10 Unique Ideas for Saving Money

Pop real popcorn: Wouldn't it be nice to have real fresh popcorn instead of that chemical stuff that you pop in the microwave? It will cost you less money, you can purchase it in bulk, make as much or as little as you like and flavor it any way you choose. And best of all...I believe you can use real butter!!

Establish a baby-sitting co-op: If you live on a street with lots of children, then you could get together with some of the other parents and trade-off baby-sitting services! That way everyone has an evening, or maybe even an afternoon free!! And if you work on different shifts...then you could trade off as well. Think of the savings in money!!! Plus...your children would always have friends around to keep them company!!!

Grocery Bags: Bring your own grocery bags to put your shopping in. That way you will save at least .05 on each bag that you would be using. I figured that on most weeks I would use a minimum of 5 bags @ 0.5 a bag so that's .25 per week x 52 weeks adds up to $13.00 year. That is an incredible amount of money to put garbage into! If you have your own business, you could have bags with your business name or logo printed on them, and that would be FREE advertising!!!

Bulk Food Stores: Buy things like pasta, spices, and baking goods in a bulk food store. A lot of times you will find that they have the best prices. You can buy as little or as much as you like. For example, instead of buying boxed macaroni and cheese, you can either make it from scratch or buy the pasta and the cheese separate at the bulk store.

Form a school car pool: If there are lots of children on your street, and you constantly see your neighbours at the school when they're dropping their kids off, why not share the driving? That way, you not only save money on gas but maintenance and time! And it's environmentally friendly to boot!

Skype or VOIP: Both of these services will save you large sums of money each month. I save $120 a year since I switched my home phone over. You can now save on your cell phone as well by using a Skype phone.

Prepare your own taxes: Instead of taking your taxes to an accountant or one of those cubicle outlets, do them your self. You can find help on government sites that you can follow!

Don't use Cheque Cashing Stores: In the long run these places will literally eat you out of house and home. It's like that saying “i owe, i owe, it's off to work i go” just to pay them. It is very difficult to get out of that trap once you get started.

Cable Services: Make a conscious effort to really pay attention to the channels that you and your family watch on an ongoing basis. If you find that there are channels that you never watch, or that they may be viewed only once in awhile, get rid of them. That can save you about $50 per month depending on your cable company. We changed our package, and are now saving $50 a month or $600 over a year that I will keep in my pocket!

Don't sign up for “free trials”: These “free trials” can end up costing you a lot of money and time if you forget to cancel them or worse yet, can't find a number or e-mail address to cancel them.

I hope you found this article interesting, and helpful in your quest to save money!!!

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Money Saving Ideas

Here are some more unique ways to save yourself some money:

Rent or Borrow A Gown: If you're invited to a fancy party, or maybe its your own wedding, instead of buying that expensive gown, see what your girlfriends have in their closet. If you can't go that route, you can rent that gown or wedding dress for a fraction of the purchase price. The guys do it, why not the gals?

Give your puppy a bath yourself: Instead of taking your dog to a groomer, how about doing it yourself? It will make the bond between you and your dog stronger, and you save a lot of money to boot!

Use cloth napkins: Instead of spending the money for paper napkins, why not purchase cloth. They are easily cleaned, with just a rinse in the sink and hang to dry for the next meal!

Use the services at your local university or college: Depending on what your local university or college offers the students...you can get your teeth, eyes and hair done for next to nothing, instead of paying the exorbitant amount at the professionals' offices!

Child's birthday parties: Instead of paying for a big, fancy birthday party, why not set up a tent in the backyard and let the kids have a camping sleepover. In the winter, how about a toboggan party? Bring a thermos of hot chocolate and sandwiches. We did this and bought each child a crazy carpet in place of a loot bag, and they had a blast. In place of the loot bags, let them make a craft, or decorate their own cupcakes. Our kids, and their friends, loved it...and never asked about a loot bag!!

For us Gals: Why not an “at Home Spa” Day: Have a few girlfriends over and give each other facials and manicures. Each person can bring a treat to share and drink, and your off to the spa!!

Your home printer: Instead of purchasing brand new ink cartridges, why not go to a place that refills them? You'll save a lot of money, and, it's better for the environment. Also, putting your printer on draft mode...you'll save more of that ink you just bought.

No going out for lunch: When you're at work or school, why not bring the left overs from dinner last night and save your self at least $5.00 a day!

Air in your tires: Make sure you have the proper air pressure in you vehicle's tires. Low tire pressure will cost you money in gas. EPA studies suggest that properly inflated tires save you 1-2 miles per gallon, and,over time, that is a lot of money that you are wasting.

Keeping things out of our landfills: Instead of throwing old stuff out that you're finished with, how about having a garage sale or, if you don't have time for that, how about donating them?(if they are in good condition).

If you like this please check out these two links with more Money Saving Tips!

100 Ways To Save Yourself Money

10 Unique Ideas For Saving Money

Four Great Ways To Save Money On Your Grocery Bills

There are a lot of different things you can do to save money on your grocery shopping and some of them are fun!! It's also a good idea to shop either bi-weekly or once a month.

1. One idea is to us store coupons. A lot of stores these days will accept competitors' coupons as well as give an extra discount off the product if it's the same. You need to make sure that the products are items that you really need, and that you are not just purchasing them because they are on sale. That is a trap I've seem people fall into...the “just in case” trap. You really need to know your prices. Sometimes you will find that the item that is on sale is really not a good deal (not always, just sometimes). When purchasing your groceries, it's a good idea to check what the unit price is, that way your comparing apples to apples not apples to oranges!!! Also check whether or not you're paying taxes on the items. For and example if you buy one muffin you will be charged taxes, but if you buy six, there will be no taxes. Instead of paying for that cooked chicken ( on which you will be charged taxes) buy uncooked! Checking whether or not you're paying taxes could save you a considerable amount of money over the period of a month.
2. Joining a warehouse store such as Costco or Sam's Club is a great idea. Join a warehouse store with a friend or family member and not only will you save money on your groceries, but also the cost of the membership. Costco, for example, offers a membership that will give 2% back at the the end of your membership period on everything you have purchased in the store. So just before your renewal date, Costco will send you out a cheque amounting to 2% of your total purchases for the year. That can add up to a nice sum of money...that you can put toward your groceries and or your membership for the following year.
3. Menu planning can be a fun job, but it is also a necessary job. When you menu plan you should include all meals, not just dinner. When I first started to do menu planning, I only did it for dinners, and always wondered why I was short for lunches, etc. You should plan for breakfasts, snacks, lunches, and dinners. Make sure you plan for any special events that you have in the upcoming month. Planning with friends or other family members can significantly reduce costs. When you do that, you can share in the cost of the food, the hydro, cleaning up and even your time. You will also save time by cooking your weeks menus all together in one day. If you do decide to take this route, make sure you have proper containers, baggies and a black permanent maker to date and name what you have made. This is always a fun thing to do... socialize with your friends and family, and by making a day of it!!!
4. Another option is to buy in bulk from stores such as the Bulk Barn. If you go to a reputable store, one that is busy, you know that the stock is moving, so you won't be purchasing old and stale products. I purchase my baking products from these stores. They have a lot of neat stuff , so you can experiment with different spices, etc. They also have recipes to teach you how to use the different products that you wouldn't normally buy,due to the price.

Put these ideas to use, and you and your family will enjoy more quality time AND save money!

For more great ways to save yourself money click here

3 Ways to Save More Money and Beat the Economy

If you're anything like us, or the thousands of other people in North America trying to keep their hard earned money in their pockets, this article will help you! With climbing hydro rates that are expected to double in 5 years, we needed to find a way to save money on our hydro bill!

Every month when our hydro bill arrived, it was a guessing game as to how much we would be paying. It just seemed to climb up each month, sometimes only by a few cents, other times by a few dollars.

We decided that we needed to do something NOW to keep the bill down... so here are a few of the things that we did that helped us.

The first thing we noticed were the drafts coming in from the electrical outlets and switches...so we went to the dollar store and bought a package of craft foam. It comes in different colours, but nobody is going to see it. We made our own inserts, and you could notice the difference as soon as you put the plates back on... there were no drafts. (by the way you can buy these from any of the big box stores).

Another area where there was a major draft was from the baseboards. Have you ever walked around the house and noticed a cold spot on the floor? If you have, that is probably where cold air is coming into your home. We bought a couple of cans of spray foam, then removed the baseboards. This can be very tricky to do, because you need to make sure you don't break them. When they were all off, we sprayed all around the base of both interior and exterior walls. After it had cured, we took an xacto knife and cut the foam back, even with the wall, so that we could replace the baseboards. Doing this made an incredible difference. As the evening came, we didn't feel the temperature in the house drop like it used to. This was great! We were able to sit around and not freeze.

We also bought window insulation kits. These are a cheap and easy way to insulate your windows.

All you need to do is clean the area around your windows, put the tape on and then cut the plastic to the correct size, take the wax paper off the tape and stick your plastic to it. Using a blow dryer, take out all the wrinkles and when it is smooth, your window is insulated!

You also need a programmable thermostat. These come with pre-programmed settings that, if you use them correctly, are intended to save you money without sacrificing your family's comfort!

Using one of these can save you about $180 a year! That is quite a substantial saving. A programmable thermostat will cost anywhere from $30 up to around the $100 mark.

I hope you found this article interesting, and helpful in your quest to save money!!!

Do you want to save more money click here