Saving Money in 2010
A sluggish economy, even worst employment market and an escalating national debt all add up to one thing – it’s time we all find ways to save money. Personal finance is at the forefront of everyone’s mind these days and saving money is probably the most important topic at the family dinner table.
Most find it impossible to cut down spending but that is only because they are looking in the wrong places. Nowadays it is time to be creative when it comes to saving money, it’s time to be informed and well educated about the choices you have.
As a rule of thumb each and every household should have a budget. It’s how fortune 500 companies operate and it’s how your family should too. Get a list of your bills and expenses for each month ( in the business world those are your liabilities). Also put together a list of your salary and all other revenue sources (much like a company has an income chart). This will be able to paint a pretty good picture of where you are financially and what you have to work with.
As soon as you get this items done you will be pleasantly surprised how some things will just pop at you and tell you where you can save money. One example would be the phone bill – why pay for house phone and cell phone?
But let’s get into the meat of things and set out some of the easy ways that families can save money in 2010 – some new and creative ways some just common sense traditional methods. In the next few days I will cover 7 categories of your lifestyle, like commute, food, entertainment, travel etc. and offer you money saving tips and tricks to help cut down your expenses and increase your retained earnings.
I’ll start today with your daily commute to and from work and your number one tool – your automobile.
How to Save Money on your daily commute & automobile:
- Carpool. One of the oldest and most well known of ways to save on all sorts of commuting bills is to carpool. Fine some work buddies that live close by and ask them is interested. Tell them that just by each of you using your car just twice a day you save mileage (valued at $.55 a mile), you save gas, you save on insurance (call your insurance agent and tell him your car only drives to and from work 2 times a week as part of carpool program) and most of all you save on time (carpool lane).
- Stay with the speed limit and avoid a lot of stop and go. A car uses dramatically more gas when it runs over 55 mph or when it takes off. You can improve your gas mileage thus save money. Also a lot of stop and go will wear your motor and related parts a lot faster than continuous drive thus adding more expenses to your family budget down the road. Should I even mention what a speeding ticket will do to your budget God forbid you get one?
- Get regular maintenance done on your car. It cost a lot less to change your oil every 3000 miles than buying a new motor when you engine block is going to crack. Recently some manufacturers are offering regular maintenance free as part of purchasing their vehicle. Look for deals like that and save even more (see Kia, Hyundai, Audi and BMW).
- Use synthetic oil. Synthetic oil has a guaranteed life of about 5000 miles between changes. Considering you put the average 12,000 miles a year that means only 2 oil changes rather than 4 oil changes with regular oil. The price difference between synthetic and regular is marginal and well worth it. Not to mention the many other benefits of synthetic oil such as longer life time, higher boiling point, increased viscosity and others that will better protect your motor.
- Shop around for insurance. If you are a good driver check with several local and nationwide insurance companies and price them against each other. Even tell them that so and so insurance company offered you this quote and put them on the spot. Also keep in mind that an online only insurance company has a lot better rates than the brick and mortar stores – for obvious overhead reasons. Check with esurance.com for example.
- Buy a slightly used vehicle over a new one. Many dealerships have what is called program cars – cars that have been driven as advertising or by managers and owners. They generally have under 10,000 miles and have full warranties on it but are sold at used car prices even if it is the same year model. New cars will lose a big chunk of their value the moment you drive it off the car lot and NEVER NEVER lease a car unless you are rich and money is not an issue.
- Ride a bicycle or walk to short distances. If you have to run down to the corner store to get a gallon of milk, consider walking there or riding a bicycle. It will not only save you money on gas and wear and tear of your car (again valued at $.55 a mile) but it will also benefit you physically.
- Try to fix it yourself. If you ever have problems with your car try to fix it yourself first. Go to a discount auto parts store like Napa and ask them what they think the problem is. Most of the guys there (and for sure the manager) are licensed car mechanics or have been. They will be able to diagnose the problem and advise you what part to get and how to change it. If it sounds like too involved and complicated then you may chose to shop your local mechanic shops. If however you decide to attempt it you will see how much you will save. About 70% of a mechanic bill is labor not parts. You will be saving all of that.
I hope that the money tips above are helpful and you will be able to incorporate some of them when looking to save money in this category. At least it may spark your imagination and you may come up with money saving tricks of your own.
In the next post I will cover one of the largest expense category of our families: FOOD. So check back tomorrow or sign up for our newsfeed and get some of the best money saving tricks and tips related to grocery shopping, dining out and all FOOD related expenses.
If you can think of anything else please feel free to add it to the comment are and I will make sure to give you credit for it.
