Saving Money Reducing Expenses In A Recession

Saving Money Reducing Expenses In A Recession

I saw a great article called Recession Diet Just One Way to Tighten Belt in the New York Times. There a ton of ways to save money and reduce your expenses.  Even though our government officially does not state that we are in a recession, most people think we are already in one. Therefore, most people are think of ways to save money.  Here are some ideas from the article along with my own ideas.

1. Set a budget:  First of all, do you have a budget?  If not get one, especially for descreationary items like dining out, gifts, and entertainment.
2. Cut back: If you are already spending a lot of money on home entertainment, such as cable, Netflix, XM radio, and so on and still going to the movies or clubs, you might want to think about cutting something out?  Skip the movie theater and watch the DVD instead.
3. Brown bag it:  If you have a habit of going out to lunch with your buddies make a change and start brown bagging it.  Going out to lunch can cost as little at $3.50 for Subway to $15 if you get a salad, sandwich, and a cola at Friday's.  You don't have to completely stop going out however, just dropping 2 lunches a month could save as much as $30 per week or $120 per month.
4. Order Pizza: Dining out can be a big expense, especially with a family.  Skip the Friday night out and buy the two $5 pizza specials and eat at home.
5. Skip the drinks:  When you eat out drinks such as cola or adult drinks are expensive.  If you are a family of 4 then you could spend $8 extra on the meal just ordering pop and ice tea.  Alcohol is even worse.   A beer at home is $.50 to $1 depending on what you are drinking.   Eating out you can pay $2.50 to $10 or more per drink.  Skip it.  Buy it at the store and have the drink when you get home.  For example, like gin and tonics.  I bought Seagrams Gin with Lime for around $10 per fifth.  I think I can get at least 10 to 12 drinks out of it.  
6. What's on special: When you are food shopping make sure you grab the specials paper when you enter the store.  All of the stores run specials.  Don't be afraid of the $2 per pound chicken.
7. Do more work:  I was just in the grocery store today, boneless skinless lean chicken breasts are $5 per pound, chicken legs and thighs were $1.19 per pound?  You can remove the skin yourself?  It saves almost $4 per pound.  Wow!
8. House brands:  House brands can save you a lot of money.  When you are buying cereal or shampoo make sure you check out the house brand.  Compare the ingredients.  Most of the time they are the same.  Besides who do you think is making the house brand.  Most likely it is the same company that makes the brand name.
9. Buy in bulk:  Buying in bulk can save you money.  You need to know you cost per item and you have to watch the quantities.  It takes some work but it can save you money.
10. Skip the value meal: Ever notice how the fast food place always wants to sell you the value meal?  Thats because it is more expensive.  Skip the value meal and just order off the value menu.