101 Ways To Stop The Money Leak: Sell your Stuff

Go through your house and pull together all the items you no longer use. These can include small or large appliances, gardening tools, clothing, makeup, and sporting equipment, whatever you have, and then list them on eBay.

Take the money earned from these sales and put it in your savings account not to be touched.

101 Ways To Stop The Money Leak: Consolidate your Errands

To save gas, organize your day of errands so you get as much done in an organized manner as possible. Stay in the same geographical area and hit as many of your errands in that area as
possible to avoid excessive driving.

101 Ways To Stop The Money Leak: Cancel Subscriptions

It is always fun getting your favorite magazine or book in the mail but you should cancel them or at least most of them. If you have several subscriptions, choose one or two to keep and cancel the rest.

101 Ways To Stop The Money Leak: Insulation

Hundreds of dollars are wasted every year from the average home due to improper insulation. Make sure there are no drafts coming from your window, door, or fireplace. Ensure your home has the appropriate level of insulation, which will make a HUGE difference in your utility bill.

101 Ways To Stop The Money Leak: Pay on Time

For every payment you pay late, you are charged a late fee, which can range from $25 to $50 or more depending on the company. Therefore, if you just made a $50 payment but it was paid late,
nothing was paid toward the debt. Instead, the entire $50 went toward an unnecessary fee. To avoid spending unnecessary money, be sure you mail your check in time to avoid these fees.

101 Ways To Stop The Money Leak: Home Remedies

Before rushing off to see the doctor for a sore throat, try some home remedies or over the counter drugs instead. For a sore throat, butter mixed with ginger and sugar makes a soothing healing pate. A hot toddy before bed is great for a cold. Simply ask your family for their home remedies and try it. Sometimes a simple over the counter medication or herb will do the trick without costing you an expensive doctor’s office visit.

101 Ways To Stop The Money Leak: Telephone / Mobile Phone

First, shop around for the best deals. Second, stay away from all the fun bells and whistles and just stick with the basic plan. Some people have turned to shutting down their home telephone and are now using their mobile phones in place.

Since most wireless carriers offer free long-distance, call waiting, call forwarding, caller ID, voicemail, and more, it can do the same as a regular phone but for less. Why have two phones when you can have just one?

Most people stick with their current telephone carrier despite the fact they cost much more then some of the alternatives.

A good place to see how much you can be saving on telephone calls is here.

101 Ways To Stop The Money Leak: Free Entertainment

If you are tired of being bored, you will be pleased to learn that there are hundreds of things to do that do not cost a dime. For example, if you want a little Friday or Saturday night excitement,
sign up at your local police department for a “ride-a-long” where you can go on duty with an officer as they respond to real calls.

Community colleges are always offering free exercise classes, or coffee shops have poetry readings.

Entertainment and having fun does not have to cost anything. Some cities have special areas that are popular on the weekends where you can find free concerts. Check your local paper and college to get a list for your area.

101 Ways To Stop The Money Leak: Trendy Fashion

Most people love to dress in the most up-to-date fashion but for those fashions, you pay big bucks. Consider dressing with basics and then emphasis them with trendy accessories. This will save you money on the clothing that is less expensive while allowing you to dress it up.

101 Ways To Stop The Money Leak: Carpool

In some larger cities, carpooling is required in order to reduce smog. However, regardless of where you live, carpooling can also be a big money saver. Check with co-workers and determine who
lives close enough to share a ride. By the end of the year, you will have saved several hundreds of dollars.

Most people only think of the savings in petrol however there is big savings from the wear and tear of your car as well so therefore saving on maintenance costs and new tyres.

101 Ways To Stop The Money Leak: Shopping for Clothes

There are many secrets relating to saving money on clothing. As a perfect example, rather than buy a matched suit for $450, buy the pieces separate. This will save you about $100 to $150.
Additionally, buy several pieces that can be mixed and matched, giving you six outfits out of four pieces.

101 Ways To Stop The Money Leak: Stock Up

As you shop, if you notice that a brand you and your family use on a consistent basis is on sale for a great bargain, stock up. As an example, if you use a particular type of shampoo costing $4.50
per bottle and you find it on sale for $2.50, go ahead and buy two bottles. You should only do this on items you know will be used.

101 Ways To Stop The Money Leak: Go Generic

When buying food, try some of the generic items. Unless you or your guests are connoisseurs of fine dining, they will not know if the green beans were generic or a top name brand.

Once you add some butter, salt, and pepper, no one will know the difference except you - $79 per can versus $33 per can!

People do not realize that many generic brands are actually manufactured by name brand companies, just branded with a different name. In fact, companies such as those that make snack
foods will have conveyor belts that run side-by-side – one for the name brand and one for the generic brand.

This is quite common and the only difference is the label and price.

101 Ways To Stop The Money Leak: Refinance

With interest rates being so low, consider refinancing your home and/or securing a debt consolidation loan. You might have to come up with a new closing cost but once paid, you will have
lower payments, better terms, and save thousands of dollars over the years.

101 Ways To Stop The Money Leak: Wants versus Needs

Make sure the thing you want to spend your money on is a “need” and not a “want.” Sometimes this can seem like a fine gray line but if you stick to the need list, you will spend less.

I know one guy who used to say “If I still want it in 3 months time then I’ll get it”.

9 times out of 10 in 3 months time he found that either he or his children had forgotten about that particular want and therefore had saved themselves from wasting money on an impulse buy.

101 Ways To Stop The Money Leak: Family Haircuts

Look for hair styling shops that offer family deals or learn how to cut hair yourself. Many families take care of their own haircuts and put the money they would have spent aside as a vacation fund. This system works out perfectly.

101 Ways To Stop The Money Leak: Company Stock / 401K

Contributing to employee stock options or a 401K plan is a wonderful opportunity to save. Most companies will match your contribution, sometimes dollar for dollar, up to a maximum, generally 6%. From each paycheck, you can have a small amount of money deducted (1%) and up. Over time, that money grows and since the business is providing a match, you get free money.

101 Ways To Stop The Money Leak: Proper Maintenance

Purchase an annual home warranty policy. These policies can run from $350 to $500 a year and offer extremely valuable options.

The way most of these policies work is that if you have something break, such as your garage door, dishwasher, air conditioner, etc., for a minimal fee, usually $50 to $100, a serviceperson will come to your home to fix the item.

Best of all, if you have five things broken and the same serviceperson is qualified to fix all of them, you are still charged the $50 to $100 fee once, not five times. For your automobile, you might look into purchasing an extended warranty. If you ever need either one of these policies, they will save you tremendous value.

101 Ways To Stop The Money Leak: Cable Networking

If you have a computer upstairs and another downstairs and you use high-speed data, have one of the computers as the primary computer and the other as the backup. This way, you are only
charged once for Internet access and a small fee of $10 to $15 a month for the second computer. This is a great bargain!

101 Ways To Stop The Money Leak: Buffet Meals

When taking the family out to dinner, consider restaurants that have buffets. In many cases, the prices are outstanding and a parent can share with a small child. In addition, many buffets are
“all you can eat” and of course, there is something for everyone.

101 Ways To Stop The Money Leak: Buy versus Rent or Lease

When looking at homes or automobiles check the rent and lease
options. Depending on your particular situation, renting or leasing
may be a better financial decision. Weigh all your options and see
which choice makes the best sense from a financial standpoint.

101 Ways To Stop The Money Leak: Off-Season

The next time you plan a vacation, consider off-season. Generally, the prices for airfare, hotel, and cars are substantially lower than traveling during peak time.

If you look at all your options, you will find that in many cases, you can come close to the date you would like to travel. As an example, flying to Hawaii through June 8 is considered off-season
while June 9 is peak.

One day makes a huge difference in price.

101 Ways To Stop The Money Leak: Unsecured Creditors

Make a list of all your unsecured debts along with creditor contact information and payoff amount so you can have an accurate record of how much you owe. Choose one creditor, possibly a credit card, and focus on paying off that bill. Once you have achieved that goal, choose another. Start with the debt that has the highest interest rate since it is the one costing you the most money.

101 Ways To Stop The Money Leak: Attitude

Good money management is an acquired skill. As you go forward with the process of saving money, you need to have a good, positive attitude, which is often what will keep you and your family heading in the right direction. If you think you cannot save, then you probably will not. Be determined and stay positive about saving.

101 Ways To Stop The Money Leak: Written Plan

When a person goes into business, they create a Business Plan, which becomes the blueprint of their business. The same should apply if you are trying to save money. Create a master plan that
the entire family can get involved with and learn their role. When you start to spend too much, go back and look at your plan to see where you are messing up and how you can fix it.

101 Ways To Stop The Money Leak: Check the Garbage

One woman had her teenage daughter clean her room. The daughter proudly did just that, filling two huge trash bags of things she no longer wanted.

Out of curiosity, the mother peeked into one of the bags to see what was being thrown away. In shock, she found a new tube of suntan lotion, two perfectly good sweaters, makeup, lotion, a
picture frame, hair curlers, all good things.

The daughter did not realize that just because the items were of no interest to her, they might be to someone else. After talking to her daughter, the mom turned around and listed the items on
eBay, making a $35 profit on her daughter’s “junk.”

101 Ways To Stop The Money Leak: Utilities

Set up some rules in your home such as turning lights off when leaving the room, having only a parent adjust the air or heat, leaving the doors or windows open when letting either cold or hot
air into the house.

Utilities are expensive and a great money saver is to monitor how they are used in your home. Another great idea is the investment of buying an energy-efficient hot water heater.

If you cannot afford one, lower the setting so you are not heating water so hot. The hotter the setting, the more energy used.

101 Ways To Stop The Money Leak: Don’t Give up the Good Stuff

A misconception is that while trying to save money you have to deal with sub-par merchandise, which is untrue. If you love fresh breads and pastries, visit a bakery thrift store. For your fresh
fruits and vegetables, visit your local farmer’s market. Try eBay or other auction sites to buy top quality merchandise for a huge discount. Watch for neighborhood garage sales or estate sales and auctions to find items you need. Just because you are looking for bargains as a way of saving money does not mean you have to skimp on quality.