1. Cut Cable in favor of Hulu. Earlier this year, I gave up cable in a bid to save more money. This blog documented my process. I'd originally planned to also get Amazon Prime, but I haven't needed it. I've started watching HGTV and A&E shows from my laptop to my TV via Chromecast. I haven't missed cable much and love the money I'm saving!
2. Water: I hate wasting anything, especially water. When I take a shower, while waiting for the water to warm up, I collect that water and use it to water my plants or to fill my humidifier. I also use the water from when you're done showering and and hit the button to make the water come out of the nozzle. What can I say? I'm a nerd. :)
3. Thrift Stores: I'm not ashamed to shop thrift stores, I've found a lot of terrific name brand items for next to nothing. Also, I sell clothing and shoes at a trendy thrift store near my apartment.
4. Shut Your Blinds and Curtains to keep from having to run the heat or A/C more than necessary. In the summer, I don't sleep with any covers. I'm not paying to cool the place enough for me to need covers; to me that's ridiculous. I also run the unit fan continually in the summer when I'm home, which helps to save my A/C unit from having to run more. I also adjust my settings when I leave the apartment. I'm not paying to heat or cool a space I'm not currently in. In the winter, I use candles to make the place a little warmer. Pro tip: a colleague shared that adjusting your heat or air by more than 2 degrees will send your unit into emergency mode, which ramps up costs; knowing that has saved me lots of money.
5. Reuse Items: I use plastic shopping bags as trash bags for trash cans in my bathroom and bedroom. I reuse Ziploc bags and butter containers.
6. Airport Parking: I use a parking punch card and will get 4 days of free parking for my next trip. This saves me $40 I can spend on more bracelets (my weakness).
7. Product Samples: I save product samples as they're the best size for traveling.
8. Always Carry-on Luggage: this saves at least $25 per trip. The only time I don't carry-on is if I'm shipping home wine, as it's over the limit for liquids. I use a carry-on sized bag for trips up to 10 nights. The key is not to bring something you don't think you use at least four times. I went to Italy for 10 days and Ireland for 8 with a carry-on sized bag and I brought back lots of souvenirs.
9. Pack your own snacks: especially when traveling. This saves on the overpriced, unhealthy, poor selection at the airport. This also saves people from having to deal with my "hangry" attitude. ;)
10. Bring your own water bottle: fly with an empty bottle and fill it up along the way. If you're in another country make sure the water is drinkable. Recently, I went to an outdoor festival in the heat of summer. I packed three water bottles that came in handy and saved my friend and I a lot of money that we could then use for something else.
11. Coupons: I'm all about coupons for restaurants. Yes, I'll fill out that lame survey if I can get a free side next time! This makes me feel less guilty about spending money eating out.
13. Pick up that penny. Money is money: even if it's only a penny on the sidewalk, I pick it out. So far, this year, I've collected almost a $1. Though this may not seem like much, it adds up.
14. Check out Books and DVDs from the local library for free: I go online, place a hold on it, and when it comes in they contact me and I pick it up right at the front desk. I get books for 3 three weeks and movies for 1 week. Libraries are great about getting what you want via interlibrary loans. In the winter, my parents and I rent movies nearly every weekend. I'm now saving $10/weekend by getting free movies. They're pretty good about getting new releases fairly quick.
15. Research Studies: I live in a town with a university that is always looking for people to help with research by answering surveys. They generally pay and don't take much time at all. For a 10 minute survey, I was paid $10 this spring.
16. Discounted Theater: the local university also shows movies that have left the theater, but haven't yet been released as DVDs. My dad and I saw American Sniper 3 months ago for $2 in a spacious, nearly-empty theater-style room in the student union.
17. Student Discounts: even though I work full time, I'm also taking one class a semester towards my MBA. As a student, I get into our university's baseball games for free. I also get discounts at our town's movie theater, among other places. Using student discounts really saved me a lot of money when I was in Ireland.
18. A Second Job: through my university's daily emails, I learned about job openings for Track & Field officials. The pay was great for a few hours of work on the weekends. I also get to choose what meets I work. Also, recently I've been pet-sitting for friends. Just a couple hours on the weekends and I can give people the peace-of-mind that their pets are being cared for.
19. Shop at Aldi's: though the place isn't glamorous, the prices are unbeatable. They're even starting to get healthy and organic items. You bring your own shopping bags and pay with cash or debit card, but the savings are terrific. There I've found my favorite granola and applesauce.
20. Buy and Sell Things Online: I buy and sell my textbooks online. This helps me find books for competitive prices and gives me a larger audience to sell my books and clothes to. I've made terrific money doing this. In college, in the space of a year and a half, I made $1,500 selling textbooks on Half.Ebay.com and that was over 10 years ago!
21. Choose Water: this can save you up to $2.50/meal. I'd rather save that money and use it to travel; one of my greatest passions. Money on soda adds up fast, plus soda isn't good for you anyway. I try to only drink it when I'm sick.
22. Pay off your credit cards every month. The interest on credit cards is enormous!
Let's all be thrifty together!
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