8 Practical Ways to Save $60 Per Month

Many individuals are suffering because of the economy and because of that understanding I decided to put together a list of 8 practical ways that you could save at least $60 per month. Since your employer is having a difficult time justifying raises if you were able to save an additional $60 per month you in essence would be giving yourself a 3% raise if you were earning the national average income! With this thought in mind here are 8 ways to earn that 3% raise!

1. Make your Coffee – The average dollar amount spent when you purchase a coffee is between $2 and $5 depending on the java. So let’s say that the average spent on coffee is $3 per working day, which would be $15 per week and $60 per month. By making the same cup of coffee at home the average comes out to about 3¢ per cup.

2. Plan your Day – If you earn $12.00 per hour at your job then that means at minimum that is what an hour of your time is worth to you. Therefore, if you spend an hour in daily morning and/or evening traffic plus an additional hour making extra trips into the city that means you have wasted $24.00 per day worth of productivity time. That $24.00 spread out over a five day period would be $120 per week and $480 per month (not including gas) because your time is worth $12.00 per hour. The solution? Plan ahead. If rush hour is at 7:00 a.m. then be at the gym at 5:45 a.m. work out close to your office then go in. After work go to the grocery store or read a book about your industry until rush hour dies down.

3. Check your Account – Online banking is the best.
With one click of a button you can see your checking and saving accounts, what is pending and what has cleared and what has bounced…that is the one you want to avoid. I use Bank of America, which I like better than Wachovia and SunTrust. However, they charge you $35.00 overdraft fee every time you are overdraw in your account. $35.00! By checking your account daily and balancing your checking account you can save yourself a ton of cash!

4. Check your Minutes – Once per month put on your calendar to check your minutes used on your cell phone. I used to not do this until Verizon, which is the best cell phone carrier because I can get reception where houses do not have running water , charged me only 45¢ per minute! $50.00 later I got the point and decided to check my minutes used about half way through my billing cycle instead of using the gut to tell me when I went over.

5. Sign up for Skype – When I stumbled upon this free service I was amazed. If you have friends in other countries they can sign up for Skype and if you have a Skype account then you can talk to them for free. You talk right through your computer or you can use a Bluetooth so you can walk around and you can also see them if you both have a web cam. With Skype you can make cheap calls to landlines and mobiles. For like $3.00 per month and unlimited calling from Skype to anywhere throughout the United States! (Because I am a high roller I went ahead and paid for the year. Lol) Anyways, you can use this service to replace your house phone and as a method to keep your cell phone minutes low during the peak hours.

6. Pack your Lunch – Look at your bank records and look at how much money you have spent eating out. It is amazing! If you only eat fast food and only pay for yourself you will spend about $6.00 per meal. If you eat out only ten times per month you are spending $60 per month but most are spending much more than that. Am I saying that you should never eat out? No, but put yourself on a budget and never eat out if you have to pay with a credit card that is carrying a balance.

7. Switch to Geico – Lol! You don’t have to switch to Geico but check your insurance policies. I use Allstate Insurance for both my home and car, which saved me some money and I thought that I was getting a good deal. Then I went back and looked at my policy and I had a $100,000 life insurance policy on me if I died, something that I did not need. When I cancelled that $100,000 option it saved me about $30 per month. They claim that nearly 7 out of 10 people who switched to Allstate saved; maybe you could be on of those people, it never hurts to ask.

8. Save 10% – If you do not make saving a priority then you will never save. If you determine to save 10% of your income you will never miss the money. I am not sure how this works but it is a principle. I use IngDirect and have them automatically transfer my 10% savings on every Monday. Since the average person makes $24,000 per year they could save about $200 per month. If don’t think you can afford saving 10% then start with a smaller percentage but definitely automate your savings. I like the The Orange Savings Account because there are no fees, minimum balance, and high interest rates.

I ended with the “Save 10%” tip because saving money does you no good if you are not actually saving the money. Money saved and then spent elsewhere is not really saved because you never see any increase in your bank account. Continue to follow your budget and implement these strategies (especially the automatic savings) and I know that you will begin to see some exciting results. Remember that money is a magnet, the more that you have the more you will attract.

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