5 Ways to STASH CASH
By roque20
@roque20 (518)
Philippines
October 19, 2008 9:10am CST
Inspired to save? I hope so. But maybe you're wondering where the money will come from.
1. Limit trips to the supermarket. Every time you walk through those automatic doors, you're bombarded with opportunities for n impulse buy, and you may walk out with at least one or two things not on your list. Try to make one big trip a week. Savings: If you make four trips a week and spend $10 each extra each time, cut three to save $120 a month.
2. Coupons aren't just for groceries anymore. You can find coupons for movies, restaurants, and even clothing stores. Savings: If your family dines out twice a month at $75 a meal, you'll save $180 a year with ten percent off coupons.
3. Audit your bills. Call you wireless provider once a year to make sure you're on the best plan. Do the same with you cable, internet, long distance providers. Bundling all three usually nets a discount.Savings: Several hundred dollars a year.
4. Use public transportation or carpool. You'll save on petrol, maintenance, and even parking. Savings: If you commute 25 kilometers round trip each day, save $100 a month by alternating driving each week with a friend.
5. COnsolidate your plugs. Between five and 15 percent of the power used by electronic is consumed when they're turned off. Plug your TV, DVD player, cable box, and home entertainment system into a power strip or surge protector, then unplug it at night and when you're not at home. Savings: If your electric bills run $120 a month, you'll save up to $216 a year.
2 people like this
11 responses
@BinaryKat (735)
• United States
19 Oct 08
I do some of them already like the public transportation tip and putting my plugs in a power strip. I never thought about using coupons outside of using them just for the store. I am going to have to try that.
2 people like this
@snowy22315 (182031)
• United States
19 Oct 08
Some good tips for saving money. I'll have to remember them the next time I go shopping. I think the electrical tips are also good. I will try to remember to do the following. i do try to remember to unplug the appliances when not in use.
2 people like this
@nishdan01 (3051)
• Singapore
20 Oct 08
Make a list before you go to shop. Limiting the visists help. No need to do window shopping. Shop what is on the list and head to cashier. Go to shops when you have little time available. This would prevent you fromlooking at things that is not required. Too much browsing causes desire and you will end up buying things to satisfy your desires.
@happythoughts (4109)
• United States
22 Oct 08
I have been shopping less at the store. I am trying to save all the money I can but it isnt for stashing, but more so to pay bills. All of our bills have gone up and we are just barely getting by. We hope to get some debts payed off so that things get better. Here is to hoping.
@EAStanley (2688)
• United States
19 Oct 08
Wow, those are good tips. I do some of those anyway. But, it is staggering to see just how much money it saves. It is almost frightening. Thanks for the good advice! :)
2 people like this
@jend80 (2071)
• United Kingdom
20 Oct 08
a good tip to go with the last one is to buy one of those power/energy saving power strips - plug several connected items (like a computer, moniter and printer etc) into it then when you turn the main one off (your pc for example - works even if you put it into hibernation) ebverthing else is turned of too.
@highflyingxangel (9225)
• United States
21 Oct 08
My partner and I have cut down on the amount of trips we make out. Oddly enough we have noticed that we definitely are spending so much less than we used to when we'd go out. We're barely making one trip to a store a week now and I'm noticing less gas money spent as well as less money thrown around for those purchases that strike us suddenly when out.
We've also really learned how to use coupons effectively. We've found coupons for so many random items that whenever we have a coupon for something that we'd normally buy anyway, we make sure to take it along so we can save a few extra dollars. We use coupons for restaurants, personal care products, anything we can get our hands on, we make sure to use it.
Also, we're college students and because we live on campus, on a campus with lots of transportation options, we make sure that we use public transportation of some kind or we walk to class. That alone saves us so much money because we don't have to pay a few dollars here and there to park. And, public transportation here is free for students so we don't have to worry about that either.
@sunshine4 (8703)
• United States
20 Oct 08
These are good tips. I would also add to take your change out of your pocket every night and put it in a piggybank. I do this and within months we have $100 easily saved up!
@ketybhagat (4123)
• India
21 Oct 08
Good tips. Makes us see where we can save. Inflation is killing and savings are down. thanks.
