Buy This, Not That! 16 Examples Of Money Saving Tradeoffs

Every day we face purchase decisions that at the end of the month we’ll have to face in the form of a bank statement being a reminder of how little money is entrusted. Here are some ideas to help you spend less:

1.  Buy cell phone service from a prepay vendor like Virgin Mobile (it.Ly/iwWxN) rather than one of the big two cell phone providers who charge twice as much for the privilege of paying 30 days later.

2.  Purchase is $5 bucket of balls at the driving range rather than $300 on a new driver—it may have the same effect on your game.

3.  Buy the store brand rather than the national brand (after you double check the price to be sure you actually save money).

4.  Buy a bag of old school popcorn you pop on the stove or in a popcorn popper instead of microwave popcorn.

5.  See the last matinee of the day and have dinner afterward rather than having dinner before the movie and then paying full price for the evening showing.

6.  Better still, rent the DVD and fix a nice dinner at home rather than talking about the movie in the theater and eating out.

7.  Purchase a $199 Google Nexus (it.Ly/OtVIMZ) instead of a $499 iPad (it.Ly/JviKN7). Don’t let anyone tell you’re not cool enough.

8.  Read ebooks rather than print books; many ebooks are available for free!

9. Golf municipal courses rather than private courses.

9.  Run instead of making a bike for fun and exercise—it’s much cheaper.

10.Buy a car that is a year or two older rather than a new one (be sure to keep it as long as you would have kept the new one to get the maximum benefit).

11.Buy designer clothes in consignment shops no department stores.

12.Buy what you need but don’t want (a purple tie for your brother’s wedding) at a thrift store when you can.

13.Buy the McDouble (it.Ly/okO8b3) off the dollar menu rather than a Quarter Pounder with cheese; you get almost the same taste, fat, calories and cholesterol to less than half the price!

14.Drink water in restaurants where soda is grossly overpriced and drinks soda at home from two-liter bottles you buy for a book on sale at the grocery store.

16. Buy a few nice clothes for work rather than piles of extra cheap clothes; your boss and your colleagues whon’t care that you look familiar in your favorite outfit if you look nice and clean.