When you think about saving money, it can be an exciting challenge to think of new and creative ways to keep more money in your wallet! I thought of ten easy ways to save money right off the bat – don’t spend money, don’t spend money, don’t spend money… 
Now, to the real ideas…
1. Buy a nice quality BPA free water bottle and a filter system. This way you can eliminate buying bottled water even when the quality of the water is not good. Rather you can filter and bottle your own water. Bottled water is often $2 or more a bottle, so that money quickly adds up.
2. Cut off the cable and instead borrow movies for free from your local library. Many libraries offer you the ability to not only check out their collection, but to also borrow from other libraries in the region or state at no cost. This will eliminate not only a monthly bill but the commercials too!
3. Buy the store brand instead of the name brand. Often they are manufactured in the same plant using the same recipe; however, there is a significant savings by buying the store brand. Out of all our years of buying store brand, there are only two things in the entire grocery store that we buy brand name – Ritz© Crackers and Keebler© Vanilla Wafers. Everything else we buy store brand.
4. Have a “Swap” with your friends. Do you enjoy a particular hobby like rubber stamping or knitting? Or sewing? Have a “swap” time with your friends and swap out the items you are done with for “new to you” items. None of you spend money, yet you all get new items to enjoy.
5. Take advantage of free local events such as the free concerts in the park during the summer, a public lecture at the local college, etc. Keep a check at the upcoming events postings on your local news website.
6. Offer to trade skills with a friend. You have many skills which your friends could benefit from, and the same goes for you. Could you trade skills with a friend and both of you save the cost of hiring someone to do the work?
7. Shop during the off season. Check your wardrobe in the fall, and see what you will need for next summer. Then hit the clearance racks! Planning ahead can save you up to 80% off if planned ahead!
8. Buy in bulk. If there are items that you use a lot, check into bulk or case pricing. You can save anywhere from 10-25% this way. We buy our flour in 50 pound bags since we love to bake, and it is like getting 10 pounds free. Just remember to only do this with items that you will use. If you do not bake a lot and bought a 50 pound bag and had to throw out half of it, then you have really lost money. Buying in bulk needs to be based on your needs not the savings!
9. Check reviews. Remember that quality is worth buying. It is better to spend $100 and get a quality item versus $50 to get an item that quits working in two weeks. I was in need of upgrading my cell phone. I found a pre-paid company where I was able to reduce my bill by $10 a month while upgrading my service to unlimited. I then found two phones that I liked. One was $50 less than the other, so I was very tempted to buy that one. I checked the reviews first and found out that the less expensive one quit working and gave people trouble whereas the more expensive one got 4 to 5 stars (out of 5 possible stars) consistently across the board. So I did spend the extra $50, but I saved a quick replacement and a lot of headaches!
10. Avoid buying new – consider if you already have what you need or have something that would work instead of going out and having to buy the latest great item.
I hope this ideas get you started. What are some other ways to save money?
About Jocelin Boutet