Tips For Saving Money On Utilities

1. Use a clothes liner to dry clothes. You’ll save on your energy bill.
2. Replace old appliances with ones that have energy star approval.
3. Regularly clean the coils on the back of your refrigerator. A clean coil uses less energy.
4. Make sure your freezer is full. An empty freezer requires more energy to keep cold.
5. Use washable coffee mug instead of Styrofoam. You’ll save money and help the environment.
6. Replace all your incandescent light bulbs with fluorescent lights.
7. Turn off the lights when not using a room.
8. Turn off your appliances when not using them.
9. Don’t use a cell phone.
10. If you have a cell phone, don’t buy the extra features like text messaging and web access.
11. If you have a cell phone, get rid of your land line.
12. Get rid of cable. Who needs 100 channels of crap?
13. Use the internet at school or the library. Not only will you save money, you’ll save time.
14. During the winter, leave the oven open after you cook to heat the house.
15. Sign up for skype for long distance phone calls.
    
16. Turn your heater thermostat down 2 degrees in winter and up 2 degrees in the summer.

More Money Saving Tips!!

Clean your car’s air filter. A clean air filter can improve your gas mileage by up to 7%, saving you more than $100 for every 10,000 miles you drive in an average vehicle. Plus, cleaning your air filter is easy to do in just a few minutes. Just follow the instructions in your automobile’s manual and you’re good to go.

Plan your meals around your grocery store’s flyer. Instead of just planning your meals based on a cookbook or whatever you can dream up, plan all your meals around what’s on sale in your grocery store’s flyer. Look at the biggest sales, then plan meals based on those ingredients and what you have on hand, and you’ll find yourself with a much smaller food bill than you’re used to.

Do a “maintenance run” on your appliances. Check them to make sure there isn’t any dust clogging them and that they’re fairly clean. Look behind the appliances, and use your vacuum to gently clear away dust. Check all of the vents, especially on refrigerators, dryers, and heating and cooling units. The less dust you have blocking the mechanics of these devices, the more efficiently they’ll run and the longer they’ll last.

Money Saving Tips Part 4

1. Lotto and Gambling. Generally, people lose money on the lotto and especially gambling. If you quit or limit this, you will save money.
2. Watch for fees. Fees are everywhere; bank fees, atm fees, cash checking fees, late fees. These can add up over time.
3. Get your textbooks used!!!
4. Sell your textbooks back after every semester. I've often made $40-60+ back after selling my unused books to either a standalone store near my campus, or the school bookstore. Great pocket change.
5. Quit smoking if you can! Smoking Cigarettes or *cough* Marijuana *cough* during college and beyond can take a huge toll on your piggy bank. If you want to smoke either, bum off your friends occasionally. These days I rather put that $50 into stocks than a sack of the green.
   

Learn a Trade

Learning a trade or skill that is unique to a lesser group of people is a great way to make sure your always one step ahead of the game. Polish off your Microsoft Office skills, brush up on your Spanish, or learn some html code. Anything which puts you one step ahead of another person in your field of employment makes you that much more desirable.
People who don't know advanced computer skills are often weeded out of many job opportunities in what is now a very technological age. Someone who is well versed in art may have a better experience in the culinary field. In your spare time, just take a few moments to learn something useful that just might help you make some more money in the future. Consider it an investment in life.

Buy Video Games With a Lot of Replay Value

....and don’t acquire new ones until you’ve mastered what you have. My video game buying habits have changed quite a bit since my “game of the week" days. Now, I focus on games that can be played over and over and over again, and I focus on mastering the games that I buy. Good targets include puzzle games, Multiplayer-intensive, and long, involved quest games; they maximize the value of your dollar. DLC is usually a big waste of money, and if you wait long enough, a new disk will eventually be released containing all the new stuff you missed out on at original retail price (or less).

Happy Gaming!!

Mastering The Thirty Day Rule

Whenever you’re considering making an unnecessary purchase, wait thirty days and then ask yourself if you still want that item. Quite often, you’ll find that the urge to buy has passed and you’ll have saved yourself some money by simply waiting. If you want, you can even keep a “thirty day list” where you write down the item and the day you’ll reconsider it, but I prefer just to keep this one in my head – that way, I often just forget about the unimportant things.

Money Saving Tips Part 3

1. Get a rewards card. There are many reward cards that pay out in cash or points that can be redeemed for travel or products. Many of these cards don’t have an annual fee. My favorite rewards card is American Express Gold Card. It does have an annual fee to apply and the first year fee is waived.
2. Don’t pay interest on credit cards. This is obvious, but as soon as you fail to pay off the credit card in full, the high interest payments start to eat away at your monthly budget. If the temptation to spend more than you can pay on a credit card is to great, get rid of the credit card.
3. Take advantage of 0% credit card offers. I’ve saved thousands of dollars using these. Again, as long as the cards won’t cause you to spend more, they can offer substantial savings. Make sure, however, that you keep an eye on the balance transfer fee, which can wipe out your savings.
4. Replace incandescent bulbs with compact fluorescent light (CFLs) bulbs. These bulbs use 75% less energy and last 10 times longer. They do take some getting used to, and they won’t work in every light fixture. But use them where it makes sense and save energy and money.