Do You Take Advantage Of
Practical Money Saving Tips?

Interest Rates

One of our practical money saving tips is for you to verify that you are getting the best bank rates on your accounts? You should be getting at least the going rate of interest on your checking and savings accounts. What seem to be minor money saving ideas, really do add up.

Avoid banks that want to charge you any kind of fees. You’re the customer and the bank should understand your importance. Paying fees just takes away from your saving efforts.

They should be giving you the best bank rates, the lowest bank fees (if any) and the best possible service. If they don't live up to your expectations, find a different bank to do business with and transfer your accounts to them.

Television

A favorite past time that many people have, is to lounge in front the the TV. You know where this is going. Watching less television is another one of our practical money saving tips. That's right. Watching less television goes toward saving electricity and will get you involved in more activities like socializing, going to meetings and events, getting exercise, hobbies, etc.

Recent studies have shown that people who engage in activities other than watching television are happier. We are not concluding that watching television makes you less happy, but there are a lot of other things to do.

There even may be some activities that you could engage in that would generate additional income!

And taking a break from all of the commercials on television might help to keep you from making impulse buying decisions as well. Impulse buying decision will not help with your strategies to save money.

So as much as television is relaxing and enjoyable for the most part, we would suggest that you take a break from the TV sometimes and see what else is going on around you.

Mend It

This is one of the simple practical money saving tips that we advise. Do you get a tear in your clothing on occasion? Maybe it's a ripped pocket or lost button. If your clothes are damaged don’t throw them out. Most anyone can sew a button back on with the right colored thread. If your pants or shirts are torn, a seamstress can make repairs at a reasonable price.

Sometimes dry cleaners make small repairs. If the repair is minor enough, the dry cleaner may make the repair for free or for a very small charge if you're taking them other cleaning at the same time. Making the repair cost much less then replacing the clothing item as you know.

To enjoy one of the ultimate in practical money saving tips, check out entertainment from the library. They have books, CDs, DVDs, magazines, reference material, newspapers and more.

If you're looking for something that they don’t have you can often order it from one of their branches. They will send it to the location most convenient for you to pickup. What more can you ask for and it's all FREE!

You should see if you like spending more time reading. You’ll learn something new, be entertained and improve your reading skills. If you're not much of a reader, check out some books with lots of pictures or even audio books! They have plenty to choose from.

And as far as movies go - If you rent one movie per week and buy one DVD per month that would amount to about $40 to $45 per month of savings just by using the local library for movies. Using the library is one of the easiest ways to save money.

Impulse Buying

It’s tempting to give into our urge for impulse buying. Sometimes we want to just buy something and fulfill our desire for immediate gratification. It's only natural to want to buy new things. All of us like new stuff. But if you're working on controlling your spending and trying to practice living frugal, the following method can be helpful.

Instead of impulse buying something, why not make it a personal rule to have a holding period for any purchase that's over $50. Your impulse is that you want the item and you want it now. But instead, tell yourself that you will wait 48 hours before you make the decision. Wait 30 days for larger purchases over $150.

You will probably find that your interest in the item will lessen with the passage of time. You might also decide that it does not fit into your budget after the waiting period. It may even cost less if you decide to get it at a later time. But at least you avoided impulse buying. This is another one of our practical money saving tips that can keep a lot of cash in your pocket. Seriously, give it a try!

Go to Other Pages in This Series