Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Day 19 - of 30 Days to a Simplier Life

Part 2 of Simple Ways to Save Money

  1. Eliminate 20%: Stuff and baggage accumulates over time. It's a good idea to take a sweep through your stuff every few months or so and eliminate 20% of your clothes, toys, electronics, etc. You can donate them to charity or even consider selling them through a garage sale or other various online auction sites.
  2. Price check before buying anything expensive: For other items that are expensive, do a price check before buying the item. You can go to site such as nexttag.com or pricegrabber.com to do this.
  3. Avoid impulse buying: Make it a habit to avoid impulse buying. Many of the things you want to buy do not seem all that necessary, if you walk away from the item and say, "I will come back and buy it in a couple days' it will give you time to decide if you really need or want it. You will be amazed how many times you will realize you don't go back
  4. Bottle your own water: Of course there are always times you may need to grab a bottled water but I am trying to be more conscious of using a glass or my own container to cut down on the number of bottles I am using in a week.
  5. Keep your car as long as possible: When possible, try to keep your car as long as possible. My little Camry is a 1999 and we do not have any plans to get rid of it any time soon. We are really enjoying not having car payments. I have about 140,000 miles on it right now. Oh course, when it gets to the point that you are having to put alot of repairs into it then it may be time to purchase a newer one.
  6. Do regular scheduled maintenance on your vehicles: Do not skimp on or forget to do regular oil changes. Remember to check the air in your tires often. These small acts can significantly lengthen the life of your car, giving you years of use.
  7. Avoid buying a new car: When you eventually buy a car, see if you can make do with a pre-owned vehicle. A new car depreciates significantly the moment you drive it out the dealership. Is the new car small really worth thousands of dollars? Pre-owned cars that are only a few years old with low mileage are the best bargains. Regardless of the purchase, learn to negotiate with car dealers
  8. If you watch a lot of DVDs, get an online DVD store membership: Membership to online movie stores like Netflix or Blockbuster Online can save you a lot of money compared to buying DVDs or renting it from a local store. You need to wait once you order the movie, but if you watch a lot of movies at home, then you can easily get into the habit of ordering ahead of time so you always have something at home. The library also has a lot of DVDs you can borrow. I was surprised at how many current titles they have.
  9. If you like watching movies at the theater, go before 12 noon: This is something me and hubby really like to do. We really like watching movies in the theater with the big screen and the great sound effects. But instead of paying ~$10 a piece for the ticket, we usually go before 12 pm on Saturday at AMC when the tickets are a $5 a piece.
  10. Regulate your electric use: My hubby tells me that just turning off all your lights when not in use can make a difference in your electric bill. Also, keeping you air at no lower than 77 during the day in the summer and about no higher than 68 in the winter can save alot.
  11. Plan vacations ahead of time: Vacations are a necessary part of saving our sanity in the busy lives that we lead. But vacations can be very expensive. You can find some great prices on hotels at hotel.com. Researching the places you want to go and going on off-seasons is also a great way to save. Right now because of the recession you can get some amazing prices if you just take the time to research.
Hebrews 13:5
Keep your life free from the love of money, and be content with what you have.

4 comments:

Pocahontas hiker said...

Sometimes the simple things are the hardest to do. We are keeping track of every penney for the month of January. I see the most we spend consistently is at DD for coffee. But I hate to report every penny....

Beverly Walters Whaley said...

OK I am thinking here that this part two is worrying your fellow otter! ARE YOU SURE you have not been abducted by a BEAVER!??? ARE YOU SURE THAT THE BEAVER did not TRAP you into saying all those things about saving....uncompulsive spending...WHERE DID KATHY GO???? LOL Great stuff to live by! Post how you envelope saving is going! Would love to follow! LOL Happy Blogging Beaver....I mean otter! LOL

CoachK said...

Pocahontas,
Every penney? that is not fun. I think I would probably have the most going to DD too. :)

CoachK said...

Bev,
Ok so I left the "beaver" mask on a bit too long. Now I'm feeling like a stressed "otter" and you don't have to be insulting and call me a BEAVER!:) Ok, I'll make up for it today!!