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When your budget’s tight and inflation’s playing havoc with it, you need to find some clever ways to save a few dollars. Money magazine recently did a special including 18 ways to beat inflation, and some of the highlights of their suggestions were:

• Don’t make unplanned purchases at the supermarket - stick to what’s on your shopping list only - and check the highest and lowest shelves where the cheaper products are often “hidden”
• Save gas by checking your tires are correctly inflated
• Cook more meals at home - avoid takeaway
• Make your home more energy efficient by installing a thermostat that turns the heating off during the night but turns it back on in the morning before you get up
• Replace regular light bulbs with energy-saving fluorescents
• Cancel gym memberships or magazine subscriptions that you don’t really use
• Turn off all appliances at the switch rather than leaving them on stand-by
• Use a credit card (that you pay off in full each month) that gives cash back on gas purchases
• Don’t be afraid to negotiate with a doctor over costs - for example, offer to pay up front in cash for a lower price. 60% of the time, negotiating with a doctor over medical costs works.

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Scouring the internet is a great way to acquire knowledge, but there are few things better than a comprehensive book, written by an expert. That’s why, if you’re trying to build your personal finance library, it’s best to start with the basics. The following books pour are like a personable, accessible course in Personal Finance 101, giving you a solid base on which to grow your knowledge. (more…)

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More and more frequently, Americans are making purchase offers and signing leases for homes close to public transportation, namely, commuter rail service. It’s a move that makes sense - homes further away from cities cost less, but with gas prices sky high, the monthly fuel bill eats up all of those savings. Public transportation, however, makes an expensive commute suddenly affordable. (more…)

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During World War II, U.S. citizens were encouraged to cultivate personal fruit, vegetable, and herb gardens in order to reduce pressure on the public food supply. And though it was a secondary reason, the war gardens also served as a morale booster and sense of pride for all who grew them. Today, though we don’t have victory gardens, Americans are showing their patriotism through their spending habits. (more…)

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It doesn’t matter if you travel in a gas-guzzling SUV or tiny hatchback, your daily commute is getting more expensive. But there are several things you can do to cut the cost of your commute: (more…)

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It’s been frustrating lately to have the cost of running your car constantly rising, right? As well as trying to find the cheapest gas, though, there are a bunch of other ways in which you can run your car more cheaply. A recent list of tips at The Street had all kinds of ideas for how to save money on your car expenses. Some of the most useful included: (more…)

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If you’re one of the many people living from pay check to pay check without having much hope of breaking the cycle of debt and repayment, you’ll be pleased to read a few tips from the experts at CNN Money. Rather than going through the obvious money saving strategies, they talk about a few ways that could net you a little extra cash and start to dig you out of the cycle. (more…)

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Focusing on making your home more energy efficient can be good for your wallet as well as for your conscious. These tips can help make your house more environmentally friendly and save you a few dollars as well. (more…)

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Apart from airfare, the costs of your hotel or other accommodations are likely to be the biggest budget items when you take a vacation. Obviously, you want to have as much cash left to spare to enjoy activities on your vacation as you can, so here are some tips to save some money on accommodations while still having a decent place to sleep each night.

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It doesn’t matter what the economy looks like, as Benjamin Franklin famously believed, a penny saved is a penny earned. And when it comes to our utility bills, there really is something we can do to save a bit every month.

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