Monday
18Aug2008
5 Easy Ways To Save 2000 Dollars
Monday, August 18, 2008 at 08:05PM With Labor Day fast approaching and school starting again for the fall, finding ways to keep your budget in check are important. With that in mind, what follows are five easy ways you can immediately reduce your expenses and add up to $2000 to your bank account over the next year:
Cancel HBO
Premium cable networks such as HBO and Showtime can add upwards of $1000 per year to your total cable or satellite subscription bill. If you're not watching the content you're paying for, it makes sense to cancel that part of your service and pocket the savings. Most people only watch a handful of channels compared to the hundreds they are paying for.
Cut back On Those Subscriptions
Are you receiving magazines or other periodicals you rarely ever look at? If you subscribe to say a half dozen magazines, that could mean a couple hundred dollars each year. Much of the content found these periodicals can be obtained for free online. In addition to saving you money, the online content is many times much more current and immediate.
Fire Your Bank
Banks are notorious for "nickle and diming" you to death with fees for everything from checking accounts to withdrawing money from an ATM. The banking industry is intensely competitive. These fees can add it quickly over the course of the year. If your bank is charging you fees to do business, it's time to find another bank.
Pay On Time
This may seem obvious but paying your bills on time is probably to simplest way to keep more money in your pocket. While it can be easy to forget to pay a bill, the late fees and other charges that comes with that forgetfulness can add up in a hurry. These fees can ranges from just a few dollars to $30 or $40 or more for each incident. One way to insure on time payments is to make use of any automatic electronic payment systems your bank may offer.
Brown Bag It
Instead of ordering out for lunch, pack your own. Bringing your own lunch to work each day can mean a savings of $800 based on spending only $6 a day. Even you you can't bring your lunch everyday, try to do so a couple of days. Even two days a week will save you a significant amount of money.
Do you have other simple ways you use to save money? I welcome your comments.
Reader Comments (10)
Great suggestions. I especially agree with dumping the cable premium channels. I got rid of my cable completely two years ago and only watch NetFlix. I don't miss cable at all. I might get the Roku box for on-demand NetFlix movies. The Internet has plenty of great news sites. And YouTube and Hulu.com have plenty of TV shows. Cable companies have ripped us off for decades. Now the Web offers plenty of great content. Just say no to those greedy cable companies!!
this is very useful..tnx for this..by d way, i linked u.hope it is ok
It is the little things that add up quickly. Normally we think car payments and mortgages, but when you are looking at the extraneous things in our lives, and cut back the needless you can save a bundle. Good post!
Thanks Mike for your comment. I've heard good things about the Roku box especially if you're already a Netflix subscriber. It definitely gives you more control and reduces waste by not paying for content you're not viewing.
Hi Marly thank you for your comment and for the link. I truly appreciate it.
Thank you Janet for your comment. I'm glad you found the information useful. I definitely agree with you when you say it tends to be the little extraneous things we spend money on that really add up and provide a significant opportunity to save real money.
Maybe to fired your boyfriend/girlfriend too? it is much of costs to spending on this matter, you can save a few dollars for buy your BF/GF a flowers, some sweet things, cinema tickets...and much more you spent on that :D
Here's another tip -- go over your checking, business checking, credit card statements, etc. to find any automatic payments you forgot about.
I have signed up for programs that automatically charged a credit card, didn't use the program, and forgot to cancel. That's another $9.99 to $49+ a month!
~ ElizabethPW
I like that Famous Boy. Interesting suggestion :-)
Good point Elizabeth. I use automatic payments through my bank to pay some of my recurring monthly bills. It's definitely a good idea to review those payments from time to time to make sure they're still current and accurate.