How I Save Over One Hundred Dollars Each Month

                                                      

Due to the sequestration, it is imperative that Americans find ways to save money.  Now is the time to use the principles our grandparents and great-grandparents used – pay with cash, don’t buy something if you can’t afford it, save for a rainy day and only buy what you need.  Even though many Americans continue to feel the effects of the recession there are still countless ways to save money but you may have to do a little digging. 

I have always been good at managing my money, spending less than I earn, finding bargains and negotiating prices. However, my financial income drastically decreased in 2012 and I found myself looking for supplementary ways to save money and cut back on spending.

I called my website hosting provider about spam email I was receiving.  He reminded me that my web hosting services were up for renewal.  He informed me that he could bundle my services (I usually renewed each service separately) to save money plus give me a 10% discount.  I agreed. The bundled services saved me $99.29 for the year.

One of my clients is a hairdresser and we agreed to barter services. She will be my hairdresser and I will help her with her finances.  This saves me $110 a month or $1,320 per year.  I eat a protein bar every day which costs $39.98 per box at Whole Foods. I buy one box per week. I searched the internet and found the same protein bars on amazon.com which saved me $11.98 per box. This saves $47.92 per month and $575.04 per year.

I use points earned when shopping at Safeway and Giant groceries stores money when buying gas at Shell or ExxonMobil. This saves me $.10 per gallon on gas.  I usually fill up once a week.  This saves me $3 - $5 per month or $36 - $60 per year.

I signed up for a reorder program with the manufacturer of my printer.  I purchase one ink cartridge which normally costs $30.73 per cartridge.  After signing up with the program I saved $3.10 per ink cartridge.  I usually buy an ink cartridge once every 3 months so this saves me $12.40 per year. 

I am a vegetarian and also comparison shop to find bargains on fresh fruit and vegetables.  I love strawberries and was paying $4 - $5 per carton at a major health food store. I usually purchase 1 – 2 cartons per week. This cost me $16 - $20 per month or $192 - $240 per year.  I found the same strawberries at another grocery store for $2.99 per carton.  This saves me $1.02 - $5 week or $4.08 - $20 per month.  This saves me $48.96 - $240 per year. 

Using all my discounts each month I save a total of $165 - $202.92. The total amount of money I will save per year with these discounts is $2,091.69 - $2,435.04.  If you would like to get more tips feel free to continue viewing my blog and share with others http://hefreemanenterprises.blogspot.com.