You can save money on almost everything. Part of being a good steward involves making good spending decisions. Here I outline ways to reduce your spending on a variety of items, as well as general principles for cost-conscious living.


Save money on food: Learn how to cook. By cooking your own meals you save a fortune on restaurants. Eating out is a large expense. By cooking meals you save money on those pricey frozen dinners. Make fewer trips to the grocery store, once a week. Most shoppers making three quick trips to the store end up spending more than they planned, by making impulsive buys. Let’s say you end up spending an additional $10 on impulsive buys times three times a week equal $30 a week or $120 a month. It adds up fast. Most importantly, use coupons when shopping. Local farmers markets have popped up in many urban and suburban towns. These open air markets are full of vendors and farm fresh goods. Best of all, the prices of fresh fruit and vegetables are generally much below the major supermarket chain prices and are of better quality. Prices are lower because you are buying direct from the farmer. Most farmers markets have regulations regarding where the produce is grown. Thus the market shopper gets locally-grown as well as low-priced high quality produce.

Save money on transportation: Buy a car with good gas mileage. It could save you hundreds of dollars a year on rising fuel costs. Shop around for car insurance. There are comparison websites which list the companies with the best price. Shopping around is especially important for young adults because their rates drop as they approach age 25. Get a multi-line policy, car insurance, renters, homeowners, etc. Multi-line policies offer up to 20% savings. If you can, carpool. You save on gas and time. Most metropolitan cities have a car pool lane, which beats sitting in traffic.

Save money on utilities: Bundle your cell phone, land line, cable, and internet into one package. Bundle packages cost less than individually paying for each item. Most companies offer a substantial discount which is wallet friendly. Switch your regular light bulbs to compact fluorescent bulbs. Compact fluorescent bulbs save on your electric bill. The cost of the bulbs is higher but they last ten times as long as regular bulbs. Chargers are sucking up electricity even when you are not using them. Buy a power strip that has an on and off button, and turn it off when you are not using it. Insulate your water heater by wrapping it in an insulating jacket. Lastly turn down your heat a few notches.

Save money on travel: Timing your travel can save you a lot of money. Travel during the off season. Look at websites that offer airfare, hotel, and car at a discount such as expedia.com. Go camping. You get in touch with nature. You can count on Mother Nature for budget friendly activities such as hiking, biking, fishing, etc.

Save money on entertainment: Having fun does not mean you have to blow your budget. Watch for discount days at the theatres, movies and restaurants. Go to a matinee movie, which is typically ½ the price of prime evening time slots. Daytime is a good time to try out a hot new restaurant. You can get lunch-menu prices for dinner-quality entrees. Forget the $50 a month gym membership that'll cost you $600 a year. Instead, go to the park for a jog or a bike ride. We are lucky to have North Hollywood Park. The NoHo Card is a great way to save on theatre, restaurants and a variety of local businesses. Visit www.nohoartsdistrict.com/nohocard

Save money by kicking bad habits: Stop smoking. If you smoke a pack a day, you are spending over $1,450 per year that could be used for something more valuable. Not to mention you will be improving your health. Give up caffeine. Are you a Starbuck's junkie? A latte a day equates to over $1,800 a year that could be sitting in your savings account? Make coffee at home if you can not kick the habit.


Currently, Stacey L. Morin works for Wilshire Associates Inc. in their Private Equity Division as Assistant Controller and holds a Masters of Business Administration in Finance from California State University Northridge and Bachelors of Business Administration in Accounting from Eastern Michigan University. Ms. Morin is a Freelance Business Consultant Writer on the side.

By Stacey L. Morin, MBA-Finance, May 2008