5 ways to actually save money in this crazy economy

1. Choose your home phone provider carefully.  Possible bill reduction… $50-$100 down to $0-$25
   Assuming you can get/have decided to keep your Internet broadband connection consider choosing a Voice-over-IP provider.  many of the cable companies are providing them as part of their bundles.  If you call internationally consider Vonage or Ooma – the international rates from the cable companies tend to suck.
2. Take a shopping list to the grocery store.  Inrestrospect this has saved us $20 a trip.
   There’s a great fast tutorial on using shopping lists on Rachael Ray’s site: saving time and money at the supermarket.
3. Just stop buying stuff!  Upside: $0-$your income
   Every time you are buying something step back and think “why am I buying this?”
4. Ditch the paid TV!  Possible savings: $50-$200 or more/month (that’s $2400/year!)
   I know this may sound impossible to some but it can be done.  It takes a patience to wait for movies to come out at the nearest RedBox and many may think they can’t live without there shows.  But it can be done… and of course broadcast TV is still available – and local channels are often broadcast in HD now – these look fantastic with the right antenna.
5. If you’re a book lover/buyer use Alibris.com to buy your books – it’s easy to search for a specific book and you can typically find significant discounts.  Again a little patience is required.