Tons of Great Ways to Save Money

In Where Would You Cut Your Household Budget First? I asked people where they would cut their budgets first if they had to save money. I got a great set of responses -- full of money saving tips. So if you're looking for some extra cash, here are a wide number of areas you might want to consider looking at to save some serious dough:

I would cut out preschool and the gardener. About $400/month, certainly luxuries, but most easily first in the budget to go if we had bad times. In good times we enjoy them.

We could probably cut some gas and grocery expenses if need be. Certainly no need to buy things we don't need, which might free up $50-$100/month/our free spending allowance.

I guess I would first cut down on free spending allowance, then food costs, then (sniff) dsl. I'm guessing I could free up about $200-250/month.

If we only needed an extra $50 per month, we could just reduce our discretionary spending entitled "miscellaneous" in the family budget by $50.

If we needed to save up to an additional $350 more per month, then we would refinance, converting our 15-yr mortgage into a 30-yr.

If we needed to save more than $350 additional dollars per month, we would have to convert to a 30-year mortgage and be paying it on a house that is about 75% the cost of the one we now own.

Food - We don't currently cook at home, eating out is a big expense each month (over $600).

Television - There are 100+ stations that I never use...and I am on the smallest digital package. I could get by via delayed airings on the Internet.

NetFlix - $16.23 for 2 movies at one time. Sometimes it is worth the money (holidays and rainy season) but it would be much better to go outside.

Cell Phone - I have unlimited data on 2 phones (family share plan) and small text package. Both are nice but could go and leave us with voice-only if necessary.

Car (more specifically the cost of gas) - Cheapest I have seen for weeks is $3.55 a gallon....gotta love the Bay Area prices. The train station is 1/4 mile from home and 1/2 mile from work. Plus, walking can't hurt.

Internet Access - Almost everything I do is on the computer/Internet so this would be the last place to save money. I could give it up if I could find some free WiFi at restaurants, museums, and coffee shops.

I'd start with the cable, mobile phones, and internet access. I wouldn't necessarily cut them all out, but at least drop them to a lower plan. I'd also look at trying to reduce the amount of driving we do based on the high cost of gasoline and raising our health insurance deductible to lower the premium.

Raising the temperature from 72 to 77 would save us a lot on air conditioning electricity. During the summer, cutting out a health club membership would save about $60 per month as well.

Combined insurance on all family vehicles, raised our deductible to $1,000 while maintaining full coverage...savings ($52 a month)

Got rid of 2 cell phone contracts and went with a family plan...savings ($42 a month)

Got rid of 2 SUV's for a Jetta and a Prius...decreased maintenance, gas, and operating costs...savings (over $200 a month!!!!!)

Buying 87 octane vice 92...savings (go to the pump and find out)

Joined Costco...savings (roughly $50 a month)

Adjusted date night from dinner and a movie to "dinner at the movies"...savings ($30+ a month)

Oil changes for 2 new vehicles ever 5,000 miles vice 3,000 miles ($100 every 2 to 4 months).

Turned down the water heater...figure that one out..., bought a high efficiency washer and dryer, and started taking shorter showers...savings (bout $30 a month)

High efficiency light bulbs, turned off the heater, put on some warm clothes, turned down the fridge, started cutting my kids hair...savings (bout $54 a month)

Husband cuts own hair with a buzz cut.

I go to a local beauty school and get hair cuts for five dollars!

We cook everything from scratch, including pizza dough.

We very rarely go out to eat.

Ask and get senior citizen discounts which are available to people at age 55.

Rent one movie at a time from Netflix for $10 a month. We average around 5 a month.

Buy day old bread & freeze. Buy day old meat and freeze. Buy bruised fruit and vegetables, eat or cook immediately, then freeze.

Go to local food marts weekly and only buy their sale, loss-leader items in bulk.

Do regular food shopping once per month at super Wal Mart (get great organic buys!)

Replaced expensive beauty products with Wal Mart Equate brands.

Repair, mend, reuse. No labor charges.

Grow own herbs in containers.

Basic cable package. Most shows can be seen on internet now.

Replaced SUV with manual transmission Ford Focus that gets 36 miles to gallon.

Obey traffic laws, speed limits, no tickets. EVER!

Shop at discount stores ONLY.

Buy floor models at big savings. Never order anything new. Buy year end, older models.

Ask "Is that the best price?" You'd be amazed at how much you can save. It is better to make a little money than no money.

Find the best price on anything then see if you can get it even lower someplace else. Airline tickets included.

Comments

[rocketc]

Awesome post. What if we are doing all of that and still operating at a $150 deficit each month? I have been attempting to solve that problem with cc bonuses, bank bonuses and 0% arbitrage. Risky? yes, but at the moment it beats getting another job in evenings and weekends.

[Moneymonk]

"started taking shorter showers" That is the few luxuries I love, after 8 hour workday and traffic. I need a long shower

I rest I can agree with.

[Anitra]

RocketC: If you're doing all that and still operating at a deficit, you need to bring more money in. If you can do that without a second job, that's great. As FMF says all the time, you need to spend less than you earn. If you can't spend any less, you need to earn more.