists she wants to watch something...but then doesnt even keep attention...

It will become understandable if you know that ultilities here in EU are very expensive (roughly 3x as what you pay in the states) - and this a big plasma uses a LOT of power ;/

[Hesaidblissfully]

Originally Posted by GeorgR.

NOT having my 52" Plasma on for the wife...because i know she doesn't even LOOK at the screen while she is playing WoW on her computer. But she constantly insists she wants to watch something...but then doesnt even keep attention...

It will become understandable if you know that ultilities here in EU are very expensive (roughly 3x as what you pay in the states) - and this a big plasma uses a LOT of power ;/

Hahaha your wife plays WOW? How awesome. When I was in high school (about 15 years ago), no girls were into video games, now it seems like almost all of them play them.

I haven't even owned a regular TV for a few years now. I can't imagine having a 52 inch plasma TV.

[rapidscc]

I try hard to keep the money..If it ain't necessary I don't get the funds out..Once the money's in your hand it's so easy to spend it..So I just put off taking it out for a few more days..Sometimes it works...

All the best,

Omar

[yamahafzr]

You only live once. Don't hoard your money. Enjoy it

[GoGetta]

George, I have a similar issue with my other half! haha

Not WOW, she doesn't know what that is, but with the TV always being on. When she leaves the house, she records 2 things on Sky Plus (UKers know what I mean) and this stops me from watching what I want. I can only watch what she is recording!!!!

She then moans when she comes home to me on the PS3 Online! haha She reads, does her nails and all that stuff with the TV on, she cannot be watching that thing! As soon as I reach for the remote though, she is like a lion guarding her PREY!! LOL

And she wonders why I spend so much time in front of the Laptop! ; )

GoGetta

P.S Back to the thread, I wish I could save!!!!

[dimatrix]

I agree with you on the 4th point: Cook meals at home, eat less fast foods.
Boy, if i could overcome this one i'll save a whole lotta cash.

[bobsstuff]

Buy used when possible/practical
My 36" CRT TV recently came from my local Craigslist for $50. Excellent TV.
Cars - computers -- tables --- etc etc etc.

Then when you hit it big in IM, donate those things back to your local charity and buy new to support the economy.

[derekwong28]

Instead of using toilet paper, use one of these all singing and all dancing Japanese loos in your home. Besides cleaning and drying your backend, it also has an massage function and a enaema function as well.

[Najat Engineer]

.

I wish I know how to save money, I don't have that skill! thank god my husband has it

.

[WhiteCanvasPro]

When my wife and I were first married, we were going through a tough time financially. So one day we were out walking the park when we both got really thirsty. I remembered a furniture store that gives you a free coke when you walk in the door. So we went to the furniture store, got our coke, looked around for a while and left. It was a really funny moment that we still laugh about.

[nobodyreal]

5. Live in an area that reflects your income.

If you are only making 30k a year, you probably shouldn't be living in that downtown Miami condo.

[Frank Donovan]

Firstly, if you've been interested in IM for any length of time, you've probably signed up for a few memberships and subscriptions over the years that you haven't used in ages. Check through your bank/CC/PayPal accounts and have a purge.

Next, make sure that you only buy new stuff you can use immediately. Ideally, only buy tools, programs or services that will make your business more profitable or more efficient.

Finally, spend more.

What I mean by that is, get to know the value of your time. As an example, if you're making $400 per day and working eight hours to achieve that figure, any task that can reasonably be outsourced or delegated for less than $50 per hour is actually saving you money.


Frank

[JohnMcCabe]

1. Unless you are looking for something specific, stay out of the WSO forum.

2. If last year's model will get the job done, get it.

3. Regarding #4 in the OP - Learn how to cook!

YouTube- Broadcast Yourself.

[Bjarne Eldhuset]

I try to carry a bottle of water with me at most times, so I won't feel the need to buy a new one. The tap water where I live is good, so there is really no need for me to buy bottled water.

[Lisa Gergets]

Oh I LOVE this thread!

We buy our clothes at local thrift stores...both my husband and I and our two kids haven't wasted money on new clothes for YEARS! I can outfit my entire family in nearly-new brand names like Tommy Hilfiger, Ralph Lauren, Lucky Brand Jeans, etc. for right around $100 per season. We buy new shoes and under-thingies, of course, but our yearly clothing budget is likely not over $600, for all four of us.

Oh, forgot to add...every single stick of furniture in our home, save for our mattresses, has come used/second hand from Craigslist and resale shops. Of course, I live in Chicago so these shops are really common, but we've saved thousands buying second hand.

[Shana_Adam]

I better find myself a man pronto .

It sucks not having any one buy my daily raw juice supplies, plus its too cold to go out!

The best way really is to live the minimalist lifestyle. Too many gadgets and extra can live without purchases clog up the house and drain the bank balance.

Also if you dine out a lot have a few drinks before you fine dine to save on purchasing expensive drinks with your meals.

Another tip go easy on purchasing too many wso's at the same time. Buy one implement and make your moneys worth then move on to next one.

[Shana_Adam]

Originally Posted by Lisa Gergets

Oh I LOVE this thread!


Oh, forgot to add...every single stick of furniture in our home, save for our mattresses, has come used/second hand from Craigslist and resale shops. Of course, I live in Chicago so these shops are really common, but we've saved thousands buying second hand.

I bought a brand new treadmill from a fitness instructor from my local listings she had damaged her knee. It would have cost me a mint. I paid 1/10th of the price for it.

[Diana Lane]

Originally Posted by MarkAndrews IMCopywriting

Mine is to use this very well respected
website in the UK run by Martin Lewis
- Money Saving Expert...which is an
absolute goldmine of information on how
to get the best deals for just about
anything under the sun...

Money Saving Expert: Consumer Revenge - Credit Cards, Shopping, Bank Charges, Cheap Flights and more

If you want to save money in the UK,
this IS the site for you, no question
about it.

Seconded. That site has been in my bookmarks for years, and has probably saved me a small fortune.

[carsonrathi]

This 'saving' thing is pretty weird for me, when ever i try to save money, it feel the 'stoppage' my incoming of cash flow however when i just spend it on what ever i want, i never feel shortage of cash :-)

[pheonix44]

I like to focus on buying what I need first and what I want later. If something will provide consistent value over time to me then I will buy it. If I see something that offers a monthy membership fee that I can buy at a one time cost then I spend the one time cost. If I can save money by buying more instead of less I will, depending on what the price difference is.

[Robyn8243]

There are a couple of designer Consignment Shops near me, and it is not uncommon to find beautiful designer clothing that looks brand new for 5-10% of the original retail price.

I enjoy hunting for a great deal!

I stopped smoking when cigarettes went up to $5 a pack and started making coffee at home.
Unfortunately, I never followed through on intent to put that money in a separate account, so I don't really see the benefits in an obviously measurable way. Those two items save about $2500/year.

Robyn

[Bjarne Eldhuset]

Making a shopping list before I go shopping saves me a lot of cash. But it is hard to stick to it when you are in the shop!

[Online Bliss]

Organizing.

I have purchased so many video tutorials and software titles
and found out I already have them or they have just been renamed
PLR titles. Making a list of what I have already purchased works better than my memory!

[JohnMcCabe]

Originally Posted by Bjarne Eldhuset

Making a shopping list before I go shopping saves me a lot of cash. But it is hard to stick to it when you are in the shop!

Related to that...

Never go grocery shopping on an empty stomach. It explodes your totals.

Which brought up another one while I was typing.

BOGOs (Buy One, Get One) are your friends. Especially combined with either cents-off or free item coupons.

As an example, I buy whole-bean coffee and grind it myself. Recently, the brand I usually buy had a $1 dollar coupon printed on the bag. The store had a BOGO on the coffee.

Normal price for 2 bags = 2 x $4.89, or $9.78

With BOGO and coupon = (1 x $4.89) + (1 x $0.00) - $1.00 = $3.89, or $1.95 per bag.

Total savings = $5.89 (~60%)

I won't bother you with the arithmetic on when you have the coupon for a free item...

When my wife starts stacking these up on stuff we would have bought anyway, sometimes we walk out of the store having saved more than we spent...

[Hesaidblissfully]

Originally Posted by yamahafzr

You only live once. Don't hoard your money. Enjoy it

Yeah, I don't think you should "hoard" your money or become like Scrooge. The main objective in saving money and cutting back on unneccessary expenses is to take the money that you would've spent on frivolous stuff and instead invest it into assets that generate even more money over time. I think you can do this while still not depriving yourself of a comfortable lifestyle.

Also, great suggestions everyone.

[mandela10]

Love this post.

I ride my electric bicycle whenever it's possible; this practice has saved me a lot of money.

[Erik Ortega]

Well I guess you can call this saving...
all of my change I ever get (besides the quarters I keep in the car for meters), is put into an empty water cooler or big jug I have.

I started doing this after I saw a guy bring in a full water cooler full of coins...wound up giving him over $950! You'd be surprised how quickly your change adds up

[Lou Diamond]

Hello,
I do ebay auctions and I try to get free boxes anytime that I can.
I very rarely pay for a box to ship out me ebay auctions.

[Robyn8243]

Originally Posted by Bjarne Eldhuset

Making a shopping list before I go shopping saves me a lot of cash. But it is hard to stick to it when you are in the shop!

I wonder whether buying your groceries online, which generally comes with an extra delivery fee, would actually result in saving money for this very reason.

Every time I take a quick trip to the grocery store to pick up something to cook for dinner, I come away with lots of unplanned items, thinking it would have been cheaper to simply eat out.

Robyn

[GeorgR.]

Oh..and i forgot...pausing all adwords ads and doing article marketing instead

Hahaha your wife plays WOW? How awesome. When I was in high school (about 15 years ago), no girls were into video games, now it seems like almost all of them play them.

Yeah not only that, she is also Guild Master of our guild and has 90 people "under" her", so to speak. Yep..WoW is serious business

I haven't even owned a regular TV for a few years now. I can't imagine having a 52 inch plasma TV.

Well we dont watch TV, but we're huge movie buffs!

[FaJeeb]

Originally Posted by Lou Diamond

Hello,
I do ebay auctions and I try to get free boxes anytime that I can.
I very rarely pay for a box to ship out me ebay auctions.

I've never paid for boxes, and I've sent out at least 10,000 items on eBay. I'm known as the "box guy" at my local Walmart, lol. Tape is free from a local packing company, and packing peanuts cost me next to nothing, all other padding I use newspaper, which is of course free too.

My number one way to save money is to make more of it.

[FaJeeb]

Originally Posted by GeorgR.

Oh..and i forgot...pausing all adwords ads and doing article marketing instead

Yeah not only that, she is also Guild Master of our guild and has 90 people "under" her", so to speak. Yep..WoW is serious business


Well we don't watch TV, but we're huge movie buffs!

Mine played too... but unfortunately mine also stopped showering, working, eating properly, but did start lying to friends and family as to why she couldn't leave the house. I think she's a guild master of a popular guild on Andorhal US (Alliance). I own a LAN gaming center and I still couldn't get her to leave the house. She was pretty good at botting (I made a popular bot you might have heard of) and earning gold, but then started spending all of it instead of selling it like intended, to pay for 'real world' things.

Good riddance.

[GeorgR.]

Originally Posted by FaJeeb

Mine played too... but unfortunately mine also stopped showering, working, eating properly, but did start lying to friends and family as to why she couldn't leave the house. I think she's a guild master of a popular guild on Andorhal US (Alliance). I own a LAN gaming center and I still couldn't get her to leave the house. She was pretty good at botting (I made a popular bot you might have heard of) and earning gold, but then started spending all of it instead of selling it like intended, to pay for 'real world' things.

Good riddance.

lol...this all sounds VERY familiar

[Diana Lane]

The 'stopping showering' thing could be a real money saver when you think about it. You wouldn't just save on soap, water and energy, you'd have no friends to entertain, no Christmas presents to buy, yet still have a thriving social life at the Fungal Diseases clinic.

You could even package tips up to create an info product for the 'Where there's muck, there's money' crowd. It's got to be every bit as big as the 'How to get a dog to mount you' niche that someone mentioned on here this morning

[greff]

Tell your kids you are spending their inheritance. Well, it's like saving money.

[Jena]

Originally Posted by greff

Tell your kids you are spending their inheritance. Well, it's like saving money.

I hear that one from my Dad all the time!

I pay cash for everything I can- no credit cards. It's much harder to part with cold, hard cash than to hand over a piece of plastic. Plus you don't have to worry about wasting money on interest and other silly credit card fees.

Second-hand stores are a single mom's best friend! We may wear used clothing, but it's designer and doesn't break the bank. Find a store that will buy your unwanted clothing and then use that money or store credit to buy new stuff. No money out of your pocket! Perfect when you have young kids that outgrow clothes practically as soon as they get them.

[dsmpublishing]

Hi guys

i never waste any food - you always read in the press how much people waste on food and im glad to say im not one of them. If i buy some meat i always get two meals out of it. For example i will cook a homemade roast beef dinner and then have a beef salad the night after. Or i will have a chicken dinner and then the following day a chicken stir fry.

Nothing ever gets wasted but at the same time we eat really well no one is left hungry.

By if we are talking online businesses here i would say the key point to bring into this discussion is that any money you need to pay out must be covered by another source.

For example with my twitter account it has about 66,000 followers and takes a lot of time to maintain so i employ someone to delete all my automated dms, follow back new followers etc and this is paid for by selling advertising space on my twitter account.

Kind regards


sam
X

[Chris Worner]

I stopped taking women on expensive traditional dates (dinner + Movie)

Instead I now own a cheap ipod boombox thing, I take the girl dancing under the stars with a bottle of bubbly in a reasonably isolated spot :P

[Kurt]

Pay cash for the car I drive.

Buy necessities in bulk and when on sale, as long as it's stuff that won't spoil. It's a better investment to buy toilet paper when it's on sale for 50% off, than putting money in the bank at 1%.

Work at home so I don't need work clothes or expenses traveling to and from work.

Follow a basic buddhist philosophy of "want not, and you won't be disappointed".