Eight Simple Things You Can Do this Week to Save Money

Dine in tonight ~ you can still make it special without spending an extra dime!

Summer is almost over and likely, you’ve splurged a little on vacation or with other fun summer activities while making terrific memories for your family.  With back-to-school around the corner, though, it’s a good time to step back and get our budgets in check.

Here are 8 very simple things you can do this weekend to give a boost to your budget right now:

1) Challenge yourself to eat in and only eat what is in… the house, that is. No grocery store quick trips, no dining out. Be creative, use the internet for recipe inspiration, and only use the ingredients you have on hand to create meals throughout the weekend.

If you just skip one fast food outing or one extra shopping trip, you could save anywhere from $10-$40 on average… and the savings go up if you were considering a major shopping trip or sit down dinner.

2) If you already have plans to eat out, share your dinner. Consider going to a pizza joint and splitting the bill with friends, or share a dinner with your partner or child. Really, do you need to have leftovers? You could save $10-$20 on average by cutting back.

3) Review your phone bills. Can you cut call waiting or caller ID? Could you cut back on long distance phone calls? Can you lower your minutes on your cell phone plan? Do you really need an additional line? Could you consolidate and only keep one phone? A lot of people are removing their land lines and switching to having their cell phone as their one and only- this move can save you thousands each year.

4) Unplug all your energy wasters and turn off the lights! Go around the house and find every cord that could be unplugged and unplug it! The toaster, coffee maker, cell phone chargers, spare televisions, and so on are all “energy ghosts” meaning they are sucking valuable energy and dollars from your pocket when not in use. In the main rooms of your house, open the curtains to let natural light in and try lighting a few candles at night time to save even more off your monthly electric bill.

5) Find one thing you do not need and sell it via Craigslist, eBay, or to a friend/neighbor/family member. Take the earnings and immediately put it into your savings account or use it to open a simple savings account! Many banks have savings programs that only required $10-$100 to open accounts.

6) Give up soda for at least a week, substituting with water or lemon/lime spiked water. Your body and your pocketbook will appreciate the change of pace. If you cannot resist the lure, limit yourself to one soda per day and you’ll still save big if your main drink of choice has been soda.

7) Instead of renting a movie or buying a book or magazine, visit the library. Most libraries are chock full of new release movie titles and tons of best sellers. Go one step further and search for books or magazines with more money saving ideas!

8) Return an impulse buy. Still have tags on the clothes you purchased last week? Then chances are you were more excited by the deal than the item. Return it and put the money towards a better purpose like paying down a credit card or building your savings account.