What are some GOOD money saving tips?

Question

I am planning a vacation, and I am giving myself about a year (not set in stone) to save and plan. Do you have any good money saving tips? I want to open a saving account that I don't have an ATM card too, otherwise I think I would spend it..... So, any tips?

Answer 1

Ignore the spammer directing you to his site.

First of all, there are many ways to economize. The first thing to do is track your expenses. With this list you'll see where your money goes. Then you decide what to do with and what to do without. Cut out the fru-fru drinks at Starbucks, start bringing in your lunch to work (stuff like that), and most importantly, PAY OFF YOUR CREDIT CARDS!

The key here is a little self discipline. You have to have this. ATM card or not. You have to take a realistic assessment of how you spend. If you say "I think I would spend it" then forget it. I mean that. You'll never get there unless you charge it, and then you dig yourself in deeper.

My wife, before meeting me, was a financial mess. When I met her she had refinanced her car twice (seven years of payments on an entry level Kia), had never thought of checking around for better insurance, was making interest-only payments on her student loans, owed six thousand dollars to credit card companies, and had started using those payday loans. Here's the kicker: she wasn't living extravagantly. What she was doing was failing to keep track of her income and expenses. The first thing we did was pay off her car. That gave her two hundred extra bucks a month. She paid off the payday loan next. Shopping around for insurance saved her a hundred bucks a month! Putting her on my policy saved her lots more, as she only cost me an additional two hundred a YEAR. When she moved in with me, three months before the wedding, that alleviated her rent, utilities, and food. All by herself she paid off the credit card balance and cut them up within nine months. As of last year she was caught up completely on her student loan payments and has actually paid one of them off. The other will be done in 2010, a year ahead of schedule. She also cut out the fast food lunches and the store-bought coffee. Her credit score has gone up by 200 points. All it took was self-discipline and the desire to improve. While I helped her out some she did 85% of it herself. She now gives herself an allowance for fun that doesn't exceed 10% of her takehome income.

We start vacation funds, a trick I learned from my step-father. If I have cash left in my wallet at the end of the week it goes into the jar. Keep adding and DON'T DIP INTO IT and you'll have enough to take a nice time off.

Answer 2

Put your money in a low interest savings account like ING and make a few bucks off it in the bank. Buy cheap food like rice/potatoes. Don't eat out or get like coffee. Try to get a good deal on your vacation. Look at the prices now and figure out what is the best price and will you get more if you book early. The best way to save money is to get the same service for a lower price. Like if you have a credit card that gives you no rewards get a credit card with rewards like a 1% cash back and no annual fee. Or a bank account that doesn't have any fees. Same service different price. The only difference is it costs less.

Answer 3

This is what I do because I have a hard time not spending money that I try and save.  Get either a 5 gallon water jug or something similar that can hold a lot of change.  Add all of you change to it that you get back from purchasing items that you pay cash for.  I also make a habit of asking for rolls of quarters from the bank.  About every week I usually get 4 rolls (40.00) and it to the jug.  This works well for me because I wont spend it unless I got into a serious bind and would then be desperate enough to take it all into the bank to cash it in.  I am saving for a hardwood floor with mine but a lot of people do this to save for vacations.  I have been doing this since the beginning of the year and I have almost 2000.

Answer 4

Save more then you spend......works for me.........

Answer 5

You have to start thinking S-M-A-R-T. What kind of cutbacks can you make? For example: I drink bottled water. Now at $1 a bottle on something that covers over 65% of our planet is not smart. So I bought one of those water filters that s***w into your faucet. I have bottles that I refil over and over again. I take them to work. Do you have a lot of small appliances around that house that are always on? I cut my electronic bill almost in half by unplugging all the clock radios and night lights. I also bought some of those florescent bulbs that look a lot like a regular bulb. These things use 80% less electricity than regular bulbs. You would be surprised, but these small things add up. I know I was spending money on the water filter and energy efficient bulbs but these things will pay for themselves in a month providing they pertain to you. If you really need the money right away start cutting back on your food costs. Romain noodles cost a dime and they taste just as good as campbells chicken noodle that costs $130 a can. Ok no chicken in romain noodles, but you are probably just missing about 4 tiny pieces of chicken. Put a brick inside your toilet 'chamber'. You will use a little lesser water each time you flush..Before you know it you will be ahead. Wanna be creative? Find yourself leaving lights on? Buy a motion sensor switch, the lights will turn on when you enter the room and will turn off (by a set amount of time) when you leave the room. I have one, they cost $15 at HomeDepot. Need new windshield wipers for your car? Who says you have to buy 2? You only need the new one on the drivers side, leave the old wiper on the passenger side.  So remember you have to start thinking S-M-A-R-T! Yours truly seahorsehawrey.

Answer 6

If you can control yourself, anything is easy, but here's what I would recommend.

1. Know what you want, $1000? $2000?

2. Schedule it.

3. Save every penny you can

4. Get a checking account, savings account only give you 4% a year, you might as well just carefully save it up

So how do you save?

1. Budget, look over your bills, plan to spend what you spent last month this month, AND SAVE ALL ELSE

2. Always tell yourself, this dollar spent here means a dollar less for a vacation.

I hope this much helps, it's all I give for a beginner, if you have advanced questions, message me

Answer 7

A fix account for a year or however long you want. Or join a box or a pardner with people you can trust. How it works: you must have a box holder some one who holds all the money, must be trustworthy. It has to be a couple people the more the better. every week or maybe two weeks  all of you would give the box holder the box money whether its one hundred or more and some one would get a draw every week or month and it would be a couple hundred dollars depending on how much people and money. You can take last handon't you dont want to spend it before the time. REMEMBER HAS TO BE WITH PEOPLE YOU CAN TRUST

Answer 8

Every paycheck you put at least 20$ (or whatever you can afford) in that special savings account. That's for your trip and nothing else. Forget it's there...until it's time for you to buy your plane ticket or whatever. And have a good trip.

Answer 9

Don't spend money on recreational shopping (e.g. if you are bored / hungry / sad). Instead think of an alternative, play with your dog, make your spouse a romantic dinner, exercise. Use cash instead of plastic ( credit / debt cards) if you have enough.

I learned this from managing money e-book. If you need more just say it. =)

Answer 10

Take a look at the site below - its totally free and no money out of your pocket what so EVER!!

Just get your friends, family, etc to shop on the site and you will make money off of them. You do have to sign up but you dont have to shop unless you want to!! Browse thru the site and see if its something you think you can do.

Here is my profile, if you want to take a look: tomeka96

>greathttp://www.bigcrumbs.com/crumbs/landing.... for extra cash!

Answer 11

Try and buy generic brands of items, clothes, food, and stuff like that to save money. Also give yourself a budget of how much your allowed to spend a month. Use that budget to balance out wants and needs. Don't buy anything unless you aboslutely need it.