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13 Creative & Simple Ways to Save at Least $100 a Week
cashbulge.com — What could you do with an extra $100 laying around every week? I ’d probably save for a new laptop or go out more often, maybe create a stockpile of beer (or create an ice cave). I was on my disastrous commute this morning and I ran through a checklist in my mind on how I could go about saving $100 a week.
virtuexru- 1241 diggs
- digg it
- jackie28, on 10/10/2007, -6/+5wow i would just keep collecting money . so that i can use when i really need it
- FTLJohnson, on 10/10/2007, -3/+10http://duggmirror.com/business_finance/13_Creative_Simple_Ways_to_Save_at_Least_100_a_Week/
- Pssdoff, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1I already make an extra $100 a week selling hobo organs on the black market. You never know when you'll need an extra liver.
- abstracthuman, on 10/10/2007, -2/+59"3. Change adds up quickly, don’t let it disappear under your couch."
Yeah but it's way more satisfying to find a few bucks in the couch than it is to watch it accumulate in a jar on your table. Always a nice "Jackpot!" feeling.- Nerfdude, on 10/10/2007, -0/+13i pay for literally everything with my debit card. i don't accumulate change, i just have more money in my bank account.
- lucaswschmidt, on 10/10/2007, -2/+3a while ago my friend filled up his office water cooler tank of change and got over $1000 out of it. its nice to get a buck or so from your couch every now and then, but it's even nicer to fill up several random containers and have random cash when you need it.
- AnteChronos, on 10/10/2007, -3/+3And it's even nicer to not accumulate change, so that money can be earning interest in your savings account, instead.
- Nerfdude, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1it's even nicer to not have to keep track of change, carry change, carry random wads of cash, jingle everywhere you walk, etc etc etc.
- lucaswschmidt, on 10/10/2007, -2/+3a while ago my friend filled up his office water cooler tank of change and got over $1000 out of it. its nice to get a buck or so from your couch every now and then, but it's even nicer to fill up several random containers and have random cash when you need it.
- Nerfdude, on 10/10/2007, -0/+13i pay for literally everything with my debit card. i don't accumulate change, i just have more money in my bank account.
- caponumen, on 10/10/2007, -17/+10914. Grow your own weed.
15. Cut down to one hooker per week (lube is cheap).- thebenchase, on 10/10/2007, -11/+3or, become a drug dealer to pay for your weed habit.
- mgroat, on 10/10/2007, -6/+5Don't drug dealers make less than minimum wage and have a higher mortality rate than death row inmates? You'd probably be better off flipping burgers than selling drugs.
- redfox2600, on 10/10/2007, -4/+5Flip burger at In n' Out they pay $9.50 /h and get an employee discount on the best damn burger anywhere.
- ABadInAlbany, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1You're thinking of inner city low-level gang members who work corners (Freakonomics).
The average suburban, college or non-corner working urban drug dealer can pay the rent, buy groceries, and smoke for free by flipping a mere quarter pound or so of quality stuff a week.- chizzlechest420, on 10/10/2007, -0/+0absolutely correct.....most drug dealer are not young jeezy's on the corner slangin crack rocks to baseheads.
- mgroat, on 10/10/2007, -6/+5Don't drug dealers make less than minimum wage and have a higher mortality rate than death row inmates? You'd probably be better off flipping burgers than selling drugs.
- Vodka2389, on 10/10/2007, -4/+58Dude he added your comment to the page. You're famous!
- aab0mb, on 10/10/2007, -6/+116. Cut your own hair. Or not...
- sanj0hn, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Nice try but no, you won't become famous...
- thebenchase, on 10/10/2007, -11/+3or, become a drug dealer to pay for your weed habit.
- virtuexru, on 10/10/2007, -15/+2INVEST!!
- BenHanby, on 10/10/2007, -5/+58If you're cheap like me, all these suggestions are either automatic or useless.
Nothing can replace the best advise of all, "buy a house in 1998". Not doing that has cost me $200,000 at least.- DeFex, on 10/10/2007, -1/+11dont worry there ought to be a few bargain homes about soon!
- samurailynn, on 10/10/2007, -6/+1Yeah, it would have been nice if I'd bought a house in 1998... back when I was a junior in high school.
And, yeah, I pretty much do all of these things already. - DJMajickman, on 10/10/2007, -2/+1Yeah I bought in 2001. Made a ton of money renting out a room for the first few years that now I don't have to do that any more...well for now anyways might need to again in the future. Oh and my house has tripled in value and I wouldn't be able to afford it now if I hadn't bought then.
- theholycow, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1I almost bought a house in 1998. It was a small place, only a few years old, on 2 acres and was $160,000. I wasn't confident in my ability to pay for it. Now I know I could have. It's probably worth at least twice as much now.
Instead, in 2005, I bought a nice house on one acre for $305,000. If I'm lucky, it's worth the same as I paid. I'm glad I like it, because I'm stuck with it!
- esbern1, on 10/10/2007, -6/+58.....just want to point out that a blogger that is trying to save money each weak is spending $3.42 on a Starbucks Cappucino
- cmiller1, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2where else would he go so people can watch him blawging the intarwebs
- esbern1, on 10/10/2007, -25/+4btw...buried for blog spam
- TenebrousX, on 10/10/2007, -1/+21Blogspam is linking to a blog with just an embedded youtube video and maybe a paragraph commentary. An article like this is not blogspam.
- esbern1, on 10/10/2007, -6/+4oh sorry, i thought it was pimping your own blog
- TenebrousX, on 10/10/2007, -1/+21Blogspam is linking to a blog with just an embedded youtube video and maybe a paragraph commentary. An article like this is not blogspam.
- expert01, on 10/10/2007, -4/+90If I don't actually make any money, will reading this give me an extra $100 a week?
- heyitsgarrett, on 10/10/2007, -1/+21Open up an ING or other high-interest savings account. I've you've got a scheduled salary, set it to automatically deposit to the savings with each paycheck. You don't miss money you never saw in the first place, and the interest adds up.
- justinjstark, on 10/10/2007, -4/+6Or dump it in the stock market; but understand the risks. Even with the horrible performance of the market recently, I have made more money in the last two weeks (even after commissions) than I would in a year in a 5% online savings account.
- Azulus, on 10/10/2007, -0/+31is "opt for the cheap hosting" package one?
- antonio97b, on 10/10/2007, -1/+14*****. I need to be making more than 100$ a week.
I need more hours damnit. - twrife, on 10/10/2007, -2/+364. Turn off your AC, TV and other appliances when you’re not home.
9. Waste less energy in your home.
Is it just me, or are these pretty much the same?- sirbeta, on 10/10/2007, -2/+0Mostly. I think he was trying to get at two different points though. The first one are some of the major players in wasting electricity, but simple things like lights might be omitted because some people don't realize exactly how much electricity they are wasting leaving a simple light on. I think 9 was just expanding upon 4 in a more broad sense.
- dannyboy3020, on 10/10/2007, -1/+51"Then at the end of the week I went to a coinstar machine at my local grocery mart."
Coinstar doesn't come cheap.- superdupergc, on 10/10/2007, -0/+13so walk to a bank and put it in your account there. tellers will hate you, but they wont take a percentage like coinstar does.
- rnwen2750, on 10/10/2007, -2/+3But don't you have to roll the coins in their special wrappers first? I can never find any wrappers to do so.
- emmyann, on 10/10/2007, -1/+5Not necessarily. Today I just deposited over $15 in coins into my checking account. Handed a bag of change to the teller, he dumped it into a counting machine, and a minute later I had a nice little deposit receipt.
- rnwen2750, on 10/10/2007, -2/+3But don't you have to roll the coins in their special wrappers first? I can never find any wrappers to do so.
- profOblivion, on 10/10/2007, -1/+8Rolling your own coins isn't hard, and if you do it say, while watching TV, it doesn't feel like it takes as much time. Even do just a few rolls a day and it won't take you that long.
- psykiv, on 10/10/2007, -1/+2BankAtlantic FTW! Free coin counting (even for non-customers)
I'm sure there's probably a local bank in your area that offers that too.- theartfuldodgr, on 10/10/2007, -1/+1Chase banks in NJ also have this. They have this thing called the penny arcade and you dump all of your coins into it and then guess how much you put in. If you are exact you win a free tshirt or piggy bank. Pretty easy way to not only get cash from your coins but get some free schwag out of the deal.
- drachemorder, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2Seems like an easy game to win just by counting your money beforehand. I guess they're sort of counting on people being too lazy to do that.
- theartfuldodgr, on 10/10/2007, -1/+1Chase banks in NJ also have this. They have this thing called the penny arcade and you dump all of your coins into it and then guess how much you put in. If you are exact you win a free tshirt or piggy bank. Pretty easy way to not only get cash from your coins but get some free schwag out of the deal.
- BeyondGoodNEvil, on 10/10/2007, -1/+10This guy is an idiot. The coinstar bit just solidified it, after the mention of paying $3+ to get coffee every day and $1 for soda, along with the arbitrary advice to "save $2 a day" and "pay yourself a paycheck every 2 weeks". Why not just pay yourself $28 more each 2 weeks?
- samurailynn, on 10/10/2007, -0/+7His next article will include a tip about counting your own coins instead of using coinstar.
- Pssdoff, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Screw Coinstar - Just pay for your drive thru value meal entirely in pennies. The added amusement is worth the wait.
- KingGorilla, on 10/10/2007, -0/+0Someone might punch you.
- superdupergc, on 10/10/2007, -0/+13so walk to a bank and put it in your account there. tellers will hate you, but they wont take a percentage like coinstar does.
- cowman80i9, on 10/10/2007, -3/+1not working for me
- TomK88, on 10/10/2007, -3/+4http://www.duggmirror.com
- FeartheKnighted, on 10/10/2007, -6/+40What could you do with an extra $100 laying around every week? I’d probably save for a new laptop or go out more often, maybe create a stockpile of beer (or create an ice cave). I was on my disastrous commute this morning and I ran through a checklist in my mind on how I could go about saving $100 a week so that I could invest in other things that would make my life easier or just more enjoyable for that matter.
As I sat there, waiting for the D train to make its way out of the Bronx and into Manhattan I began my brainstorming. One thing after another and I realized that there was a lot you could do to save money with some simple tips. By employing some of these tips you can save a bundle every week and save it towards something you would really like or to invest it. Let’s get to the list.
1. Bag your lunch and bring it to work.
This is a goldmine so to speak. Personally, I spend about $7-20 a day on lunch while I’m at work depending on what I feel like eating, the fact that I work in downtown Manhattan doesn’t help. Let’s make the average to $10.
I could save a bundle if I were to make a sandwich for about $2-3 from home and bring it to work (buying coldcuts at the local grocery store), along with a $1 soda thats about $3-4 spent on lunch everyday as opposed to an average of 10$.
Savings: $36 per week.
2. Institute a ‘tax’ on your household.
We all hate taxes. No, let me rephrase that, despise taxes. However this is a little different. What about getting you and each person living in your house to put $2 a day in a savings jar? You can then use this money towards anything. Clothes, food, movies, a long needed vacation, a car, anything basically, be as inventive as possible!
Savings: ~$20 per week (based on 2 family members).
3. Change adds up quickly, don’t let it disappear under your couch.
You’re at your local StarBucks and you order a cappuccino for $3.42. You get an ugly $0.58 cents back. I used to forget about this change, lose it, or stuff it down my pants pocket for it never to be seen again.
A week ago I started saving all my change, I mean every single penny and dime. Then at the end of the week I went to a coinstar machine at my local grocery mart. How much did I save? $9.87. I was shocked really, I didn’t know it added up so quick. I was well on my way to an easy extra $100 a week.
Savings: $5-10 per week.
3. Give yourself a pay check every two weeks.
Whether you get your pay every week, bi-weekly, or daily, take a percentage and save it! Whether you put 15% of your paycheck in a money market or 2% in a small savings account you’ll be surprised as to how quickly all of it adds up. Set a percentage and deduct it as the first thing that you do with your paycheck.
Savings: $10-100 per week (depending on your salary).
4. Turn off your AC, TV and other appliances when you’re not home.
Seems really simple and basic but you’d be surprised how much you can save and how many people don’t do this. For more information on exactly how you can save money by conserving energy, check Get Energy Smart out.
Savings: $5 per week.
5. Don’t drive if you can avoid it.
Gas prices are nearing around $3 per gallon these days, its ridiculous. Dump the car (if you can) and use a bike, run or take public transportation to work. You’ll also save a ton on tickets ;-).
Savings: $20-50 per week.
6. Brand name household products will burn your cash, buy cheap and buy wholesale.
Why get 9-ply super-duper-fancy-ass-toilet-paper when you can get the no-name brand for 3/4th the price? Run through Costco and BJ’s to get your household needs at a wholesale bargain that will last you a lifetime.
Savings: $5-10 per week.
7. Make your calendar work for you.
Haircuts, pedicures, manicures, massages, car wash, etc. If you do one of these activities (services) every 2 weeks, why not make it every 3-4 weeks? You can save a bundle by stretching these out over a longer period of time.
Savings: $5-10 per week.
8. Scrap your home-phone line, use your cell phone instead.
Might not be viable for everyone but I have ditched my landline and added on some more minutes to my wireless plan. I’m saving $30 a month on my home line and added $10 a month to my cellphone bill.
Savings: $20 per month.
9. Waste less energy in your home.
I found this amazing resource which has 101 ways to save money around the house by optimizing lighting, air conditioning, heating and so forth.
Savings: $30-50 per month.
10. Have crap around the house that’s picking up dust? Sell it on eBay.
Believe it or not, people will buy crap you don’t use. Where else but on eBay? I have a friend who sold his PlayStation (Yes, PS1) for $120 on eBay. Find stuff you don’t use and put it up there. Make sure to do a search and see what similar items are selling at and always remember to consider the seller fees.
Savings: $5-500 per month (depending on items).
11. Ask yourself, “Do I really need this?”
I realized how much stupid crap I wast tons of money on month in and month out. Ask yourself if you really need what your about to buy, will it have an impact on your life or will you throw it away and stop using it a month in?
Savings: $X per week (really depends on the person).
12. Head to the local library instead of Barnes & Nobles.
Let’s face it, your local library probably doesn’t get the newest Harry Potter as soon as it ships but it probably has a wealth of great books that you can read for free. Why spend $25 on something that you’re only going to use once, maybe twice?
Savings: $20-50 per month.
13. Get rid of those cancer sticks.
Smoking will eat your cash alive. I had a problem giving it up but finally did, and my wallet loves me for it. You’ll probably save money at the laundromat too ;-).
Savings: ~$20 per week.
Here are two extra tips from Diggers that I found amusing:
14. Grow your own weed. - caponumen
Grow it yourself! Save yourself that twenty sack. Duck when you hear the sirens though ;-).
15. Cut down to one hooker per week. - caponumen
If you go for two, at least try to get a discount. Cheers cap.- LucidDr34m3r, on 10/10/2007, -1/+4Dugg for adding 14 and 15 from the Digg user. I was reading, and I realized that 2 of these were not like the others... Took me a second, and gave me a laugh.
- EXreaction, on 10/10/2007, -10/+2Duggmirror got it, don't waste my valuable page space please.
- drachemorder, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3#16 Consider living somewhere other than New York. Cost of living can be much lower in smaller cities and towns. Depends on what you want to do for a living to some degree, of course, and perhaps you're not willing to give up the New York lifestyle, but it's certainly an option.
- Seventus, on 10/10/2007, -1/+264. Turn off your AC, TV and other appliances when you’re not home.
Who's lazy enough to actually leave their TV on when they leave? Turning off the AC isn't the smartest thing to do either. Changing the threshold might be a better idea. Coming home to an apartment that's 90 degrees isn't going to save you any energy when your AC is running for an hour to cool it back down.- jaxxon, on 10/10/2007, -1/+3My mom. For an environmentally conscious liberal, she's incredibly wasteful. Different generation, though.
- Konrad9, on 10/10/2007, -1/+2My sister.
Luckily... or extremely unluckily... her room is next to mine, so I always turn it off before I leave the house. - djphatjive, on 10/10/2007, -1/+4They say leaving your AC on all day is cheaper than turning it off, Because it only runs for a few min instead of hours at a time if you turn it off alot.
- vornan19, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1I'd do an experiment, myself. Where I live we have swamp coolers. It doesn't pay to leave these things on. Not that they are expensive to run but they are noisy!
- Rodman930, on 10/10/2007, -2/+1Leaving your TV on prevents burglaries.
- rzrshrp, on 10/10/2007, -1/+4Turning off the AC will always save money, it just may not be comfortable when you get home. The energy that your ac uses cycling on and off to reach an equilibrium while you're not there will always be more than the energy that it uses to lower the temperature back down. Some just don't like coming back to a hot home or apartment though...at least turn it up to something that you can stand when you get back.
- peppermd, on 10/10/2007, -0/+0I think Myth Busters should test this. I've always heard you save money by adjusting the threshold, not by turning off the system when at work.
- b612, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1its obviously going to be different if you have central air vs. a window unit. There is no way a window unit is cheaper to run all day.
- b612, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1its obviously going to be different if you have central air vs. a window unit. There is no way a window unit is cheaper to run all day.
- peppermd, on 10/10/2007, -0/+0I think Myth Busters should test this. I've always heard you save money by adjusting the threshold, not by turning off the system when at work.
- hollismb, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1It shouldn't be 'turn it off'. It should be 'Buy a programmable thermostat, and program it to set at a higher temperature during the day, or opposite for the heat in the winter.'
- 93ex, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1I shut off my A/C last weekend while I was out of town. When I got home it was quite uncomfortable. I switched it back on, and it took almost 5 hours before the house was comfortable again. High ceilings + drafty windows = not that good.
- MaxPowers2007, on 10/10/2007, -13/+4"6. Brand name household products will burn your cash, buy cheap and buy wholesale.
Why get 9-ply super-duper-fancy-ass-toilet-paper when you can get the no-name brand for 3/4th the price?"
Because quality is always worth paying for. Sure you can buy the sandpaper TP, but your ass will hate you and any visitors to your house will know your a cheap-ass bastard. (BTW, the characterization of someone being "cheap" is almost always accurate)
I can't think of a single generic that is worth buying. Generic Windex, TP, tinfoil, Saran Wrap, garbage bags, etc. all suck. Oh and any generic food or medical product is guaranteed to be poison.- ThatGeek, on 10/10/2007, -1/+9you are an idiot. we buy generic tylenol, generic sudafed. And im not dead yet.
- Smight, on 10/10/2007, -0/+12The more expensive toilet paper is always worth it.
I like the way she spends $3.42 for a cup of coffee but won't shell out the extra 50 cents for toilet paper that won't rub you raw.
I recently switched from toilet paper to moistened baby wipes. It's like the Emperor's wipe!- rnwen2750, on 10/10/2007, -2/+1Be careful if you are a woman - I've heard stories that women have been more susceptible to infections when using baby wipes. I dunno about men, though.
- emjaymj, on 10/10/2007, -1/+4I'm pretty sure most women know to wipe front to back.
- rnwen2750, on 10/10/2007, -2/+1Be careful if you are a woman - I've heard stories that women have been more susceptible to infections when using baby wipes. I dunno about men, though.
- jaxxon, on 10/10/2007, -1/+13Generic meds are identical to the brand name ones. If you pop Advil for your headaches, get a bottle of ibuprofen. A whole hell of a lot cheaper for the exact same chemical compounds.
- psykiv, on 10/10/2007, -4/+1Wish I could digg you up more than once. (Although Generic Windex isn't bad). With say Kleenex Cottonelle (the toilet paper) I only need like 4 sheets at most. WIth the generic crap from other places, I need at least triple that. So where are your savings now?
As for garbage bags, go ahead and tell me that when you spend 30 minutes picking up garbage because the bag broke as you were taking it outside. - DeFex, on 10/10/2007, -1/+2 As the TP bears who ***** in the woods say, "less is more"
generic ibuprofen is fine as long as it did not come from china. - Konrad9, on 10/10/2007, -1/+2Expensive toilet paper?
SO WORTH IT!
Saran wrap? windex? tinfoil? garbage bags?
Are you kidding me? That's all the same.
Except the "Glad ultra-super-HOLYCRAP" strength bags, which, if you are using, just dump your ***** from the garbage pale in the garbage can before you roll it out to the street. - brufleth, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1A lot of the stuff at Costco isn't generic. It just comes in larger amounts. So I can get bounty paper towels but I get like 16 rolls of them for about the price of 8 at a regular store. Same with most items. Four cartons of Tropicana OJ for about the price of two and they're gone well before the sell by date. I mostly just get non perishable items we'd be getting at a grocery store either way at Costco. That doesn't exactly create a cart full of stuff every trip of course. We often feel a bit silly having only a handful of items but Costco is on my way home from work and I go there to save money, not to get 18 pounds of jelly beans.
- Vodka2389, on 10/10/2007, -2/+6That's pretty much common sense for anyone with a tight budget and without a bonehead.
- phauna, on 10/10/2007, -2/+10So, if I do all of those things I'll be bringing home $1300 bucks a week. That's about 1300 times more than I earn now, if my earning nothing was rounded up to earning one dollar a week.
- firemouse604, on 10/10/2007, -8/+2This article should have its name changed to "Happy Hanukkah"
- razrielle, on 10/10/2007, -4/+1Chanukah?
- degoba, on 10/10/2007, -1/+15Quitting smoking is huge. Bagging my lunch is also huge. I probably save 3 or 4 hundred a month now.
- NinjaBoy, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Cutting down to one hooker has saved me hundreds.
- iMaciMan1, on 10/10/2007, -5/+5i could say the thing that saved my money the most was growing my own pot.
- kweee, on 10/10/2007, -0/+30What the hell, Digg. WHAT THE HELL!!!
Turn off appliances. eBay junk. Use a library instead of a bookstore.
Please tell me these things were the commonest of common sense to SOMEONE else.- vornan19, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1But not all the people have common sense in common. What is obvious to you may not be so to me.
- dreesemonkey, on 10/10/2007, -0/+0You're right, as American's we're smart as we can be with money! No help needed, thanks!
- ImNotDrewCurtis, on 10/10/2007, -4/+17"Borrow" your neighbors' wifi connection and stop paying $30 and up per month.
- DeFex, on 10/10/2007, -1/+5My neighbor did that when i accidentally left my DHCP server on and they ended up paying me $100 to remove all the spyware and junk that had "somehow" got on their computer.
- MikeWanDo, on 10/10/2007, -3/+6It's people like you that make me encrypt my network.
- Rodman930, on 10/10/2007, -0/+4As you should.
- EXreaction, on 10/10/2007, -1/+3Just hope your neighbor isn't a computer geek in the slightest. If they are watching the packets you are sending to unsecured sites and you send a password they will see it easily.
Public (or any that you don't have full control over) Wifi is bad for security. - orlyfactor, on 10/10/2007, -1/+2That's why I filter by MAC address. bwahaha. No free inet for YOU.
- Namakemono, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1MAC filtering is easily defeated. Just use WPA with a ridiculously long/complicated key and you'll be fine.
- drachemorder, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1That might be workable if you have their permission. If not, and if they're jerks, you could get in serious trouble.
The ISPs don't like it when people share a connection, but they can go screw themselves for all I care.
- dashdingo, on 10/10/2007, -2/+38How to save $100 a week: every morning, take $15 out of your wallet.
Problem solved. - Kilobitman, on 10/10/2007, -2/+3i find this to be very true , especially since i work on 59th and 5th ave and i hate going out for lunch cause every thing in that part of manhattan is so FIng expensive, it ridiculous like 2 hott dogs and a bottle of water could cost me 7 bucks, and i'm not talking about no beef franks but some ratt meat they get from god knows where
bagging my lunch and not eating out has got to have shaved me 20 bucks a day
and as well as keeping a change jar, like i allocated about 50 bucks from saving my change for a month
these tips go along way for us folk who live in this over rated ***** whole that is called New york city
but all in all you gotta love it- grav80bong, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2I worked in that area 3 years ago...there is no way that you can't find a hot dog vendor who is selling 2 dogs (or a couple of knishes) + water for substantially less than $7. There are also street meat vendors around if you do some searching. Usually a chicken/rice platter goes for ~ $5. Also, if you work in an office, why not just get water from the cooler/tap for free?
- kufu91, on 10/10/2007, -1/+15anybody else think the house tax was bs?
i understand the concept of saving up but putting money in a jar costs that exact amount of money- MikeWanDo, on 10/10/2007, -1/+3Also I don't understand how 2 people putting 2 dollars a day in a jar = 20 dollars after 7 days. 2*2*7 != 20
- Fizox99, on 10/10/2007, -0/+0I believe he meant every workday in a 5 day work week when one is not home, out buying lunch, driving their car to work, etc....
Of course if you continue over the weekend, there's even more to be saved
- thegoldenstate, on 10/10/2007, -1/+4learn to work on the car yourself.
downside: involves getting off the internet and getting hands dirty- DeFex, on 10/10/2007, -3/+2modern cares have been deliberately made so that you have to take them to the expensive dealership mechanic. they will not even give the proper codes and info to regular mechanics. good luck doing that yourself :(
- cha5e, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3Absolutely! My car is a 1999 with 150,000 miles. Things are starting to break. I (sometimes with a friend's help) fix everything. Last month I fixed the turbo - dealer wanted $1800, I did it for $300 in parts, plus about $150 of (reusable) tools. My friend and I are getting ready to do the timing belt, serpentine belt, all pulleys, and the water pump...I got the parts for less than $400, whereas the dealer wants around double that.
To DeFex's comment, AutoZone sells code readers for $50-300. If you have a Volkswagen like me, google "VAG-COM", which is like a code reader + diagnostic tool that runs on your laptop. The cord (USB on one end, ODB2 on the other) costs like $250, but worth every penny.
Of course, the downside is that this takes a lot of time. Being salaried, I can't earn more money by staying at the office later. But if I could, maybe it would be worthwhile to let the pros deal with the car, and spend those extra hours writing more code. - drachemorder, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1On top of that, you might also want to consider buying used cars and driving them as long as you can. A new car loses a large chunk of its value as soon as you drive it off the lot. Unless you really, really like that new car feel and smell, you can save a ton of money this way. You do have to make sure you go to a reputable dealer, of course, but that's true of anything these days.
- profOblivion, on 10/10/2007, -1/+22Glaring omission: stop buying bottled water. (Obviously depends where you live.)
- vornan19, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Why not get a counter top filter? That's all that bottled water is anyway. I buy a six pack of bottled water about twice a year. After I drink a bottle I wash it well and refill with filtered tap water. When the bottle is all scratched and worn I can recycle it and open the next new bottle. In fact there is one bottle left from the last six I bought about nine months ago.
- Hcope, on 10/10/2007, -0/+714. Switch to a cheap web host. Who needs bandwidth today anyway?
Estimated savings: $20- 200, depending on who your host is. - madkahta, on 10/10/2007, -10/+0Since when is saving $100 per week even useful? Let's see that is $430 or so per month or $5160 per year. After 116 years you *might* have enough extra saved up to buy a trailer home near San Francisco. That assumes, of course, that we do not have another housing boom and of course you will be foreclosed after you buy it since the $430 per month is not nearly enough to pay for insurance let alone taxes and upkeep which, in that CA environment, can run upwards of $30k per year.
- psykiv, on 10/10/2007, -2/+7If I give you my paypal address, will you send me $100/week?
I'll even go do the paperwork to make myself a 501(3)(c) non-profit if you want me to, so you can deduct it as a donation. - rb780nm, on 10/10/2007, -1/+3If you earn $50/wk less than you spend, then saving $100/wk is the difference between long term ruin and survival. I believe there is quote from Dickens that is more eloquent than me:
Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure nineteen six, result happiness. Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure twenty pound ought and six, result misery.
Charles Dickens, David Copperfield, 1849 - Mothrog, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3Tip for saving $500+/month: Move the ***** away from California.
- vornan19, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1I believe it is $100 *more* per month.
- psykiv, on 10/10/2007, -2/+7If I give you my paypal address, will you send me $100/week?
- DaveV, on 10/10/2007, -3/+2Spend it on beer and hos?
- Eric8p, on 10/10/2007, -0/+5these things are useless...if you need that extra $100 per week, then you probably are already doing all these things...if you're wasteful and doing the opposite of everything that's recommended, then you probably have $100 a week to waste anyway
- Caps, on 10/10/2007, -1/+5316. Poop at work! Think of all the money spent on TP you'll save!
- reir, on 10/10/2007, -2/+3Best tip ever
- drachemorder, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2Except for the fact that the office restroom uses sandpaper instead of toilet paper...
- NinjaBoy, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1No matter how poor you are. You always have money for the fluffy stuff.
- NinjaBoy, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Save watter, piss in the garden http://www.SaveWaterPissInTheGarden.com/
- blitzer, on 10/10/2007, -3/+11download all music, games, software from the internet
- DarkXanthos, on 10/10/2007, -1/+4I can't believe that got dugg down. I know it's illegal... but someone above mentioned pot. C'mon and lighten up!
- MikeWanDo, on 10/10/2007, -5/+5Let's shoplift while we're at it.
- Chris1280, on 10/10/2007, -1/+1Oh common, every RIAA post has ***** you written all over it. And thats all about what he has just said and people are annoyed now?
- psykiv, on 10/10/2007, -1/+10Who the hell spends $20/day in lunch?
Hell, whenever I go out with a friend to lunch, the bill between BOTH of us is STILL not $20 (with tip included).
I'm talking about a steak, rice, fries, a drink, AND dessert here.
Local family-owned cafeterias > Fast Food- BeyondGoodNEvil, on 10/10/2007, -1/+1Amen on the cafeterias > fast food.
- Jacob, on 10/10/2007, -1/+3I can only assume that this person is in a big city such as new york where it is much more expensive to buy food.
- darnit, on 10/10/2007, -2/+9Steak, rice, fries, drink, desert for two + tip for less than 20?
Are you digging from Botswana? - psykiv, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Guys... I Live in *MIAMI* which is definitely NOT a small city (5th largest in the US according to wikipedia)
I never said it was Filet Mignon steak either. It that cheap $1.49/lb crap, but its still steak, and still good, and keeps you going.
- Barbarino, on 10/10/2007, -2/+1I tell all my broke friends two simple things, buy a programmable thermostat and go over your cable bill. You'll find 200 bucks in those two things per month in the summer.
- psykiv, on 10/10/2007, -2/+1I tell all my broke friends two simple things, buy a programmable thermostat and go over your cable and phone bill. You'll find 250 bucks in those three things per month in the summer.
Fixed that for you.
- psykiv, on 10/10/2007, -2/+1I tell all my broke friends two simple things, buy a programmable thermostat and go over your cable and phone bill. You'll find 250 bucks in those three things per month in the summer.
- Bumblebee418, on 10/10/2007, -1/+4No way in hell would i trade my normal toilet paper for one-ply crap. Seriously? Bad example...try other things besides...like FOOD.
- MikeWanDo, on 10/10/2007, -1/+1My ass hurts just thinking about it.
- fuzzynyanko, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1I agree. This might sound weird, but I also use less of certain brands of TP over others. Like the Scotts 1000-sheet brand might sound like a value, but I have to use a large amount compared to a higher-quality 2-ply. Also, some of the 1000-sheet rolls aren't nearly as comfortable.
- zarathos, on 10/10/2007, -1/+8The quitting smoking tip is a real killer if you live in Canada. When I quit (Halloween will be two years), I was paying $120 a month (10 packs a month at $12 a pack, not including taxes) for smokes...I took the savings from the first month and bought a bike, thereby helping with the not driving tip.
- PabloIV, on 10/10/2007, -2/+2$12 US? Sunnuvabitch!!! I pay $4.50 on average and I think it's too much! If I had to pay $12 a pack, I would've quit a long time ago.
- Jacob, on 10/10/2007, -1/+1They tax the ***** out of tobacco in canada. They do it to alcohol too. I assume it has something to do with the universal healthcare.
- darnit, on 10/10/2007, -1/+212 bucks a pack! holy shiat.... I'd bet for each American buying Canadian drugs on line there is some Canadian buying smokes from our reservations.
- PabloIV, on 10/10/2007, -2/+2$12 US? Sunnuvabitch!!! I pay $4.50 on average and I think it's too much! If I had to pay $12 a pack, I would've quit a long time ago.
- GetShorty, on 10/10/2007, -1/+8Start drinking more [tap] water. It's amazing how much canned drinks can cost you over time.
- BeyondGoodNEvil, on 10/10/2007, -5/+1Not to mention the health problems that come with them. Someday, soda will be looked at in the same way as cigarettes are today.
- wetdog, on 10/10/2007, -1/+12What's up with CoinStar? This story is about saving money, and they want you to take your change to a kiosk that charges you to count it? C'mon! Any bank will do this for free if you have an account.
- PabloIV, on 10/10/2007, -3/+1If you live in Puerto Rico Westernbank will do it even if you don't have an account.
- cha5e, on 10/10/2007, -1/+1Coinstar now has a program where they don't charge you a fee IF you convert your coins into gift certificates. Starbucks, iTunes, etc. are available. Of course, the catch is that even though you're saving what, 8%? of Coinstar fees, it will probably make your spending at those places go up by more than 8%. Unless you're already a Starbucks or iTunes junkie...
- psykiv, on 10/10/2007, -4/+3Wash your car every 4 weeks? Apparently this guy does not own a black car. I wash my car every Saturday, and by Thursday its already looking filthy I can only imagine that after 2 months its already damaging the paint (which costs a lot more than the $4 automatic car wash I go through, or even the $10 complete with mexican midgets that clean the inside and outside)
- ArmyOfFun, on 10/10/2007, -2/+6Dirt damaging the paint? Are you serious? Do you work at a nuclear waste disposal plant or something?
The only time I wash my car is if it's covered in salt. Or hooker blood. - DeeprBlue, on 10/10/2007, -1/+5You know, you could always do it yourself.
- psykiv, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1I don't care how bad things get, I will still gladly pay fhe $4 car wash over sweating outside for two hours cleaning it myself (and spend more than $4 in supplies in the process anyways)
- ArmyOfFun, on 10/10/2007, -2/+6Dirt damaging the paint? Are you serious? Do you work at a nuclear waste disposal plant or something?
- Water13ottle, on 10/10/2007, -3/+3when you go out to eat never get pop or soda just get free water saves a killing
- iSmart, on 10/10/2007, -0/+14#14 - Create a list with Google ads then link it to Digg, so that suckers click on it a lot and then you'll make at least 100 dollars for this week alone.
- dreesemonkey, on 10/10/2007, -0/+0Maybe someone is willing to pay you to be a professional sandy-vagina for $100/week?
- schoate09, on 10/10/2007, -2/+5Dramaticly better quality of life>$100 a week.
- maley, on 10/10/2007, -1/+3Dunno about you but for all the books that I've bought and enjoyed (which is most), as I usually read a friends book first, I've read them A LOT more than twice, some of them over 10 times.
- Rodman930, on 10/10/2007, -1/+2why?
- CarolynMittens, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1what do you mean why, haven't you ever watched a good movie more than once?
- Rodman930, on 10/10/2007, -1/+2why?
- AaronCSU, on 10/10/2007, -0/+11All this stuff is obvious to anyone already on a budget. Put 2 bucks a day in a jar? Sticking money in a jar doesn't lower my expenses, it's simply moving money from my wallet to a jar, assuming I don't have the self control to save it if it's in my wallet. Personally I live with some of the cheapest roommates on the planet and have learned several tips to REALLY save money.
We buy a lot of our groceries at the discount grocery store. What's a discount grocery store? Easy, they sell soon to be expired food, food in damaged packaging and food that simply isn't selling. Sounds sketchy but alot of the stuff they sell is high end organic stuff that the yuppies weren't buying. Plus I can get 3 pound boxes of pasta for a $1.50 there. That's dinner for 2 weeks. We save tons of money there.
Sports equipment; ski jackets, outdoor gear, etc. Usually once or twice a year the sporting goods stores will have blowout sales for damaged and returned goods. Shop wisely, often damagd gear will still have the tags on it. Buy it and send it back to manufacturer to get a new item under the warranty. Voila, brand new gear at 1/3 the cost. One of my roommates has saved several hundred dollars this way.
Learn the specials in town. Twice a week the local pizzeria has a dollar slice special. I go and buy 5 or 6 and put the rest in the fridge, there's lunch for a few days. Another place has a 2 for 1 burger special once a week, I get that and take the extra burger home. Make a calender of the specials and whenever you go out go to the place that's having a good special. You can do the same thing with coupons if you can find some good ones.
Thrift shopping. You can save hundreds at thrift stores, especially the ones that sell a lot of appliances and electronics. I dont usually buy clothes there but I've gotten air conditioners, microwaves, fans, you name it. All at a fraction what it would cost retail.
Don't pay for internet if you can hop onto your neighbors unlocked wireless connection. Technically this is probably illegal but how often do people actually get caught? I did this for 9 months once, at 40 bucks a month for internet that's 360 bucks.
One of my roommates is so cheap that instead of buying lunch he goes to whole foods several times a day during his breaks and eats the free samples they put out. That's a little extreme but if you wanna be cheap there are ways to be really cheap.- drachemorder, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Instead of hijacking your neighbor's connection, you might want to try actually asking him. If he's not a jerk, and you don't use a lot of bandwidth, he might even give you his blessing.
- rephl0x, on 10/10/2007, -4/+11. Borrow Japanese Yen at ~0.75%
2. Invest in New Zealand Dollar for 8.00%, or basket of world currencies at ~5.00%
3. Profit! (unless the Yen somehow appreciates)- blitzer, on 10/10/2007, -2/+0if you could buy a future contract securing the Yen.. you'd have a money machine.
Good luck.
- blitzer, on 10/10/2007, -2/+0if you could buy a future contract securing the Yen.. you'd have a money machine.
- sdcarter, on 10/10/2007, -1/+4I know what he's not doing with an extra $100/week... spending it on a better server.
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