How to Save Money – 25 Ways I Save Money

Included below are 25 ways that I save money:

1. When making a big purchase, like a mortgage or a vehicle, I negotiate and shop around for the best rate. This will save you thousands in the long run.
2. I drive with gas efficiency in mind.
3. I try to save energy around the house with CFL’s, programmable thermostats and proper insulation.
4. We do laundry once / week.
5. I brown bag my lunch to work.
6. I prepare my lunches in bulk and store them in individual plastic/glass containers.
7. I cook at home whenever possible.
8. I perk my own coffee.
9. I use a points or a cash back based credit card that gives me the best return for my spending. In addition, when purchasing items online, I check for cash back online rewards in addition to using my credit card.
10. When buying consumer items, I try to separate my “needs” and my “wants”.
11. When I find something that I “need”, then I do comparison shopping or wait until it goes on sale.
12. I don’t smoke, do drugs, or drink (too much). :)
13. I use basic cable instead of the fancy cable packages.
14. I combine my cable/internet/telephone with the same provider to take advantage of the discounts available.
15. I watch movies at home (rent DVD’s online) instead of going to the movie theater.
16. I use term insurance instead of universal life or whole life insurance.
17. As with anything else, I shop around for my insurance products.
18. I pay a higher deductible on insurance products to reduce the premiums.
19. I buy with quality in mind in the expectation that it will last a long time.
20. To please my reading habit, I go to the library (or get publishers to send me free books for review) :)
21. I make my deposits into my high interest rate savings account and RRSP automatically on a bi-weekly basis. Basically when I get my paycheck.
22. When purchasing a home, I save for a large down payment to reduce mortgage insurance fees (CMHC).
23. I buy clothes when they wear out, not when they go out of style.
24. I track my spending/budget with Microsoft Money.
25. I arrange my banking so that I don’t pay any fees and use a discount brokerage that minimizes my trading expenses. The current favorite of Million Dollar Journey readers for a low cost, no frills discount brokerage is Questrade.