Seven Ways to Save Money Today

How can you save money? As my daughter said this morning, "Just don't spend it!" How much money are you, perhaps unconsciously, spending in these ways?

1) Get up just 15 minutes earlier than normal and make your own coffee and breakfast. That is, skip that stop at the convenience store on the way to work. Most of what you buy there is over priced and full of fat and sugar, two things you don't need more of. How much would that save you? Just $3.00 a day times 5 days is $15.00 a week! That is $60 a month; what could you do with an extra $60.00 next month?

2) Pack your own lunch. Sure everyone else at your office eats out, but look at the cost. First, are they eating fast food? Then they are probably not getting the best nutrition to keep themselves healthy, adding medical costs over time to the actual cost of the food. They are probably consuming too much fat, sugar and starch, increasing their risks of diabetes, heart problems and obesity. By choosing to pack your own healthy food you will not only save money but quite possibly save yourself from diabetes, heart disease, stroke, cancer and an early death. How much could you save this week? Based on an average of $5.00 for a cheap combo meal; times 5 days is $25.00 a week! That is $100 a month. What could you do with an extra $100 in your pocket?

3) Stop going to the store so often. Keep a running list of things you need to buy. Plan ahead and know what you need from the grocery store to eat for the next one or two weeks or how ever often you get paid. Before going to the store make sure you have eaten [you buy more if you are hungry], try to go alone [because spouses and children will try to convince you to buy things not on the list]. Have the amount of money you plan to spend written at the top of your list in big red numbers. Take your calculator and keep a running total. Buy only what is on your list and make it a game to see if you can get everything on your list for less than your amount. How much can you save? You could save anywhere from a few cents to hundreds of dollars. The key here is to stay out of the store. Every time you go to the store for just a couple of items, you are probably also buying things you don't really need. You are also spending time and gas for that unnecessary trip. Tell your family you will shop on a certain day. Let them know that you are going to only buy what is on the list. So if there is something they need, then it has to be on the list or they will do without.

4) Turn off the lights when you leave a room. Don't leave your porch light on all night. Plug all your small electrical appliances into power strips and turn the strip off when you are done with them. Items like coffee pots, microwaves, radios, stereos, televisions, battery chargers, and computers can all draw power even when not in actual use. Switch overhead lighting to compact fluorescent lights and lower the wattage you use in these fixtures. Use small lamps in areas where you need more light such as your desk, places you sit to read or work on projects. Some families have saved as much as $50 a month on their electric bills with these strategies.

5) Do you have central air and heat in your home? Check the air filters and replace them each month. This will keep your units from having to work too hard and keep them from wearing out so fast. Look at the vents in each room in your house. Do you really need to be heating and cooling that spare bedroom? Close off the vent in there, which will send more warm or cool air to other parts of the house where you need it more. Do you really need to air condition the bathroom all summer? Close the vent in there and send more cool air to the living room and kitchen. Hang a small thermometer near your thermostat and see if your thermostat is reading correctly. If not, replace it with a new one. The new digital ones can be programmed to adjust the temperature in your home according to the time of day you are home to enjoy it. Try it and see how much you can save next month.

6) At night when the outdoor temperature drops in the summer, turn the thermostat off and open up the doors and windows, allowing cool air in. In the morning, close them up and pull the blinds and drapes, keeping the house cool longer. In the winter, keep the drapes pulled at night and open them up to let the sun shine in and warm things up during the day. In rooms you do not use much or which don't have a nice view anyway, cover the windows with bubble wrap to help insulate them and reduce heat loss. If you have several exterior doors and don't use one on a regular basis consider sealing it up with plastic inside and out to cut down on drafts. How much can you save? That depends on your climate and cost of electricity, but your next power bill should be at least a few dollars less.

7) Turn down the thermostat on your water heater. For safety sake the water at the tap should not be over 120 degrees Fahrenheit. You could even get by with it set at 110 or even just 100 degrees. Buy an insulating blanket for your water heater. Check out the area it is installed in. In older homes and some older mobile homes it may be more exposed to the weather. Insulate the closet or area the water heater is in. At least once a year drain and flush the tank. This is easily done by attaching a garden hose to it and opening the valve. Hard water scale build up in the tank will decrease the efficiency of the unit and lower its operating lifetime. How much can you save? My water heater is in an unheated porch. An insulating blanket cost me about $10 a few years ago and saved me $5.00 a month all winter. It saves me even more now that the price of natural gas has gone up.

You've seen some of these ideas in other places because many of them are just common sense, and there's no copyright on that. Some of these ideas may be new to you or things you've never really thought about. Most of these strategies will cost you nothing to implement, just a little thinking and planning ahead. Some of the others may cost you a few dollars but give big savings in return. I hope this article gives you some incentive to look for even more ways to keep your money in your pocket.