Ways to save your money
The world economy is getting worse and there’s no sign of recovery just yet. Our country’s economy is no exception and nobody knows when will our economy actually recovers. 2009? 2010? or 2011? And while the experts are trying to predict where is the bottom and when will the economy recovers (some fighting over politics), a lot of people are losing their jobs and a lot more are suffering from pay cuts or zero increment.
Therefore, I personally feel that everyone of us should start saving money as much as possible. Here are some simple ways that I can think of.
- Car pool - fuel price is not high now, but the toll rate is. It does save up a lot of traveling cost if you car pool with other people in your area (home/office).
- Eat at home – eating outside is way more expensive than eating at home. It’s less healthier too.
- Spend on needs, not wants – there’s no way you can avoid buying stuff like food and necessities. But for those WANTs, you can always avoid them. Furthermore, most of these WANTs are not cheap.
- Find reasons NOT to buy things – if you want to buy something, try to find few reasons why you shouldn’t buy it. Is it too expensive now? Maybe you can’t afford it? Maybe you can just borrow from one of your friends who has it?
- Find free alternatives - there are a lot of free alternatives around. For example, one can easily use the internet to browse for any news, rather than spending RM 1.20 a day on newspapers.
- Look for sales/promotions – there will be a lot this year, and most of them will be very crowded. It’s okay if you have the time and it’s even better if you can find few people to car pool with you to go there. I’m pretty sure you can get some items for a very cheap price.
- Sell your old stuff – you can do it in lelong.com, ebay.com, or those second hand shop. Things like old computer, old books, used newspapers, etc might not fetch you a lot of money, but it’s better than pilling them up in your home.
- Do part-time or side business – you can opt for freelance, doing part-time, or start your own side business. Online business is pretty popular these days and not much cost to set up.
- Find extra income – introduce your friends into your company and earn the bounty fees, or helps your company to sell a product and earn the commission. These things are always right in front of you. Maybe it’s time for you to fully utilize these opportunities?
Those are some of the things that I can think of. What about you? Are you doing your part to save as much money as possible? What are the things that you are doing to achieve that?
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Comments
@ Eagle
Yeap, thanks for reminding us with those things. By practicing the things you’ve mentioned, we not only save money but also save the environment. 
Oh, wash car using pail of water rather than a running tap. 
Saving money will eventually kills the economy. The best way is to earn more money and spend as usual.
hyperXs last blog post..Overclocking your Mouse
This was what I did when I was a poor kid in college. I kept 4 envelopes. The one labeled food had $80 a week. The entertainment envelope had $20 a week. Travel had $20 a week, and Misc. had another $20 a week. When any envelope ran out of money, I would learn how to shuffle money between envelopes.
In the process I learnt about sacrifice, like do I really want to sacrifice entertainment for travel, or should I eat less so I could save up to buy an accessory for my bike. It also trained me that bursting my overall budget will have painful consequences.
I found this more practical to do than start off the week with $140 in my wallet, uncategorized, and then being unsure where my money went by the end of the week.
@ hyperX
Nobody will care about the economy if he/she cannot even take good care about themselves.
@ Damien
That’s a very good way to manage your money. Maybe i’ll teach my kids that next time. LOL.
Oh, and I really respect those people who keep track of all their spending every single day. I think a lot of time and efforts need to be put into those things.
Don’t use aircon, minimise usage of fan. If possible just open all windows and wooden door to get fresh air (depending on the type of houses one live in, some have more windows and air wells too). Switch off unnecessary lights eg switch off the toilet’s lights if one is in the living hall.
Keep rain water to water the plants. Wash our own car (with pipe water of course) instead of going to the car washing shop.
Using of tap water. Switch off the tap water when not using or while we are brushing our utensils. Switch on the tap only when we want to rinse or when water really needed.
Eagles last blog post..“Body overhaul” the traditional way.