What are your best money saving tips that people don't take advantage of?

[JBinKC]

Know the tax law and put efforts to generate income and savings where there is a loophole.


Make choices for a healthy lifestyle.

Don't pay interest on a depreciating asset.

Favor hobbies that are low cost or free.

Reduce food waste approximately 40% of food never gets consumed.

Perform DIY repairs/ maintenance as often as possible.

[disneysteve]

Favor hobbies that are low cost or free.

Or find ways to monetize your hobby.

For example, when we were actively collecting Disney memorabilia, I would often buy 2 of something I wanted for my personal collection and turn around and sell the 2nd one for close to or enough to cover the one I was keeping.

[snafu]

It's important to review your insurance coverage [term life, auto, home/rental]. If you have an Emergency Fund, it may be cost efficient to increase your deductible on home and auto. With rising home building costs, is your coverage adequate? Do your policies cover sewer back-up, flood? What is your risk factor?

Is your auto coverage commensurate with the KBB value of your vehicle[s] Insurers do not care how much you owe, in case of a claim only their evaluation, less deductible will be paid out. Ask your agent to send your policy coverage needs 'out to bid,' or check on line for premiums for at least 3 insurers, for current and adjusted coverage. How much do they charge for monthlyvvv

The difference in premium is primarily the commission paid to the agent as claims are really paid out by one of the 3 giant re-insurers.

[snafu]

It's important to review your insurance coverage [term life, auto, home/rental]. If you have an Emergency Fund, it may be cost efficient to increase your deductible on home and auto. With rising home building costs, is your coverage adequate? Do your policies cover sewer back-up, flood? What is your risk factor?

Is your auto coverage commensurate with the KBB value of your vehicle[s] Insurers do not care how much you owe, in case of a claim only their evaluation, less deductible will be paid out. Ask your agent to send your policy coverage needs 'out to bid,' or check on line for premiums for at least 3 insurers, for current and adjusted coverage. How much do they charge for the privilege of monthly or quarterly payments?

The difference in premium is primarily the commission paid to the agent as claims are really paid out by one of the 3 giant re-insurers.

Is your [term] life insurance policy adequate to serve your family's future needs? If you carry other types of life insurance...why?

[bjl584]

To add to the original list:

Take advantage of credit card rewards. Either cash back or some form of points for air miles or hotel stays, etc.

[Nutria]

How much do they charge for the privilege of monthly or quarterly payments?

Definitely this.

Even though Progressive only charges a $5 fee for monthly payment, our actual premium was 20% lower last month when paying it up-front.

[scfr]

Delay purchases of "wants."

If you see something that you want to buy, on-line or in the store, and this applies to entertainment events too, make a note of it on your calendar for some period of time in the future (1 week, 2 weeks, 1 month, whatever works for you). When the future date rolls around, if you still really want it and still think it's worth the money (and if you have the money of course), go ahead and buy it.

My personal experience is that, almost always, I don't buy it. And sometimes I wind up asking myself "why on earth did I ever want to buy that?"

[clatoden99]

Through most payroll companies, you can specify that money go in more than one account on pay day. Hence, money could go directly into a savings account on pay day. Few know about this since companies rarely share this information to staff.

[Nutria]

companies rarely share this information to staff.

Really?

[rob62521]

As far as saving on groceries, study the ads. They are on a cycle when they put things on sale. If, for example, you like a certain pasta and the grocery has it on sale, buy enough of it on sale to have and use until the next time they have it on sale. And if you can, shop around. There are weeks we wind up going to Aldi, Kroger, and another store because of what is one sale or where it is cheaper.

If you can grow your own vegetables, this is also a way to save money. We don't have a huge yard, but hubby grows tomatoes, mostly in our front yard. He has some in big pots and some in the ground. Tastier than those from the store and he has had such a good crops the past couple of years, I have been able to can some. Before I learned to can, I froze them. Far cheaper and healthier than the processed stuff.

In other ways, take care of what you own. I saw many were talking about working on cars. I can't repair my car, but I can make sure the tire pressure is where it should be and get the oil changed, and keep it clean. For those of us fortunate to have garages, storing it in the garage probably helps take care of it since it is out of the weather part of the time. We have so many people who live in our town who have garages, but they are full of junk and can't get their cars in them.

Another way to save money is to help each other. We save our egg cartons and cottage cheese containers for a lady who has chickens and she uses the egg cartons for the eggs. She runs a restaurant and uses the plastic containers for leftovers since she often cannot store the food at the restaurant and instead of throwing it out, she takes it home and eats it. In turn, she has given us some eggs.

[JoeP]

Cut your own lawn, do minor auto repairs yourself, get rid of cable TV!

[LivingAlmostLarge]

Don't buy crap. Sounds easy but it's really not. I can't tell you the number of friends who say they don't know where their money goes but when asked they have been shopping online. Seriously they buy $100s of dollars of stuff and can't even fathom that buying even a DEAL on amazon is still spending money.

best deal? Don't buy it.

[disneysteve]

Don't buy crap. Sounds easy but it's really not. I can't tell you the number of friends who say they don't know where their money goes but when asked they have been shopping online. Seriously they buy $100s of dollars of stuff and can't even fathom that buying even a DEAL on amazon is still spending money.

best deal? Don't buy it.

There was a great SNL skit years ago with Steve Martin called "Don't Buy Stuff You Cannot Afford." However, that's only part of the problem. An even better rule is don't buy stuff you don't need, even if you can afford it.

[Nutria]

Don't buy crap. Sounds easy but it's really not. I can't tell you the number of friends who say they don't know where their money goes but when asked they have been shopping online. Seriously they buy $100s of dollars of stuff and can't even fathom that buying even a DEAL on amazon is still spending money.

best deal? Don't buy it.

LOL because "saving 25%" still means you're spending money...

[annibe11e]

Delay purchases of "wants."

If you see something that you want to buy, on-line or in the store, and this applies to entertainment events too, make a note of it on your calendar for some period of time in the future (1 week, 2 weeks, 1 month, whatever works for you). When the future date rolls around, if you still really want it and still think it's worth the money (and if you have the money of course), go ahead and buy it.

My personal experience is that, almost always, I don't buy it. And sometimes I wind up asking myself "why on earth did I ever want to buy that?"

I do this on Amazon. When I shop, I add stuff to my cart and leave it. Mostly because I want to have enough qualifying purchases to get free shipping. When I think of something else to buy, I go through my cart and usually end up deleting stuff. When I'm ready to make a purchase, my cart is well-curated.