Save $2,010 in 2010
By Mary Hunt
Photo courtesy of iStockphoto
My favorite cell phone feature is hidden on the back: It's a button marked "Reset." Now and then I get my settings and preferences messed up, but by hitting that button I can clear the mistakes and start from scratch. Sure, it takes a little work to get things set up again as I like, but it's so much easier than trying to slog my way through the mess I've created.
If your savings account as taken a beating over the past year, maybe it's time to hit the reset button to get a fresh start. Here are 10 ways to do it-simple moves you can make to save even more than $2,010 this year.
1. Reduce Kitchen Paper
If the average family rips through 1½ rolls of paper towels a week at $1.25 a roll, you're paying at least $98 a year for disposable towels. Reduce that to one roll a month by moving the towels from the counter to a cupboard or shelf that's not quite so convenient. Also, give reusable cloth or microfiber towels a try (just throw them in the laundry instead of the trash). The cost of washing towels is negligible when you toss them in with your regular laundry. Ka-ching! $83.
2. Unhook the Cable
Make a one-year commitment to no-cable television. But don't worry. At the rapidly expanding website Hulu. com, you can watch hundreds of popular TV shows: Family Guy, House, The Office, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, lots of the reality shows like The Biggest Loser and Top Chef, news shows including NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams, plus tons of shows from Fox News, HGTV and the Food Network. If you're currently paying for a first-tier cable package, it's costing you about $50 a month. Ka-ching! $600.
3. Use Rechargeable Batteries
Americans buy 3 billion batteries a year-that's about 32 per household. If you're lucky, you can find them on sale for 75¢ apiece, or $24 per year. Rechargeable batteries, which can be reused hundreds of times, save money and reduce waste. Shop around for a sale on them. According to Earth911, you'll typically spend $2.50 each per rechargeable and $10 for the charger, an investment that after the first year's startup costs could save you $24 per year in disposables. Ka-ching! $24.
4. Cut Childcare Costs
Sign up for a dependent-care flexible spending account (DCFSA), a valuable employee benefit many people overlook. With this type of FSA, offered by 84% of large companies, you deposit pretax dollars in an employee-sponsored account to pay up to $5,000 of care-giving bills, including summer day camp for dependent children under age 13. Here's an example: Let's assume you're in the 28% tax bracket. Even if you only partially fund a dependent-care FSA this year (with, say, $3,000), you could easily save up to $75 a month on your childcare bill without making any changes in service providers. Ka-ching! $900.
5. Drop the Landline
The average family spends $90 per month for home phones, cell phones, pagers and phone cards. If you have all those connections, maybe it's time to join the 20% of American households that are only using wireless. Even if all you have at home is a single line with basic local service, you've been spending about $25 a month, and that adds up. It may as well start adding up in your savings account. Ka-ching! $300.
6. Sell the Gold
Have you toured your jewelry box lately? Those old broken earrings, chains, bracelets and charms you got back in the 1980s are worth at least some of their weight in gold, provided they're at least 10K gold. With gold values north of $1,000 an ounce, you could be looking at some serious cash when you sell your scrap gold to a reliable buyer. Just be careful. These days there are lots of scam artists showing up at home parties and on late-night television, offering to buy what you have. Never mail your scrap metal to a dealer and be careful with party buyers, says Kevin Stevenson, owner of Johnson Jewelers in Bellflower, California. Instead, take your pieces to at least three reputable jewelry stores in your area to get a price quote. If you like what you hear, sell what you have to the highest bidder. And don't be afraid to negotiate, suggests Stevenson. You may be pleasantly surprised. Ka-ching! $200 or more!
7. Chop 'n' Grate
You may think this is too petty to mention, but hear me out. When you buy cheese already grated, carrots already peeled, fruit already cut up and vegetables already chopped, you pay about double what you would for whole items. This year, pay yourself to chop and grate, then stash the difference in your savings. You'll save at least $2 a pound to grate the cheese, and close to that to chop and peel, too. Not bad wages when you think how easy it is. And there's a bonus: You'll know your veggies, fruit and cheese are fresher, too. Plan to keep $5 a week in your pocket when you grate, chop and peel. Ka-ching! $260.
8. Cancel the Gym
You're paying, what, $35 a month or more for a gym membership? Cancel it and join the free online boot camp that will whip you into shape in no time flat. MarineCorpsFitness.com, modeled after U.S. Marine Corps physical training, offers workouts and training that can be done at home-no expensive exercise equipment or drives to the gym needed. Ka-ching! $420.
9. Reduce Dry Cleaning
Corporate research shows that about a third of the clothes we take to the dry cleaner, excluding shirts to be laundered, are machine-washable. You can put most linens in the washer on the delicate cycle with a cool water detergent, and most sweaters, even cashmere, can be gently washed by hand in cold water. There's a difference between a tag that says "dry clean," which means it's preferable but not mandatory to dry-clean the garment, and "dry clean only," which means the garment needs to be dry-cleaned to keep it in good shape. Wash and press just two items per month that would have otherwise ended up at the dry cleaner's, and you'll save a lot. Ka-ching! $120.
10. Think Before You Print
Home computer printers can go through ink cartridges like kids go through candy! The cost of cartridges depends on which printer you have, but in any case, they're not cheap. And the average consumer uses 1½ pounds of paper every day, or a 500-sheet ream in just three to four days. If you're currently paying about $60 every three months for ink cartridges and paper (which is typical for a home computer user), here's how to cut the cost by at least half: Before you print out anything, ask yourself whether or not you really need a hard copy. Could you just read the text onscreen to get all the information you need? When you do print, print only the text you really need, not all the pictures and ads (or click on the printer-friendly option). And print on both sides of the paper. Ka-ching! $120.
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