50 Novel Ways to Save Money

Here at www.Astutefinances.org we are always looking for good ideas on saving money. The following is a  post on from a friend of mine on various ways to save money.  Enjoy!

 50 Novel ways to greater wealth


To save money, you just have to look around yourself and do away with items that you don’t require. Still,
here’s a list to ease your task of identifying areas where you can work to cut back on your monthly costs, save more and ultimately, become richer.

 Food dollars
 

1. Healthy diet actually saves money. Always include to nutrient-dense foods in your daily diet and not calorie dense ones. Avoid sodas, chips and bakery items, instead go for 100% fruit juice (cranberry), low-calorie desserts, etc.
   
2. Always shop with a grocery list. Buy items you’d need as per your weekly menu. Make sure to have a plan B to make sauce, pickles or soups with the leftovers. While planning your week’s menu look for discount offers at your local grocery store. Go online to get email alerts and coupons from the grocers. 
   
3. Buy seasonal food items. Shop at your local farmers’ market to find out about the latest agricultural products. You can even check your local newspaper’s food section to get the updates. 
   
4. If possible, choose affordable alternatives of costly protein foods and instead, replace them with legumes, eggs, beans and tofu. You may also increase the frequency of having a full vegetarian diet in a week. Club smaller portions of lean meats, fish or poultry with that of eggs, vegetables, grains and beans. 
   
5. Poultry and fish last longer in the freezer since they are flash treated before packing. You may use milk powders or other powdered version of milk to make desserts, soups, etc. as a great substitute. Dried fruits are very much preferable alternative of fresh fruits. 
   
6. Carry your own food to office, school or college. Drink tap water and don’t purchase packaged drinking water. 
   
7. Always look for coupons and/or sales to get foods at the most affordable rates. Shop around in the market to lap up products with a 50% discount tag on them. 
   
8. Reduce food wastage. Before dumping any food into the grocery cart, look for opportunities to put the leftovers in good use. You can use leftover poultry, vegetables or meat to make soups, salads, stews and casseroles. 
   
9. Raise a kitchen garden. You can grow summer-fresh tomatoes, green chilies, lemons or herbs at your own
   backyard. 
   
10. Buy food items with an extended shelf-life in bulk and do the same when preparing meals. Keep the leftovers in the freezer for future use. 
    
11. Purchase packaged foods only when its necessary. Sliced, washed and prepackaged foods are costlier than their counterparts.

 Travel

1. Make it point to enjoy free flights and hotel stay at your destinations. Use rewards credit cards and earn points or miles throughout the year. But, make sure you’ve paid off the balances on time to avoid being penalized or incurring debt. 
   
2. While on a leisure trip, try to stay at your family or friends’ place. However, inform them in advance and find out whether your host has the adequate space to accommodate you and your family or not. 
   
   
3. Look for a kitchenette in the room you are booking. You can consider having cereals, coffee, fruits and oatmeal for breakfast and pack in some sandwiches for lunch. Come back and cook your own dinner. 
   
4. Always stay flexible with your travel plan. If you may, then you can travel during the off seasons where you could save as much as 50% on each deal. 
   
5. If you are travelling overseas, then choose locations that have one of the most favorable foreign exchange
   rates. 
   
6. Keep a tab on the destination country’s market to grab attractive shopping or dining offers. 
   
7. Visit websites like Groupon or LivingSocial to check out and compare deals with the actual listed price. 
   
8. Avoid buying souvenirs and instead, buy something that you’ll frequently use. 
   
9. Visit local, free and low-cost areas of interests like parks, beaches, museums, etc.
   

Home energy
 

1. Manage your gas/forced air thermostat well. Keep it at an energy efficient level by lowering its temperature at night and keeping it at a comfortable range during the day. 
   
2. Water must be kept at lower temperature. If you don’t have a dishwasher at home, turn the water heater’s temperature down to 120 degrees F. 
   
3. Have your water heater insulated properly. In order to keep your coffee hot longer, put it in a thermos flask or an insulated cup. 
   
4. Wrap your water heater with a fiberglass insulation. This reduces heat loss by 25-45% and saves money to the tune of 4-9% on your monthly water heating bill.

1. Use insulation wraps and jackets to cover up old water heaters to prevent heat loss.
   
2. Always keep the doors of your refrigerator closed to keep the warm room air out. 
   
3. Use clear weather strip tape to prevent air infiltration from the fissures or cracks in your home’s
   windows. 
   
4. Make sure the damper of your fireplace is closed and its opening is sealed when not in use. 
   
5. Try to use cold water for washing and during the summers, use clothesline and not a dryer to dry your
   clothes. 
   
6. Get storm windows installed to seal air leaks in and around your windows, thereby doubling their insulating value.
   

Home improvement
 

1. In trying to remodel or improve your home, get your kitchen revamped as it provides one of the highest return on investment or resale value as compared to home office remodeling or sunroom addition. 
   
2. When purchasing new materials, get imitation or knockoffs like an engineered oak flooring worth $2.98 a square foot, instead of solid oak hardwood flooring priced at $14.26 per square foot. 
   
3. Remodel your house slowly to accumulate sufficient cash to pay for each upgrades one at a time.
    
4. Stick to the basic free warranties provided with home appliances and don’t buy any extended warranties as you may hardly need them.
   
5. Buy a slightly scratched flooring model to save you at least 10-20% off the original price. 
   
6. Buy construction material on your own from local resale stores or from websites like eBay, Freecycle or Craigslist to avoid paying extra charges to the contractor. 
   
7. Buy furniture or other household good at auctions. 
8. It isn’t necessary to move plumbing or electric every time you embark on a home improvement mission. 
   
9. Make sure to keep your budget flexible to pay for unexpected events like overage payments. 
   
10. Weigh the cost of items like countertops, new windows or kitchen island isolation and carve out your home remodelling project accordingly.

Auto insurance

1. Hire a driver with good safety records to lower your auto insurance costs. 
   
2. Get auto insurance from your life insurance or home insurance service provider to enjoy multi-policy
   discount. 
   
3. Increase the deductible in your auto insurance policy to reduce your policy’s premium. 
   
   
4. To get the most affordable premium on your auto insurance policy talk to scores of insurers and compare each and every offer consistently. 
   
5. Drop your car’s rental. 
   
6. Think twice before installing high-end aftermarket gizmos as they would not be considered as separate items, in case you car gets stolen. Your insurer will consider your vehicle as a whole package.
    
7. It is best to pay your premium annually, or if you insist, then in every six months, but not monthly. As your insurer will charge you a lot extra for monthly billing. 
   
8. Complete a safety-driving course.
    
9. Keep your car well-maintained always and never lock your keys in the
   car. 
   
10. Find out about the proper insurance you’ll need before buying your
    favorite car.

Saving money, as you can see, needs your conviction and exact implementation to extract the
best possible returns.