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Consumer Action by Stacey L. Bradford (Author Archive)
Save $100 a Month
HOW'D YOU LIKE TO earn an extra $100 this month? No, you don't have to pander to your boss or take on a second job. You need to tighten your budget.
Impossible, you say? Hogwash. Click below to find tips on how to slash costs on a myriad of expenses.
1. Household Bills
Folks have more control over their household bills than they realize. They just need to exercise it. By comparing prices from different service providers in your area, for example, you can save hundreds of dollars a year. Here's how:
Shop around
Use consumer web sites such as lowermybills.com, or myrateplan.com, to see how much you could save on everything from your local and long distance phone service to cable and web access.
Savings: $17.50 a month by switching from AT&T to Unitel. Cancel services you're not using
If you're not watching HBO now that "Sex in the City" is off the air, don't pay for it.
Savings: $10.95 a month by ditching one premium channel or $36 a month by downgrading to a basic plan. Dump your land line
Consider dropping your local and long-distance plans and use just your cellphone instead.
Savings: $34.95 a month by cancelling your traditional phone service. Slash your home electricity and heating bill
Reduce energy costs by as much as 30% using Energy Star appliances and adding insulation.
Savings: $48 a month by using more efficient appliances and sealing those leaky windows. (For more energy-saving tips, see our story 25 Extreme Energy Saving Tips.)
Click here for a more detailed explanation of how our savings figures were calculated.
Use consumer web sites such as lowermybills.com, or myrateplan.com, to see how much you could save on everything from your local and long distance phone service to cable and web access.
Savings: $17.50 a month by switching from AT&T to Unitel. Cancel services you're not using
If you're not watching HBO now that "Sex in the City" is off the air, don't pay for it.
Savings: $10.95 a month by ditching one premium channel or $36 a month by downgrading to a basic plan. Dump your land line
Consider dropping your local and long-distance plans and use just your cellphone instead.
Savings: $34.95 a month by cancelling your traditional phone service. Slash your home electricity and heating bill
Reduce energy costs by as much as 30% using Energy Star appliances and adding insulation.
Savings: $48 a month by using more efficient appliances and sealing those leaky windows. (For more energy-saving tips, see our story 25 Extreme Energy Saving Tips.)
2. Food
Don't supersize your food budget. With some savvy shopping you can have your cake and save on it, too.
Put in some effort
Convenience is overrated and overpriced, says Susan Westmoreland, food director at the Good Housekeeping Research Institute. You'll spend at least twice as much on items such as prewashed mixed greens and a jar of pasta sauce vs. a head of lettuce or the ingredients for your own marinara.
Savings: $10 a month by preparing your own red sauce. Avoid those handy snack-sized treats
Savings: $5 a month picking up two 16-oz. boxes of Chips Ahoy! cookies vs. the individual serving-size bags. Go generic
According to Consumer Reports shoppers can save up to 50% when they buy store-brand food items.
Savings: nearly $10 a month buying Stop & Shop strawberries vs. Driscoll's. For five tips on generic products everyone should buy, click here. Buy in bulk
If your family goes through staples like cereal, milk and bread faster than the U.S. Army, purchase jumbo sizes of these items at a warehouse or club store.
Savings: $10 a month purchasing the 8-oz. box of Post's Raisin Bran compared with four 20-oz.-size boxes. Brown bag it
Bring your lunch to work.
Savings: More than $120 a month making your own sandwich as opposed to picking one up at a New York deli. Click here for a more detailed explanation of how our savings figures were calculated.
Convenience is overrated and overpriced, says Susan Westmoreland, food director at the Good Housekeeping Research Institute. You'll spend at least twice as much on items such as prewashed mixed greens and a jar of pasta sauce vs. a head of lettuce or the ingredients for your own marinara.
Savings: $10 a month by preparing your own red sauce. Avoid those handy snack-sized treats
Savings: $5 a month picking up two 16-oz. boxes of Chips Ahoy! cookies vs. the individual serving-size bags. Go generic
According to Consumer Reports shoppers can save up to 50% when they buy store-brand food items.
Savings: nearly $10 a month buying Stop & Shop strawberries vs. Driscoll's. For five tips on generic products everyone should buy, click here. Buy in bulk
If your family goes through staples like cereal, milk and bread faster than the U.S. Army, purchase jumbo sizes of these items at a warehouse or club store.
Savings: $10 a month purchasing the 8-oz. box of Post's Raisin Bran compared with four 20-oz.-size boxes. Brown bag it
Bring your lunch to work.
Savings: More than $120 a month making your own sandwich as opposed to picking one up at a New York deli. Click here for a more detailed explanation of how our savings figures were calculated.
3. Entertainment
We all need a little fun. But that doesn't mean you need to shell out big bucks for it. Pick up a local entertainment guide and you'll find bargains on everything from movie tickets and concerts to museums and theater, says Erin Clement, Around the Town Editor for Time Out New York. More tips:
Free music
In the summer the country's top orchestras take to the great outdoors and play free concerts for the masses.
Savings: $42 by enjoying the New York Philharmonic in Central Park rather than at Lincoln Center. Stay in for movie night
Rent your flick and watch it at home.
Savings: $30 a month by renting DVDs from Netflix vs. going out to the movies. Want to see it on the big screen?
Buy tickets in person and waive the online service fee charged by web sites like Fandango and Moviefone.
Savings: $6 a month. For more ways to save on movie tickets, click here. Cheap eats
Search out online discounts at web sites such as DinnerBroker.com or Restaurant.com.
Savings: $15 on a great steak dinner. For more tips, click here. Click here for a detailed explanation of how our savings figures were calculated.
In the summer the country's top orchestras take to the great outdoors and play free concerts for the masses.
Savings: $42 by enjoying the New York Philharmonic in Central Park rather than at Lincoln Center. Stay in for movie night
Rent your flick and watch it at home.
Savings: $30 a month by renting DVDs from Netflix vs. going out to the movies. Want to see it on the big screen?
Buy tickets in person and waive the online service fee charged by web sites like Fandango and Moviefone.
Savings: $6 a month. For more ways to save on movie tickets, click here. Cheap eats
Search out online discounts at web sites such as DinnerBroker.com or Restaurant.com.
Savings: $15 on a great steak dinner. For more tips, click here. Click here for a detailed explanation of how our savings figures were calculated.
4. Gasoline
According to the Energy Department, gas prices are expected to remain high for the rest of the year and ease ever so slightly during 2007. Here's how to fight back:
Don't pamper your Pontiac
Unless the manufacturer specifically recommends a high octane gasoline for your model, there's no performance advantage to filling your tank with anything other than regular unleaded, says Mantill Williams, a spokesman for AAA.
Savings: $14 a month by filling up with regular vs. premium unleaded. Go slow
Drivers can improve fuel efficiency by up to 10% by observing the speed limit and accelerating and decreasing evenly.
Savings: $14 a month driving a steady 65 miles per hour on the highway. Leave the SUV at home
Savings: $36 a month commuting with the family sedan rather than a larger sport utility vehicle. Shop around
Use AAA's Fuel Price Finder to find the cheapest gas in your area.
Savings: $6 a month by searching for the most competitively priced pump in your area. For more cost-cutting ideas, click here.) Click here for a more detailed explanation of how our savings figures were calculated.
Unless the manufacturer specifically recommends a high octane gasoline for your model, there's no performance advantage to filling your tank with anything other than regular unleaded, says Mantill Williams, a spokesman for AAA.
Savings: $14 a month by filling up with regular vs. premium unleaded. Go slow
Drivers can improve fuel efficiency by up to 10% by observing the speed limit and accelerating and decreasing evenly.
Savings: $14 a month driving a steady 65 miles per hour on the highway. Leave the SUV at home
Savings: $36 a month commuting with the family sedan rather than a larger sport utility vehicle. Shop around
Use AAA's Fuel Price Finder to find the cheapest gas in your area.
Savings: $6 a month by searching for the most competitively priced pump in your area. For more cost-cutting ideas, click here.) Click here for a more detailed explanation of how our savings figures were calculated.
5. Banking
Tired of all those bank fees? Take your business to the little guy. The banks with less market share in a given region tend to offer their customers more competitive rates on everything from fees on checking accounts to interest rates, says David Osborn, managing partner of financial services at Rosetta, a Princeton, N.J.-based consulting firm. Other advice:
Don't pay for checking
In nearly every market there's at least one bank that doesn't charge its customers for a checking account, says Osborn.
Savings: $7 a month by ditching your fee-based checking account. For more on this, read our story.) Go the extra mile
Make an effort to use your bank's ATM machine rather than the competitor's that's a block or two closer.
Savings: $9 a month. Find a cheaper credit card
Go to Cardweb.com to find a credit card that doesn't charge an annual fee.
Savings: $5 a month.
Click here for a more detailed explanation of how our savings figures were calculated.
In nearly every market there's at least one bank that doesn't charge its customers for a checking account, says Osborn.
Savings: $7 a month by ditching your fee-based checking account. For more on this, read our story.) Go the extra mile
Make an effort to use your bank's ATM machine rather than the competitor's that's a block or two closer.
Savings: $9 a month. Find a cheaper credit card
Go to Cardweb.com to find a credit card that doesn't charge an annual fee.
Savings: $5 a month.
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Posted: 7:36 AM EST August 28, 2006
These tips do work, but are not new. I accomplished more savings by learning how to put my financial life into a spreadsheet, which lead to understanding where I could save money (pay off highest interest debts first or pay off very small debts) and looking at it every month so that I could see progress and avoid repeating old spending habits. After getting rid of debts I started saving and investing. It worked.
Posted: 4:27 PM EST August 25, 2006
Posted by: joshuatree28
Same old savings tips, some of which you only get AFTER you spent money on all those new 'energy saving ' devices, or if you tend to abuse your ATM card every day. Why not entertain starting a budget? Then you will truly know where your money is going.Advertisements
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