Three Big Ways to Save

Yahoo lists three big ways to save money as follows:

• Housing - Refinance could save you hundreds each month. [Shop out] homeowners' insurance. Reduce utilities.
• Transportation - Check your insurance. Perform any routine maintenance.
• Food - Eat at home.

Here's my take on these thoughts:

1. Not much new. Aren't we all doing these things (for the most part) already? These tips are very similar to the ones I detailed in Five Ways to Save Big.

2. While "saving big" is a great place to start, don't forget about small spending as well. You can lose a ton of money in $5, $10, $20, etc. chunks if you don't watch your money closely (which, for most people, means having a budget.)

3. If you really want to turn around your financial fortunes, work on both ends of the equation -- save money AND make money. Doing them both allows you to make more progress and at a faster rate.

Comments

[Paul]

Refinancing your home sounds great, but too many folks are upside down today to the point they can't do it.

[Budgeting in the Fun Stuff]

I laugh at articles like this because they're always the same - cut the big stuff. Um, duh. The trick is having the mindset to actually save the money you don't spend as opposed to spending it on something else...

[MC]

I'd add:

4: Don't take expensive "destination" vacations every year. Stay with friends/relatives or do a "staycation". Do the expensive thing only every 5 or 10 years if you can afford it.

5: Don't have an expensive wedding--elope.

[Stephan]

i think in regards to transportation the tip should be, " downsize from your luxury car to a midsize sedan". the days of the car being a status symbol are coming to an end as people realize its a waste to spend 20%+ of their monthly income on transportation. we should promote public transportation, carpooling, and more efficient cars, not checking insurance and performing routine maintenance.

[corey]

Ya it's true that "we should save bigger "and "spend lesser" .But i think that doing this we should enjoy too or our time 'll go only in saving money

[Max]

I've got to really work on eating more at home. Maybe part of this should be learning how to be a better cook, because even if I have leftovers in the fridge, I still want to stop at my local Italian deli for some quick food that's more delicious than anything I could prepare by myself. Plus, I don't know what I would do without pizza night at least once a week, especially during the NBA playoffs. That's the worst splurging for me.