6 Simple Steps to Save Money on Any Budget

We have all heard the importance of saving money (for college or retirement) but with the rise of economic prices, how are we to save on our already stretched budget? Here are a few simple ways to siphon money into the proverbial cookie jar.

Eat out less. Try to limit eating out to certain days or certain times~ most restaurants offer cheaper lunch menus, discounted happy hour, or promotional times when kids eat free (or at least discounted). Our favorite restaurant occasionally puts out coupons which our family members save for us!

Save money at movie theaters. We all love our movies, especially after a hard week at work, but there are a few simple ways to cut these costs as well. Our family only attend matinee movies, saving a ton of money on tickets. The movie is the same whether it's as 5:30 or 8:00 pm, so why pay twice as much for a ticket? Also, skip the popcorn and drinks! This is where the movie theaters really get you! We never eat or drink at the movie theater, our son knows not even to ask. The movie is supposed to be the treat, so why spend more on the goodies than on the ticket?

Save on DVD and video game rentals? I love renting movies from the library (which is FREE) but admit it is hard to get good picks (unless you have a chance to visit the library on a weekday when it has just opened). However, there are a number of rental stores and shopping around can mean saving a nice tidy sum. If you plan to watch a lot of movies, consider a plan that allows you a "pass," where, for a certain amount a month, you can rent as many movies as you like. This packaged amount will usually cost less per average movie as long as you are using it to the maximum. Most everyone has heard of NetFlix; also Blockbuster now has an in store all you can rent package. When I had this package I also saved money by NOT going to the actually movie theater. Why pay twice to see a movie you will eventually get to see for free? This pass did not differentiate between older movies or newer releases, so we got to see new releases for the same price. If you aren't necessarily watching newer movies, there are stores like Family Video that offer $1.00 or .50 rentals for older movies (think things you would see on TV). Another benefit of an in store movie pass is that some stores include video game rentals! My son recently got a Wii and wanted to try out a new game. The rental alone would cost $7.00! If you have gamers in your household, the monthly fee can be covered by 3 game rentals; so anything over 3 game rentals and you are saving your family money!

Bring your lunch to work. It still amazes me the amount of money people waste on work lunches, whether it be in cafeterias or heading out to the world of fast food. If you are a buyer, keep your receipts for one week and see how much money you are actually spending on food. You have to eat, but you can buy foods in bulk for a lot less, and maybe save that extra money to cover your monthly movie rental! The vending machines at work recently raised the price of a bottle of pop to $1.25 to "cover costs." I can buy a cheap brand of Wal-Mart Cola for $.70 which I take to work and lasts me all shift. Even if you don't like the cheap stuff, a 2 liter of Coke or Pepsi is usually on sale for $1.25 and will last longer than a 16 ounce from the vending machine. (In our family we take this one step further. We have empty bottles we save that we fill whenever we leave the house. We always keep pop or tea in our car so we never have to stop at gas stations for a drink. Even when we drive thru for fast food, we always order of the dollar menu-no sense paying for the toys in the kids meals-and we never order drinks!)

Cut out your "addictions." People talk a lot about quitting smoking, but for us it was the price of cigarettes that drove my husband to quit. Time to be honest and include that daily Starbucks as part of your "addiction." This goes along with buying things at work-while the coffee at work may not taste the exact same, with a few free flavored creamers you may train yourself to overcome the difference.

Keep what you need on hand-NEVER convenience shop. We've all done it. We craved a bag of chips or forgot the charcoal for the barbeque. To cover for our quick fix we run down to the nearest gas station or convenience store. The price, you notice, is almost always more then what you would normally pay, but you need it (hence the name convenience)! Why pay twice as much for something you KNOW you can get cheaper, if only you had the time? I absolutely HATE paying more for something I know I don't have to. If you try to refrain from relying on these type of overpriced stores, you will spend less.

Some of these suggestions may take some discipline or getting used to, but with these simple solutions you can easily save lot of cash for that piggy jar!