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Set your utility bills to level pay - Pay the same amount every month so there are no surprises to your budget.
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Ask for a discount - Call your gas and/or electric company and ask about discounts you might qualify for. I did this and now receive a discount for having a heat pump. Some utility companies also give discounts for briefly suspending power during peak usage periods.
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Weatherize your home - Start with caulking your window frames (interior and exterior), filling gaps with expandable foam and putting foam outlet insulators behind switchplates and outlet covers on exterior walls. We’ve cut our gas bill in half through inexpensive fixes such as these. For more ideas to reduce your energy use, visit the
Department of Energy’s Energy Savers website.
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Ask for a home energy audit - Many utility companies offer this service for free, or for a minimal cost through selected contractors. This audit will help you focus on home improvements that will save the most energy for your money.
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Install a programmable thermostat - Now you can set the temperature to be lower while you’re asleep or not home, and not notice a thing.
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Change your furnace filter regularly - It helps your furnace run more efficiently. And no, you don’t have to buy the $15 Filtrate ones.
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Use CFLs - Replace incandescent light bulbs with compact fluorescent bulbs as they burn out for big savings on your electric bill.
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Conserve water - Do your laundry once a week, only run the dishwasher when it’s full, install a low-flow showerhead, etc.
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Shop around for your trash service - I used to think only one company serviced our subdivision. Not true! Call around and check - we switched to a lower-cost company that also does recycling.
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Buy a trash can - We used to “rent” a trash can from the trash collectors for $3 a quarter just because that’s what everyone else on the block did. I think it’s safe to say we’ve now recouped our $20 trash can purchase.
Communications
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Discontinue all subscriptions for magazines and newspapers that you don’t always read - If you read all your magazines or newspapers, pick your two favorites and cancel the rest.
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Consider getting rid of your home phone - If you have both a cell phone and a home phone, and don’t use the home phone much, get rid of it.
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Pretend like call waiting, caller ID and call forwarding were never invented - Your phone bill will thank you for it (if you decide to keep a home phone).
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Dump the replacement insurance on your cell phone - Add a contact called “me” into your cell phone with your home phone or other contact number so if you lose your phone, it will be easier for the person who finds it to reach you (your ICE - In Case of Emergency - contact is also fine). Your cell phone also usually comes with a 1-2 year manufacturer’s warranty in case it stops working.
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Call your current cable/satellite provider and ask for a better deal - I did this for over two years with Comcast. Every time my three-month special ran out, I would call and say I was thinking about switching to Dish. When they started being stingy, I switched to AT&T (Comcast’s customer service’s response: “Oh, I really wish you would have called us before you did that. If you ever want to come back, we have a special buy-back program for AT&T customers.”)
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Shop around for home telephone, cell phone, cable/satellite and Internet services regularly - See if bundling would save you money, or look into other options like VoIP.
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Get rid of your cable service, or cut back to basic cable - I cannot wait for the day when I only have to pay based on the channels I watch (Comedy Central, CNN, CNBC, HGTV, Style and DIY). But until then, why not cut the cord (my husband won’t agree to it, or I probably would)? And just because you have an HDTV doesn’t mean you have to pay for the HD channels. As for HBO, Cinemax, Showtime - there’s always NetFlix.
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Don’t rent your modem - See #10. I paid Comcast $3 a month for a modem I could have bought for $40.
Insurance
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Re-shop your home and auto insurance rates at least once a year - Try using an insurance broker that can compile rates from multiple companies quickly.
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Use the same company - Buy your home/renter’s insurance and auto insurance through the same company for a discount.
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Raise your deductible - Raise you car insurance deductible to at least $500, and your home owners deductible to at least $1,000. Consider dropping collision coverage on your car if you drive a paid-for beater.
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Make sure you don’t have emergency roadside assistance through multiple places - Do you unknowingly have coverage under your car’s warranty, an auto club and your cell phone? Choose one.
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Dump your whole life insurance policy and opt for term life insurance - It costs less. If you’re going to invest, invest within your retirement accounts, not your insurance policy.
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You don’t need to have life insurance on your children unless you’re Lynne Spears or Dina Lohan - If you don’t depend on your children for your income, you don’t need to insure their life. If you don’t have much savings and want to have a small policy to pay for a funeral, I’m cool with that.
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If you and your spouse/partner work, compare your health insurance policies - Many people assume that if you’re married, it will cost less for you both to have the same health insurance carrier. But in our case, it’s cheaper for me to be on my company’s policy and my husband and stepson to be on his company’s policy.
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If you don’t use your employer’s health insurance plan, ask for some money back - OK, so I haven’t had much success with this one, but I work for a small company. At my husband’s work, if you don’t use the company’s health insurance (because you’re covered through your spouse or have other coverage), you get $750. It saves your employer a TON of money by not having to cover you, so why shouldn’t you reap some of the savings?
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Get rid of convenience fees - If you pay your insurance bill monthly and are charged a convenience fee for doing so, see if that fee can be waived if you have the amount auto-debited from your checking account.
Beauty
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Go au natural - With your nails and hair, that is. Cut out manicures/pedicures or do them at home. Avoid having your hair professionally colored, straightened or blown out.
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Don’t go tanning - It’s bad for your skin and your budget.
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Break up with your high-priced hair stylist - But first, why not cheat a little and visit Fantastic Sam’s or Snip ‘n Clip? If you can’t tell the difference, neither can anyone else.
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Go longer between haircuts - If you usually do six weeks, try seven. Usually do seven? Try eight.
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Skip the wax - After you have your eyebrows done once, you should be able to maintain them without having the salon wax them every few weeks. Re-introduce yourself to the tweezers. If you have your upper lip waxed, try the hair removal cream they sell at the drugstore. If you’re having other things waxed…well, why don’t you limit it to summer or special occasions?
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Buy drugstore makeup - It’s really not that different. Although I prefer Clinique and it’s usually a good deal as long as I only buy during “bonus time” (where you get a bag and a bunch of free makeup with your purchase).
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Think classics, not trends - Buy classic pieces of clothing that you love. These don’t necessarily have to be expensive. And never spend more than $20 on a trend that will be gone by the following season.
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Don’t buy clothes unless they fit perfectly - If they can be modified to fit perfectly by a tailor, factor that cost into the price of the item and actually have it done! That little thing bothering you in the dressing room is going to be end up being the reason you don’t wear it.
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Buy clothes near the end of the season for the following year - Just stick with the classics and you’ll be fine. I buy ALL my stepson’s clothes this way.
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Avoid “dry clean only” when you can - You’ll pay for the item over and over when you have it dry cleaned.
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Alternately, buy Dryell and cut your dry cleaning visits - I use this all the time for my dry clean only items.
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If you must visit the dry cleaners, don’t have anything cleaned that can be put in the washing machine - That means you, fellas.
Children
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Don’t have any - Just kidding (kinda)
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Pay your child an allowance and clearly define what they are expected to pay for with their own money - Not only will you be closing the Bank of Mom and Dad, you’ll be giving your children real-world financial experience.
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Have your child bring their lunch to school instead of paying for hot lunch - If they’re old enough, consider including a certain amount of money in their allowance for lunch costs. Anything they don’t spend, they get to keep.
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Set limits on elective school and activity expenses - Buy the soft-cover yearbook instead of the hard-cover. Buy school pictures in the fall, but not when they take pictures again in the spring. You don’t have to buy something every time the teacher sends home book order forms. Etc.
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Don’t ask people to buy things for your children’s fundraisers - Then, they (hopefully) won’t ask you to buy things for their children’s.
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Speaking of fundraisers, the school or organization typically only receives a small percentage of what you pay for that overpriced wrapping paper and candy - If you must give, do everyone a favor and write them a check directly.
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If you go to a fancy salon, don’t take your child there for their haircut - Snip ‘N Clip or Fantastic Sam’s will do just fine (or cut it yourself, if you’re skilled/brave).
Pets
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If your pets are on medication, such as flea or heart worm prevention, purchase it online - It is usually much cheaper than purchasing it from the vet’s office, and many sites offer free shipping with minimum orders. For heart worm and other medication, you may need to have your vet’s office fax over a prescription, but this is not necessary for flea prevention. Be sure to order the correct dosage based on your pet’s weight. Here are some websites to get you started:
Drs. Foster Smith and
1-800-Pet-Meds.
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If you live in a climate with cold winters, it’s really not necessary to use flea-prevention year-round - I’m really paranoid about this, but I skipped December and January with no problem (I started again the end of February).
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Learn to trim your pet’s nails yourself - If you can do it and your pet will tolerate it, that’s another thing you don’t have to pay someone else to do.
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Inquire about multi-pet discounts - If you have more than one pet, ask about multi-pet discounts at your vet’s office, groomer and boarding facility.
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Trade pet-sitting duties - Instead of boarding your pet when you go out of town, find a friend or relative willing to watch your pet if you’ll watch theirs later. Alternately, hire a friend or relative to “live” at your house while you’re gone and take care of your pets, get the mail, etc., for less than the price of boarding (note: this works better when your friend lives in an apartment with few obligations like children or pets, and your home is nicer than theirs).
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Stop buying the expensive pet food - I’m not saying you have to buy generic, just take it down a notch. When we got our dog, I bought only Science Diet for the longest time. Then I went down to Iams, and I’m now down to Pedigree. He likes it just the same, and it’s still a pretty good brand. My vet tech says that’s what she feeds her dogs.
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If you have ever been interested in volunteering for a humane society or other animal adoption organization, here’s some extra motivation: These organizations often give their volunteers access to free/reduced vaccinations, microchip implantation, and other services for their pets.
Entertainment
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Order water at restaurants - Even a soft drink sometimes costs $2.50. You’ll shave money off your bill if you skip the drinks.
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Use coupons at restaurants - Many people will use coupons at grocery stores, but feel cheap using them in a restaurant. Go ahead and do it - if they didn’t want you to use a coupon, why would they print them? At least the restaurant will know their marketing efforts aren’t being wasted.
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Better yet, don’t go to restaurants - Many people go to restaurants because they are too busy to cook. Have back-up plan when you’re in a rush: quick and easy meals in the freezer and individually packaged snacks and drinks. You’ll notice that restaurants fall into my “Entertainment” category - they are non-essential.
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Check craigslist for tickets - Unless you are trying to get tickets to Hannah Montana or another sold-out event, you can probably find tickets on craigslist for less than face value (with no taxes and convenience charges).
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Your place or mine? - You will save a lot of money if you stop going places with your friends. Do your outings involve restaurants, bars, concerts, shopping, movies and other money-drains? Invite them over instead. You’ll have better conversations, and often, more fun.
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Skip the martinis - If you do end up at a happy hour or club, skip the expensive mixed drinks and have a beer. Better yet, volunteer to be the designated driver.
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Take a vacation in your own city - Instead of shelling out the big bucks for plane tickets and hotels in another city, why not be a tourist in your own city for a week?
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Borrow books from the library - I have to admit that all the late fees I accrue at the library are nothing compared to the cost of buying books new. If there’s a new book you must read now, buy it, read it and then sell it to someone with more patience than you.
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Wait for it to come out on DVD - Movies are super expensive. The more movies you can wait to see on DVD (or rent from the library), the better.
Groceries
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Bring your own bags - Many stores will give you a five cent discount for every bag you use.
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Only use coupons for things you usually buy - Ignore everything else.
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Go grocery shopping alone - You’ll get in and out quicker, with no extras in the shopping cart.
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Shop the perimeter of the store - That’s where you’ll find the fresh and refrigerated food that isn’t overly processed or prepared for convenience (and therefore, less expensive).
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Don’t buy non-grocery items at the grocery store - These items are priced much higher than they would be at Wal-Mart or Target, because they are convenience items when purchased at the grocery store.
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Purchase lunch food to take to work - I have a hard time with this, admittedly. But brown-bagging it can save you over $1,000 per year.
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Create a grocery store “price book” - Start keeping track of the items you buy regularly so you can tell when prices are rock bottom. To download a printable version, visit
No Credit Needed.
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Wanna get a little more hard core? - Read about
The Grocery Game and try the $1 4-month trial (after that it’s $10/month for one store). The Grocery Game features a database that tracks coupons, sales and specials, telling you what to buy when. I haven’t tried it yet, but other blogs say it saves you a lot of money if you’re not already the type of person who clips coupons and pays close attention to sales.
Gifts
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Buy year-round gifts right after Christmas - After-Christmas clearance sales are a great time to find presents for children’s birthdays, as well as presents for next Christmas. You can even find “Christmas” wrapping paper that is appropriate for weddings or birthdays.
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Use your small credit card rewards point balance to buy gift cards - We rarely use our credit cards because we don’t trust ourselves to pay them off, but sometimes we have enough purchases to get a gift card for the Gap or Home Depot. These can be used as gifts.
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Re-Gift your gift cards - Sometimes when I’ve been really broke, I take in a gift card I received and use it to buy a new gift card (after all, it’d be pretty tacky to just cross my name out and write theirs down).
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Purchase sets of items that can be broken up into separate gifts - For example, a case of wine or a set of vases. Keep these items on hand for hostess, housewarming and engagement gifts.
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Ask for practical gifts - When you’re the recipient and someone asks you what you’d like, why don’t you ask for something practical that you would buy anyway?
Taxes
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Stop paying for tax preparation - If your household’s adjusted gross income is $54,000 or less, you can file online for free at the IRS’
Free File website. You will have a choice of tax preparation websites, some of which also offer free state income tax filing and e-filing. If you are not eligible for Free File from the IRS, you can still prepare your federal return for free and e-file it with
TurboTax online if you are a renter and file a 1040EZ or other simple return. Even if you cannot use these services, doing your own taxes is MUCH cheaper than having someone else do them for you. It’s also much simpler thanks to advanced software and websites that guide you through the process.
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Sign up for an FSA - If your employer offers Health or Dependent Care Flexible Spending Accounts (FSAs), sign up during your next benefit enrollment or when you have a qualifying life event (marriage, divorce, birth, adoption, etc.). Your doctor’s visits and daycare expenses with be paid with pre-tax money, and since the same amount is witheld from each paycheck, it makes budgeting much easier.
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Reduce your withholding - Getting a huge refund from Uncle Sam every year? Why not update your W4 and siphon the money from your paycheck to your debts automatically every payday?
Unfinished Business
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Close old accounts - Do you have little balances left at your old banks? $8.16 here, $2.00 there? Call and close the accounts. The longer you wait, the less money you’ll have left, as most banks charge small fees for abandoned accounts to gradually deplete them.
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Check for missing money and unclaimed property - There are some great websites you can check to see if you’re owed money by a previous employer, the IRS, a long-lost relative, etc. Check out
Get Rich Slowly’s post for details.
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Take public transportation - Check the routes and see if it’s feasible to ride the bus or take the subway to work. If not, can you use public transportation for errands or other trips?
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Carpool - Ride to work with a coworker, your significant other or look for someone on local ride share websites.
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Keep your car tuned up - Regular maintenance is the key to preventing costly repairs. Have the oil changed and tires rotated regularly, and follow the service schedule in your owners manual.
Cash and Coin
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Use cash for purchases - You will spend less. Why else do you think all the fast food chains were so eager to accept debit cards? For your convenience? Ha!
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Don’t spend your change - Save it in a jar. When it gets full, take it to the bank and pay extra on your debts. Note to self: consider adding a lid to the jar so it doesn’t become the vending machine fund.
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Pick up found money - This includes change. Pennies, even. Put them in the jar. Wash hands.
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Institute the “love jar” - Everytime you have sex, put a dollar in the jar. Man, I wish my husband and I had started this before we got married.
Earn More Money
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Ask for a raise - If you deserve one, ask!
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Sell your pseudo-valuable items online - Use eBay and Craigslist for the stuff worth more than $50 or so.
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Sell your junk in a garage sale - Go in with friends and neighbors, or have your garage sale during the neighborhood garage sale weekend.
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Participate in medical research studies - If you’re between the ages of 18 and 64, are taking no medications…you know the drill. Call the number and sign up already!
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Participate in marketing research studies - Although many studies are conducted online, the real money is in studies that need live people, like taste tests, focus groups and fit tests. Contact a local marketing research facility and inquire about getting on their contact list.
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Donate plasma - I know a guy who does this weekly. Call your local blood bank or plasma collection center for details.
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Turn your hobby into cash - If you play the piano, give piano lessons. Take photographs? Sell them to stock photo websites. Almost any hobby can be monetized (unless it’s playing video games - I still haven’t come up with one for that).
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Get a(nother) part-time job - Yes, I know you’ve already thought of that. Is it time to reconsider?
Miscellaneous
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Pay your bills online - You’ll save stamps and save time.
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Start a Upromise account -
Upromise is a service that gives you money for college by shopping at specific partnered retailers. This money can be linked to a 529 plan or to your existing student loan, if your loan is through Sallie Mae or another participating lender.
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Transfer balances (not just for credit cards) - If you have excellent credit and are paying off other (non-credit card) loans, consider transferring the balances to low- or no-interest rate credit cards. Just make sure to read the fine print (I generally won’t do it if there’s a transfer fee, or if the fee doesn’t have a low cap), and know that you will have it paid off before the rate goes up. I have done this for our car loans, and am planning on doing it with chunks of our home equity loan, assuming good offers are still out there when we begin paying that off.
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Have a weekly, bi-weekly or monthly budgeting meeting with your spouse/partner - It doesn’t have to be long. Go over the budget and promise not to spend any money not included in the budget without consulting each other first.
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Don’t hire people to do things that you have the time and ability to do yourself - Mow, fertilize and aerate your own lawn; Paint your own house; Lay your own tile; Do your own taxes; Walk your dog yourself; etc. You can start paying others to do the things you don’t like doing when you’re DEBT FREE!
Our current debt snowball (the monthly payment we’re sending to our smallest debt) is $1,439.08. Once we’ve paid off our credit card, student loans and the second mortgage, we’ll be sending a monthly payment of $3,000.29 to the first mortgage.
