Foxway Money Saving Tips

Money Saving Tips

Here is a listing of some of the money saving tips I have used to save money (and maybe find "extra" money). It is certainly not everything available. After you read all of these money saving tips you will be able to start thinking of more ways to save money that are unique to you and your family. Use this listing as a starting point. The main idea is to look at every way you spend your hard-earned money and find ways to spend less and save more. These are not in any particular order and some are going to seem goofy. The idea is to get you and your family to cut back on spending and do more saving. These tips are here to promote that “spend less and save more” lifestyle that will bring you financial health.

Find yourself a low cost tire pressure gauge. You should get one that has a clip on the side so you can put it on your sun visor in your auto. Do not put it in the glove compartment. You won’t ever remember it in there. Check your owner’s manual and find out what your tire pressure should be. Usually it is also printed on the side of each tire. Check each tire every time you fill-up your car. Tires under-inflated cause a drag on your engine and can decrease gas mileage by as much as 10%. Over-inflated tires wear out faster.

Are you still paying for a checking account? Well, you can stop that right now. Washington Mututal (a mututal savings bank insured by FDIC) has a free online checking account that you can sign up for in just a few minutes. The benfits are great. No fee checking and free checks with free ATM card usage. Open WaMu Free Checking Account with only a $1 or more + get Free ATM withdrawals, cash back for debit card use and free checks. Learn more!

Have you just purchased or about to purchase one of those new High Definition TV's? Wait till you see the price of HDTV channels from your local cable company. They can be quite high. That is why I use satellite TV. In most areas it is cheaper than cable and the signal quality is all digital. It is really great. And one of the best places to get a super satellite system is DISH Network. They have an ongoing promotion for free equipment and free HD programming. You will not be disappointed and you can save over regular cable prices.

This one is going to seem silly, but it works. When you brush your teeth, use only half the amount of toothpaste you normally use. You do not need to load up the toothbrush with toothpaste in order to do a good job. And for a family of four, this can result in several dollars of savings over a year. The only reason we put toothpaste on a toothbrush from one end of the bristles to the other, is because they show it that way in the commercials. A small dab is all you need.

Use only half the amount of laundry soap recommended by the manufacturer. The reason they have those little cups in the laundry soap is so you will fill them up and run out of soap faster. And don’t be worried about no suds. Suds do not get clothes clean. They are there only for show to make you think the soap is doing a great job. Chemicals in the soap do the actual cleaning, not the bubbles.

The key to saving money on anything you buy is to comparison shop. We do not do enough comparison shopping in the United States. For instance, you can save a ton of money on health insurance and dental insurance by shopping around. For those of you without some type of employer health insurance, it is imperative that you find the best deal you can on health insurance. I use eHealthInsurance. They offer the largest selection of health plans. You can get free instant quotes, the best prices, compare policies and apply online, all with live help! Saving hundreds of dollars a year on premiums is quite possible.

When buying a new or used auto, check around for the best pricing for that model. The internet is a good place to look, but sometimes prices are a little high, depending on what area of the country you are in. Negotiate for a cash price before offering a trade-in. I know they ask if you are trading in your car. Just say no until you establish a cash price. And never settle for the first cash price offered by the car dealer (or private party for that matter). They will go lower. Sometimes much lower. Whatever they say their cash price is, I mentally deduct at least 10% and offer that amount. If they won’t take your offer, get up and leave. It’s your money so don’t spend it when you don’t have to. There is always a better deal out there.

Check insurance rates on any car you are thinking of buying. Sometimes a really good deal can become a nightmare when you find out that the car insurance rates are double what they would be with a different car in the same class. Never buy any auto without checking the insurance rates first. For that matter, before buying any expensive item requiring insurance like a home, boat, airplane or auto, check the insurance rates and premiums through several different sources. I use InsureMe to get free insurance quotes.

If you are male and shave every day, then you might want to consider using an inexpensive electric razor instead of a safety razor. An electric can sometimes do just as good a job and in the long run, it can be cheaper than safety razors. The new three and four bladed safety razors can cost well over $2 per refill. This is over $100 a year! If you must use a safety razor, stick with the double bladed kind. Be sure to compare the price of double bladed refills with the price of double bladed disposable. Sometimes even this price difference is quite large.

If you want to make a few extra dollars a month without spending anything, then consider taking surveys online. You don't need to buy a book explaining this. Registering to take surveys is free. (Refer to my paid surveys page.) I have found some pretty good sources that you can register with and very easily make $20 to $200 a month extra. Sign up with all of them. It is a great way to make a few extra dollars each month with very little effort. You really will get paid for your opinions and sometimes win super prizes. They also send out free samples of different products for you to evaluate. A few of the best ones I have been able to find are:

All of these survey sites, plus the others listed on my paid survey page, are excellent. They really do pay you for taking surveys and I recommend you sign up with each one.

I'm a big fan of term life insurance instead of whole life insurance. I think a ten year term insurance policy is one of the best things you can buy. I especially recommend buying a term policy that will cover all of your current debt. Add up your car loan balances, credit card balances (hopefully zero!) and home loan balances along with any other debt or loan balance. Buy a term life insurance policy that will cover the total. Then drop any "credit life" insurance you have through these lenders. All "credit life" insurance is just very high-priced term insurance. Replacing it can save you hundreds of dollars a year and significantly lower your loan payments. I have a section about insurance if you want to learn a lot more. And if you are in the market for a really good term life insurance plan at the best possible price, check out Eterm. They are the best I have ever seen. And I've checked a lot of companies. Their rates are 50% - 70% lower than most term company rates. They make buying your policy very easy and the prices are great. I can highly recommend them.

Click here to start saving with ING DIRECT!

Put your basic savings into some type of insured or guaranteed account that historically pays among the highest rates, such as ING DIRECT which can be opened online in less than five minutes. This is a great way to increase your total savings on a consistent basis and I highly recommend them as a no fee, no minimum balance, high market rate source for a basic savings plan account (which everyone should have). Once you have your basic savings needs taken care of, addtional investments in a little riskier form can be made. See the section on saving and investing for some more good basic information and a savings plan. Also, see how to save $1000 in one year with this 20 minute savings plan.

If you use a dial-up modem to connect to the internet, you might want to evaluate how much you are paying for your internet service provider. You want a company that is inexpensive and yet is large enough to provide excellent service. One reliable and really inexpensive provider that will give you the first three months at half price is PeoplePC Online. They are really good with more local access phone numbers than anyone else. They are stable and fast. My 80 year old aunt uses them and is very satisfied; I can highly recommend them.

Keeping track of your spending can be a real pain. The best thing to do is to have a formal budgeting system that you keep updated. This way you can save first before spending any money. I've partnered with a person who has developed an incredibly good and easy to use budgeting system. It is a computer program that even kids can use. It works on any Windows system. It's guaranteed to work for you and your family and it can save you a lot of money. Try Tatiana's MyBudgetPlanner. It has a lot of really great features that will save you time and money. I highly recommend it.

If you are thinking of buying or renting an existing property, check on what the average utility bill was for the past year. The utility companies will be happy to tell you if you just give them the address of the property. If the bills seem out of line, this might indicate a problem with some of the mechanical or electrical systems, so beware.

I have included a state by state listing with links to agencies so you can check vital records & unclaimed property. There might be some abandonded money or valuables due to you that you don't even know about. You can also check to see if the IRS owes you money at the National Taxpayers Union website.

In addition to the above sources, I have a section dealing with realistic part-time extra income. It does not contain any get-rich-quick stuff. It is just a listing of stuff I have found to actually work if you want to run a little part-time business and make some extra money. Of course one of the best ways to make more money is to get a better education. If you need to increase your income, this is the best way to go. You can get some free information about on-line degrees at our education resources page. I have a good friend who enrolled in an on-line college degree program and got a masters degree. It saved his job when the company he worked for downsized.

If you drink a lot of bottled water, then get a water filter and attach it to your sink faucet. Refill the empty water bottles you have with your own filtered water. Most bottled water comes from a tap, just like your own water supply at home. There is no magic in bottled water. It is a sales gimmick that has worked. You can save hundreds of dollars a year by refilling your own water.

Cell phones can be a real money grabber. If you have a $40 a month plan the chances are very good that your monthly bill is much more than this. Why? Because we lose track of the time spent on a cell phone and end up with excess minutes that can be very expensive. If you need a cell phone, you might want to check out Tracfone. They have a pay-as-you-go plan that can be very inexpensive. They give you a Free Cell Phone and they have other plans with cheap monthly prices. Of all the cell phone services I have checked out, this one seems to be the best with the lowest price. Cutting back on your cell phone usage can save you a lot of money each month.

Cut out the soft drinks. Sodas can be very expensive over a long term period. Use your imagination and substitute water with a little kool-aide when you want something with more flavor. Same goes for that morning cappacino. It can wind up costing you several hundred dollars a year if you get the expensive latte every morning before work.

Do you play the lottery? Do you really think you are going to win the big one? Trust me, the odds are stacked real high against you. Every dollar you spend is like throwing the money into the trash bin. So quit playing. I know…”I can’t win if I don’t play.” Alright, I have an answer for you. Following are some FREE lottery games you can play online. It doesn't cost a thing and they pay out real money to winners. Take a look at Cashbreak. They pay a lot of winners and have several different free games. Also try Email-Lotto. They are the oldest lottery on the internet and it is totally free. You can play daily and the winners are announced weekly. You can play every day with a free ticket, just like a state lottery. So sign up for free with these lotteries and you can still have the thrill of being in a lottery without the expense of actually buying a ticket.

Are you a smoker? Then quit. Right now. Today. Did you know that the average smoker spends somewhere between $600 and $2500 a year on the habit. And it is just a habit. I know it is hard to quit, but do it, starting today. Put them down, throw them out and don’t pick up another cigarette. The average man will have the nicotine out of their system in about three days, and the average woman takes about 4 days after “cold-turkey” quitting. Go without cigarettes for one week and you will have quit. “I just can’t quit. I’ve tried”. Okay, try this. Let’s say you spend about $4 a day on cigarettes. Drop by your bank before you quit and get $30 worth or dimes. That’s 6 rolls of dimes. Take some to work and leave some at home. Put a roll or two in your pocket. Don’t take the dimes out of the roll. Put a piece of duct tape over the end of each roll. When you quit, start taking a dime out of the roll each time you want a cigarette. Slowly peel off the duct tape and open the end of the dime roll and take out one dime for each craving. Put the dime in a dish at home, at work or in your car. Reseal the roll of dimes after you take one out and reapply the duct tape. The few seconds it takes to do this will be longer than that harsh nicotine craving lasts. At the end of the first week, you will have saved $30 in dimes and you will be a non-smoker. Take yourself out to eat with that $30 and sit in the non-smoking area!

Weight kills gas mileage. So check your car or truck for excess items you are carrying around that you don't need. Maybe you have bricks or some other heavy objects in the back of your pick-up. Now is the time to unload them. Check the trunk of your car. This space tends to fill up with junk that is not needed. Get rid of all the weight you can. Also, if you have a rack that goes on top of your car, take it off when not in use. In fact, it is a good idea to just throw it away. It increases wind resistance and lowers gas mileage.

For goodness sake, quit buying your printer cartridges at the local computer, office supply or discount store. They are just too high-priced there. I get my cartridges at 123inkjets.com. Delivery is usually within two days and their quality is great. I've never had a problem in any of my printers. I normally stock up when I order because their cartridges have a very long shelf life. I can buy three of their great cartridges for the price of only one at my local store.

See if you can find an inexpensive but durable pressure cooker. The ones on the market today are reliable and safe. You can buy very cheap cuts of meat, cook them in one fourth the time and they will taste better and be more tender than any way you have prepared them before. This can save a lot on your food bill, not to mention cutting back on the amount of time your stove or oven is "on" while cooking stuff. This works on just about everything, especially a whole chicken. I found one not long ago at a dollar store for $15.

Always make a list before going shopping. Find out when your local grocer marks down food items such as meat. This usually happens when the item is just out of date or is getting close. Shop at the time when they are out marking down items. You can save a lot this way. And make a list of stores you want to go to that day. Plan the best and most efficient route so you don’t spend a lot of time running around. Especially with the price of gasoline these days!

This can sometimes work, depending on your location and your grocer. Find the store manager and ask for an overall discount. Tell him you are trying to save money and see if he will give you a 2, 3 or 5% discount on all your purchases if you promise to only shop in his store. You may be surprised at the answer.

Find and use coupons for everything you normally buy. Sunday papers and magazines are loaded with them. You can save hundreds of dollars a year (if not thousands!) by signing up with the best on-line coupon site, CoolSavings. I use them extensively and have really saved a bunch of money. They have an enormous amount of local and national coupons for stuff everyone uses. I highly recommend you register (for free) with this excellent coupon source. Also, I know there are many items we all buy that are brand name. But if you can, try the generic or store brand of the same product. These “off” brands are made by the same companies that make the name brands. They just put a different label on the container when manufacturing for someone else.

Change your own auto oil or find someone who will do it for a discount. Never buy anything without asking for a discount and promising to use that merchant exclusively. All merchants depend on repeat business and are sometimes happy to give you a discount if you will keep doing business with them. For instance, at the local video rental place, tell them you will rent only from them if they will give you a 5 or 10% discount. Same thing for any service business such as oil changes, hair cuts or dog grooming.

Make family meal menus and stick with them. You have to do this ahead of time. By doing this, you will know what coupons to look for based on what your meals are going to be. Also, this helps you prepare a shopping list. You can sometimes find really valuable coupons by searching on the internet. I search for my local newspapers online and then go to their sites. I then do a search for "coupons" on their site. You can do the same with magazines that carry a lot of consumer coupons.

Small chest freezers and vacuum packing machines can save you a lot of money if you have a large family. Buying in bulk and on sale can save 20% off your food bill. Just be careful to only buy items you will be using in a couple of months at the most. And if you can’t get a good price by bulk buying, then there is no reason to buy this way. The downfall of bulk buying is waste. If you are not absolutely sure you are going to use all of the bulk items, don't buy them in large amounts.

$1000 Savings
in One Year!

Increase all of your insurance deductibles to the highest level available for your circumstances. Usually this is $500 or $1000 for auto and maybe as high as $5000 for homeowners. Pick what you are comfortable with and set aside a separate savings account just to cover deductibles in case of a catastrophic loss. Remember, insurance was only invented to cover very large losses. The smaller losses were supposed to be covered by us through savings. Every time your insurance comes up for renewal, shop around for better rates. Check out my section on insurance basics for some more information about all types of insurance.

Set your thermostat relatively high in the summer and low in the winter. Each degree of thermostat setting you can increase/decrease can mean on average a 4% saving in your utility bill. Also, consider switching your light bulbs out from incandescent to flourescent bulbs. This can save a bunch on your electric bill, not to mention lowering your inside temperature in the summer time. Here's a hint: Many electric companies will give you flourescent bulbs for free just to get you to use them. Check with your local company to see what offers they might have.

Those membership warehouses can sometimes be a good deal. But beware, they can also end up costing you more in the long run. Make sure they always carry the items you buy consistently. Check the price against your local store to see if you are saving any money on those items you are always buying. Remember this, if you can get a 5% discount on all your purchases at your local chain grocery store (ask that manger) then you are probably not going to save that much at a warehouse. Also, warehouse operators are very smart marketers. They will get you to buy stuff you don’t really need just because you are there and it seems cheap. I’ll say it again, never shop without a list that you stick with. You will save yourself thousands of dollars over a year just by cutting out “impulse” purchases. And if, for example, the membership fee is $50 a year, you will have to buy $1000 a year with a minimum of 5% savings on the prices just to cover the membership fee.

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Don’t charge anything unless you can pay it off when the bill comes. Interest charges defeat the purpose of saving. Plus it is just too easy to make a minimum payment on your credit card bill. This is especially true of retail company private credit cards. They will give you big discounts to get you to use their cards because they know the average consumer will not pay off the card balance the next month. A few months of extra interest more than covers any discount you might get on the product. You will pay more in interest than the discount you get. So just don't buy anything using these retail credit cards and make sure you pay off your regular credit cards each month. If you can't do this, then don't buy it.

You can consolidate debt if you get lower payments, a shorter term and a lower rate. Just be sure that the monthly money this frees up goes to pay off the debt or is saved. Be very careful of those 0%-interest-for-6-months type of balance transfer deals. The rates go up and usually there are fees in the fine print. Many have an “inactivity” fee. If you are paying a lower rate but don’t charge anything new, your account becomes inactive and they start charging an extra monthly fee and sometimes a higher rate. Don’t do any consolidating until you check with one of the credit counselors listed in my Consumer Credit Counseling section. Debt consolidation of any type is a very slippery slope, so let these experts guide you. Over 60% of people who consolidate end up worse off than before. I have also included some good factual loan information in the section on loan basics.

Check your hot water heater and make sure it is not set too high. About 110 to 120 degrees should be plenty. You don’t want your water heater keeping a temperature so high that it wastes gas or electricity. Check you water heater at least monthly for leaks. And put an insulation blanket around the water heater. This can save a lot of money in utilities. Also while you are at it, make sure the air filter in your air conditioner/heating system is clean. A clogged filter makes the fan motor overwork and leads to breakdowns and higher energy costs. As another check, take a look behind your clothes dryer. Make sure it is clean and free of lint build up. Lint build up behind a clothes dryer is a major cause of house fires.

If you buy a lot of magazines off the rack, you might want to consider getting a subscription. It is a lot cheaper. Also, use a magazine subscription service like Magazine City. It is even cheaper than the reduced subscription rates you find in the magazine. I saved over 60% on two gift subscriptions I recently bought. You can also sign up for free magazines with them.

Only wash clothes or dishes when the washer is full. Cutting back your washing by 50% can save a tremendous amount in detergent, water and electricity over a year. So don’t run that dishwasher unless it is full. Also, when drying clothes, you only need about one half of a dryer sheet per load. This will do just as good a job. Tear your dryer sheets in half and you will double the use you get out of one box.

Many people still lease phones from their phone company. This usually cost $2 to $5 per month. Go to your local discount store and buy a phone then call the phone company and tell them you don’t want to lease anymore. Have them pick up the leased phone. Surprisingly, they might not even come and get it since the trip will cost them more than the phone is worth.

A simple tube of cheap calking compound or foam insulation can save you a lot of money. Just be sure to calk around windows, doors and any cracks you might find on the outside surface of your home where air from inside could escape or cold/hot air from outside could get in. You should check for cracks a couple of times a year.

Some utility companies will do a free energy audit of your home and let you know what needs to be done to make your home more energy efficient. Many times they will credit your utility bill for any energy saving steps you take. Lowering your energy costs is one of the best ways to save money in the long run. So if your utility compnay will pay for half of the cost of extra home insulation, then take them up on it. It also increases the value of your home.

If your are renting your home, read this article. It is all about buying a home and the many benefits this offers your overall financial health. It is easier today to buy a home than it has ever been in the past. And the current rates certainly make this more attractive. Buying a home is the single best way to help yourself and your family when it comes to money and investments. And most of the time, the payments for a home are lower than the rent you are now paying. So quit being afraid of this step and get into that new house today. With rates as low as they are and will continue to be for awhile, I recommend you check out variable rate loans. The low initial rate stays the same for at least 5 years and since the average homeowner only keeps a home 7 years, this works out to be a very good deal.

You could have a garage or yard sale. I think everyone knows how to do this, but the key to doing well and selling all of your stuff (junk?) is getting people to stop by. Here’s a trick that works. Notify everyone on your block that you are having a garage sale in about one month. Pick a firm date at least a month in advance. Ask them if they would like to participate also by having their own sale that day. Whoever is interested can help you advertise the sale as a “block long” garage sale. This will get many more people to your area on the sale date and you will make a lot more money. The more neighbors you can get signed up to participate, the better. It gives everyone a chance to meet each other, helps increase traffic, lowers the cost of advertising and is just plain more fun.

If you follow these tips you will be well on your way to saving some big bucks. And everyone will know you as someone who is frugal (cheap?). Remember this famous quote…"it is better to be cheap with a nice savings account than extravagant and deep in debt." Who said that? I did! Please feel free to print out this list and use it yourself or give it to a friend. Good luck and happy saving.

Money saving tips on everything from insurance, utilites and gas; to food, clothing and homes. Learn to save money in every area of your everyday life.

Money Saving Tips

Money saving tips on everything from insurance, utilites and gas; to food, clothing
and homes. Learn to save money in every area of your everyday life.