How to Save $250 in 30 Days

Go to the library instead of buying books. You'll rediscover how wonderful your library is. Cut back your cable bill to basic. You'll watch less tv and find other more interesting things to do. Try not to eat out but eat well, carefully planning your meals. You'll be amazed at how much better home cooked food is and how much cheaper! Try second hand shops for clothing. The best compliments I've gotten were from these shops. Turn off lights when you leave a room, turn down heat at night (you'll sleep better). Instead of going to the movies, have friends over for board games or cards. You'll have a lot more fun. Give to the needy, it really does all come back!

tanya-my local library system does not have the TV shows I like to watch...they have incomplete seasons. Thanks to budget cuts, they are buying less copies of new releases. Currently they have 15 copies of Angels and demons, and over 400 people on the holds list to watch it.

For me and my family, netflix is saving us money. gas money going to the video rental store, money in late fees, money we would be paying out in cable.

As much as we go through netflix, (my family are very, very very heavy users) of netflix, and it works out that it costs us about $0.98 cents a disk..yes, 98 cents a disk, with tax, the way we us netflix. We're not causal users. If your a causal movie renter, say one or two a week, then netflix is a waste of money. But we got rid of our cable ($49.99 a month) and went to netflix ($25 a month) and we are much, much happier.

Gym memberships are a complete waste of money. However, you can save money on a gym membership. If you live close to a YMCA and qualify for their low income wavier, you can get a gym membership for the entire family for less than $20 a month. In some cases, as a neighbor of ours, $5 a month for a family of 6. But you have to use it in order to get your money's worth.

to each their own I guess. But what works for us doesn't work for everyone.

I cancelled Netflix because I wasn't watching enough movies to make it worthwhile! Most of the rest of these don't apply to me. I don't take perscription pills, I might get my hair cut 3-4 times a year, and then I have it done at a place where I can walk out spending less than $30 including the tip! My dog eats dry food for breakfast and wet food mixed with dry food for dinner. She goes through a 20lb bag of dry food in 2-3 weeks though, and per my Vet's instructions I feed her Science Diet which is about $30 per bag. I love my dog and want her to be healthy, so that is a worthwhile expense to me! Most of these are not very helpful tips to be honest.

What a worthless and clueless article...basically saying to stop supporting the economy and be a cheap SOB. Why not suggest cutting out your internet subscription. Big savings and you don't have to read garbage like this.

Copying music from other people is copyright infringement!

This was about the lamest article I have ever read. WHo did the research? Looks like a quick article to fill space, and wasted space at that!

I've read through a lot of these comments and two things are clear; many of you want REAL money saving tips and are up in arms about feeding your cats dry food. One commenter mentioned she was looking for any way to save money because things were getting so tight but would never compromise on her dog and cat food (FIVE dogs PLUS cats). Here's a thought, if you are having trouble feeding yourself, your children, paying your rent or not able to buy a bottle of wine, consider the amount of money you are spending on raising animals. If you can't afford them (and the food and vet bills that come with them), don't have them. Also for the person that commented that anyone that does any of these is absoulutely financially stupid- tell that to the millions of netflix and gym members. We're not all idiots.

Hey, here's some other stupid tips you can list:

1) Instead of taking a 15 minute shower every day, cut it down to 10 minutes. Or better yet, stop showering altogether!!

2) Like to eat? Yeah, me too! Miss one meal a week and save big!!

3) Watch TV? TV runs up your electric bill. Read a book instead.

Dumb article.

I have been doing little things like this for quite some time. It does make a difference. I got married last year and had about 1 1/2 years to save money before the big day. We decided to have everything paid in full for the wedding and the honeymoon so we wouldnt have to worry about anything afterwards. We were able to save over 8 grand during that time. As we realized just how easy it was to save money I thought, hey, why not do this all the time? We are currently building our savings back up and when I say "easy" its not without sacrifice from time to time but it can definitely be done. Just have a goal in mind.

I use generics, coupons and buy 1 get 1 free. But you have to know if it is a good deal not the 1 being high enough that you actually pay for 2 anyway. I shop at Dollar stores and there agin have to know what is a deal or if the product happens to be on sale elsewhere. I cut my Husbands hair and my own with a little help from hubby. I also perm my own. Liquor lasts a long time so can't save much there. Cat food from walmart as well as litter best prices I have found. Also I water down Shampoo and dish detergent and hand liquid soap. Still get plenty suds. But I buy Dawn and shampoo and good soap & shampoo but still save $$$. There is alot one can do. I still never have money left to save. But all my bills are up to date.

Isn't the file sharing advice illegal? I thought that's what the whole Napster/Kazaa broohaha was about.

Money Saved is Money earned......It is true to a certain extent. But, if by saving we can become rich.....I would have been a millionaire by now :).....I've been shopping at WALMART (We sell for less) for years.

I think we should be looking at increasing our INCOME circle rather than looking at ways to save dimes....

most of these ideas don't apply. maybe they can come up with some new ones that actually save the average joe some $$$

Who the hell buys music these days? It's called BitTorrent people!!!

I find most of these articles about saving a few bucks here and there to be discouraging and a slap in the face. Advice like "Make your own coffee instead of spending $4 a day on a fancy Latte!" to be asanine and cruel. I spend $4 on a "fancy latte" three times a year, not once a day and I don't drink coffee regularily, so making my own would actually COST me more then I spend! If I had money to waste on a daily latte, I wouldn't need these money-saving tips!

Let's break it down:
We don't have TV or friends. While I could cancel Netflix, that would leave us playing board games every night. Then again, we are trying to have a baby and do have internet access, so maybe we CAN find other ways to entertain ourselves ;) (but that's not going to save us anything close to $200 in a month).
See above... I'm not on Birth Control Pills at this point, so, I'm allready saving more then the $30 they suggest.
I'm not spending $8 on overpriced drinks to get a "free" meal when my only meals out are allready generally under $5 (Yeah... livin' large at the sub shop). And neither of us enjoy smokey, crowded, noisy bars. We'd rather stay in if we're drinking anyways, no worries about getting home afterwards!
Honey shaves his head himself and I only get mine cut about as often as I drink lattes... and no, I don't pay for shampooing or drying to begin with. I hate hair dryers and have to go wash afterwards anyway to get rid of the fluff, so there's never any point.
If I had money to waste on shoes... (sigh) I allready went over this...
We canceled our gym membership altogether already. Time to go outside and play in the sun!
Hosting dinners with friends requires friends, so, there goes that one...
I already recycle my jewelry... bonus, I also sell recycled jewelry on Etsy, so not only am I saving money on baubles, I'm making it!
We allready buy the cheepest booze on the market and rarely drink anyhow.
Our cats are allready on dry food.

So far, I can save $14-$20 in actuality with these tips this month.
Got any more clever tips on how to scrimp and make a dent in our house payments? Stuff I can actually do, lol!?

who do these tips apply to? no one i know. certainly not me. i could use some real tips. a list of real work from home jobs, coupons for the things i can't get generic (all the coupon sites have the same ones over & over ~ i don't need diapers!), a consolidated site that shows me what is on sale where in MY area at the same time, etc.

What a waste of my time this was reading this article...Worthless ideas

I've been labeled as 'cheap' at my current workplace because I always bring lunch to work instead of buying it from the cafeteria or going to a deli/restaurant. I save almost $2000.00 a year because I take a few minutes out of my busy morning to pack something that I didn't have to waste extra time and cash to purchase. I simply don't spend more than I make.

Dont have pets I dont. I cant even support myself let alone an animal!

How does the itunes one work??