I thought I would compile a few tips and ideas for saving and making money, as opposed to a review of a site or service like I have been doing so far.
1. Eat at home - probably the most common tip anywhere you look. It is true enough though. Eating at restaurants and fast food places adds up fast, especially when you're paying for more than just yourself. I feel like me and my wife spend between $20 and $30 total if we're not splitting something. For that much I could easily buy a week's worth of simple meals like stuff for sandwiches. Is that as fun? No. It's not. That's why we all go to restaurants anyway...
2. Grow your own veggies - yes, this can be time consuming but it is really a lot of fun (unless you just don't have a green thumb). You could argue "Oh, but I live in an apartment/have no yard/etc." Those are valid arguments, but I would suggest looking into container gardening, or even those upside-down tomato planters that you can hang from your porch. I love tomatoes, lettuce and peppers, and rather than pay for these in the store all the time, I can just go out to my garden and grab 'em for whatever meal I'm prepping. Additionally, it's nice knowing where your produce comes from, and there's a type of satisfaction that comes with being able to provide for yourself in this way.
3. Cut back on a few things - if you do eat out regularly, say a few times a week or so, then even knocking one of those days out a week will add up in the long run! I know I've often been too short-sighted to see things this way, and regret that way of thinking. This applies to other things too, like services we may subscribe to. Take Hulu Plus or Netflix for example. You could totally get caught up on everything you watch, then skip a month and come back and just make a party out of catching up on your favorite shows or whatever. And cutting back on cell phone plans or just how many channels you're getting for your satellite or cable TV. Take a month or two with these things scaled back and you'll see it all add up.
4. Have your coffee at home - this one isn't too much of a problem for me. If I even want coffee, I want a lot, and it's way more cost effective to brew a huge pot and hype myself up on the whole thing than to buy a tiny cup from wherever cafe. I know the problem here is we all want coffee early in the morning, and when commuting to work it's way easier to go get a Grande Tasty Frappe Mocha Flamingo Latte than wait around for boring old Mr. Coffee to brew. That said, if you're a habitual coffee drinker (at least once a day), then you could probably save twenty-something bucks a week (which brings you close to $100 a month) if you cut out Starbucks altogether and just prepared it at home. I might be a little biased here and easier to please though...
5. Sell unwanted stuff - organizing a yard sale is usually pretty easy, and if you've never tried it, it's a pretty worthwhile experience at least once, though not worth it if you can only find a handful of things to sell. Selling on eBay or Amazon are possibly the best routes, or even pawn shops (though I'm admittedly sketched out by most of them--I swear they're trying to swindle me!). We all have a few pieces of junk sitting in a closet or in our attic just collecting dust. Don't hoard useless things that serve no purpose to you when you can turn them around for good money! One thing that makes this easier that me and my wife have tried is to take pictures of your items you plan to part with. You can remember them this way if they're important to you, and it strangely allows you to let go.
Well, hope you've enjoyed this tips. I'll compile some more for next time. If you have any tips, please comment below! Thanks.
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