10 Ways to Save $1000s in the New Year

Stop the daily delivery of you local pay newspaper. You can find almost all of today's news on web sites such as MSNBC and Yahoo. Additionally, on the web you can access the information in almost real time. If you daily subscription cost $2 a week, this can save you over $100 a year.

Pick up a copy of your the local pay newspaper Sunday addition...just for the coupons. Today's LA Times had 4 separate sections of coupons for items such as Ludens throat drops, Healthy Choice meals, Advil, Pepcid and Barilla pasta among others; these were all $1.00 coupons. A quick tally of the food and drug coupons came to over $500. There were also coupons for $10 and $20 off Freestyle and OneTouch UltraMini Blood Glucose Monitoring System. A quick trip to Walgreens netted these 2 products for free with the coupons.

Stop the daily Starbucks. A $3 coffee five times a week for 50 weeks cost $750 year! Buy a single serve coffee maker such as the top-end Keurig for $140 shipped (Amazon). Then purchase your own gourmet coffee and enjoy a little taste of heaven every morning for a fraction of the cost. If $140 is too much for a coffee makker, buy a Westbend single serve coffee maker for $20.

Cut some cable. Do you really need all those cable channels? HBO costs $10 a month and usually shows the same tired movies over and over. Or maybe you just have a cable package with channels you do not watch. Canceling these can save $60 to $120 a year.

www.restaurant.com Do you eat out a lot? Try using www.restaurant.com for discount gift certificates. Normally one can purchase a $25 off $35 gift certificate for $10. However, this web site frequently has promo codes to save 70 to 80 %, making the final cost of a $25 GC a little as $2. That's right, you get a $25 GC for $2. Check out the site and search by zip code to see what restaurants near you are participating. If you need the current 70 to 80% off code, sign up for their email newsletter. Also, search www.fatwallet.com for codes.

Find your local bakery thrift store. These places have outstanding bargains including a loaf of bread for around 50 cents. They usually also sell cakes and snack-sized baked goods as well as potato chips. My local Ralph's (SoCal) does the same thing so look for the markdown cart in the local grocery store.

Pay your bills and make money; make your credit card work for you. There are some really good cash back and airline mile credit cards out there. Costco has a card that gives cash back of 5% on fuel, 3% on restaurants, 2% on travel and 1% on everything else. Charles Schwab has a card that gives 2% on everything! So if you pay you card off every month, this is a great opportunity to save. Just think, get 2% cash back on your gas, cable, and electric bill as well as groceries and clothing. If you have $1000 in these expenses you can save over $20 just paying your bills.

Cancel the PMI(Private Mortgage Insurance) on your mortgage. If the value of your home has gone up or you have reduced the balance to less than 80% of the loan, you may be able to cancel your PMI payments early. Call your lender for a hefty monthly savings. This can save $50 to $250 a MONTH!

Challenge your property taxes. With property values dropping you can really save in this area. Look at the comp sales in your area to see the real value of your home. If it is less than what the local county auditor's assessment, you can ask for a reduction. Contact the local auditor's office to obtain the proper forms. Also, read the description of your home and check for errors in square footage or the number of bathrooms; you may be overcharged due to these errors. You can save hundreds to thousands depending on where you live.

Go generic, especially on prescriptions. You can reduce medication costs by buying generic drugs instead of name brands. Also, buy your prescriptions via mail order through your company health plan. This can save you $100s every year