As the price of gas rises, everything is affected from the price of basic grocery products and filling up your tank to your expenditures for education, medical care, travel and more. If you want to save money you need to consider purchases you make that you could do without as well as purchases that you make that you could buy cheaper elsewhere.
Then, go ahead and enjoy your savings in any way that you wish – go to a movie, play online Sloto games, take your family out to eat or put some money aside for a rainy day.
Some suggestions:
Car Insurance
Most people drive and are obligated to insure their car. Car insurance can cost thousands of dollars every year but there are some strategies that help you reduce your car insurance costs.
Start by checking whether your insurance company offers a discount to car owners who drive less than the average number of miles a year. If you are carpooling to work or working remotely from home, you may have significantly reduced your mileage, making you eligible for such a discount. Ask your insurance company whether there is a possibility for a group insurance rate. If there is, bring up the idea to your employer or within other groups or clubs with which you are affiliated.
You may be able to lower your car insurance monthly fees by raising your deductible. Some people have been able to reduce their comprehensive and collision insurance by as much as 30% by doubling their deductible. The more you raise your deductible, the more you reduce your monthly insurance payments. This is an especially useful tactic if your car is an older model so it might not be worth fixing it anyway in event of an accident.
Finally, find out if your insurance company offers a discount for “bundling.” If, for instance, you get insurance for both your home and your car from the same insurance agency, you may benefit from a “multi-policy” deal. But check out a few insurance companies because this kind of discount isn’t always offered.
Grocery Stores
We have become accustomed to walking down the aisles of the grocery store and buying many non-grocery items there. The one-stop shopping expedition may be convenient but it could be costing you extra dollars. Some of the items that are generally more costly at the grocery store than in other places include
- Greeting cards – greeting cards at a grocery store can set you back several dollars but if you go to a dollar store you’ll pay – a dollar.
- Beauty products – grocery stores tend to charge more for cosmetics and beauty products than you’d pay at an outlet store or a discount retailer. If you do buy your products at a grocery store, find out if there are any coupons that will allow you to save money. Body care products like shampoo, body lotion and toothpaste are also marked up at the supermarket but you can go to the local drugstore and save a few bucks on these items. If you plan ahead, you can save even more by buying when there are sales.
- Prepared meals – any time that you buy a meal rather than prepare it yourself you’ll be paying more money. It takes 5 minutes to make a quick deli or tuna sandwich and you’ll save over 50% of the cost of the ingredients by making it yourself. Extra points if you use healthy ingredients like whole wheat bread and add vegetables for an extra healthy meal that you won’t get with a supermarket meal.
- Cereals -- Try some of the generic varieties of popular cereals. With the name brand cereals, a lot of your money goes towards the packaging design and advertising. You may be surprised to see that the generic versions are just as good – and may even be better
- Pre-cut produce – why would anyone buy pre-cut produce when you can save over 50% by buying fresh produce and spending a few minutes cutting them yourself? Health-wise, pre-cut produce is also better for you – you don’t have the plastic wrapping and the produce doesn’t lose nutrients the way that it can when it comes pre-cut.
- Electricity -- Saving money on your electric bill is a matter of increments – you need to take many small steps in order to reach one big step – that final step being enjoying a lower electricity bill! Some of the things that you can do to save on your electric bill include turning off lights and appliances when they aren’t in use, unplugging appliances when they won’t be used for a significant amount of time, reducing the energy used to heat your water by taking shorter showers, switching to a laptop computer instead of using a desktop, turning off the heat/air conditioning unit when you’re out, run full loads of laundry in cold water, hang dry your laundry in nice weather, keep refrigerator seals in good condition, skip the heat-dry setting for the dishwasher and use a toaster-oven or microwave instead of a large oven whenever possible.
