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Top 5 ways to save money in 2008

Posted By Scott Klarr on Dec 20, 2007 at 9:50 am

1. Become A Bookkeeping Jedi

Bookkeeping might seem very redundant to the average person, but it can help tremendously when it comes to saving money and keeping a very close eye on every penny spent. By using a bookkeeping software and keeping it updated daily, you not only get a new perspective of your cash flow, but you can also see how much you've spent on certain things throughout the year such as groceries, gas, phone bill, etc. When you see these things add up, you might be more likely to shop with money-saving in mind and think twice before buying that little something that you really don't need while grocery shopping. You might even find yourself making it a game to see where you can cut costs! Bookkeeping also allows you to see all your account balances at a glance, as well as your total assets and liabilities.

Learning how to properly use a bookkeeping software might be a daunting task for someone with no accounting experience, but its not too hard to learn for basic money managing. And once you get the hang of it, you should only need to spend maybe 10 minutes a day updating your records with that day's cashflow. By the time 2008 ends and you start thinking about doing taxes, you will be happy you took the time to record all your money transactions!

There are many bookkeeping programs available such as microsoft money, quickbooks, and others, but I use and recommend GNUcash because its free, open source, cross-platform, and has all the features you need, plus some. Did I mention that its free!? www.gnucash.org

2. Conserve Energy

A lot of times you might find it more convenient to leave your computer on while your away or sleeping because you like the instant access when you return, however if your serious about saving money, it would be a good idea to get into the habit of shutting down your computer anytime you will be away from it for more than say an hour. Lets say you work from home and you are on the computer a good 10 hours a day, that leaves 14 hours, or about 71% of the time, that your computer is just sitting there idling. 10 hours a day for a year is 5,110 hours of inactivity!

Between the lower power usage from energy-friendlier hardware/software, and the higher power usage from larger PSUs and more hardware, the average computer power consumption really depends on the specific computer and usage. Because of this, Its hard to make any exact estimates of your electricity bill savings, but with the example above, you could cut your computer usage costs by up to 71% by just turning it off for the 14 hours per day that it is not used.

If your interested in seeing how much power your computer setup actually uses, you should get a Power Meter.

You can also replace all the light bulbs in your house and office to fluorescent lights which not only save energy, they also produce a higher definition, more natural light. Get in the habit of turning off lights when leaving the room for extended periods of time.

3. Harness The Power Of The Internet To Research

Unless you've been living under a rock the last 10 years, you probably realize that the internet is a great place to find deals and save money - both online and offline! Not only can you directly save money by purchasing items at discount prices online from marketplaces like ebay, but you can also use the internet to find local deals, and to research products before buying.

Before buying anything of substantial value, do some research on the item online. Look for product specs, prices, pictures and reviews, as well as compare it with competing products to ensure that your making a well-informed and though-out purchase.

After you have made a concrete decision on which product you want to buy, look for the best price and seller reputation possible, be it a person on ebay, or a online retailer business. Look for coupons, discounts, sales, and rebate offers. And most importantly, trust your gut. If something seems to good to be true, chances are it probably is. If you get an uneasy feeling about a certain seller, pass them up regardless of the price they are offering. Theres no worse way to lose your money than to have it taken from you by dishonest scum.

4. Avoid Buying With Credit Cards & Loans

First and foremost, it is important to actively work on your credit by using your credit card(s), but refrain from using more than a set percentage of their limit, for example don't go over 10%, and pay off whatever purchases you made at the end of the month. This will keep you in good standing with your card issuers, improve your credit, and allow you have the credit line there in case of emergencies. Beyond using them only a small amount each month, try to refrain from making your everyday purchases through a credit card because not only do you get charged an interest rate, but it becomes easy to let the cards balance to continually increase and before you know it, its maxed out, which is just asking for trouble. If you can build the discipline to spend the last bit of cash out of your pocket instead of using the line of credit in your wallet, your all around financial managing ability will benefit.

5. Get A Debit Card That Offers Cash Back

The best way to make purchases is with a debit card for two main reasons. First, you get the benefits of a credit card in the sense that you can use the debit card just as you would a credit card: online, at the gas pump, over the phone, etc. Second, you get the benefits of cash, being that you cant spend more than what you have available (except in the case of overdraft protection). There are some debit cards that offer you a percentage cash back for any purchases made using your debit card AS a credit card. For example, the paypal debit card, which I recommend to anybody who does any sort of online buying or selling, will give you 1% cash back anytime you swipe your card as credit. One percent may not seem like much, but since I've opened my paypal account, I've received over $600 cash back from using my card!

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