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1. Avoid Brand Names. Avoid them in every way possible. Avoid them at the grocery store and the mall. Who needs them? Most foods have the same exact ingredients, and many clothes that are off brand are made in the same factory as the ones with the designer label! I know that there are some things that you just “have” to by the name brand of. I have to buy special K cereal, but I don’t have to buy brand named napkins or baggies.
2. Drop your bad habits. If you use tobacco products, you are spending unnecessary money. Let’s say that you spend $4.00 per day on a pack of cigs or some Copenhagen. That is $120 per month or $1,440 per year that you could be saving! The same thing goes for alcoholic beverages.
3. Don’t let creditors dip directly into your account. This causes extra fees and charges that go unnoticed. You should always take the time to examine your bills thoroughly before ever submitting a payment. Know where your money is going!
4. This one is mainly for the male population, but do not be a “Technology Nerd”. Many people, mostly men, always want to have the hottest flat screen television or the newest video game system. I have one word for you. WAIT. If you can just wait until the next group of Tech stuff comes out, you could save hundreds of dollars by waiting on something hotter to drop the price of the current.
 5. Do not GAMBLE. This is something fun for people with a bunch of money to do. If you don’t have it, don’t spend it! Most Americans cannot afford to go to Vegas and blow a grand here and there. Most cannot just go to the dog tracks and spend a couple of hundred dollars here and there. It is okay. Find some other way to amuse yourself rather than blowing your money on unnecessary entertainment.
6. Try not to eat out so much. Not eating out can save you so much money. Instead of going to the café at work or running by a fast food restaurant and spending about six bucks, you can save an average of $30 per week by packing a lunch from home. How easy is to slap some meat on some bread, and throw some chips in a bag? So easy that it could end up saving you a whopping $120 per month! How about eating dinner out at a restaurant? It is easy to let someone else do the cooking and the cleanup, but is it worth spending $10 per person on an eat out dinner? If you have a spouse or children, you are probably spending an average of $30-$75 eating out each time. These totals depend on the number of people that are in your family that are eating out each week, but you could be saving as much as $600 per month. This is a big money saver!
7. Pay attention to how much money you spend when you are intoxicated (drunk). People get carried away when they are at the club or bar with their friends. They start buying $8.00 shots for all of their buddies. Before they know it, their tab is well over $100.00. Of course after the bar, everyone wants to go to the Waffle House or Krystal’s. There goes another $10 or $15, depending on how bad your judgment is. When you are drunk, your eyes are always bigger than your stomach. Pay attention to overspending while intoxicated. It is guaranteed to save you money.
8. Take a break from the credit cards. I do not know a single soul that would agree to a 20% interest on a car loan, so why is it okay for you to borrow a couple of thousand dollars on a credit card. It is the same thing people! Everyone needs to own a credit card for emergencies, but try to only have one credit card instead of ten. Pay off the entire balance at the end of each month. Who can afford to pay any more interest than you are already paying? Not accruing interest on your credit card could really help to save major bucks.
9. Choose a cell phone plan wisely. There is no reason to have a $400 cell phone bill. Many people make the mistake of choosing a plan that doesn’t have enough minutes for the amount of time they use their phone. Instead of getting extra fees tacked onto the monthly bill that could be ungodly amounts, just go to the next expensive plan. Instead of it costing hundreds, it will only cost an extra $30 or $40 dollars. That definitely beats the surprise bill. It will also ending up saving you money and stress in the long run.
10. Use coupons. I know that this sounds old fashioned, but it is a money saver. You are going to buy stuff one way or the other, so you might as well save that extra 50 cents. Using coupons at the grocery store could turn your $200 per month bill into $150. This is an average of $600 per year in savings just because you used those annoying coupons!
All of these are sad but true stories. I hope that these ten money saving ideas help you save money. If you have any other suggestions or money saving ideas, please share them by posting a comment below.
-Hannah Harris
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