Save $50 a Day (and Feel No Pain)
See how much money you can put back in your pocket.
From Kiplinger's Personal Finance magazine, April 2009
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We searched for big gains -- with little pain. The result? We sliced food bills by $2,794, found $1,214 in savings on utility costs, discovered leisure for $2,241 less, cut $3,715 in fees from banking and loans, plus shaved transportation costs by $2,827. Take a look at our slide show Top Savings Tips for 2009 (Listen to our podcast for how we picked our savings.)
All the ideas listed in the section below reduce your cost-of-living by $18,250 per year. Break it down and you're saving $50 a day. See which ones work for you. Plus, find out how three super savers do it. (Don't forget to add your tips in the Comment Box below.)
Pay Less for . . .
Banking & Loans
PLUS: How These Super Savers Do It
Reader Comments (20)
Posted by: Bill at 02/13/2009 02:33:35 PM
Interesting article & things many could apply but why not provide a way to view/print the entire article on 1 browser page? It is silly to have to go to each page & click the print story button on each & every page. A big waste of time & paper and definitely tough to make a quick reference sheet..
Posted by: Louis at 02/14/2009 12:55:22 AM
Nothing but BS! Are you kidding me? Your best idea is to shop at Costco versus Whole Foods? Who does this? As far as the rest of the savings ideas go, it's amazing that with exception of getting DVD's from the library there is absolutely nothing in here of any value to me...I will give you the benefit of the doubt that it might be better than my Blockbuster mail/store exchange account. However, after comparing all of your suggestions to my actual spending habits, I found that following your guidelines would actually cost me several thousands of dollars more per year! In my opinion, the article is a complete waste of time and if this is indicative of the average American household, then it is no wonder why our country is in such a financial mess at this time. I am absolutely floored that this is the best advice that a site such as Kiplinger can put together. I wish I could personally help everyone develop a sensible and personalized economic plan, but the truth is that most people don't really care and perhaps more than anything else is the true reason for our country's poor econonic health.
Posted by: Bob at 02/14/2009 12:37:13 PM
Terrific article. Many things not new, but at my age I grew up learning some of this, but the younger folks, my how they need this. I also agree with Bill about the ease of printing this important ariticle.
Posted by: Kay at 02/15/2009 07:26:49 AM
What a completely thoughtless and tacky headline for an article. In this rescession there are many people who are not even bringing home $50. a day, much less able to "save" $50. a day. Shame on Kiplinger for not being creative enough to think of a headline that would be more appropriate while still grabbing the attention of their readers.
Posted by: Dave at 02/18/2009 08:48:15 AM
DITTO on Kay's answer!!!
Posted by: wkgrt at 02/18/2009 01:38:41 PM
So, you are teling me to spend money, buy all these things that will save me money. Replacing all the apliances alone will cost more than what you will save over the life of the appliances. It only makes sense to buy when an appliance fails beyond use. Also, shopping at Costco does not always save you money. Any struggling college student can give much better tips on saving money.
Posted by: Donovan at 02/19/2009 12:55:01 AM
Wow... as a financial advisor I find many of the responses quite interesting. I suppose it only shows the sad shape our culture is in and why as an advisor you have to fire or not even hire potential clients. As for a way to print it all out on one page....click on the first hyperlink in this article ("Top Savings Tips for 2009"). Then click on "Print Out All Our 2009 Saving Tips" at the bottom of that box. That can potentially be a bit hard to find so I thought I'd help others with the same problem. After all, I will be referring clients to this list. Reply to Kay: I don't think this...is necessarily focused on those who make less than $50/day. I think they're more doing target marketing. Lastly, from my reading of the summary the two main points of buying that was referred to by another post deals with a fridge and a car. Note the (I suppose easily overlooked first sentence) for the car saying, "If you're in the market for a new car this year" and I do agree the fridge seemingly and generally would have too long of a breakeven point to be of interest to the majority. However, I don't see them saying "replace all appliances" they did say put them all on a power strip and turn off the strip when the appliances are not in use.
Posted by: Craig in Kansas at 02/19/2009 10:14:16 AM
Thanks for the "Print All Sections Here" tab. I loved this article. For those of you that could not find at least 1 helpful idea, or do not realize that many other millions could....you should go back to bed and continue to bury your head under the pillow. But I have to ask, if you're so smart, why were you reading this article in the first place? I've seen this "negative" thinking all accross the internet. It's called "depression". For those of you that gained from this article, congrats!, so did I. Staying positive is the very first step in trying to improve yourself. (And thanks for the "Print all sections here" tab).
Posted by: Gordon Gibson at 02/24/2009 03:03:50 PM
My Three Easy Ways to Save Oodles of Dough: 1. Take transit 2. Brownbag lunch 3. Eat rice. You can buy 40 pounds of rice at Superstore for $25. It will keep forever. That works out to probably not even 25 cents a meal. Beat that McDonalds!
Posted by: Jules at 02/24/2009 09:50:57 PM
This was an interesting article. Any suggestions for a single person who can't shop at Sam's, I can't eat for 4. I have no life, no mutual fund, my auto deductibles are high. Oh, yes the most important thing is that I'm currently unemployed? Open to ideas? Jules CPA
Posted by: Janet at 02/26/2009 06:11:19 PM
Jules.. I'm right there with you. I picked up a newspaper route in the mornings. It brings in good enough to make sure rent and utilities are paid plus all the mileage and gas is tax deductible. Another idea is to check out local online classifieds for odd jobs or bartering.
Posted by: Jack CPA at 03/01/2009 02:41:46 PM
Hey Jules. Many ideas if you are a CPA and it's tax season! Depending on your expertice and where you live there are opportunities out there, from self-employed to full-time. Advertise on Craigslist for individual returns. They are most of the time easy and you can then have a flexible schedule while you look for something permanent. I've been at this 23 years and have a small practice while I work full time. I built this by being a consultant to help clean up small business accounting, and catered to other CPA's who don't have the time, while I built my small practice. Use the "Independence" rules (that is a CPA who does a review can't help make management decisions or accouting adjustments) but if you know your stuff you can. Now that banks are tightening up, clients need clean acounting. That's where I came in and started building this idea in 2005. My most recent consulting engagement turned into a full-time CFO position as an employee. There is more than one way to skin a cat.
Posted by: MrMystery at 03/01/2009 04:51:35 PM
Not much new, as others have written, but it's a good reminder that there are many ways to save. I'm always impressed by how much money people are willing to spend on simple meals on a daily basis. Pack your lunch. You'll save and you'll probably eat better.
Posted by: kathy at 03/01/2009 06:32:27 PM
It might not be too late to apply for an enumerator job w/U.S. Census Bureau. Google to find the 800 number, which will give you a local phone number. Pay varies depending on locale, but is $17/hour where I live. Good luck!
Posted by: Teresa at 03/05/2009 12:49:21 PM
If you already follow a lot of the tips in this article, there is no way you are going to save $50 per day...it must be aimed at people who are way overspending.
Posted by: leoh at 03/10/2009 11:50:55 PM
I got to say that this really didn't help me much. I already am very careful about how much I spend on things like hair cuts (the wife does it) and food. Try something a bit different, like renting tech stuff from other people one rentnotbuy.com or even renting your stuff out.
Posted by: RaiulBaztepo at 03/28/2009 05:44:08 PM
Hello! Very Interesting post! Thank you for such (an) interesting resource!...
Posted by: Gary Osterhout at 04/02/2009 07:57:50 AM
...These 'ways to save money' articles are a waste of time. I'm shocked that they still exist.
Posted by: UrKiddingMe at 04/02/2009 11:04:57 AM
This article is a big joke, right? How can you save $17,860 a year whenever the total you earn for an entire year is $20,000? It is completely unrealistic to think someone could live on the remaining $2,140!!
Posted by: Carrie at 04/18/2009 02:57:23 PM
Your food tips are right if you want the lowest everyday price. But, I shop my local stores weekly loss leaders coupled with coupons and spend far less than I would at Costco. FAR less. Just yesterday at Walmart I got $52 of stuff for $12 including infant formula, baby wipes, cereal, brown rice tortilla chips, pantyhose and other things my family needed. I blog about the deals in my area at www.dollarsinthepocket.com and know that other blogs have shopping lists for their local grocery stores.