I think it helped that I was prepared with the specifics of a competing offer and polite to the CSR during the call.

Thanks for the suggestion Consumerist.

Another way to save money is to use all the public services you can use. Mass transit saves you gas, library visits saves you on books and even movie rentals. Find a public park you can go instead of the gym you're paying for. Let's face it, you're not using it so why waste that money?

9,8 & 6. What credit card?

7. What cable?

5. Eat in.

4. Yep.

3. What mortgage?

2. Buy less

1. I do my monthly budget on Excel but any spreadsheet will work and Open Office is free.

Many people convince themselves that things are necessary which are not. They buy new clothes far too frequently and have more than they need to get through a week without doing laundry. They have cell phones which they don't really need but feel insecure without.

Also, cooking for yourself is always cheaper than eating out, but not if you aren't attempting to downsize your meal expenses in addition to cooking on your own. If you want to live cheaply, use eggs as the protein you consume for a meal twice a week instead of any sort of meat. Eat beans once a week as the central part of a meal. Avoid pre-prepared meals and add-ons to meals at all costs including things like cold breakfast cereals. Things like oatmeal, Cream of Wheat, etc. a few times a week will also reduce overall meal expenses. Also, you need to buy in bulk, but only things which you will actually use up. People should view food they throw away is money tossed in the trash.

9. Lower Your APR by threatening to switch to another credit card company
8. Use a 0% balance transfer to get a reprieve from credit card interest for a few months
N/A on both - balance paid in full each month.

7. Lower your cable bill by threatening to cancel
Fios has me on last year's rates since I've been with them for a while. Getting the discount having both tv and ISP as well. Who the hell would I switch to? Comcast? Hell, they'd probably tell me to go ahead. Then they'd shaft me with the current rates when I switched back.

6. Get your spending under control so you're paying off your credit card in full every month, and avoid paying extra interest
Again, paid in full each month.

5. Pack your own lunch, make your own coffee, cook at home
Always done it. Saw a calculator that showed college students who used student loans to pay for a $4 a day Starbucks habit added a few grand to their debt by graduation.

4. Adjust your tax withholdings so you're not giving the IRS an interest-free loan
Done on a yearly basis.

3. Take advantage of new low interest rates by refinancing your home to a lower rate
When they drop to 5% I will.

2. Switch to paying for most things in cash only...
Uhh, that would cost me hundreds of dollars a year more. Plus ATM fees. Discover Cashback, balance paid in full - financial f***ing discipline FTW. (Yes, I do get hundreds a year in cashback).

1. Make a budget
Yep. Actually did that on starting college. That's also why I started bringing my snacks and sodas to work instead of hitting the vending machine everyday.

Sitting down and calculating every stinking dime you spend on ANYTHING and EVERYTHING is the best way to find $$ motivation to cut costs. A coke & candy bar from the grocery store runs you $0.50 vs the $1.25-$1.50 in the machine per day. If you can save $0.75 a day doing this, it adds up: assuming you work 5 days a week, allowing 4 weeks a year for holidays and vacation (assuming you don't hit the vending machine any other time), that's 5 days * 48 weeks * $0.75 = $180/year.

I have bills paid by credit card (which I pay in full) that save me the cost of a check and postage each, plus cashback. My water/trash bill is autodebited from my checking account for a $1.50 discount, plus saving a check and first class stamp each month. I have at least 10 items that normally would be paid by check and mailed in that are now paid either automatically or online for a savings of $4.10/month in postage alone. Until the postage goes up in May. I've forgotten what my per check costs were. Something like 8 or 9 cents each.

It's all behavior changes. Like dieting, though I found it easier than giving up favorite foods(which I haven't). If you can successfully make little changes like that, then the savings add up like putting the pocket change in a jar. Some are easier changes, like putting monthly bills on the credit card. I now only worry about paying 3 credit cards on time. Which have had the due dates adjusted so that I handle them together at the end of the month. The statements show up a week before the month ends, and I have until the middle of the next month before they're due. Not that I wait long to pay, but I have 10 days grace if my online payment gets fragged somehow.

It's pretty easy to think in terms of how much cash you have in the bank, but if you can think of what you have left in terms of a budget, you'll come out further ahead. Especially with using credit cards.

9, 8. N/A. No CC.

7. N/A living w/ parents, still; but good idea.

6. N/A.

5. Biggie. It's cheaper for me to buy coffee, but if I'm going to make cofee, it's starting green :). It does save me $20-40 a week when I bring stuff from home. I haven't been very good about making it a regular habit, though, and there's an awesome Mexican place not far from work :(.

4. I've considered that. I'll probably do it once I have some money in the bank. My tax refunds nearly doubled my checking account :).

3. See 7.

2. I'm actually much more impulsive with cash. I've found it makes a far greater difference to eat a bit before I go shopping. Rly.

1. Not easy one, but, yeah, it works.

Re #5: Done, done, and done! Bento is a big hobby of mine, so I always bring my lunch to work; my coffee is better than Starbux or anything I could buy; and luckily I really enjoy cooking.

indeed. cancel your cable all together. i haven't had a TV or cable for 7 YEARS.... but still keep up with the handful of shows that i enjoy.

1. go out for tv. tv's are everywhere..... bars, restaurants... even better, spend time with your friends and their TV.

2. is there a tv show produced nowadays that ISN'T on the net or later found on DVD?

after a while, you'll find that you begin to watch "tv" for a purpose, not just as a random 'time sucking' convenience....

time saver... and money saver.

[wgnsuperstation.trb.com]

AM 720 has the games as far as I know. It's also a lot o fun to go to the pub to watch the games with your buddies. Heck the weather is great, if there is a game local game you really want to see why not just head out to Wrigley field.

The last time I had comcast they wanted $80/month for the extended basic+ or what ever they called it plan that had CSN. You could do an occasional game and pu trip and save more money at that rate.

Plus isn't comcast the company everyone here is routinely complaining about here. I'm not the only one that got fed-up with them and cancelled, right? I mean that is the only thing that can make them improve.

* Studies with your school's psych dept
* MRI studies with psych dept (can pay $50-100 per session if you can handle being in an MRI and qualify)
* Medical studies -- especially sleep studies
* Focus groups with local marketing companies
* Reselling furniture and books and such on eBay/Craigslist that students leave behind when they move
* Do mystery shopping, especially for meals

The secret is to check the bulletin boards on campus and Craigslist regularly. I live near Harvard and MIT, so they have tons of stuff going on as do all the med schools and research centers in the area. Craigslist may also have lots of "quickie" jobs -- passing out fliers, valet parking at a party, staffing a table to get students to sign up for credit cards, catering jobs (check with the student employment office, too).

Oh, and take advantage of all the free meals on campus...swing in to have pizza and listen to a speaker while skimming your notes. I see a ton of good movies for free while eating Harvard's pizza.

We also put our "fun money" on a prepaid VISA card. We were going to eliminate both debit cards as we use the bank's billpay feature extensively, then use the prepaid VISA for everything else, but that proved to be too much of a hassle.

I am doing all of it. but still can seem to stay afloat. I do like using my debit card because I get cash back in my account every year it is not much but it is better then no money at all from hard cash. Also with the rise of food and gas it will be hard to save what little I was trying to save now.

So, all of this either applies to me, or we're already doing it. I'm very grateful to be in such a positive situation. But now what? I'm not feeling financially secure...like Joseph and teapartys_over said.

I started taking the bus instead of the car this month, and other than giving up my Coca-Cola habit and switching to one of those mowers with just blades that you push, I'm not seeing how to cut more, especially with baby #2 due to arrive any day now.

Appreciate the article, hope there's a part 2, the "OK, Done. Now what?" article.

out of that whole list..... the only thing that I CAN do is to not eat out as much (#5). Everything else I am already doing.

@RandomHookup: Yes, that was the other option we considered (which we already do with a sporadic income stream), but our 401(k) needs more funding anyway. :)

I think the next step is to pay more attention to my grocery bills.

@anatak:

Ahh. My husband and I use the reverse budget system. Works well for us. We didn't know the system even had a name until recently.

@dragonfire81: I am a huge fan of a credit card with a good rebate. I use Amex Blue for everything. I am not a fan of debit cards because of the risk. Someone fraudulently uses my Amex, no big deal, I call and am never out money. Someone fraudulently uses your debit card? You are out every penny until the bank fixes it. Even if this is as quick as 48 hours, if you have automatic billing, your payments could bounce.

I know every hates credit cards because of the temptation but if you can learn discipline, it is not only safer but with a good cash back program, it can be pretty good money maker in itself.

I agree this is stupid if you're just shuffling it around to avoid paying, though. And it's doubly stupid if you then charge up a balance on the original card again.

Sure, it's not earning paltry interest, but I'm also not spending it either.

It seemed like a strange way to go to me at first but I have warmed to the idea.

With 0% balance transfers, make sure to note that there's usually a $50 fee per transfer or for each check you write off your new credit card. This will probably still end up saving you money ($50 once vs. recurring high interest for a year),
but most balance transfers aren't free!

Well if you really wanna save money, I recommend following the Pentagon procurement procedures. They seem really efficient.

[impatientsufferance.com]

One thing I also do is any time I use my credit card (to buy something online or if I need to buy something but don't have enough cash on me), I take out the money I spent from the appropriate envelope and put it into a separate envelope. Next time I go to the bank, the money in that envelope counts towards the next budget (that way I cheat on the budget when I use my credit card).

Also, threatening to cancel your cable doesn't always work (though I now pay $30 less a month after calling), but the worst thing that can happen is that they'll refuse to give you a discount; they certainly won't cancel your account unless you violently demand it. I will be canceling my cable shortly however, totally agree with one of the commenters above.

I should be clearing $5000 in credit card debt by next March.

@novelgirl: Me too. I think it's a matter of psychology. For me, if I get the money back all in a chunk, it goes right into savings. But if I'm getting dribbles of it every month, I mentally adjust my income upwards and therefore I want to ALSO adjust my spending upwards, no matter how disciplined I try to be.

This year we're going to try adjusting to the right withholding and having that amount shifted towards the 401(k), so I won't see it anyway. But I'll miss the chunk.

But if letting the IRS borrow your money psychs you out into saving, whereas keeping your withholding correct increases your spending, go with the brain trick and let the US borrow your money!

So far this year alone I was able to reduce my monthly cable/internet bill by $30 plus I researched and repaired a plumbing problem that I would have spent $200-$250 to have someone come out to fix. I'm nearly there. :)

Switched grocery stores to Trader Joe's, and started packing all breakfasts, lunches, and snacks. This has enabled me to budget one networking lunch a week and one dinner out a week, and I'm still WAY ahead. Kind of scary, but mostly cool.

7. Lower your cable bill by threatening to cancel

Just plain cancel the cable already. Everything you want to watch you can wait for a year and then check it out from a library.

@lyfehacka:

I dunno. Both debit cards I have are visa extra rewards cards. Every purchase I make earns me money. You don't have to have a credit card to get one of the rewards programs.

I totally disagree on the Debit Card thing.

A debit card takes the worst of cash and credit cards and subtracts the best.

So you lose the "I see it physically vanishing from my wallet, and I might therefore spend less" or "I don't have the cash with me so I will defer the purchase" that are the "advantages" of cash (and I say advantages in quotes because they're really drawbacks that one might see as advantages if one can't control their urge to spend).

At the same time a Debit card doesn't have the major benefits of a Credit Card - it doesn't give you cashback (I get 5% for groceries... which is REAL MONEY) ... in fact I can pay for one full month's worth of groceries and gas with one year's worth of Cashback rewards... yes you cash-spending folks read that again... by paying for EVERYTHING with my Amex Blue the result is that the REST OF YOU (in the end consumers are the ones who pay for all those perks) are buying my groceries, gas (and some of the Christmas presents) in December. You also don't improve your credit history, you dont' get to manage your cash-flow with an interest-free float, and in most cases you miss out on iron-clad liability protection (even where liability protection exists on your debit card you WILL initially deal with the money being siphoned from your account with all the possible consequences that can have), many warranty extensions etc.

Bottom line: For most people, it is definitelly financially UNWISE to use a Debit card

See, I already have $0 balances on all my credit cards and I already pay cash for everything.

I already make coffee at home and bring my own breakfast to work--I've started making rather than buying lunches more frequently and I've recently started cooking more at home for dinner--although I have to tell you, with as high as food prices are getting in the grocery store, eating out isn't as expensive as it seems.

@Ben Popken:

Bah, I'll pass then! I hate carrying cash. I like using a debit card, as it's basically cash, and allows me to keep better track of my purchases.

@radleyas: A debit card is better than a credit card for this purpose, but no, I'm really talking about using cold hard physical cash.

@dragonfire81:
I think what they mean there is to not use credit. A debit card is basically cash, since it comes right out of your bank account.

At least I think they still do this.

@Underpants Gnome: And another great Idea to take advantage of that cash and seeing it is pay yourself into your savings account what you would normally spend on Lunch, coffee, or eating out everytime you make your own coffee, or bring your lunch to work.

I put all my change in a 5 gallon water jug and carry it into the bank when it's full.

They always seem like I ruined their day but thats there problem.

I've honestly been deciding about a piggy bank myself (doing everything else on the list).

Are banks willing to accept that many pennies? I literally have sacks of them.