* Buy a bread maker. You can buy one for $55. If it saves you just $4 a week on store-bought bread, that's $208 a year. A 280% return.
* Get a credit card with a great sign-up bonus. Like the AirTran Visa card. Cost: The $40 annual fee. After your first purchase you get enough reward miles for a free flight, saving maybe $250. Then cancel the card. Return: 525%.
* Take out a local library card. Cost: Nothing. If it saves you $10 a month on books, that's $120 a year. Return: Infinite. Note: Some libraries now let you borrow electronic books over the Internet as well.
* Replace your premium cable package with a Netflix subscription and a $100 set-top box. You can download movies and TV programs as well getting DVDs through the mail. Cost: $100 for the cheapest set-top box, plus $17 a month for a three-movie subscription. If it replaces a $50-a-month cable package, that's a 98% return on investment.
* Order a packet of seeds and plant them in a window box or garden. Growing your own herbs, spices, and even vegetables – depending on the amount of space you have – is a great investment. If you spent just $10 on seeds and saved a mere $50 in the year, that's a 400% ROI.
* Switch to a prepaid cellphone. Cost: $20 for the phone, and maybe $100 a year for minutes. Move the rest of your talk-time to free Internet calls, and stop hemorrhaging $60 a month on a cellular plan. ROI: 500%
* Start making your own coffee to take to work each morning. Cost: $20 for a Thermos, $10 for a filter and papers, and $60 a year for ground coffee. Then skip the $4 a day drive-thru. If that saves you $1,000 a year, the return is more than 1,000 %.
I would add one more: cook your own meals in place of eating out. Thoughts?
4 comments:
Eating out less is a huge one for some people and would do a lot to change things.
Another one that people don't want to hear is not buying alcohol, it's not like it's necessary for body function and people spend a lot on it.
I have two:
1) Subscribe to the 2-week free trial of Netflix. Rent as many movies as possible within those two weeks. Instead of watching them right away, burn them onto your computer or DVD-R's (Handbrake for Macs). Make sure you cancel the Netflix in time, and as soon as you do, do the same thing with Blockbuster Online. Result: Lots of pirated movies.
2) Guerrilla Gardening. This is my plan for getting almost free produce while living in a place where it's impossible to have a garden. Find your favorite park, riverside, campus location, etc. and discretely plant tomatoes, beans, and whatever else. Haven't tried this yet.... but spring is on the way. I'll let you know how it goes.
First of all, Micah should win for best comments. Hilarious. Second, alcohol at any point is a great thing to cut out (as wonderful as it is to have a drink). You could go out to a restaurant with $25 entrees, cut out dessert and alcohol, order those tasty sounding appetizers for $10 and eat for two for less than $75 bucks (tip included). Add alchy and dessert back in, and you're way over $100. And that's just somewhere fancy. Savings are even bigger (percentage wise) when you're eating somewhere cheap. (Sad truth: restaurants make most of their money selling alcohol, so I guess it does keep them in business.) Also, here's a little real world tidbit. This summer, I couldn't cook for myself so I budgeted $20 a day for meals. Sounds easy. Not in Cambridge! Solution: Lunches made from healthy food that doesn't need refrigerated. Fruit, bread, peanut butter, honey, fruit bars, cookies, etc. Instant Oatmeal for breakfast (not the best, but not bad, and not terribly unhealthy), then you can go out and eat a decent meal for dinner. My find: Half sandwich with the cup of soup. Half sandwiches are always bigger than half! The cup of soup comes with more bread. Yeah! Also, this proved to be the best weight loss plan ever! On top of studying architecture 18 hours a day.
Andrew (and Josh), you're right on with the alcohol. Isn't that why they invented Natty Light? You guys are too classy for that.
Micah, I do not condone your illegal activities. You will go straight to hell you heathen. As for the guerrilla gardening, I love it! My dad and I have this thing where on the way back from the golf course we try to calculate ridiculous things. One time we tried calculating how much food could be produced if we grew it everywhere there was unused space: in the median, next to sidewalks, etc. Our verdict: a hell of a lot. I suppose that's a form of guerrilla gardening. Please do pass on the results.
Josh, I had no idea you had to live in Cambridge without a kitchen. Ugh. That would be terrible. Sounds like you learned a few tricks. I completely agree with your "no dessert and alcohol makes restaurant bills plummet" thesis, it's on the mark.
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