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Does anyone have any money saving tips for the recession?

packing a lunch. i was amazed looking over bank statements how much i spent eating out. and it was never good food, just sandwiches and such.
 
Yes I agree with packing your lunch. You would be amazed how much you save each month. Also, look around for cheaper car insurance..if you have one. A cheaper rate can save you like 100 bucks a month if you've never been in a wreck.
 
Packing a lunch is a serious tip. Another great idea is to just take an hour or so and look at a few monthly statements from your credit/debt cards to see where your money is going. I've noticed that it isn't the big purchases/monthly expenses that hurt me - it's the items like Vitamin Water and stopping by a cheap restaurant during a day's errands. I've saved a lot of money in general by just not going out much during my free time. I realize that I have a lot of fun stuff to play with at home - stuff that I've already paid for lol.
 
Consumerism nickles and dimes people and bleeds them dry.

Hippies/freegans are good at avoiding the societal money drain.

Look at:
living/fixed expenses... see what you can pare down, and what you can cut? Can you ditch your car, saving gas, insurance, car payments...
Food/consumables... Hitting up a bulk food place for a bag of munchies on the go, and a Nalgene bottle for water or juice.
Entertainment... this is a huge money pit. even renting movies can be expensive. I suggest torrents for movies and music (reinvest this money into band tshirts), and playing more video games as they are great bang for the buck entertainment.

Finally beware of opportunistic savings... Sale at the store often can mean, you don't get a good deal. Be consumer beware.

- auto#
padawan of punk livin
 
Write down EVERYTHING you buy. Don't cheat. Write it all down for at least a month. You'll get a clear picture of where you spend money and can then take steps to reduce your spending.
 
Use cash.

This way you physically see and feel how much money you're spending, not so when you put it on plastic.
 
I have an automatic savings plan that removes money every single pay as soon as it goes into my account. This way I don't notice the money is gone as it's like it was never in my pay to start with, so there is no temptation to spend it.
This has been my savings method for all of my big expenses throughout my life and works like a dream. Just make sure you only deduct as much as you can afford. You don't want to have to dick around transferring cash if you can help it.

Also another great tip is get a debit credit card. This way you avoid the interest of a credit card but retain the convenience.
 
wizekrak said:
Use cash.

This way you physically see and feel how much money you're spending, not so when you put it on plastic.
Click to expand...

Only if you keep track of it. At least when using debit you can track your purchases, with cash it is much harder unless you are writing it down. The act of physically handling cash doesn't mean much.
 
I'll be moving into a new flat, and I was considering buying solar panels. Would it be cost-effective to supplement your electricity with solar panels in the long term?

Also, which is more cost-effective - using gas or electricity to heat your flat and cook food?

By the way, I found out that a really good way of saving energy would be to cook your food in a pressure cooker. It also saves a lot of time. You just have to make sure that you compare different cookers to see which has the highest operating pressure (it's given as a value in PSI).

I've also thought of some other ways of saving money:

* Reusing tea bags. You just have allow them to steep for longer.

* Cycling. If you get a racing bike, or even better, a hybrid bike designed for use in towns or cities. This saves money on gas.

* Making sure you shop in a supermarket at a time when they usually start reducing products. Also making sure you take advantage of 2 for 1 offers and sales.

* Shoping at Primark (in the UK). They sell clothes that are of a reasonable quality for very little money.

* If you live in the UK, you can get cheap booze and fags from France if you go over on the ferry.
 
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minimize cell phone usage
simplify your diet
prepare all your own meals
spend more time in the library
 
wizekrak said:
Use cash.

This way you physically see and feel how much money you're spending, not so when you put it on plastic.
Click to expand...

i pay less attention to cash, as opposed to credit/debit cards. its because i keep a running total in my head of how much i have in bank account and whether i really want to spend the money on whatever. if i have cash, its expendable and i buy stupid stuff.
 
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