Money Saving Tip of the Day: Go Shopping in a Hurry

We've all done it before. We go to the grocery store looking for a few specific items and come home with a trunk full of junk we didn't need. The cause of this? Time to spare. Try this tip the next time you go shopping. Write out a list of everything you need, and then leave for the store right before you have to do something. It might be 30 minutes until your tv show comes on or you have to meet a friend. The point is, have an automatic cutoff time built into the trip so that you can't "accidentally" go down the Little Debbie aisle and come out with way too many boxes of Nutty Bars and Star Crunches. By being on a time crunch, you will automatically go just to the aisles you need to go to and skip out on all the extras. And your cholesterol will thank you for following this tip, too...

Money Saving Tip of the Day: Make Your Coffee At Home

Many of us get into the habit of stopping by Starbucks on our way to work, class, etc. We tend to only think of our voracious appetite for caffeine in the short run. I mean come on,it’s only 3 or 4 bucks per drink. However, this adds up quickly. If you do this every morning of your work week, you’ll end up spending over $700 in the calendar year. Only do it a couple of times per week? You’ll still spend over $300. Now that’s a lot of cheddar. Instead, brew your own coffee at home. More into the foo-foo drinks like lattes or macchiato’s? Why not buy your own espresso machine? You can get your very own caffeine-producing machine right HERE for as cheap as $25. Three weeks of using this trick and the machine and supplies will more than pay for themselves! That's an annual savings of at least $200. Not too shabby, eh? Now you've just got to find a way to kick that caffeine bug. Ha, yeah right...

Money Saving Tip of the Day: Flask It!

Wanna go out and enjoy some libations with your friends, but can't afford the crazy markup the bar is charging on your favorite thirst quencher? Try bringing a flask to the bar! That's being too cheap, says you? Neh, that's just being smart, says I. Plus, you'll totally look awesome with a flask. Why overpay for your alcohol? You could just as easily bring a flask into any bar or restaurant and cut your expenses in half, if not more. You’ll have the same amount of fun and pay half the price that the other suckers are. Just be sure not to get caught pouring grandpa’s cough medicine into your drinks. Some bars don’t look kindly to that sort of thing... However, there are a few cool bars out there that actually encourage you to BYOB. A searchable database of the aforementioned raddest bars in the States can be found here. Enjoy flasking it, my friends!

Money Saving Tip of the Day: Find Out Restaurant Specials

More often than not, restaurants offer some sort of special. Most restaurants will offer happy hour discounts not only on drinks but on food as well. Do a bit of calling around to your local restaurants and keep notes on what restaurants offer what happy hours and when they do so. This will take about 30 minutes of your time but may end up saving you quite a bit of money when it’s all said and done. Other restaurants offer memberships (many of which are free) that give you 10-15% off your food and drinks and e-mail you about their special offers. Be sure to ask about these as well. Even if they have a small fee attached to the membership, oftentimes the membership will more than pay for itself after all of the discounts are applied. Don't have time to do the calling around? Check out Happy-Hour.com. They have a national listing of happy hour specials that you can search for by simply putting in your zip code. I checked a few of my local watering holes and the happy hours seemed to be pretty accurate. However, they were missing some of the newer specials, and often times missed out on some of the better specials. This is still a great resource to use in a pinch, however. Try this tip out and you just may save yourself a good chunk of change the next time you go out.

Money Making Tip of the Day: Sell Your Aluminum Cans

I know it sounds simple, but try it out. In most states you can get 5 cents per can. Even if you live in a state that doesn't sponsor a buyback program (as I do), there are still many private companies that will buy those old cans from you. Just think about it, you can get $1.20 from drinking that 24 pack of Bud Light that you burned through, or 60 cents from that 12 pack of pop/soda/coke (depending on what part of the country you're from). I know it's not a lot, but hey, it's free money! Plus, it can add up quickly. On my very healthy college diet, I am able to go through a 24 pack in a week. If I go that route for 30 weeks of the year (which, sadly, is very likely), I can end up cashing in on $36 over the year. I am also an avid soda drinker, and easily go through a 12 pack each weak, which can end up netting me just over $30 each year. You might as well try it out! Just think how stoked you are to find a 5 dollar bill in your pocket. Multiply that excitement by 6, and you get the amount of joy you get from following this tip (not really, but you will end up with 6X as much cash!). Also, while you're at it, please pull your tabs off of all your cans and donate them to the Ronald McDonald house. They have an awesome charity going on there, and you can read more about it by clicking the picture below. Happy can crushing!

Money Saving Tip of the Day: Use Groupon

We all have the same problem. We want to go out to eat, but it's just too dang expensive. Or is it? Groupon is an ever-growing company that allows you to buy gift certificates for steep discounts (usually 50% or more). I recently bought a groupon from a local restaurant that I would never be able to afford normally. I was able to get a $20 dish and not feel bad about it whatsoever because--Hey! Look at that!--it was actually $10! Sign up for the Groupon list and they will automatically update you on each new Groupon. What's even better is that you won't have to search through lists of deals that aren't applicable to you, because Groupon only sends you deals for your specific city. They also offer coupons from other local businesses such as fitness clubs and entertainment. Google recently tried to buy Groupon out, so obviously they have something magical going on there. Give it a shot--it's free and the e-mails are pretty fun to read through. Plus, it can save you tons of money! Check it out by following the links above or below this post.

Money Saving Tip of the Day: Make Your Own Liquor

I found a really interesting video on how to make homemade liquor without any fancy equipment. And even better yet, you won't go blind if you drink it! Check it out here:

I have had a few friends use this concept to make something they call "Apple Jack", which is basically just apple wine that they freeze and turn to liquor. From what I hear, it's really quite good. To go even cheaper, make your own wine using a method from an older post instead of buying bottled wine. There's nothing better than going for the cheap liquor!