Making a List

Another post about stealing savings strategies from other bloggers (isn’t that the point of this whole thing anyway). This Writer’s Wallet originally wrote about making a list to fuel creativity, so I thought I’d take a crack at applying this to my personal finances. Here goes…. I’m starting my “100 Strategies for Saving More Money” list. Feel free to add your own personal faves in the comments, and help me make my way to 100. I’ll only post 10 for starters:

1) Round up credit card/debt payments to nearest dollar to increase the rate you chip away.
2) Every time you avoided a cost (found free parking, get something comp’ed at a restaurant) take the money you would have spent and contribute it to a high yield fund.
3) For paying off credit card, pay off twice the amount of each new purchase you make.
4) ING Account referrals. Target younger generations, siblings coming of age, younger cousins, etc. [Buy the way, if you are somehow reading this blog and don’t have an ING account… email me :o) They’ll plunk $25 in your account for signing up.]
5) Instead of rewarding yourself with things that cost money (a shopping trip, a meal out), reward yourself with time – devote whole hours to something you enjoy (like reading, baking or even blogging)
6) Cancel Netflix and watch TV for free at ABC.com or other like stations.
7) Cancel newspaper subscriptions and read them online. Or if you love the weekend paper in your hands feeling, you can usually pick them up for free lying around the coffee shop.
8) Instead of bringing a bottle of wine as a hostess gift for everyone that asks you over for a party (it adds up!), make or create gifts (baked goods, something more heartfelt and cheaper like a small plant or a few stems).
9) “Split” a Costco membership with a friend. You can sign yourselves up as domestic partners. I can’t usually justify $50 worth of savings / year. But $25 – easily.
10) Set up automatic deductions for smaller savings goals – like your travel fund, not just your retirement fund.