Buy books that are used. Most are in good condition. You’re buying the book for the words so don’t worry that the spine is a little bent or the pages are a bit folded. I just bought a $35 dollar book on Amazon.com for $15 bucks used.
Some people are irked by buying books used. They’re afraid that the previous owner had abused and neglected their book before putting it on the market. Rest assured: They’re nothing wrong with most used books. The previous owner is selling it because they need the money. Or they do what I do and buy books and then not read them.
The other day I was driving a familiar route (to the pub), and it dawned on me that I never make it through a certain light. If I’m driving the speed limit, I arrive at this light about 4 or 5 seconds after it turns red, so I’m always stuck there waiting for the majority of the red light. Instead of speeding 20 mph over the limit to make this light (and risking a ticket in the process), I decided to slow down and coast for a while (no, there wasn’t anybody behind me). My plan worked to perfection, and I reached the light just as it was turning green. It might not seem like much, but over a period of time, small actions like this can add up to save you a fair amount of money.
I think I read a study once that said stop-and-go driving can increase gas consumption by up to 33%. That means if gas costs $3.00 per gallon, you’re essentially paying $4.00 per gallon, as compared to an efficient driver. If you avoid quick stops and quick accelerations and try to drive at a steady pace, you can save a good deal of money without even trying.
Bonus points if you can identify the guy behind the word bubble.
Newer cars are more reliable than older cars. Older cars are cheaper to buy. Thomas Stanley’s book “The Millionaire Next Door” says that a car that is 2-3 years old is a good buy to get a reliable car at the cheap purchase price.
Buy a used car that’s 2 years old. Let somebody else eat the steepest part of the depreciation curve. To save even more off the purchase price get a four year old car. This isn’t an exact formula. Different cars yield different depreciations. You need to research each individual purchase. One thing is certain: Buying a brand new car isn’t the best investment.
Stop paying more than you have to at the pump. There are several websites out there that track local gas prices so you can determine the best place to fuel up before you head out. I personally like to use Gas Buddy, but GasPriceWatch and AAA also have pretty good gas price monitoring websites. For more information about these sites as well as a couple others, check out this article from Yahoo! Finance.
On a related note, I came across this video about increasing your gas mileage the other day. This guy claims that adding nail polish remover to your fuel tank can result in an increase of 10 miles per gallon. I’m pretty skeptical, however, mainly because the only “proof” of this method consists of a guy typing increasing numbers into an Excel spreadsheet.
“…and then I added Kool-Aid mix and, as you can see (types the number “75″ into spreadsheet), my mileage increased to 75 mpg!”
Yes, you read that correctly, a money-free weekend. My initial thought was that it was some sort of cruel joke, like a non-alcoholic beer or a stripper-free bachelor party, but after reading the article it appears like a solid way to save money while spending some quality time with friends and family. I don’t have a wife or child (that I know of, at least), so my money-free weekend would probably be a little different than the one in the article. I’d probably just eat a lot of ramen noodles, finish off some old bottles of liquor, call up some girls for some card games (strip poker, anyone?), and do some kite flying. It’s been a long time since Mr. Dragonopolous has spread his wings and soared with the birds. Sorry to neglect you, old friend.
There are times when you’re window shopping and you see something you just gotta have. Before you reach into your wallet: Wait 30 days before buying.
This will give you some time to think if you want to spend the cash on it. If still want it after 30 days, buy it. Chances are you won’t want it any more. Especially the more expensive items. Using the 30 Day Rule, you’ll avoid impulse buys and save yourself some money.
Apparently NBA star Yao Ming, a man who’s worth millions of dollars, refuses to shell out a measly $10 to use the internet at his hotel. He knows it’s a rip-off and he’s willing to wait until he gets home to surf the web.
Major credit to you, Yao Ming. Sure, that $10 wouldn’t get you into debt or anything, but it’s the principle of the matter. This just goes to show you that smart savers come in all shapes and sizes.
Invest and save your money instead of using it to amass a lot of things. The less stuff you have, the less you have to do maintaining and paying for them.
Except a house. You should probably own one of those.
I’m not quite sure what the company was thinking when naming this product.
If you have extra time and want to save some money, you can make your own laundry detergent.
It involves several ingredients that go into a blender:
Laundry Soap
Borax
Baking Soda
Oil?
I’m not sure about putting the oil. What do I know? Nobody died and made me Laundry Detergent King. You mix it all up in a blender and tada! Laundry detergent for you and your friends.
Maybe I could make some money by doing this and selling it by the barrel on eBay. The are plenty of pictures in the link below. I was curious about what Laundry Soap looked like and now I am a tad smarter for finding out.
There are times when you’re window shopping and you see something you just gotta have. Before you reach into your wallet: Wait 30 days before buying.
