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Top 20 Money Saving Tips
These clever tips help keep your cash where it belongs — in your pocket!
Tip 1
Know your needs.
Bulk items are only worth buying if you can use them before they expire.
Consider shopping with a friend and splitting perishables such as meat and dairy products.
Tip 2
Take a photo of something you love.
You can blow it up with some hassle-free Internet help, then frame it, hang it, and be enormously happy every time you walk by.
Tip 3
Instead of buying pricy flavored bottled drinks at the supermarket,
add a hint of flavor to tap or filtered water by infusing it with slices of lemon, lime, orange, or cucumber and mint.
Set a pitcher of your flavored water on your desk: You’ll drink more if the pitcher is there as a reminder, and you won’t have to buy multiple bottles of water, either!
Tip 4
Prepare your clothes for the washer by closing zippers, fastening hooks, and turning items inside out.
Wash darks together using the cold-water cycle so they don’t bleed onto lighter clothes — and cold water is crucial, since it lowers your water-heating costs.
Line-drying dark items will also help maintain their original appearance — and you’ll save on heating costs of the dryer.
Tip 5
Instead of shelling out cash for a pricy vase, make your own out of a glass bottle and some enamel paint.
Tip 6
Chic, savvy, conservation-minded consumers now update their wardrobes by taking part in clothing swaps.
All you have to do is gather up gently worn items from your closet, bring them to a central location, and choose from others’ castoffs or consider hosting your own. Invite friends, set a minimum number of pieces for each to bring, and trade away.
Tip 7
Instead of spending money on pack after pack of paper towels, buy reusable microfiber towels, which grip dirt and dust like a magnet and don’t let go, even when wet.
When you’re finished, toss the towels in the washing machine and reuse.
Tip 8
Lower your water heater’s thermostat to 120 degrees to restrict heat loss.
Tip 9
The most unique and beautiful wrapping paper — vintage scarves, newspaper, colorful cloth, and more — is already lying around your house.
Tip 10
Wines often cost more when they come from a well-known wine-making region or are made from a popular grape.
So rather than heading straight for a familiar bottle, try something different.
Instead of Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon, or Merlot, try Albarino, Malbec, or Sangiovese.
Chile, New Zealand, Australia, and South Africa are newer wine-producing countries that make good-quality bargain wines.
Tip 11
Breathe new life into partially burned candles and antique teacups that have lost their saucers.
Together, they make sweet gifts or favors.
Tip 12
Stick to the outer aisles of the supermarket to find the widest selection of unprocessed foods, which also happen to be less expensive — and healthier.
Tip 13
An alternative to spending hundreds of dollars on an air purifier.
Houseplants, which have long been hailed for their ability remove toxins from the home.
Tip 14
A one-to-one solution of vinegar and water makes an effective, economical multipurpose cleaner.
The nontoxic mixture disinfects floors and bathrooms and cleans glass without leaving streaks.
And rest assured, its distinctive odor disappears as soon as the liquid dries.
Tip 15
You can enjoy herbs during the winter by preserving your abundance of summer herb plants.
You’ll not only add a fresh burst of flavor to your soups, stews, and sauces — you’ll also save money!
You can also freeze extra stock, gravy, pesto, tomato paste, lemon juice, and wine in ice cube trays and rely on them to add oomph to weeknight meals.
Pack frozen cubes in a resealable plastic bag.
Tip 16
If you have old brooches you no longer wear, why not welcome one back as the centerpiece of a romantic ribbon bracelet?
Tip 17
Instead of decorating party tables with large, costly arrangements, float a few flowers in shallow bowls or glass cylinders filled halfway with water.
Tip 18
Has the leg of a favorite table fallen off?
Give half of your table a second life as a graceful console.
(The best candidate for this project will be a table that’s already split in the middle to accommodate a leaf.)
Tip 19
When there’s just a tiny bit of mustard left in the jar, don’t throw it out.
Instead, toss in a few ingredients, and shake a tangy Dijon vinaigrette right in the container.
Tip 20
Fresh herbs are great, but what if you can’t use the whole bunch?
Tie leftover sprigs together with kitchen twine, and hang them upside down from a rack or shelf in your kitchen to dry.
Once dried, transfer the herbs to airtight containers, and keep them in your spice rack.
Tip 21
Ask your benefits manager at work to deduct a set amount from each paycheck and add it to your retirement or savings account.
If your employer doesn’t offer a retirement plan (or automatic transfers), ask your bank to routinely transfer money from checking into savings on a certain date each month.
Via Martha Stewart
Decoration Blog
clever!!!