15 Easy Money Saving Tips

#1 Take advantage of your public library. Libraries are amazing places full of digital downloads, CD’s, DVD’s, magazines and of course books. Rather than spend a fortune buying these consumable products, hit the library and borrow them.

#2 Cut back on the phones. How many phones do you own? A landline? A cell phone for each family member? What are you spending in monthly phone fees? With Google Voice you can get a phone number for free that can forward to any phone, even one of those no contract phones you buy at the supermarket. Suddenly a $200 monthly phone bill becomes $90 for a family of three.

#3 Cook instead of going out to eat. Cooking is a great activity for the entire family and even the smallest of children can get involved. And if you start cooking more often, you can buy food in bulk and freeze it. That way when the next whole roaster chicken goes on sale, you can buy 5 of them and have meals for months.

#4 Walk/bike to work. Of course this is only feasible if you live close to where you work, no one would expect you to walk 20 miles to work, though you could bike that far. It’s a huge money saver and you’ll be in the best physical shape of your life after a few months of exercise.

#5 Cancel cable. Did you know that you can watch many of your favorite shows online for free? It’s true. Additionally, you can get your local news online and if you’re willing to wait, you can rent the season DVD for your favorite shows from services like Netflix. Imagine how much you’d save each year if you didn’t have cable.

#6 Don’t buy it if it’s not on sale. This is becoming a common mantra for many and retailers have gotten wise to it by always putting things on sale. Of course the sale price is often just a smidgen less than the standard retail price. Be a savvy shopper and price compare before you make a purchase. It it’s not really on sale now, wait, it will be.

#7 Always hunt for a coupon before you make a purchase. Even online purchases can come with coupons and coupon codes. There are many aggregate websites that collect and publish these coupon codes so before you hit the “pay now” button do a quick search to find out if there are any applicable coupon codes.

#8 Buy used. You can find amazing clothing, furniture and even kitchen ware at flea markets, resale stores and online at auction sites or classified ad sites. I’ve purchased a $400 Coach purse very gently used online for $30. It’s my favorite purse!