10 Tips to Help You Save More Money

Written by Nicole Dean

1. Deliberately reduce your grocery bill by ten dollars. Write a check for it and mail it in to your savings account.

2. Designate one day each week as a *spend-no-money* day. Can you carry iced tea from home with you? Tuck away three dollars for every pitcher of tea you make at home!

3. Bring lunch to work one day this week. Simply cook a bit extra for dinner the night before to take with you.

4. Buy quality greeting cards in bulk. At fifty cents or less per card, you save each time you use one. (Plus, it can help keep you out of the stores!) If you can’t find anything local in bulk that you like, check out Current, Inc., currentcatalog.com (phone: 877-665-4458) They are good quality with lots of variety.

5. Challenge yourself to eating out only if you can spend less than five dollars (choose what your limit will be.)

6. Ask for cash back when using coupons — and tuck away your savings.

7. Replace a dry-cleanable item you wear regularly with an item that requires no special care. (This includes leathers, too.) Ask your family and friends to avoid gifting you with dry-cleanable items.

8. Downsize by slowly eliminating items you’ve kept in storage units that cost you money. Aim for eliminating the unit altogether within a month or two.

9. Replace a name-brand item with a generic, including medication, if possible.

10. Look up one phone number or web address to cancel a magazine, newspaper, book club if you have no time to keep up with the reading. Don’t forget about auto shipments, like vitamins, which you may no longer want.

Regardless of which day you choose — or which tips you use — be sure to actually tuck away all money you save. That way, the money sponge in your checkbook won’t absorb it.

Now… How much can you accomplish by choosing just *one* day on which to focus?

Have some fun with this!

Tags: frugal mom, save money, saving money tips, saving more money, Show Mom the Money, tips to help save money