10 great ways to save money!

With our economy falling deeper into recession and unemployment rates at their worst in over 30 years, we need to start cutting back the spending and start saving more. There are many ways to save money, you just have to be willing and disciplined. In this article I will show you 10 easy ways to save a good chunk of money.

1. Look for Deals! The first step to saving extra money is to buy things on sale instead of the full retail price if possible. It sounds simple, but I know so many people who pay way too much for certain items when they could be saving themselves some money if they just looked for the deals. With many stores closing and retail sales dropping, stores are having huge sales. Right now, I don't buy any clothes at regular price. Almost every clothing store has a sale section. Usually you can save around 20-50% off the regular price.
   
2. Cut the coffee! This was a hard one for me. I love having my coffee every morning. I usually will get up, go to the gas station, and get a cappuccino every morning that costs me $1.67. Now this doesn't sound like much, but over time buying this cup of coffee every morning will cost me $434.20 in one year! And let's say you go to your favorite coffee shop every morning and spend on average $3.50 on a latte, espresso, or some kind of specialty coffee. Over the course of a year you would end up spending over $900! When I saw how much I could save I decided to cut out my coffee runs and just brew my own at home.
3. Shop around for cheaper insurance. Recently I was shopping around to see if I could get a better rate on car insurance. After about 45 minutes of research on the Internet I ended up finding a cheaper quote. Looking at my new quote I ended up saving $53 a month, which is a savings of $636 a year! I was very happy with this savings. Most insurance companies will have discounts if multiple people in your household go through the same insurance provider. You can also combine auto and house insurances and make a cheaper package through some companies. Another great way to lower your premiums is to set your deductions higher. If you have had a good driving record without any accidents this might be a savings for you.
   
4. Start going to the dollar store. If you don't already go to the dollar store, you should! I started going to the dollar store to pick up certain household items to save money. Recently, I made a trip to the dollar store and my total cost was $6.39 for items like dishwasher soap, paper towels, toothpaste...etc. The same items priced at the grocery store cost a total of $16.51. I figure I would make a trip about once a month. Making this switch to the dollar store, where everything is a dollar, saves me $121.44 a year!
5. Use coupons! Coupons are a great way to save a dollar here, a dollar there. Even though the savings might be small at first, over time the savings will really show its worth. Check out the Sunday ads in the newspaper or online for coupons for groceries.
6. Use Redbox or Netflix. I love to watch movies. I have a big collection at home, but I still like to rent 2-3 movies a week. Normally I would go to the movie store, which costs me $4.25 a movie, but now I use the Redbox by my house. Redbox charges $1 a movie per night. This simple change has saved me over $400 a year!
7. Pay off debt as soon as possible! Stop paying for things if you don't have the money. Debt is something you don't want hanging over you. It cause extra stress in your life that you don't need. Even if you take my previous advice and find a shirt on sale 15% off, but still put it on your credit card, you are not making a good choice. That shirt really wasn't 15% off, because you could easily pay more than the retail value with the interest that would accrue from the purchase. If you see a sale, but don't have the money it's ok, because there will always be another sale. If you have too much debt and you are over your head try to consolidate your debt. If that doesn't work try getting a second job or a second stream of income. Figure out what your talents are and use them.
   
8. Quit Smoking! I know this one is obvious and you have heard it a million times if you are a smoker, but here are the numbers for you to decide if you want to keep smoking or not. Lets say you smoke about a pack a day. That cost of that with tax would about around $5 a day and over $1800 a year! And we don't even know how much you would save on future medical bills. Think if every time you wanted to smoke you put $5 in a jar, and did this everyday. Your prize at the end of the year without smoking would be to crack open that jar and give yourself an $1800 bonus! Even if it takes you $200-300 to help yourself quit you will still have saved a lot of money.
   
9. Talk is cheap! Anyone who used to tell me talk is cheap didn't see my monthly cell phone bill. I used to spend about $100 a month on my talk plan and another $30 a month on a data pack for my blackberry. Altogether I was spending $130 a month plus taxes and extra downloads, ringers, texts, whatever! And most months I would go over my minutes. Now most cell phone providers have unlimited talk for around $100 or unlimited texting plans. To live more frugal I got rid of my blackberry and got a cheaper cell phone. I decided to keep my conversations shorter during the day, since I text more and take advantage of the free nights and weekends. A lot of providers are letting you talk to people who use the same company for free. There are a lot of deals out there you just have to look for them. Here is the math on this savings...My new plan cost me $65 a month plus tax, when before I was easily paying around $150 a month. This saves me $85 a month and saves me more than $1000 a year!
10. Cancel your gym membership! Now before you actually go out and do this, hear me out. We need to exercise. It keeps us healthy, positive, and it can help you save money in the long run with medical bills and expenses. I used to have a gym membership like many other people do that got used rarely. I would pay $40 a month for a membership that was barely getting used. If you are getting your use out of your membership keep it! It just wasn't working for me. Instead, I decided to buy a couple things for around the house to exercise with. You can really get a decent workout done in your living room with just a few things. Here is what I bought...an iron gym which cost me $30, an ab ball that cost $20, perfect push ups that cost $25 and I checked out craigslist.com for some used dumbbells for $25. I use these items everyday and now I don't have to worry about waiting for other people in the crowded gym. My total cost of my living room gym was $100. That is a little over two months of a gym membership that I used about once every other week. Now lets see how much I saved over this year...$40 a month - the $100 for my at home equipment is a savings of $380 for the year!

There are a lot of different ways to save money if you look for them. When you find those savings be disciplined and willing to make that change. A fun way to save if you don't need the extra money right away or want to build a small nest egg of money is to act like you are still spending your money on those expenses, but put the money away in a jar or a savings account. When you reach your goal cash it out to reinvest or continue saving. You never know when you will need that extra money for an emergency or a rainy day.