Any Money Saving Tips? - Comments

Start couponing. My sister does and I have seen her get over a hundred dollars worth of groceries for around 13 dollars. It helps save a ton of money.

The one thing I did after buying my Macbook (and subsequently realising I had absolutely no fucking money left) was to swap from branded groceries to supermarket brands. I was basically eating tons and tons of Quorn branded food (which gets pretty expensive) so I swapped to getting cheaper alternatives offered by supermarket-own brands (so instead of Quorn sausages, I'd buy ASDA's own vegetarian sausages and save about 50p a packet sometimes) and I actually started saving a lot of money in the end-up. I now do it with everything -- juices, lunch foods, clothes, everything like that. I also found that cutting out having a takeaway every other week helped as well. Buying fresh ingredients to cook with (depending on where you shop) and cooking meals from scratch can also save a bit of money and you're learning a skill on the way -- bonus!

I also found that walking small distances instead of taking the bus or getting someone to drive me there helped to save on fares and petrol money. I actually save on average £40 per month by walking to the supermarket instead of getting the bus down there and it only takes me like 20 minutes longer. And it has the double-positive because you're getting fresh air and exercise and all that fabulous jazz that the TV likes to tell us we all need nowadays.

The only other thing I can suggest is checking out charity stores / using eBay as much as possible. I save so much money by getting second-hand things and if they happen to be in good condition, then you're definitely getting a bargain. I got a new pair of Converse this year for 99p off of eBay, when I'd have probably spent about £35 getting them in a shop. Also, use eBay if you're getting rid of things. I managed to make £150 off of old clothes I wasn't going to wear again, a couple of older DS consoles that were lying around gathering dust and some games and stuff, which was a nice little bonus considering they were just going in the bin anyway. I don't think that last one is money saving as much as money generating, but it helped me when I was strapped for cash.

Something I did when I first stopped living with roommates (got my first apartment alone) was go a pay period without buying any non-necessities - just to see how much I spent then and how much I had left over versus how much I usually have left over from one check to the other. Doing that helped me see how much I could save every two weeks, and then from that number, I worked out a budget that split my money up into three categories:

- living expenses: rent, bills, food, transportation, ect.
- savings: money that I took out of my paycheck before spending any of it
- extra money: money that I would have left to fool around with

Once I knew how much I could live on, it was a lot easier to figure out how to push my money around and make sure I had a set amount to put into savings each week/month.

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Also, if you can, I'd definitely suggest joining a credit union. You can set it up so they automatically take out a few bucks each paycheck (how much is up to you) and put it into savings for you. Since that money isn't sitting in your bank, it's a lot tougher for you to dip into, making it a lot easier to spend. (I know when I put money in my savings account, I often dip into it because it's so easy to just get online and move the money from checking to savings, but with the credit union, if I want that money, I either have to physically go to the credit union building - which is out of the way and always crowded - or fill out a form online or over the phone and then wait for them to send me a check. It's just so inconvenient, I never do it for frivolous reasons.)

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Another thing you can do is see where you can skim money with bills.

For example, a lot of people are paying a ton for cellphones service or even fancy cellphones, when you can get unlimited cellphone plans for about $30 bucks/month and inexpensive smartphones you can pay off right away - rather than have to pay extra monthly to pay it off. Also, sometimes people are paying extra for unlimited data plans and home internet but if you don't have a job where you need to be on the internet constantly, you probably don't need to have both. If you have home internet, you can try to downgrade your phone's data plan and just use your phones internet when you need to and use the home internet when you can.

If you're not in a contract with your internet service, you can also try shopping around for a cheaper provider. And if you're currently paying for cable, you can try letting that go to. (I didn't have cable once I stopped sharing an apartment and it saved me a ton and I never felt like I was missing out on anything.)

Landlines! You probably don't need one. I feel like sometimes people get landlines because it's just how we grew up and it seems normal, but if you don't use your landline often or if it's viable for you just use your cellphone instead, then I'd say drop the landline. Or if you have at-home internet/wifi, you can sign up with an inexpensive phone service that hooks up through the internet/plug in the wall, like MagicJack (which I use and love and it cost $35/year - and the first year is free now, I believe).

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And if you decided to downgrade on some things as far as bills go (and you're getting buy on how much you're paying now), you can make a conscious decision to bank the difference. So, for example, if you're paying $150/mo for internet/cable/land-line now and downgrade to just internet and switch to a $50/mo plan for just internet, you make sure you send that extra $100/mo to your savings account, no matter what. Since you didn't have that money in your pocket before, you won't miss it now that you're saving it.

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I think, really, the best way to save money is to make sure you're not already spending too much on the things you must buy/pay for. Because sometimes you really just don't know. The prices of the major stuff change so often, what might have been a good deal a couple of years ago, could be a really shitty deal now (especially true of internet/cell phone/cable services), so it's good to re-evaluate every once in a while. (Also! If you're paying your own car insurance, it's always good to check in and see if you can get cheaper rates, since your rates can go down with age, experience, employment, and if you haven't had any accidents.)

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One more thing! COUPONS! But only for things you're already buying. If you're a Target person, get the Cartwheel app. If you know you're heading to a store to make a purchase, do a quick "Store name coupons" Google search and check out what sites like CouponCabin and RetailMeNot have to offer. (This helped me out this Christmas season because stores like JCPenny, Macys, Khols, HM, Old Navy, Gap, etc. always have online and printable coupons you can use.)

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Sorry, that turned out to be a long post. :/

For starters, I used Mint.com for a while--you can link it up to your checking account, and use it to categorize your purchases so you know how much money is going where. It sounds like you're already pretty aware of that, but seeing the concrete numbers really helps get it into focus.

Second, I definitely recommend BUDGETING for extra spending. Which sounds weird, but I've always found that when I don't have any extra spending planned into my budget, I end up spending more on things as they come up, whereas if I have that budgeted then I stick to the budget, if that makes sense.

I'm trying to think of other "money saving" tips, but honestly I don't want to ask the personal details of your budget and "budget living" is kind of my general way of life so I don't really have a normal-budget perspective to compare it to. >.> But those were the first to come to mind. Not sure if they help. Regardless, good luck. =)

I'm pretty much in the same boat as you, haha. Like two weeks ago I went to Target and ended up spending almost $80 dollars even though nothing I bought was over 15! I do have an app though that does have the potential to help, I just never use it. It's called "Pocket Expense" and it's a good way to see how much you'll end up spending before you spend. That's really the only tip I have for you because like I said, I'm in the same boat as you lol.

Good luck with your saving up, though!

Not sure if this is a tip that is helpful (it won't be if you physically shop compared to Internet shop), but when I find things on the Internet I want but don't need, I add them to the basket and when I'm about to head to the checkout, I exit out of the window.

This blog should save your life.