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13 Creative & Simple Ways to Save at Least $100 a Week
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What could you do with an extra $100 laying around every week? I’d probably save for a new laptop or go out more often, maybe create a stockpile of beer (or create an ice cave). I was on my disastrous commute this morning and I ran through a checklist in my mind on how I could go about saving $100 a week so that I could invest in other things that would make my life easier or just more enjoyable for that matter.
As I sat there, waiting for the D train to make its way out of the Bronx and into Manhattan I began my brainstorming. One thing after another and I realized that there was a lot you could do to save money with some simple tips. By employing some of these tips you can save a bundle every week and save it towards something you would really like or to invest it. Let’s get to the list.
1. Bag your lunch and bring it to work.
This is a goldmine so to speak. Personally, I spend about $7-20 a day on lunch while I’m at work depending on what I feel like eating, the fact that I work in downtown Manhattan doesn’t help. Let’s make the average to $10.
I could save a bundle if I were to make a sandwich for about $2-3 from home and bring it to work (buying coldcuts at the local grocery store), along with a $1 soda thats about $3-4 spent on lunch everyday as opposed to an average of 10$.
Savings: $36 per week.
2. Institute a ‘tax’ on your household.
We all hate taxes. No, let me rephrase that, despise taxes. However this is a little different. What about getting you and each person living in your house to put $2 a day in a savings jar? You can then use this money towards anything. Clothes, food, movies, a long needed vacation, a car, anything basically, be as inventive as possible!
Savings: ~$20 per week (based on 2 family members).
3. Change adds up quickly, don’t let it disappear under your couch.
You’re at your local StarBucks and you order a cappuccino for $3.42. You get an ugly $0.58 cents back. I used to forget about this change, lose it, or stuff it down my pants pocket for it never to be seen again.
A week ago I started saving all my change, I mean every single penny and dime. Then at the end of the week I went to a coinstar machine at my local grocery mart. How much did I save? $9.87. I was shocked really, I didn’t know it added up so quick. I was well on my way to an easy extra $100 a week.
Savings: $5-10 per week.
3. Give yourself a pay check every two weeks.
Whether you get your pay every week, bi-weekly, or daily, take a percentage and save it! Whether you put 15% of your paycheck in a money market or 2% in a small savings account you’ll be surprised as to how quickly all of it adds up. Set a percentage and deduct it as the first thing that you do with your paycheck.
Savings: $10-100 per week (depending on your salary).
4. Turn off your AC, TV and other appliances when you’re not home.
Seems really simple and basic but you’d be surprised how much you can save and how many people don’t do this. For more information on exactly how you can save money by conserving energy, check Get Energy Smart out.
Savings: $5 per week.
5. Don’t drive if you can avoid it.
Gas prices are nearing around $3 per gallon these days, its ridiculous. Dump the car (if you can) and use a bike, run or take public transportation to work. You’ll also save a ton on tickets ;-).
Savings: $20-50 per week.
6. Brand name household products will burn your cash, buy cheap and buy wholesale.
Why get 9-ply super-duper-fancy-ass-toilet-paper when you can get the no-name brand for 3/4th the price? Run through Costco and BJ’s to get your household needs at a wholesale bargain that will last you a lifetime.
Savings: $5-10 per week.
7. Make your calendar work for you.
Haircuts, pedicures, manicures, massages, car wash, etc. If you do one of these activities (services) every 2 weeks, why not make it every 3-4 weeks? You can save a bundle by stretching these out over a longer period of time.
Savings: $5-10 per week.
8. Scrap your home-phone line, use your cell phone instead.
Might not be viable for everyone but I have ditched my landline and added on some more minutes to my wireless plan. I’m saving $30 a month on my home line and added $10 a month to my cellphone bill.
Savings: $20 per month.
9. Waste less energy in your home.
I found this amazing resource which has 101 ways to save money around the house by optimizing lighting, air conditioning, heating and so forth.
Savings: $30-50 per month.
10. Have crap around the house that’s picking up dust? Sell it on eBay.
Believe it or not, people will buy crap you don’t use. Where else but on eBay? I have a friend who sold his PlayStation (Yes, PS1) for $120 on eBay. Find stuff you don’t use and put it up there. Make sure to do a search and see what similar items are selling at and always remember to consider the seller fees.
Savings: $5-500 per month (depending on items).
11. Ask yourself, “Do I really need this?”
I realized how much stupid crap I wast tons of money on month in and month out. Ask yourself if you really need what your about to buy, will it have an impact on your life or will you throw it away and stop using it a month in?
Savings: $X per week (really depends on the person).
12. Head to the local library instead of Barnes & Nobles.
Let’s face it, your local library probably doesn’t get the newest Harry Potter as soon as it ships but it probably has a wealth of great books that you can read for free. Why spend $25 on something that you’re only going to use once, maybe twice?
Savings: $20-50 per month.
13. Get rid of those cancer sticks.
Smoking will eat your cash alive. I had a problem giving it up but finally did, and my wallet loves me for it. You’ll probably save money at the laundromat too ;-).
Savings: ~$20 per week.
Here are two extra tips from Diggers that I found amusing:
14. Grow your own weed. - caponumen
Grow it yourself! Save yourself that twenty sack. Duck when you hear the sirens though ;-).
15. Cut down to one hooker per week. - caponumen
If you go for two, at least try to get a discount. Cheers cap.
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(On Aug 9th, 2007 at 2:22 pm)
These are all good tips.
Quiting smoking is absolute murder, but it can be done. It took at least seven times for me to quit, but at last I did it.
Here are my quit smoking stats:
One year, ten months, three weeks, two days, 4 hours, 20 minutes and 5 seconds. 27647 cigarettes not smoked, saving $7,257.40. Life saved: 13 weeks, 4 days, 23 hours, 55 minutes.
$7,257.40 not smoked. Now if they only had no-drinking meters! Can not imagine what I used to waste on booze.
(On Aug 9th, 2007 at 2:32 pm)
I live by #3! My wife and I started dating at 16 years old, by 17 we new we were going to get married, so we started saving change for the honeymoon! We paid $3400 for a full week at an all inclusive resort in Cancun with CHANGE!!
I had to pay a small service fee to get my 8 year old brother to roll it all, but it was better than the stupid “coinstar” at kroger.
We don’t leave as much time between spending our change, but it still gets us a weekend at a cabin in the mountains of a jet ski rental!
(On Aug 9th, 2007 at 2:33 pm)
…OR a jet ski rental, that is…
(On Aug 9th, 2007 at 3:37 pm)
I really liked this post, was a real good read!
I think the two that apply to me is the packed-lunch and the smoking.
I too had to work out a way I could save money earlier this week, when I realised I had spent so much money at DP Forums I had just $100 to last me 3 weeks :O
I started working out where all my money goes, and the two biggest spenders: Cigarettes and lunch/dinner.
A pack of 20 cigs over here is about £5.50($11). That costs me about $77 a week - over $300 a month. So far I’ve gone four days with just 2 cigarettes, and spent $0.
The best way to stop smoking? Become broke! You don’t have a choice when you have no money
Regards,
Luke
~Abstroose.
(On Aug 9th, 2007 at 3:58 pm)
Good tips! I’d love to kill my home-line, but cell phones don’t work where I live. I know that about 5 years ago it was a new trend to just dump your home-line for your cell. I love the house-hold tax, I’m going to do that for sure! Looks like you can save a lot of money by just putting away a $1 or so a day/week.
@Abstroose: DP forums, run! I got caught last month in that trap too.
(On Aug 9th, 2007 at 6:15 pm)
Hey, I really love these tips, I will take all of these that I can and apply them to my daily life. I already do the extra coins one, and got around $5 per week.
-Michael.
(On Aug 9th, 2007 at 8:05 pm)
Leonid - Thanks for the comment on my blog (davesbestofweb.com). Hope all is well. Glad you found the Traineo site useful. I enjoyed this post, very good thoughts. Wanted to give you one more - rather than ditching the home phone for a cell phone, use your cell phone but only when absolutely necessary, then sign up for Skype and buy one of their phones. It doesn’t require a computer (but does require broadband internet access, but I’m guessing most already have this) and works just like a normal phone. Its $150 for the phone (one-time cost) and then $100/yr. for unlimited nationwide calling. Save yourself a ton every week!
(On Aug 9th, 2007 at 1:02 am)
Very nice suggestions.
(On Aug 9th, 2007 at 1:33 am)
Instead of Soda/Bottled Water, drink tap. You’ll save TONS of money.
(On Aug 9th, 2007 at 1:43 am)
Actually, I have a friend who went to the library after Harry Potter seven came out and they had a bunch of copies of it. Apparently it’s like a goldmine for HP.
(On Aug 9th, 2007 at 8:56 am)
Regarding the Coinstar thing, those machines take 7%, which is extremely high. It’s understandable because that machine isn’t cheap. Anyways - the BANK does that for free. Bring your big old sack in and they have a counter in back. They don’t take a single penny for the service.
(On Aug 9th, 2007 at 11:03 am)
[…] 13 Creative & Simple Ways to Save at Least $100 a Week - [CashBulge] Author: Craig Childs Posted: Friday, August 10th, 2007 at 11:03 am […]
(On Aug 9th, 2007 at 11:16 am)
Make your own coffee/tea and stop going to your local starbucks. $10+ a week
(On Aug 9th, 2007 at 11:32 am)
Ditch cable TV
If you have a newer TV with a digital tuner and live near a big city, chances are you can get all or nearly all of your local network TV over the air with crystal clear reception for free.
We had been paying $20 a month for basic cable (read only network TV) because the over the air reception was horrible. A couple of weeks ago we bought an HDTV, so just for fun I tried seeing what digital channels I could get over the air. The results surprised me. The analogue channels still look horrible, but the digital and HighDef channels are crystal clear.
Now obviously this won’t work for lots of people who can’t live without their cable tv stations, but if you’re like me and only watch network tv and DVDs, this is a great way to save an extra $5 per week.
(On Aug 9th, 2007 at 12:15 pm)
Barnes & Noble. Singular.
(On Aug 9th, 2007 at 12:18 pm)
Just a suggestion, but if you are really tight on cash can’t use ebay — use craigslist. Not only will you avoid sale fees, but you can also get around pesky shipping fees from United Package Smashers (USP)
Great article on the whole, thanks!
(On Aug 9th, 2007 at 12:29 pm)
ditch blockbuster….you can borrow movies from the library, for free & you get to keep them for a week.
(On Aug 9th, 2007 at 3:21 pm)
My biggest money saver was Coffee.
I used to buy a cup of coffee every day on the way to work. $2 - $3 a day.
I now buy a lb of grounds $5 - $10 and brew a pot every other day. Pour one cup, have some that night, reheat one for the next day. I get about 11 pots or 22 days worth of coffee.
$10 - $15 / week (5 days travel to work)
to
$1 - $2 / week.
(On Aug 9th, 2007 at 3:22 pm)
Are you a Starbucks addict like me? Then force yourself to visit Starbucks less than five times a week and you can save a whole load of cash
.. OR you could earn a cool $200 by writing a blog review about http://www.sputtr.com 
(On Aug 9th, 2007 at 3:55 pm)
But you must get a Fire Bettman t-shirt!!
http://www.FireBettman.com
(On Aug 9th, 2007 at 4:03 pm)
[…] 13 Creative & Simple Ways to Save at Least $100 a Week - [CashBulge] […]
(On Aug 9th, 2007 at 4:07 pm)
Funny I’ve been doing all those things for a very long time, but really, if your like me and have a meager income, these things just keep you from being homeless! I guess thats good isn’t it?
(On Aug 9th, 2007 at 4:43 pm)
Good tips!
One thing that a lot of people don’t realize is that they’re savings account at their local bank may pay something like less than 1% interest - so one tip that I found helpful was to switch to an online only savings account - they pay much more interest (maybe between 4 and 6%) because they don’t have to pay to keep up an actual, physical bank building and it’s employees. A couple of them out there are ING Direct and HSBC. ING offers a referral bonus, but HSBC’s rate is a little higher. There are many more though!
(On Aug 9th, 2007 at 5:11 pm)
Blockbuster is not really worth it anymore if you get a new plan - you are limited on the number of free in-store rentals depending on your plan.
All valid points, unfortunately I do all these things already
(On Aug 9th, 2007 at 6:50 pm)
Thanks for the points, but I seriously think that if you are living in NY, these are second nature. Although, it is nice to physically place them on a list to remind people to adhere to all of them…
Another Tip:
Write a witty article (preferably one with some sort of money-saving list) and get it on the Digg home page so that readership will increase and drive up ad revenue!!
(On Aug 9th, 2007 at 8:38 pm)
[…] 13 Creative & Simple Ways to Save at Least $100 a Week via CashBulge (via lifehack.org) (tags: money lifehacks) […]
(On Aug 9th, 2007 at 4:30 am)
Pre-funk.
Rather than spend $5+ each for cocktails, buy beers or alcohol and have a “pre-funk” party before going out to the bars. This way, you work up just as much of a buzz, have just as much fun, but your tab at the end of the night is often cut in half.
(Always use a designated driver! That’ll save you DUI fees and Car repairs!)
(On Aug 9th, 2007 at 7:02 am)
Kill yourself. The easiest way for saving money.
Will you be happier with $100 more per week? If you need that money, isn’t easier to get a better job?
(On Aug 9th, 2007 at 12:22 pm)
I agree with you David Lozano, money was made to serve you. Following these tips you’ll be serving to money…
There’s only one tip that should be followed:
11. Ask yourself, “Do I really need this?”
(On Aug 9th, 2007 at 12:41 pm)
[…] 13 начини да заштедите 100$ неделно […]
(On Aug 9th, 2007 at 5:48 pm)
[…] Besoin d’économiser ? Voici quelques idées assez intéressantes; * Besoin d’être un séducteur de compétition ? Askmen, le site de nous les hommes, a la […]
(On Aug 9th, 2007 at 7:19 pm)
[…] 13 Creative & Simple Ways to Save at Least $100 a Week - CashBulge - Bigger Pockets for Bigger W… (tags: finance money saving lifehacks) […]
(On Aug 9th, 2007 at 8:36 pm)
Awesome tips! I totally want to get rid of my phone line! I never use my land line! The change thing is super true! I counted all my abandoned coins and it came out to be roughly $40! O___O
(On Aug 9th, 2007 at 1:23 am)
[…] 13 Creative & Simple Ways to Save at Least $100 a Week - CashBulge - Bigger Pockets for Bigger … “One thing after another and I realized that there was a lot you could do to save money with some simple tips. By employing some of these tips you can save a bundle every week and save it” (tags: gtd) […]
(On Aug 9th, 2007 at 1:38 pm)
[…] As soon as I saw that title, I thought: “Simple. Save $15 per day.” But in fact the tips provided are slightly more helpful: 1. Bag your lunch and bring it to […]
(On Aug 9th, 2007 at 9:39 pm)
13 Creative & Simple Ways to Save at Least $100 a Week…
What could you do with an extra $100 laying around every week?…
(On Aug 9th, 2007 at 11:58 pm)
13 Creative & Simple Ways to Save at Least $100 a Week…
What could you do with an extra $100 laying around every week? I’d probably save for a new laptop or go out more often, maybe create a stockpile of beer (or create an ice cave). I was on my disastrous commute this morning and I ran through a checklis…
(On Aug 9th, 2007 at 10:43 am)
great post. I was able to get the new harry potter the day it came out from at my local library on the Monday after it came out - I had reserved it months earlier.
(On Aug 9th, 2007 at 4:07 am)
[…] I found this nice blog post on how to save at least $100 weekly, i find it a good way to save for buying domains and build your domain porfolio, this is the post original url: http://cashbulge.com/2007/08/09/15-creative-simple-ways-to-save-at-least-100-a-week/ […]
(On Aug 9th, 2007 at 9:40 am)
[…] found this article recently at Cashbulge.com that gives 13 Creative & Simple Ways to Save at Least $100 a Week. I happen to do a number of these things already, including saving my change, taking the train, and […]
(On Aug 9th, 2007 at 12:44 pm)
13 ways to save lots of money every week…
What could you do with an extra $100 laying around every week?…
(On Aug 9th, 2007 at 4:32 pm)
Never EVER use a non-bank ATM. Treat them like poison. Taking out 50 bucks with 3.50 in fees is paying 7% interest to get your OWN CASH.
(On Aug 9th, 2007 at 2:48 am)
@ekjut - Invest. If you invested $400 a month for 20 years in the S&P 500 for 20 years, you could easily come out with a million bucks
(On Aug 9th, 2007 at 5:59 am)
Coming from a poor country, if I could only EARN 100$ per week
(On Aug 9th, 2007 at 9:54 am)
Good list! I usually read these lists and get extremely disappointed because I don’t learn anything new. I’m already packing my husband’s lunch for work. We save all of our change, and other of these tips. However, today I realized that is is good to have lists like these. Even if I think I’m already doing all I can, it’s good to be reminded because, perhaps, we’re not doing it as well as we could.
I really should institute that ‘tax’ - especially now that the kids are working!
(On Aug 9th, 2007 at 10:59 am)
[…] had a post last week about “13 Creative & Simple Ways to Save at Least $100 a Week.” We’ve had some lifestyle changes recently that are forcing us to reevaulate the way […]
(On Aug 9th, 2007 at 1:05 pm)
[…] 13 Creative & Simple Ways to Save at Least $100 a Week - CashBulge - Bigger Pockets for Bigger… (tags: finance money tips) […]
(On Aug 9th, 2007 at 6:44 am)
[…] -13 Creative & Simple Ways to Save at Least $100 a Week “What could you do with an extra $100 laying around every week? I ’d probably save for a new laptop or go out more often, maybe create a stockpile of beer (or create an ice cave). I was on my disastrous commute this morning and I ran through a checklist in my mind on how I could go about saving $100 a week.” Share and Enjoy: These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages. […]
(On Aug 9th, 2007 at 1:19 pm)
1. I already eat at home .
2. I am the only person who earns in my houshold so I cant tax any body else
3. Mostly I use plastic money so I dont see change too often. In fact I have to go to bank to get coins for laundary machine in the building.
3. You listed num,ber 3 twice , use smart ordered list please.
4. Yes this one can save me money. I can turn off my computer which is on 24 hrs a day.
oh too long a list to comment , but good one . thanks.
(On Aug 9th, 2007 at 5:49 am)
World largest dating portal…
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(On Aug 9th, 2007 at 7:51 am)
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(On Aug 9th, 2007 at 8:21 pm)
one of the biggest ones for me is bringing my lunch to work. I mean I live at home, so if i pack leftovers from last night I can save about $60 a week - which is a lot for what I am making!
(On Aug 9th, 2007 at 2:36 am)
Computer Game News and Game Reviews…
Sorry, it just sounds like a crazy idea for me :)…
(On Aug 9th, 2007 at 12:47 pm)
You could also buy out-dated food at the end of the day, store in the fridge and eat it for lunch the next day…
(On Aug 9th, 2007 at 6:44 pm)
great tips and a very funny ending about the weed/hookers thing LOL
great one!
(On Aug 9th, 2007 at 4:18 pm)
Just grow your own………
(On Aug 9th, 2007 at 5:31 am)
Great Tips…
(On Aug 9th, 2007 at 12:09 am)
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please advise the right
thread.
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now created the blog, which
outlines detailed information
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I would deeply appreciate
your comments.
(On Aug 9th, 2007 at 12:42 am)
I get some new things to save money from this blog. Very useful! Thanks for the interesting post.
(On Aug 9th, 2007 at 8:56 am)
Good advice, I had already been doing quite a bit of what you were saying, but it’s just good to know I’ve been on the right track!
(On Aug 9th, 2007 at 9:21 pm)
Not so long ago, I stumbled upon information about
investment private clubs, that are rarely published on
official investment resources. The earnings, which participants