Step 26 in saving $10,000 a year.

Skip the 3D.

At Columbus’ Arena Grand Theatre an adult ticket for a normal movie is $9.50, but an adult ticket for a movie in 3D is $13.50.  That’s an extra $4.00 and if you are taking a family of 4 it’s a $16.00 savings.  If you go to the movies 4 times that’s $64.00.  It doesn’t sound like much,  but why throw it away or spend that bit of extra cash on popcorn.

Step 25 in saving $10,000 a year.

Waste less food = buy less food

These numbers are all over the board.  The USDA have done studies as well as various universities about the food that gets wasted in America every year.  I was looking at household waste and the numbers were hard to find, because usable food gets wasted at every stage of production starting at the farm. 

The best figures I could find said Americans throw out between 12% and 25% of food they purchase every year.  Let’s take the high end and say a family who has a food budge of $400 a month can save $100 a month by planning.  This means planning meals, splitting meals at restaurants,  freezing unused portions, taking leftovers for lunch, etc.  This is a savings of $1,200 a year.

Step 24 to saving $10,000 a year.

Extreme couponing.

My wife has always been great at clipping coupons, but the show Extreme Couponing has really inspired her. 

Her grocery bill was $461, she saved $200 in coupons and got $32 in store credit for future purchase for other products.  That’s a savings of about 50%.

These pictures are her cash back items and free products.

In the past 12 months, as of this writing, she has saved $173.92 from their Foodperks program, $1245.67 from weekly specials and $921.76 from coupons  for a total of $2341.35 from just one store.  That’s enough for plane tickets to Aruba this fall for the 4 of us.

Step #23 to saving $10,000 in a year

Let’s talk batteries! I have a 2 year old and a 4 year old and their world runs on AA batteries. Trains, all of their talking toys and stuff I don’t even like takes these batteries. Not to mention our digital camera eats them for breakfast and every remote control in the house uses them.

The best price I can find for these is about $1 per battery. I can find rechargeable batteries at The Home Depot for about $2 per battery. So it would only take two recharges for these items to start paying for themselves.

I found a new charger for $30

If I save $30 a month that's $360 a year.

Step 22 to saving $10,000 in a year.

Spend money to save money?!?!

It’s not as if a person can sit in the house watching network TV or playing cards and never go out, people want to be social. Look into buying season passes or memberships.

A family Columbus Zoo and Aquarium Membership is $84, but one adult admission is $12.99, $8 for children 2-9 and parking is $5 per car.

A Household membership to the Columbus Museum Of Art is $75, but one adult admission is $5 and extra for special shows.

Let’s use the zoo as an example. Two adults and two children without a membership is $42 and parking makes it $47. So, you only need 2 trips to the zoo to start saving.

The museum is a little longer to realize savings, but if you are big museum goers, like Teresa and I, it will still add up, because we also get discounts on their events. The wine tastings are our favorite, it also helps that we live walking distance away from the CMA.

So 4 trips to the zoo plus a trip to their Wildlights Wonderland during the holidays is a savings of $151 if you have a membership. The extra benefits of exercise, education and family time can not be calculated.

Step 21 to saving $10,000 in a year.

Buy your kid’s clothes on line through an auction site.

I shopped a popular childrens’ clothes retailer and found outfits can be and easy $50-$60. The same kind of outfits, winter, spring, etc, can go for $10 on ebay. My kids will not wear these clothes any longer than 2-3 months and will not know the difference.

If they are still in good shape they can be resold at an online auction or at a 2^nd hand retailer.

On the low end, if you buy 3 outfits a month for your toddler/preschooler, at a savings of $40 per outfit that’s an annual savings of $1,440 annually.

20th step to saving $10,000 in a year

Get a preferred customer card that pays you back in gas.

My favorite rebate card is Giant Eagle. For every $50 you spend they let you save $0.10 at the pump on gas at their gas stations, GetGo. For easy math let’s say $0.20 for every $100.

$500 spent = $1.00

$1,500 spent = $3.00

You are allowed to buy up to 30 gallons at one time, this is a $90 savings

You might think this is hard or slow going, but we are a family of 4 and we save over a $100 a month on gas on average. My last receipt stated we saved $1,300 over the past 12 months.

One key is also buying gift cards there. When we needed a new dishwasher we bought Sears gift cards and found a great model on sale. When we needed a new computer we also bought Best Buy gift cards and found a computer marked down. We don’t play games or work on high level animation so there is no need to have the fastest and newest thing out there.

Annual savings = $1,300

19th Step closer to saving $10,000 in a year.

Be honest about your income level with your friends.

I have friends who earn much more than I do and those who earn less, sometimes much less. Depending on what year it is, I can be the top earner in the crowd or near the bottom. This is important when it comes to socializing, because I can afford the lifestyle of someone in a higher income demographic. I need to feel comfortable enough to say, “I can’t go to Utah to fish this year.” Or “We can’t join you for the weekend away.” This can be a huge savings.

Let’s look at a past time everyone in the world participates in except me, golf.

A local private club here in central Ohio charges $2,700 a year for an individual membership with fees on top of that.

Meanwhile an unlimited pass to all 7 of our Columbus City Courses is $999. A $1,701 and you get to play 7 different courses.

18th Step closer to saving $10,000 in a year.

Nursing or Formula (I can’t believe I’m even going here!)

My wife and I used formula on both our children. It’s much more comfortable for her and convenient for both of us. I enjoy being involved with my kids and while no one likes 3:00 am feedings I enjoy being with my children.
Our children are both very healthy so the only advantage we see that nursing offers is expense.
Those cans of formula are $20.00 on sale! Kids can go through 2-3 of those a week so that’s spending $2,080.00 on the low side.
However, this is one case where, for us, the convenience is worth the price.

17th Step closer to saving $10,000 in a year.

Weight Loss

Freakonomics author, Steven Levitt, said weight loss is a huge incongruity in the world. Millions of dollars are spent every year by people trying to loose weight, when weight loss is free! Not only is it free, it ends up saving people money on food not purchased and improved health. So why do people spend so much on something free? Maybe you should stop.
The information of daily cost is not on the web sites of Nutrisystem or Jenny Craig, they want you to register or call in. This information comes from ezine.com and their research puts the cost at $8.00 to $10.00 a day.
On the high side, a weight loss book from the library would save a person $3,600 a year.

16th Step closer to saving $10,000

Wash your own car
If you wash your car once a week at one of those gas station car washes it can cost you $8 on the low end. Wash the car yourself and you get the exercise and the savings. Wash your spouse’s and double the savings. It’s a savings of $416 a year for yourself.

15th Step closer to saving $10,000

Do you spend $20 a month on taking your clothes to the cleaner? Could you just as easily wash & iron many of your clothes yourself except the thoes with Dry Clean Only tags?

Cutting $20 a month off of the bill will save you $240 a year.

14th Step closer to saving $10,000

Trade off baby sitting.

My baby sitter charges $10 an hour. I pay it because I can absolutely trust her, but it increases the price of a movie by at lease $30, more if we have drinks out. I realize we also have friends with kids of similar age who want to see a movie once in a while so here’s the trade off. While one couple goes to a movie or takes 3 hours out, the other couple or member of the other couple stays at their house and watches their child or children.
For example: Our friends, Couple A, want to catch a movie Saturday afternoon. My wife or I will walk over and keep an eye on their toddler while they enjoy the movie. If timed right it will even be nap time. A 3 hour outing every two weeks is a $60 savings a month or $720 a year.

13th Step closer to saving $10,000

Buy the cheapest product in the grocery store.

Whenever I go to the grocery instead of my wife I ignore the brands we have in our cupboards and I often buy the least expensive version. The peanut butter I buy is $1.00 cheaper, the coffee I buy is less than half of what she opts for and the same goes for pasta sauces canned vegetables, etc. Many times the taste or quality is better when she does the shopping, but for cake mix or veggies which are going to be tossed in a casserole I can’t justify buying the pricier item and it feels good to save money.
If a person can save an average of $1.00 per item and the weekly shopping is 30 items that’s a savings of $120.00 a month. It doesn’t have to be uniform, one trip you can buy the cheap coffee, but the next trip buy the coffee you like but cheaper wine or pasta sauce.
Annual savings is $1440.00

12th Step closer to saving $10,000

Check out your mobile phone bill.

I was reading my mobile phone bill and chanced upon my roll over minutes. I had over 12,000! I quickly checked out the other plans and moved to fewer minutes saving $30 a month. A savings of $30 a month is $360 a year.

11th Step closer to saving $10,000

Grooming services

Women, is there a way you can knock some money off monthly treatments? Men, think about where you get your hair cut. Do you go to a stylist or a barber?
By switching to a barber from a stylist or cutting back on pedicure or manicure services it’s easy to save $35 a month.

That's a savings of $420 a year.

10th Step to saving $10,000 a year

Go out less or free events.

The amount of money my wife and I spend when we go out to a nice restaurant is $80.00 conservatively. If a person or couple were to skip one outing a month or enjoy free entertainment provided by museums, parks, libraries, etc, a savings of $80.00 a month is $960 annually.

9th Step to saving $10,000 a year

Get rid of premium cable packages.

The 5 movie channels at Time Warner will cost $38.95 a month. How important are they to you? Read a book, sit outside, visit friends. I was never impressed with any movie channel offerings.
According to the Time Warner web site the 5 premium channel package is $38.95 a month over 12 months it translates into $467.40.

8th Step closer to saving $10,000

Watch the car you buy.

If you need to buy a new car it’s a good idea to look at how much money you are spending.
A $20,000 financed over 5 years at 9% is $415 a month. If you buy a $25,000 car and finance it for the same 60 months at 9% the payment goes up over $100 to $518 a month. I found cars in this price range on the GM website. If you look at the big boys, Cadillacs, the savings can get very impressive.
The Cadillac STS-V is $79,000. Financed for 5 years at 9% is a $1,639.91 monthly payment. If you buy a more affordable Cadillac, a Cadillac DTS, the MSRP is $42,590 the monthly payment is $884.10 using the same terms.
This is a great web site: http://www.defenselink.mil/mapsite/carpay.html

Many savings gurus scoff and huff at the idea of buying a new car, pontificating “No no, buy a used car with only a few miles on it.” I can only reply, I’m surprised my wife stayed married to me with the thousands and thousands of dollars I invested (no, WASTED) on repairs to used cars.
Most Americans don’t ponder which Cadillac to buy so let’s use the lower end example. A savings of $103 a month is $1,236 a year.

7th Step closer to $10,000

Watch your drinking

My friend asked why I was attacking beer since she thought I liked beer. I do like beer and I’m not attacking beer I’m attacking careless and wasteful spending.
I was at the grocery store and saw 12 packs of Labatt Blue and Bud Light both going for $9.00, these are great beers at great prices. Down the isle I saw beers at a higher end of the scale for $14.00, Land Shark, for 12 and finally the craft brewed stuff at about $16.00 for 12. If I go through 12 beers a week and switch from craft brewed to Bud Light I will save about $7.00 a week, even a $5.00 savings is nothing to sneeze at. So the savings can be about $30 a month or $365 annually, but look at what happens when we go out.
A draft of Guinness is about $4.50, more depending on local sin tax or in about every other country in the world. A domestic is about $1.50 during happy hour and I can’t remember when I have ever seen anything other than domestics on special during happy hour. If I have 3 Guinness in an evening compared to 3 domestic brews I can save around $9.00 before tip. If I go out 4 times a month with friends I’ll save $36.00 a month drinking a domestic beer. Couple the $36.00 savings with the savings from my take home beer and you are looking at about a $66.00 a month savings or $792 a year