A Month of Money Saving Penny-Pinching Tips

Penny pinching and saving money has been likened to building a dam. The large holes are obvious. The small crevices are less noticeable, but if left to slowly leak, will eat up funds quickly. Here's a fortnight of budget repairs to prevent financial leaks.

* Stop buying beverages from restaurants or travel. Instead of stopping for a coffee or picking up a soda or bottle of water, put that money into a jar. After a month, I've saved as much as $100 doing this.

* Put a note by each sink in your home, saying "turn off the water." Running water is money down the drain.

* Remove a game apps from your cellphone. This saves subscription fees and minutes used. We keep our cellphone bill at $44 per month (that includes taxes).

* Remove paid-for ring tones. Use the freebies on your phone.

* Wrap all your holiday presents with recycled paper, pages of magazines, newspapers or brown paper bags. Let the kids decorate: personalized, eco-friendly and free.

* Take texting off from your cellphone. This will save at least $60 a year.

* Hire your kids to do tasks around the house. Don't pay them to do every chore, just bigger jobs, like painting or carpet-cleaning. They learn to manage money and don't bug you for cash all the time.

* Instead of buying ready-made (overpriced, cheaply-made) decor, decorate with your children's school art projects.

* Discontinue one magazine subscription (or better still, all of them). With online sources, we rarely read our magazine subscriptions.

* Getting a new vacuum cleaner? Try a bagless one. We've saved about $20 in five months with ours.

* Purge your cupboards before grocery shopping. Use up half-used packages of food.

* Clean the fridge before you grocery shop.

* Keep a list while you clean, noting what you're out of.

* Stock up, but don't overbuy. Mark refrigerator and freezer items clearly with date of purchase.

* Make "leftover use-up" recipes after cleaning cupboards and refrigerator. Here are recipes to use up food.

* Use large paper clips to seal opened food products fresh.

* Save stale chips and crackers for casseroles.

* Get kids involved in making decorations, rather than buying them.

* Make your own clean up wipes. Cut a roll of paper towels in half. Put them in a plastic coffee container with a cup of cleaning fluid (Formula 409, Windex).

* Soak dirty dishes. This cuts washing time and saves hot water.

* Replace furnace filters. This saves money and can save lives.

* Make your own air freshener by simmering a pan of spices on the stove.

* Make your own shoe inserts from knit fabric scraps, to extend the life of your shoes.

* Buy bulk snacks and bag them in snack-sized Ziploc bags.

* Buy one less junk food item (soda, chips, candy, baked goods) each week.

* Drink water.

* Read package sizes. Cereal boxes are especially deceptive. They may look the same but contain less product.

* Instead of playing a computer game, take an online survey. They are relaxing, easy and you can earn points or cash. Here are safe, reputable survey companies. I've used them all and they do pay.