Money Saving Ideas

There are numerous money saving ideas and ways to save money to easily help build a savings.  As more resources and ways to save money come available, this list will to continue to grow and expand!

1.  Money Saving Idea for College Planning

Simply through everyday shopping online, a wonderful money saving idea toward college is a program hosted by UPROMISE.com, that is very exciting and very easy.  Basically, as you shop and spend money through UPROMISE.com, a percentage is stored into an account.  This money is stored in an account and as their site states:

“All your earnings are automatically saved securely into your UPROMISE account. Then, you decide if you’d like the potential to grow them tax-free in a 529 plan 1 to pay for college, use them to pay down a Sallie Mae student loan, or receive a check for college expenses. “

What is exciting is you earn on everything from groceries, online shopping, drugstore shopping, to eating out and more.  Just think about all the shopping you do online and you can quickly understand how this site is a wonderful money saving idea.

2.  Loose Change Jar Approach
It might sound crazy, but a painless money saving idea involves your loose change and a jar.  Each time you make a purchase you almost always get loose change.  If you are like most people, that change finds its way all around the house or in the car.  A creative money saving idea that goes along way is to store it in a water bottle or other container.
Dropping in a few cents each day may not sound like much, but it certainly adds up quickly.
Over the course of a year, that lose change can help pay an expense or go a long way towards something enjoyable, such as a vacation fund.  At this site we are all about making small changes and coming up with creative money saving ideas to put money back into our pocket.  In my experience, one year of dropping change into a water jug, resulted in enough money to fund plane tickets and hotel for two in a city we always wanted to visit!

Thinking of it in another way, the typical coffee can holds at least $100.00 in change.  Even going out of my way not to spend money, I manage to fill that can every two months.  That is an unintentional savings of $600 per year!

3.  Free 411
A simple money saving idea is reducing some unnecessary phone expenses.  Nowadays most phone companies charge for using the 411 service, and as I recently found out most major cell phone companies also charge a decent amount for using this service, even using 1-800-555-1212.
For completely free directory assistance, try 1-800-FREE-411.  It is completely free but you are forced to listen to a quick advertisement upfront.  For ten seconds of inconvenience, you save roughly a dollar in phone charges.

4.  Free Books, Free Videos, Free Magazines, Free Music, etc
All at your Local Library!  As a budget conscious group, we can not help but to include this absolute bargain in our list of money saving ideas .  Libraries are free as long as you sign up for a library card.
You will find almost anything you want here.  It is definitely worth the visit.

5.  Free Wireless Internet

For a cool money saving idea, here is free internet access!  Check out this cool sight, WiFiFreeSpot.com.  Here, you will find local free WIFI hotspots in your area.

6.  Save Energy Tip
A dry towel added to a very heavy load of damp laundry will dry it a lot quicker. A dry towel absorbs the excess moisture in the wet laundry, speeding up the drying process.  A simple yet effective money saving idea.

7.  Save Money On Cable TV and Satellite TV Services
I just recently implemented this money saving idea myself and thought I would share this helpful tip.

The strategy is to simply call your cable company and request a premium channel promotion or a reduction in services.  The last thing a cable television provider wants to hear is that you want to discontinue a service.
To save you money,they will often provide promotional upgrades or replacement services.
Often cable / satellite television companies will not advertise these specials, so you have to ask to receive them.  I recently called my local cable company and requested we review my bill because I was looking to discontinue all necessary expenses.  I reduced my bill $60 per month, by bundling services such as my phone, Internet and TV and also received a free premium channel for a year.  I also asked that they give me the high definition TV recorder box for free, which they agreed to for one year.
In a few months, I will call them again to see what “other” promotions are available.  It never hurts to call them and ask to review ways of reducing your bill.

8  Further Satellite TV and Cable TV Savings
Another money saving idea to save money on television services is to eliminate the premium channels or the subscription television altogether.
Appearing more and more are Internet sights that provide free access to movies and television shows for FREE!  There are several good ones out there, but my favorite is Hulu.com.

9  Save on Personal Software
Instead of paying a premium for Microsoft office, save hundreds by using OpenOffice.org.  Openoffice is a completely open sourced free software application that allows you to do word processing, create spreadsheets, and put together presentations.  Of course this fits out do it on a budget mantra because it is absolutely 100% free!
For Photo editing software, download the free software Picasa, available by Google.

Also check out freedownloads.com for trial service and free software and other products.

10 Free eBooks and sheet music
Public books (books and publications whose copyrights have expired) are available free for downloading at Gutenberg.org.  There are more then 25,000 titles available, mostly the classics.
For free down loadable classical sheet music on the greats such as Mozart, Bach and Beethoven, visit mutopiaproject.org

Have any other money saving ideas?  We would love for you to share!