A Guide to Saving Money

I have a friend who is the ultimate cheapskate. She gets by with purchasing the bare minimum and she won't buy anything without a coupon. Her thriftiness has inspired me to listen up and learn from the ultimate cheapskate. I really need to stop spending so much money. In this guide I will offer the secrets I have learned to readers.

First, the Internet is your friend! Take advantage of websites like www.voilition.com , www.mypointsrewards.com, and www.clickacoupon.com, where you can print valuable coupons and in some instances, as at www.mypointsrewards.com you will earn points for printing and redeeming your chosen coupons. Check out the sites of products you frequently buy to take advantage of special offers, coupons and samples.

If you love, or hate a product you can call or email the company. Via postal mail they will follow up with you, and you will receive coupons for sharing your comments. Often you will find the coupons they will send you are very valuable, often for a free product.

I am not even kidding but my friend walks eight blocks every day, to check pay phones, soda machines and parking lots for coins. This week alone her daily walk has added up to over four dollars in discarded change. If she finds a coke bottle on the ground she snags the coke reward points. For her thriftiness, she says she averages one free twenty ounce coke per week.

She frequently is online to determine what store samples are available and she visits the selected stores for freebies. In the town the local churches offer free meals on certain days. She is out there three times a week enjoying a free meal. After the dinner the churches hand out free canned foods and household items. You know she is there for that. I don't really agree with this tactic, as I am not that hard up, but to each their own.

A lot of us laugh at her, but she lives at a fraction of the cost that the rest of us live at. She uses public transportation, she recycles and enjoys the extra cash. She buys all of her clothes at Good Will.

I don't take my journey of saving quite as far as she does. I do load up on printable coupons and free samples courtesy of www.walmart.com. I have stopped buying the newspaper, I read the daily news online and enjoy a nearly five dollar a week savings. I guess a combination of these tactics along with walking when I can instead of driving and buying generics over name brands saves me over twenty five dollars per week.