Ten Ways to Save More Than $1000 per Year

Saving money is always easier said than done.  If you want to save money but still maintain your lifestyle, you can save money in small ways and still enjoy your daily indulgences.  These ten tips for saving money are pretty simple to implement (except perhaps for quitting smoking and drinking).

1.    Buy a regular coffee instead of a Latte or other special coffee drink.  Based  on $1.00 savings per day 312 days a year, you save $312.00 and still get to enjoy your stop at your favourite shop.  If you give up the coffee shop altogether, you can save as much as $1,000 per year depending on what your favourite drink is.   
2.    Stop smoking.  If you are a smoker and you smoke a pack a day, you are spending about $2,000 per year  (assuming one pack a day)    .  Besides, think of all the health benefits, as if you don’t hear that enough from your family and friends.     
3.    Drink water with your meal when you go out to eat.  If you go out to lunch most days and out to dinner a few times a week, drinking water with your meal instead of ordering a Coke or other drink can save you at least $500.00 per year, assuming drinks only cost $2.00. 
4.    Use coupons.  Actually, coupon clipping or rebate gathering can be a fun way to spend an hour or two, you can even go online and find coupons, if you are online very much, you probably get bombarded by ads from Groupon,  there are several websites that specialize in coupon distribution.  If you are able to redeem even $10.00 worth of coupons a week, you have saved around $500.00
5.    Buy Generic.  The truth is, most generic products are manufactured by the same companies that produce manufacture the branded products.  Consumer Reports says that buying Generic results in average savings of 25-29% - if you spend $100 a week, you can easily save $1,300 per year.
6.    No one wants to give up going out to lunch altogether, but pack your lunch two days a week and you can put about $800.00 in your pocket.  You can step it up in summer and bring picnic lunches to save even more money.
7.    If you are a fried food lover and need to get your fix of French fries, fried chicken, fried whatever, buy a deep fryer and make your chicken wings, onion rings and other junk food at home.  So if you, like me, always order something fried when you go out, consider indulging in your fried foods at home.  I figure I save at least $25 dollars a week by getting my fast food fix at home, which translates to $500.00 per year.
8.    Turn off the lights and other appliances.  This is good for the planet and can save you at least $100 per year, probably more.  We own a pub  and when we got rid of one small  freezer and started closing the pub for a day each week, our electric bill dropped from €340 a month to €120 a month – which translates to over €2,000 a year in savings. 
9.    If you go out to dinner a lot because you are too busy or too tired to cook, consider ordering in instead.  You can indulge in a bottle of wine with your meal, set out a few candles, and enjoy someone else’s cooking in the comfort of your own home and save 20-30% off your meal costs.
10.    Shop second-hand.  You can buy almost anything second hand at various stores, check out which stores offer the most in your city.  You may be surprised by the quality of goods and how much you can save on everything from clothing to furniture.