Ric Edelman's Top 10 Places to Save Money Ric says that if you follow the steps below, you could save up to $8,520 a year! 1. Stop spending coins! Put your change aside and save it.Save $25 to $40 a month. 2. Use supermarket coupons the right way â?? actually put away the money you save with coupons.Save $10 to $30 a month. 3. Cancel your cable.Save $40 to $90 a month. 4. Take your lunch to work.Save $60 to $100 a month. 5. Limit your newspaper and magazine subscriptions.Save $10 to $25. 6. Increase your insurance deductibles.Save $15 to $150 a month. 7. Lower your thermostat.Save $20 to $80 a month. 8. Set up automatic bill payment. Saves you postage, paper and late fees.Save $60 a year. 9. Reduce or eliminate ATM and fee-charging credit cards. Don't keep going back to ATMs--once you've spent your money, don't allow yourself to withdrawal more. Save up to $40 a month. 10. Buy less soda!Save up to $75 to $100 a month.
Turn off cable? Haha Might as well add: 1. Starve the kids; save $300/month. 2. Stop bathing; save $20/month, but lose friends 3. Walk to work; save $400/month 4. Live in a cardboard box; save $500/mo or more! Those people are called "tight asses" where I come from. lol
Not "tightasses", Mike they're called accountants. It's kinda of pathetic, but I do all the above except 3 and 10. There is no way I could live without HBO (Sex & City and The Sopranos) or my Mountain Dew. Dani
I thought those were synonyms, but nevermind. Haha. Hell, how can I save change when the wife takes a $20 out of my wallet to go to the store and never brings my change back? Hehe
Living cheap is only a short term way of saving. It shouldn't become a life style. But all of the aforementioned items are not necessities. In the beginning it would be wise to figure out what we do and do not need. There is a big difference between being cheap and frugal. There will come a point where being a cheapskate will actually hinder your financial progress. For instance, if you are running a small business and you are not turning a profit, it would be wise to cut every conceivable expense in the beginning. But if you were turning a large profit, the time spent clipping coupons and worrying about inconsequential details would hinder you ability to make MORE $MONEY$. These tasks would be delegated or forgotten about. We cant let our quest to be cheap, keep us from making more money.. FRUGAL is better.....I wouldn't want to die as a well know cheapskate..
My husband and five sons have one thing in common. None of them can stand to have any coins in their pockets! The second they realize there is change in their pockets, they immediately dump it onto the nearest flat surface. Years ago I started throwing the change into a big cannister as I straightened the house. Once a year we would put the change in wrappers and cash them in at the bank. We would use the money for a family outing.
Cracks me up.... Which of these do you think Oprah started doing? NONE! She wants you to think that she one of the common people..... Common people do live like Oprah!
Thanks for the tips! I've been reading a few books on this subject lately. If interested - I can reccomend a few - some of the stuff is off the wall - but some suggestions r great. Hubby was off work for awhile and now i want him back home - i sure miss the home cooked meals when I came home from work. PS don't tell him I said this - but he makes a great house hubby
Kelly, I wish I could find a rich working woman so that I could stay home and be a "house hubby". Haha.
If you go to the TMF LBYM board (translation - The Motley Fool, Living Below Your Means) - these folks are as into denying yourself stuff as we are into credit. It is their hobby. There are also whole websites about how to live frugally. Just go to google and type in "frugal living" - it's amazing. But I do go through my stuff periodically and decide what to keep and what to do away with. I got rid of voice mail and got a $19.99 answering machine - stuff like that - I am not denying myself something I enjoy, but cutting out the nickel and dime stuff - last year I went through and came up with $150 a month!!! All of it dumb stuff like magazines I never read, extra phone services I got talked into... breeze
My bank said DON'T waste your time counting it...bring your container, and they will count it with their high speed machine, and credit your account...
I eliminated my second phone line, which saved me $35 a month. I also dumped my Caller ID and ancillary services in favor of a phone company voicemail service that takes calls while I'm on the line or on the Internet. This saved $8 a month, so the phone company is getting $43 a month less out of me. I haven't missed the second line as much as I thought I would. I miss Caller ID a little, but I'd rather have the extra money in my pocket. I also paid down all my credit-card debt to zero. That saved me about $15 a month in interest charges. I'm applying all of my savings to my car loan and hope to have my 60-month loan paid in 30 months. There are differing opinions on this, but I chose to take $1,800 out of savings to pay back the CC balance because interest was accumulating on it faster than it was accumulating in my passbook savings account. When my cellphone contract is up in October, I'm dumping it, too. This will save about $37 a month, which I'll put toward the car. Funny thing about this board: Starting more than 3 years ago, I went to work to rebuild my credit, putting to use much of the info posted here. My FICO rose from the high 500's to 750, and I graduated from Providian (23.99 percent) and Cap One (19.8 percent) to Fleet Fusion (9.99 percent) and Amex Blue (10.99 percent) and the Quicken Platinum card from Citibank USA (10.65 percent). I now have nearly $20,000 in available credit and am not using any of it. Still, it's nice to know that my financial life is more flexible. It's even better to know that I can save a few bucks without having to worry about gradually expanding balances. Cap One, Providian, First Premier -- I've had them all. I treated them well by paying the bill the day it arrived and, in the end, they all treated me well. Maurice
Maurice I eliminated my second phone line, which saved me $35 a month. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I dumped my $7.00/month second phone line when I got AT&T @ HOME...I guess I wasn't being ripped off at $7.00/month if you pay $35.00/month... CALLER ID?...I'LL WALK TO WORK BEFORE I GET RID OF THAT (3 miles one way~one hour). I get "BLOCK THE BLOCKER"...no PRIVATE NAME/PRIVATE NUMBER ever show up...they are told to unblock their number, or don't bother calling...(*77 beep beep dial tone) I have ALWAYS had an answering machine.
Maurice, According to this guy on Oprah, you hit the nail on the head. Although, he gives 4 steps to beginning to save, and here they are: Getting Started The four-step plan that will put you on the road to riches! 1. Join your company's retirement plan and contribute the most possible. Never touch that money. 2. Pay off personal credit-card debt before saving. Stay debt-free. 3. Build cash reserves. Save a rainy day fund for the unplanned (the car breaks down, your child breaks a bone, you lose your job, etc.) and the planned (holidays, vacations, etc.). 4. Start buying investments. Take excess cash and put it into mutual funds. If we try the 1st 10 things on the original list, that will help us do #2 on this list!
Great ideas, everyone (even George!) May make a couple of points? (1) When you list 10 different ways to cut spending, they really make a difference. Many of the tips seem trivial by themselves, but when you put them together you have a comprehensive plan, hopefully directed towards a meningful goal like college, retirement, vacation, marriage, children, home ownership, etc. (2) You don't have to do these things forever, although once you start you may never want to quit. If you just do these things long enough to pay down your credit card balances, then you save on both interest and principal payments until the day you die. Without the extra payments, you can spend more again if you want. Live long and prosper...
aw andrew, how am i suppose to take that!? : ) one thing that makes me appreciate oprah is that she often acknowledges that she physically has a big head (hard to find hats that fit) and on that note i can totally relate. or am i missing the point? either way -lol ledo
I agree Richguy! And, Maurice, you and I are in the exact same boat. In January of this year I had $3600 in available credit and was using every bit of of. Now, I have $20,000 in available credit and I never want to use it (currently LBMM to pay my CC debt off). I haven't used a single credit card for a purchase in over two months, and that feels good. But - as you said - it's nice to know that it's there if an emergency arises. I second George re paying off CC debt before adding to savings. Its always an automatic 15-20% return. As far as Oprah's list - I'm down with everything except the cable TV ($40 a month for me). I don't spend anything on entertainment elsewhere, so cable is my "mad time" spent in front of the old movie channel...
I am with you. I am looking for a RICH man (not necessarily husband) so I can stop working. That's my newest goal....lol
