Yes, a lot of the tips "should have been done a long time ago," just like people should have been spending less than they made -- but they didn't. Sometimes it takes a new way of looking at something to actually do it. Especially for my readers, who aren't used to reading about frugality.

If you "always fear...hidden agendas on these sites," then I'm sorry and I invite you not to read my site any more. But there's not a conspiracy lurking in every corner. If even one of the tips was worth it, maybe it could save you some money.

I only make $12/hr and have rent, utilities, a car payment, car insurance, and student loans to pay every month. This isn't happening for me. I'll take it into consideration though in case I ever manage to have something better than a low-paying dead-end job.

The month I had the ridiculously low bill I didn't turn on my AC or ceiling fans at all so I'm sure that had a lot to do with it.

Would be a great Idea if only had better income and a better economy to boot.

Just my 2 cents worth...

If by plasma you mean TV, I have a 10 yr old tube tv at home thats dying on me. So...

I tend to enjoy Ramit as well, even if has his moments of intense arrogance. But this series is a bit of a crock. He tends to teach you ways to make more money. But he says, since things are tough, he's going to teach you how to save - and not with those lame suggestions on the 'savers' blogs. But he's offered nothing of note at all and don't expect to see it. I mean 'sell things on eBay' is right up near the top of crap. He says don't worry about making money, it's the mental triumph that counts. Well, try selling on Craigslist instead and skip the payments to eBay for listing and selling your $10 item. Or better, give it away via FreeCycle or to a local charity (claim a deduction). What I see this as - and I believe a number of people are seeing this - is a cheap ploy to make him money via ad impressions. Most recently, he notified us that his little ploy was mentioned on the Wall Street Journal blog. I'm sure that came via an anonymous tip. And now he's getting play on Consumerist. He's mastered getting page views on that site of his. He information is often interesting and the arrogant delivery can be entertaining, but here, he's just recycling things from, yes, Consumer, or WiseBread or My Money Blog, etc. The list goes on and on.

Sure, he's got a window to introduce something new and of note, but lowering the thermostat and packing your lunch, really, those should have been things done long ago. Selling on eBay - please, crap tip. I'm waiting for 'change your light bulbs to CFLs and save!' That's the latter part of this crapitude. He takes this small efforts, compounds them and announces them as great savings, so as not to fall in his own trap of only saving you a $1 or so a day. I'd bet that the thermostat tip saves, for some, only a few dollars a day. It's the compounding that counts, so like a street magician, he concentrates on hyping that and then profits by page counts and ad sales. It's a move that feels horribly slimy to me, maybe becauswe I always fear such hidden agendas with these sites from the get go. Now it feels a bit realized.

@frodo_35: Congrats to you on the quitting smoking and saving the dough.

Another tip:

Take $33.33 every day for 30 days and put it under your pillow.

#2: No. I can't function with it lower than it is. 66 is low enough.

#3: I haven't much to sell...

#4: My friends all live too far away.

Mainly, I believe pooh-poohing the tips that save a little here and there (the ones saving you a dollar by shopping for food in bulk or whatnot) in favor of your tips invites criticism. If you're going to dismiss the tips of others, then you've got to put something pretty impressive out there.

Heres a biggie. My wife and I quit smoking we smoked generics and are saving 300+ a month. Next april NO MORE CHILD SUPPORT YAH!!!!!! I will be saving 600 a month and plan to have my house payed back off in 4 years.

There's a good tip. :)

@sawzy: It used to be 30% of the household income, but my husband lost his job in the economic downturn. We're locked into a lease and we can't move elsewhere because they require you pull in 3X the rent in gross income and I don't meet that on my own for even any 1 bedroom places in town within a mile of a bus route.

I'm not a fool--I'm screwed over by this city's startlingly bad economy, stagnant wages, and no means to get out.

I'm with ya on that one. Keep the Freezer.

During the Summer, move it out of your uninsulated garage where most of them are kept. During the winter, put it back.

We do a lot of our grocery shopping at Costco. I eat healthy and we save...

I find cutting back on hookers and blow makes a substantial dent in the $1k.

In response, we cut out netflix, don't eat out much at all (or eat less...our favorite restaurant costs us about $30 each time), and our biggest expense outside of bills right now is Christmas. I'm trying to keep decorating under $100 and keep the budget for presents under $100.

Our furniture was pretty much free from family members. It's all really great quality furniture, but Craig's List helped me save a ton of money. I got an amazing coffee table for $80 and a set of Pottery Barn end tables for $100. We got the quality without spending the full retail price.

This makes me want to be like, "well, screw you!" My garden not only saves me a bunch of cash, but makes me eat healthier (I feel obligated not to waste it) and gives me some free exercise, as well as a lot of psychic satisfaction from being outdoors and playing with dirt.

Not a PRACTICAL solution for people who don't have a yard? Sure. Not a POPULAR solution for some people? Fine, but none of the suggests will be popular with everyone. But a RETARDED solution? You, sir, may bite me.

Item number 35: Do not have money forgeting former spouse who requires keeping a lawyer around to defend against silly proceedings.

My attorney had to show my ex-wife copies of canceled checks, endorsed and deposited by her, in court, with her on the stand, to get her to agree that she had, in fact, been paid for a debt. "Oh I forgot. Sorry, I shouldn't have filed that as a contempt charge."

My attorney to me "Pay up, sucka." @ $200/hr billing rate...

I have no cable to get rid of and someone pointed out already that candles probably cost more.

New employment is something worth working on, but only on the basis that it would pay more than my current job. rent is inevitably high where I live, I pay $650 with utilities for a living room.

My take-home pay is roughly $1300-1400 a month. My rent alone is $900. Ain't happenin'.

I'm going to save $1,000 a month by no longer sending my child support payments. I expect opportunity to come knocking at my front door any day now!

(/gallows humor)

So, like you the financial fast we've been on was (and is still) a hard lesson. Spending when "bored" pushed me to volunteer as a firefighter. That's not boring at all, I assure you.

And to the points about killing the economy with thrift - yes, that's exactly what's happening. If we're going to survive as a species, sooner or later the transition to the steady-state economy, not the growth at all costs model, has to start. We're at that starting point, here and now. The guided age of consumerism is ramping down.

@Oranges w/ Cheese: Cool! Good for you! I'm not that close to being debt free, but I recently rejiggered my finances to throw more cash at my students loans so I can get there sooner. Maybe that's why the $1K challenge seems particularly frustrating/unappealing.

OK, Cell phone, that can be hard, I admit. But if you can't save any money and you still have a pay television subscription & netflix, you're not trying at all.

Yeah, low-tier DSL sucks. Yet you have debt, apparently. Unless your job requires a very high speed connection (mine does), what, exactly do you need the fastest net connection for?

If you spend a DIME on food out of your home, you're not trying to save. If you're throwing out food because it sat in the fridge and rotted, you're not trying to save.

If you're spending money on booze, butts or porn, you're not trying to save.

And no, it's not "living like a caveman" its called "Responsibility" and it's not a bad way to save.

Don't even get me started on the fact that spending on entertainment while you have any debt is just plain dumb.

Kidmoe hit it on the head!

Well ladidaaaa... "I live in NY and make 150k a year...I simply do not understand what the bruhaha is over saving a measly 1,000 per month!"

I'm putting huge amounts of money toward my car payment for the next 4 months so that I can pay that off and finally start saving money.

Currently its my only debt so once its gone I'll be completely debt free!

I would love to do this but after expenses but before food and gas I "only" have an extra $800 or so left over to divide between food, gas, clothing, househood supplies, etc. I am lucky to actually have $300-$400 to save in a given month.

Wouldn't it be worth it to save $100? How about $200?

Or would it be easier to just complain?

Besides, could you save $50? $100? Seems like that would be better than doing nothing.

@MercuryPDX: Isn't deer season coming up?

I suppose I could just not pay my bills for the month, and then POOF, magic, I'd have saved a $1000.

@seandavid010: Do you really think that is feasible and realistic advice to give someone? Well, I can. So should you.

There are so many people with no concept of how much others struggle, it's embarassing. Compassion, please get some.

* Rent - We don't have a house payment. We rent an apartment that pays for heat and water. Rent is $680.
* Limit groceries to once a month - We're forced to eat stuff we wouldn't normally eat right off the top.
* Lousy furniture - We have pretty lousy furniture and not much of it. But we deal with it because we want to save (particularly for a house).
* Canceled digital cable - The broadcast digital stations come in pretty well. This saved $40.
* Canceled land line - We use the internet/phone bundle. Yeah Comcast is lousy, but AT&T is much much worse.
* Pack Lunch - This is obvious.
* Have no debt - This of course makes it a lot easier to save.

Despite these "sacrifices" we still subscribe to Netflix, have plenty of clothes and go out to eat once a week (~$40 a week. This really needs to come down). We also have a dog. Of course, not everyone can do this but it's not like you're a bad person. The point is that it IS possible and it doesn't hurt to try.

Mike Brown is not selling that cash cow.

Or, stock it to the hilt using your local warehouse club.

@tape: Agreed. I used to subscribe to the IWTYTBR newsletter, but when I got the $1K thing I unsubscribed. If you make a modest salary, a lot of finanican advice is irrelevant. Like, "Well first of all, max out your 401(k). Then with what's left over..."

I could definitely stand to be smarter about my money, but this seems like the financial equivalent of a crash diet. Maybe it would be good as a "reach for the moon, land in the stars" sort of thing.

I did do one of those financial fasts (ie, no retail spending) for a week and it was worthwhile. It wasn't so much that I saved a ton of money, but I recognized some bad spending habits. I spend money when I'm bored or looking to avoid doing something. Plus it make me more conscious of running errands efficiently, and thinking carefully about my social obligations.

May I suggest delicious ramen noodles for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Get rid of cable. Move to a cheaper place. Walk everywhere. Read by candlelight and find new employment.

I just transferred $1000 from my checking acct into my savings acct, I guess I am donw.

Coming to visit? Bring a sweater or firewood. :)

Here is a very quick list:
1) Put less/no money into your 401K and pay off your collateralized assets first!
2) Pay off high interest debt as fast as you can
3) If you can, re-finance as much high interest debt as you can to a lower interest rate. Don't consolidate loans unless the interest rate is less.
4) Make lunch for work each day >$100/mo.
5) Stop eating out. No fast food.
6) Stop buying processed foods.
7) Bottle your own water
8) Drop cable >$40 mo.
9) Drop home phone, use voip or cell phone if possible.
10) Drop data plan on cell phone >$30/mo
11) Sell everything you don't NEED on Craigslist.
12) Sell any cars you can get by without. Save the insurance, repairs and payments. Rent a car for the few times you may need it.
13) Check your bills each month. I find errors often.
14) Re-negotiate any month to month services for a lower rate.
15) Call credit card company and ask for a lower interest rate. If not, change cards.
16) Manage your money at the bank every day. Make sure you don't bounce checks.
17) If you have a large freezer, empty it, unplug it and sell it.
18) Change any light bulbs that stay on for long periods of time to CFLs.
19) Check for water leaks in toilets especially.
20) Shop around for a lower insurance plan if possible.

Selling things on ebay will only cause you to lose money, for as you've stated, obvious reasons.

this is also assuming you take home at least $1000 after basic bills like rent/utilities.

but why stop there? and who says it needs to be monthly? let's put away a billion every day. we could pay off the national debt on a donation after a few months and still have enough left over to buy the Cincinnati Bengals.

Tip #2: Turn your thermostat down 3 degrees
(Already do this with a programmable thermostat, so I won't be saving much)

Tip #3: Sell something on eBay today
(Won't do this for the obvious reasons.)

Tip #4: Involve your friends in your savings challenge
(Sure, they love to follow every little thing someone picks up off the internet).

Kudos to the author though for:
...this series will not include retarded suggestions like "Start a garden" or "Buy day-old food from bakeries." I certainly won't tell you to cut your rent or move to a cheaper place, because NOBODY WILL DO IT!

That's actually a pretty good plan.

I could save the $1000.. but i'm more apt to putting it down to pay my debts that i already have... I'll be at least lowering my debt by $1000 over the next month.