25 Ways I Save Money

Dawn over at Frugal for Life has put out a call to share ways to save money.  I couldn't resist this one,  so here are the top 25 ways we save money!  Thanks for the great idea Dawn! 

1. We live in a smaller house than we can afford, and do our own home repairs and painting.  Though we weren't thinking about it at the time, living in a smaller house gave me the freedom to quit my corporate consulting work and start my Neat & Simple Living professional organizing business.
   
2. Pay bills online with a free checking & online account from Wachovia which also pays interest on our balances.
   
3. We moved our home equity loan balance to a 0% credit card. Haven't paid interest for the 3 years since we renovated the entire front and backyard of our home which has enabled us to pay it off much faster. I set up reminders in Outlook to tell me when the 0% rate is up and then we move it to another 0% interest account. It will all be paid off in 2008.
   
4. We never use an ATM or any other banking service that charges fees.
   
5. We changed all our lightbulbs to compact flourescent bulbs including our front porch and outdoor lights. Of course we got them in bulk on sale!
   
6. We organized our shopping routines to use coupons! My favorite coupon organizer is Mrs. A's coupon organizer - I save around $20 - $25 every week since I got it.  It's very unique in that it lets you see all your coupons at a glance. My clients who use it love it too.
   Update 10/10/06 Mrs. A's saw this post and is now offering Neat & Simple Living readers 33% off on this award winning coupon organizer!
   
   
7. We use an Amazon.com Rewards Credit Card and get $25 rewards every month or two. We put all daily living purchases on it and pay it in full every month. We use the reward certificates for birthday gifts that we can simply enclose in a birthday card.
    
8. We use a Miles One Rewards credit card for all business purchases and get free miles for traveling. We've gotten 2 tickets free that way!
   
9. Don't go to movie theaters anymore - we have cable & wait for movies to come out on cable.  We use Tivo to record movies we really want to see.
   
10. We only eat in restaurants or get takeout maybe once a month or even 2 months. We cook at home every day.
    
11. We only run the dishwasher and washing machine when it's full.
    
12. Buy water by the case -  on sale. Only drink water and coffee or tea...no sodas, etc.  Only drink wine on special occasions.   NOTE: We are planning on getting a water filtration system and no longer using plastic bottles.  We hope to soon be able to find water packaged in those biodegradable corn-based plastic bottles.
    
13. We moved our car insurance to Geico last year and saved $1500 per year.  Northern NJ has nearly the highest insurance rates in the country. We couldn't believe we saved this much.  And our insurance rates have actually gone down every year!  Probably because my car just keeps getting older.  We also have a huge collision deductible which also keeps rates down.
    
14. I cut my husband's hair myself. And I keep my hair long so I only have to go to the hairdresser 2-3 times a year. Also color my own hair and trim the front of my hair myself.
    
15. I mostly only wear lipstick and blush.  Only use full makeup the first time I meet a client for the first time!  :)
    
16. Only wear a watch and my wedding rings as jewelry.  Jewelry on my neck, wrists or ears causes me a lot of discomfort anyway.
    
17. We saved a lot of money on our wedding rings with just simple bands.  We put our money into the down payment on our house!
    
18. Do my own pedicures and go out for a pedicure maybe once a year as a treat for a special occasion.
    
19. Do my own manicures...and I don't use nail polish on my fingernails - it saves a lot of time too!!  : )
    
20. We rarely throw any food anyway. Have a system for storing leftovers and USING them! We have a sin tray in the fridge on the top shelf and always put leftovers there and then use them the next day or 2 for lunch or snacks or as a side dish with dinner.
     
21. We have a small Cuisinart counter top combo toaster, broiler and convection oven and use that for heating & baking small portions instead of firing us the stove.
     
22. I've only bought one brand new car in my life! Cars only depreciate so I never saw the point in losing a few thousand dollars as soon as you drive it off the lot.  But I did finally splurge on my 40th birthday and got myself a 2000 Sebring Convertible which I will keep as long it is still safe to drive!  I love it!  It is actually very practical as we can open the top and haul just about anything an SUV can.  Even more!  : )
    
    I had my Honda Accord for 10 years until I gave it to my brother who had it another 4 years before it died.  My husband has a 2003 Honda Civic Hybrid he LOVES and it gets nearly 50 mpg.  We also buy other things used...like our dining room set.
    
23. We rarely buy CDs or DVDs anymore - we download most of our music  - we get 25 songs free every month with our Comcast cable internet service.  The super high speed internet pays for itself between the free music and all the research we do on it to save money.
    
24. We avoid processed foods like microwave popcorn, we use the bulk kind and have a West Bend Stir Crazy popcorn popper.which is actually a lot of fun to use!  We also make our own sugar free ice cream with just fruit and milk using the Vitamix blender we invested in. Cutting out sugar and gluten has saved a lot of money in addition to improving our health dramatically.
    
25. We use a digital camera for photos and ONLY print out a very select few!

Whew...that was fun!   So what are your top tips?  Would love to hear any additions you might have!   hmmm...Wonder what a list of the top 25 ways we waste money would look like!  : )