Saving a Thousand Dollars a Year: Five Things You Can Do Right Now to Save Money

You work hard for your money so why are you giving so much of it away, often time without even realizing it? Cutting back and trying to save money isn't always fun or easy, but here are five things you can start doing today to save over a thousand dollars a year.

Ditch the Daily Cup

If you're like millions of people, your first stop of the day is your local coffee shop for a cup a coffee. Sure, it's good, and it's convenient, but it's also expensive! Brewing your own coffee at home might not be as cool as popping in to your local coffee, shop. And true, home brewed coffee does not give you the thrill of showing off your knowledge of "coffee language" when you order (a Venti Breve Latte Vanilla Creme Frappuccino anyone?) But by brewing your own coffee at home you will save a lot of money.

Now Showing - More Money in your Pocket

Going to the movies was once a great way to take the family out for some fun. But now days, going to the movies often requires that you to take out a second mortgage to pay for it! The price of an adult ticket is around $10 for an evening show (and more if you're in a large metropolitan area like New York or Los Angeles). Add on to that drinks and popcorn and before you know it, a family of four could wind up spending close to $60 just for a night at the movies. Rather that spending that kind of money just to see a movie, you should consider a movie subscription service such as NexFlix. With NetFlix, they will send DVDs to your home together with a pre-paid return envelope. When you're done watching the DVD just return the DVD in the pre-paid envelope and they'll send you the next DVD you've added to your wish list. And with some monthly plans that cost less $10, you can have a whole month of movies for less than the price of one ticket to see a movie in a theater.

Savings You Can Bank On

Many banks now offer ways to help you save. Wachovia has a program where ever time you use your debit card they transfer one dollar from your checking account into a special savings account. Bank of America has a similar program where they will round-up your purchase to the next full dollar amount and transfer the difference into a savings account. Both of these savings options are a great way to put away some money without actually any effort on your part. And with small amounts being put into savings with every purchase, you won't even notice it - but your savings will add up fast!

Slice and Dice Your Ways to Savings

Everybody loves the convenience of prepackaged, pre-cut fruits and vegetables. Who wouldn't love opening a bag a pre made salad or snacking on apple wedges that are cut just like Mom used to. But have you thought about the mark-up on these convenience foods? It's often a markup of more than 200%! And to boot, fruits and vegetables that are pre-cut often lose vitamin and minerals after they are cut. You can save a lot of money simply cutting your own fruits and vegetables (not to mention more vitamins and minerals since they'll be fresh cut!).

Don't "Wine" About Saving Money!

If you're a wine drinker you already know that of the biggest money makers at restaurants is wine. The same bottle of wine that you can get at a local store for $7 will often be $40 or more on a restaurant's menu. If you enjoy having a bottle of wine while dining out, but don't want to pay 500% markups, consider bringing your own bottle of wine to the restaurants. Most restaurants allow this as many people have bottles of wine they're saving for special occasions. However, most places will charge you a "corking" fee. This is the restaurants way of making some money, but corking fees are usually $10 or less, so you're still coming out ahead and saving money by bringing your own wine.