Go through monthly bills to get rid of those items or services rarely used.
Go through the house and look for ways you can conserve water usage.
Talk to credit card providers to get rates reduced.
Shopping sales after Christmas are the best time to buy. Plan for next year’s festivities at that time and save considerably. Other occasions can also be planned ahead by paying attention to sales.
Contact your energy provider and get the list of things you can do to take care of excessive use or waste caused by things like drafty doors or windows, dirty heating vents, etc.
Electrical outlets pull power through them even when not in use so learn to unplug and always use surge protectors for large appliances and electronic equipment.
Talk to your banker and reasses banking fees, checking interest and any other area where you might be able to get a better deal. Shop around and let them know you are thinking of doing just that.
Food supplies like staples can be investigated to find better deals. Conserve the number of trips to the store by stock piling a few weeks ahead. This saves gas and the cost on food.
Simple repairs around the house like tightening a screw can make a difference in long-term use and could possibly aid in preventing a few accidents.
One time events that require costumes do not need to be expensive. Avoid the shops and use materials around the house. Make it a family project. Music CD’s you no longer listen to or any other entertainment items can be sold and traded with others.
Find a way to pare down the quantity. Car usage can be cut down and a better cost investigated for gas. Consider car-pooling or the bus. Do some of the regular maintenance yourself but do use a professional for anything that involves safety. Find a trust-worthy mechanic.
Create a water-drinking routine. Discover the benefits of drinking water – and find ways to integrate it into your daily routine to decimate your beverage expenses. Be sure not to use a plastic water bottle since PCB’s are a hazard.
Do some basic diet hacking. Make a few very simple modifications to your daily routine to cut down greatly on your dining expenses. Try cooking more meals from scratch at home. This should include stocking up on beans, rice, lentils and other basics.
Plan your meals for one week in advance. Use meal planning to greatly reduce your food expenses for the week, both by eating at home and shopping in a cost-effective fashion.
Make a quadruple batch of a casserole. Take advantage of buying and preparing food in bulk to reduce the financial and temporal expense of home cooking. Also, it is nice some days not to have to cook. Just thaw out that casserole.
Look into free activities in your community.Take a trip to the library. Discover the resources at your local library, both to reduce your entertainment expenses and to educate yourself about personal finance.
Create a visual debt reminder. There are programs you can find that are free on the internet for this too. Give yourself some repeated encouragement for cleaning up your debt by making a debt reminder easy to see.
Dig into your job benefits. Find out what financial benefits are really available to you through your job – it might be more than you think and it will get your bosses to be more effective. Go through your important papers. Organize your most important documents – and perhaps utilize them to put yourself in better financial shape.
Thoroughly research a stock. Learn how the stock market works and also find out whether a specific company is worth investing in. Be careful here though. You will require a mentor when starting out.
Build your own net worth calculator. Build a tool to track your financial progress and motivate you to continue making positive steps.
Touch base with professional and local acquaintances. Connect with people who may be able to connect you with greater success.
Get involved in community volunteering. Improve the overall state of the community – and meet similarly-motivated people in the process.
Give someone a helping hand. Reach out and help someone – and maybe that help will improve the lives of a lot of people (including yourself).
Keep an idea notebook in your pocket or a small tape recorder. Keep track of the important ideas that float into and out of your head during a day – one or two of them might be as good as gold.
Open a high-yield savings account (or an investment account). Find a financially lucrative place to put the money you’ve found during these projects.