Comments on: 100 Money Saving Tips

By: Jason

Jason — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 20:14:26 +0000

I disagree with the idea to go with “free” credit cards. Cards w/o the annual tend to have higher interest rates attached to them, and if you carry a balance, you *will* pay for it. Instead (and here’s a tip that can save you a fortune if you have cards with more than one bank) call your credit card co. and ask if there are any current promotional rates offered for a “balance transfer”. You’re going to use one card to pay off some or all of another card. The catch? Card co’s will often give VERY competitive rates to ’steal the bacon’ from another company, and reps often get some bonus for getting a customer to do it, but you have to remember that whatever interest rate is given (sometimes less than 2.5%), that is the portion of debt on the card that will get paid off first. If you have a balance on that card, make a big payment first to maximize savings. Most of these promos last about 6 months, and at that time…there’s nothing to stop you from calling the other card co. to see if they will fall for the same thing, and it’s 1000% legal.

By: AJ Kumar

AJ Kumar — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 06:29:00 +0000

WOW, this is one amazing list. You listed skype, which I personally never got into, but I would recommend Vonage too. As far as the lotto, I usually only play if it goes up to 100 million. I figure If I’m going to win, I’m going to win big baby!

By: sarah

sarah — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 23:21:21 +0000

Sara – dont pay for Grocery Game. Sites like Hot Coupon World and A Full Cup get you better info for free!

I do agree though, I actually switched to almost all name brands. They dont give out coupons for generics. I have scored so many things for free this last year by combining coupons & sales. The $1.50 each week for a Sunday Paper easily saves me $30 or more. Definitely worth that investment! This week I got $200 worth of items for $8 – most of it was donated because I just cant use it all, but someone can. And the donation is a write off for me

As for skipping meat – I have gone to chicken/turkey and I just use a smaller portion. Chicken breasts can be cut in half width-wise – they look just as big, but you can serve 2 people off of one.

Excellent list, Jim Thank you!

By: sara

sara — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 15:50:47 +0000

I’ve decided that brand name paper towels and peanut butter are worth the extra $$. Although with coupons and grocerygame.com, the store brands are typically cheaper than generics.
BUT, this was still an excellent list.

By: James

James — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 19:27:55 +0000

WAY too short… Just kidding, this is a huge list. I am amazed. Some great tips and very useful!

By: Moody

Moody — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 01:09:04 +0000

Good list of advice. There are quite a few things you can do with your taxes this year that you did not mention. One is to sell your worst stock from the brokerage account up to the years limit of $3000 in losses that you can write off your taxable income. Usually, companies than lost 80% in value or more do not recover soon (if at all).

Another, more involved tax idea is to turn your ordinary IRA account into Roth IRA. As http://www.ameri-financial.com/headline-story/turn-to-roth-ira-to-save-taxes.html explains, doing so at the time the market was beaten so badly would make you pay the tax on a smaller dollar amount now and watch your portfolio recover tax free.

By: Mary

Mary — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 18:45:22 +0000

I’ve heard the tip about “skipping the meat” pretty frequently, and I think it’s true in the case of pricier cuts and seafood. But after several years of using a price book, I have consistently found that cheese is generally more expensive than sale meat, so replacing meat with dairy protein might not be the most economical idea. I think meat is a big “loss leader” item, so I can find boneless, skinless chicken breasts for about $2 per pound pretty regularly, whereas cheese like mozzarella doesn’t seem to go on sale for less than $3/lb. Granted, meat loses weight when you cook it, but my point is that cheese and other dairy products can be just as costly, if not moreso, as meat. Plus, it seems that many stores are having big sales on entree meats like turkey and ham, so actually stocking up on meat during this time and portioning and freezing it to use in the upcoming year might be a good idea.

By: Heather

Heather — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 17:18:02 +0000

Ok, normally I agree on generic. But generic mac and cheese is nasty. The Kraft is always better (homemade even better, but occasionally one uses Kraft). Also, upbrand pineapple. Store and generic brands are woody and tasteless. Those are just two examples. There are more. So sometimes it pays to pay a bit more and get the name brand, but you’ve got to check ‘em out first.

By: a91030Mom

a91030Mom — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 16:13:45 +0000

Here’s a savings tip I rarely see for vacations, instead of staying in a hotel, or hostel or having a stay-cation, we do home swaps (via HomeExchange.com, but there are others) We usually do them in places close enough to drive to in one day and you have most of the cost benefits of a stay-cation, but you’re actually away enjoying another city. And because we swap with families, the kids have all “new” toys, etc. to play with the minute we get there, which is nice after a long car drive (as opposed to the ol’ “we’re bored” you get when you get to a hotel room.

We’ve done this four times and have had only positive experiences. We’ve gotten to stay in the HEART of San Francisco, in a mountain vacation home in South Lake Tahoe, beautiful Sta. Barbara. We even did one in the most charming Charleston South Carolina, where, again, we stayed in the heart of the town. You’re able to take in a city in a totally different way than had you stayed in a hotel.

It certainly isn’t for everybody, when my husband and I talk with friends about this half are excited and want to try it and half turn up their noses and can’t imagine staying in someone else’s home (and vise versa). The funny part is when those a spouses feel opposite from each other. Thankfully, my husband and I both see it as an adventure and a wonderful way to vacations, show our kids the world AND keep to a budget!

By: Jon

Jon — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 00:00:15 +0000

LED’s aren’t bright enough.

By: Andy

Andy — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 23:46:17 +0000

LED’s even with their currrent price are a better solution than CFL’s.

By: Mike

Mike — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 19:00:16 +0000

Very nice list. For the casual movie renter (like me) using RedBox or the rental machine at the supermarket (both $1 per rental per night) is even less than using Netflix.

By: Aya @ Thrive

Aya @ Thrive — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 22:27:58 +0000

That’s a great organized list!

By: jim

jim — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 21:03:21 +0000

Gaaaah Chris, you’re right!

By: Chris

Chris — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 20:56:35 +0000

FYI on #9: McCormick & Schmick’s is a seafood restaurant. McCormick (& Company) is the spice company.