Whats Your Favorite Money Saving Tip?

[james.hendrickson]

Whats your favorite money saving tip?

Mine are:

1. Don't eat out. Bring your lunch from home. You'll see a big difference in your budget right away.

2. Don't play the lottery - its a tax on the poorly educated

3. Turn off the lights when you leave the house - small savings add up over time

4. Comparison shop - use Kimovil, gearbest, banggood, etc. Sometimes things made in china are okay.

[scfr]

Do not be deterred if others scoff at your money saving endeavors.

[Djg06]

I totally agree with bringing lunch from home - I went from spending 30+ a week to eating leftovers and not really throwing away bad food anymore!

[greenskeeper]

don't spend money when you don't have to

[kork13]

My #1: Tithe & Save FIRST (save 15% - 20% of your income at a minimum). Live off the rest, and you'll be just fine.

Bringing lunch to work is a very good one. Related, cook >90% of your dinners at home vs. eating out. Bonus points for cooking extra to have leftovers for your lunch at work....gotta love a twofer.

Avoid debt. Save up for big purchases, and smile when you write the check to buy it free & clear.

Be content with what you have. Don't waste your money buying things you can't afford in a vain attempt to impress people. Nobody cares.

[JoeP]

Don't play the lottery!

I ran a simulation (PM me if you want the Python code) that selects a winning set and then continually draws quick picks until it wins. Some of these simulations ran for over 12 hours, at a rate of almost 8800 quick picks per second, generating 325 million quick picks before winning.

[james.hendrickson]

Don't play the lottery!

I ran a simulation (PM me if you want the Python code) that selects a winning set and then continually draws quick picks until it wins. Some of these simulations ran for over 12 hours, at a rate of almost 8800 quick picks per second, generating 325 million quick picks before winning.

Joe - excellent point. The chances of getting hit by a meteor are better than the chances of winning the lottery.

[corn18]

Have a plan and stick to it. No real specifics as everyone is so different in their approach to finances, but whatever you do, write down your goals and track how you are doing against those goals. This approach has prevented us from getting back into debt and maximizing our savings.

[bjl584]

The main one for me is to have a plan and stick to it no matter what others say or what their opinions might be of you.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

pay yourself first and you never need to budget. I haven't budgeted in year. And even when I had less money I always did it annually and kept a "rounding" budget and knew where money went that way big picture than pennies.

Also don't shop. Don't shop online and don't shop in store. It just saves. I had no idea what was in our mall nearby. But I also don't shop on Amazon and it helps. I feel yes people do shop a lot online and it's easier to spend more money.

[gadislade]

Don't spend money costly outfits.

[amastewa93]

I was asked about this last night and I have to say my favorite money saving tip is establishing an emergency fund. That $1,000 (or whatever number you decide on) will save you a TON. You won't wind up racking up CC debt when an emergency comes up. Not to mention, the peace of mind you'll have having that cash to fall back on.

Outside of that - buy used, when possible. Tons of people are selling or otherwise getting rid of perfectly good items and you can save a ton of money getting used furniture, secondhand clothes, etc.