Best Money Saving Tips Contest

[Michele]

My suggestion is a little non-traditional - CHANGE YOUR ATTITUDE TOWARD MONEY & SPENDING.  I was inspired to do just that after reading a book called "Your Money or Your Life".  The basic idea is to think about the hours of your life you have to give up in order to purchase something.  Then you decide if it is worth it to you.

For instance, say you make $62,000 a year (about $30 an hour).  You don't really make $30 an hour because you spend an hour commuting to and from work each day, you pay taxes on your income, etc.  If you sit down and figure out what you really make an hour it may come to about $18 an hour.  So to pay for a dinner for two at Outback for $54 you have to give up 3 hours of your life.  Ask yourself if the 3 hours are worth it.  If it is a special birthday dinner it may be, but if its a Tuesday night and you just didn't feel like cooking it probably isn't.

The idea is to save that money for something more important to you (college fund for your children, paying off debt/mortgage, saving for early retirement). By doing this you achieve freedom.

My advice is to save money where you can (using the discounts and coupons and other countless valuable ideas everyone else has mentioned) when you need to spend, but stop spending when your enjoyment from the spending is overshadowed by what you have to give up.

[swacella76]

the best way  to save is to put back change in the jar every time you spend 1,2,3 dollars or big bucks bucks,,,,,  and if you get change back just put it in the jar and they will add up and mean they really and up because i have saved like close a thousands of dollars just for just putting back changes and  thats how i can pay some bills when i dont have an extra money on me .............  i go right in my jar and take it out and pay my bills or anything that comes in mind. and  i also have my kids save money to.  

[schmj4910]

Our largest Upromise contribution came when we sold our home.  We made close to $400 when our home sold.  First, you'll want to check out Upromise's requirements and what real estate agencies are participating in your area.  Read the fine print!  You must submit your request through Upromise before signing a contract with a Realtor!  After your house sells, be sure to check your Upromise account.  It does take a while for the contribution to show up.  If you don't see it after the alloted time, email Upromise and provide your reference number (this is the number you got when you first submitted your request through Upromise).  If you can't find your reference number, don't panic...your Realtor will have it.

Then after our house sold, my husband's parents wanted to sell their house.  So we submitted that through Upromise and used the same Realtor!  Their house brought another $300 to our Upromise account.  Now my parents are thinking about listing their condo and are excited about adding to our children's educational future.  It's fun to be able to get the whole family united and working toward the same goal!