How Do You Save Money?

I put my loose silver change in a large bottle every night when I get home. The when I go on a trip or vaca. I cash it in for a little extra spending money. It adds up!

I buy groceries at a store that offers a cents off per gallon discount at it's gas station. It varies some but normally it's 3 cents off per gallon on weekdays, 6 cents on weekends, and on special days such as today it was 10 cents a gal. I really didnt need gas yet, but I topped up anyway! C):-)

I do both, save money and spend less.

I save my loose change every day and cash it in a few times a year.

Cashing in coins seems to work pretty well. I also shop where the gas is discounted and I use a grocery discount card. I'm not ashamed to use my AARP card, either, when I can get a price break!

I spend less but also save money. Spending less, the traditional coupons but I also take the money I "spend less less in coupons" and place the money into the coupon savings account. It is a special savings I use to track the savings from all the rebates, and percentage off I get. Take for example Taco Bell and Pizza Hut, the few times we go I get percentage off either by military(veterans also) or by AAA card.
You mentioned savings for kids, I suggest Upromise http://www.upromise.com The account is free and basicly look and save money for the children when you shop. It is FREE and the savings comes from purchases you make. I register my card and have built a decent amount along with collecting Mypoints I find I get3-5% back off purchases online. Plus percentages back from supermarkets.

Bank of America has a nice little program where they round off checks and place the difference in savings then double it at end of year upto a max..it depends on BofA account but max was 200 dollars. I did this then closed the account. I have made money harder before. What was nice is I also used it as my savings for savings so it was like a bonus.
I also save EVERY Receipt--Ever have something that might be bad, like meat, with a receipt I have no problem on any returns. Shoes that you might find something wrong with after a week, or a shirt you find a problem with, and best of all are them sale items you later find out why the got rid of them was some unknown fault.
Tax Deductions- Charity receipts, medical receipts, mileage to and from doctors and dentists, perscriptions..
Needless to say we pinch pennies until they squeel

Great article. In the last 3 months we have put all of our change in a jar and we counted it the other day...........$146.00!!!

great tips. i used to fill a huge jar with change, primarily quarters and it did surely add up

I collect change in jars...I have collected around 1000 rs..
but thats what I spend in a day any wekend ...so can't say that I am saving ..but I save by investing in insurance , Prividend fund and mutual funds ...I am also planning to buy shares ....I prefer shpping at sales ..and only buy if thing is worth the buck ..

I spend a lot on food ....I can cut down a lot if I try cooking at home

I save change or lets say I try to save change. Seems we are always getting into the change when we need something.

oops, I am not in America, but I visit shops with seasonal discount offers.
Great idea to let us share thoughts.

In a nutshell, saving is all about not spending money, and making sure the money you have is working for you and not a bank.

We do not think much about ways to save money, because once you've made the big decisions and developed the right habits, financial security is something that takes care of itself.

All of our clothing, cookware, music and most of our furnishings are bought at yard sales, and we spend every Saturday at yard sales, so we have *nice* things.

We live within walking distance of work.

A good half of our meals are cooked from scratch.

We pay our credit cards in full every month.

We make no major purchases until we have the money to pay for it in full; the one exception would be our condominium, and the small amount we owe on that was borrowed from my mother, so the interest we pay is generous, reasonable, and kept within the family.

With our retirement plans at work, we take full advantage of the employer match, and we kick ourselves for not setting aside the additional $13,000 a year allowed by law. We did that one year, and all we needed to do was stop eating out.

We don't keep our money in the bank, but rather invest it in a Canadian index fund and other stocks I research well before purchase. (When I read that Canada balances its national budget, I thought "I want to invest in that economy". I've made a few dumb investments; Canada has not been one of them.)

When I see "50% off", I assume it was originally priced at 50 times what it cost to make, and I pass it by.

I insist on working as an exempt employee (meaning hourly, "nonprofessional"). I cannot justify working myself to death at a stressful job and then paying doctors to keep me from dying before retirement).

If I decide something is worth paying retail for, I just go buy it. I don't shop around. I hate shopping for low prices and dealing with sales staff, and I don't have to because there are more effective ways to save money than the ones you hear about in TV commecials.

I never think I saved what it says on the receipt unless I would have bought it at full price (most of the time not).

My Mum saves loose change for charity. I shop for deals and save them in a cupboard - early birthday presents, extra cans of food, books that I can give for Christmas, etc. Glad I have the cupboard space.

I have two bank accounts, savings and checking, and since I get two paychecks each month, I put the first one in my savings account, and the second one in my checking account.

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(Please take a look at my novel, The Best Friend Behind the Mask--First Chapter, I've entered it in the Court TV Search for the Next Great Crime Writer contest, and would appreciate your vote and comments. Thanks!!!)

Very good article, Miz Jan. I think I save money by not shopping - I just start looking around and using what I have - sometimes I have to be a bit more inventive but lately as I was cleaning out my closets, I realized how many neat clothes I have - and cleaning out the pantry - how much food I have - I think I save money by starting to get organized. I tried the coupon thing but for some reason I can't get it together to remember to do it. Thanks. Salud. (p.s. i loved your comment on my last post) SAlud.

You could have named this post "Are you spending less or saving." That was a great comparison.

I used to do with singles what you did with dimes. They piled up quick.
Help me get a publishing deal with a 10 rating and comment. I comment back.

Tom, good point about the dry cleaning. I do buy dry-cleanable clothes, but to me "dry clean only" means, "buy this only at a yard sale, throw it in the washer on gentle, cold-water cycle, and if it stops looking good, re-use it as a rag." Since I rarely pay more than a dollar for an item of clothing, I can't see paying someone else a fair wage to clean it for me.

Yep, we save all our loose change...we can't believe how quickly it adds up to a nice chunk of change! We also spend less, going to the thrift stores (which we also happen to give our gently used items to as well).

I also make use of Thrift shops and garage sales. I bought most of the children's clothes there. They had beautiful name brand clothing that cost very little. I bought a London Fog snowsuit once for $5. My daughter wore it for two years and then I sold it at a garage sale for $10.
When they got to the teen years, I didn't mind spending a bit more when they wanted something special. All of the girls' formal gowns came from ebay or resale shops, however. I resold those, too.

I love to shop at thrift stores for clothing as well as materials for my altered art projects. It means a lot to me to know that I'm part of the recycling chain, not just a mindless consumer.
Thanks for making me think about this,
Cindy
www.laferle.com

We also save money and spend less. We go less places than we used to also, saving gas.(combined trips) We have money taken from our checks which goes to both 401K accounts and savings accounts for emergencies.

Staying home is my best way to save money. Hiking trips are good as well. I'm out in the woods....no Starbucks or book stores, etc.

One of my favorite ways to save money is through my Bank of America account where every time I use my debit card they round it off and enter the change into my account at the end of each day. Also, I automatically have them take $25 out of checking and put it into my savings. I also like it because if I refer people over I get $25 but so does the person who gets the new account and the person who signs up for a new account can actually get up to $50. I think that's awesome (and yes, this is on FREE accounts). If you would like a referral so you can get between $25-$50 let me know and give me your email address and I will get it to you asap!
I also have several other bank accounts and I'm excited because one of the other banks I belong to is starting a new thing where they are offering rebates and you don't have to fill anything out or wait for it, it'll be deposited into my account every month.. how cool is that?!?!

We try to use coupons but I'm not as good at that as I used to be. Once I was pretty good with it and left the store with groceries and cigs and they owed me 20-something-cents.

I also try to shop less! When I do shop online I try to only go with places that have free shipping but will make an exception on certain things.

Another way to save is through a rebate place like http://www.mrrebates.com?refid=198001
but I only use that when a store isn't listed at iGive.com. At iGive you can have a % donated to the charity of your choice. I opened a charity for my moms Stroke Recovery as there are many costs involved. If you would like to help (at no cost to you) it would be really appreciated! This goes to her care and needs, she now only has use of 1 arm and so we have to buy special eating utensils and expensive cutting boards and things you wouldn't even believe. If you would like to check it out please visit http://www.iGive.com/html/refer.cfm?memberid=525786&causeid=43682
Right now they are offering a special promotion too where they'll donate $5 if you shop within 45 days. You can also make your own charity or just request to get cash back. It's a great site and you don't have to remember to go to their site first either if you choose not to.

Also with shopping, I shop online first to check prices if I'm looking for something specific, this can save a bunch of money!

Through my home based business I can choose to purchase stock without having to have alot of $ up front by paying a certain amount a month, I believe in the company so much that I do plan to buy stock and love that I have the option to do it this way.

I try to buy my gas at Costco as it's much cheaper then most other places.

I can't think of all the ways I save money but I know I could probably be saving much more then I do and am open to others ideas. I love the dimes idea but I hate rolling change and hardly ever pay for things with cash, I use my debit card for almost everything (which is part of why I love the BofA thing).

Oh yeah (duhhhhhh) I also have energy star front loader washer and dryer and plan to (over time) make all appliances energy star. We change our A/C filter now every month instead of every 6-8 weeks and this saves alot in energy (especially during the summer), we are switching to CFL bulbs as well and I have noticed a difference in the electric bill.

There are really so many ways to save money that I think each family has to figure out what works for them and fits into their lifestyle.

I hope to see the ideas keep comin' in :)

Oh yeah, forgot another.. for those of you looking for deals on flights and not having to spend all day doing it.. check out kayak.com