A Little Thrift

When you have done all of the right things – been educated, via school or life, worked hard, in business or at home, saved and invested money, spent wisely, paid your bills on time – it may be especially disconcerting that you’ve lost so much money due to the current economic crisis. Although none of us caused this economic mess, we are all in this together. Like it or not, it is always those who have behaved responsibly who end up bailing out the irresponsible.

Just about everyone has experienced significant declines in the value of their home and their portfolio. So what do we do about it? One thing we can control is how we spend our money. I advocated being thoughtful and careful when making your spending decisions, and to spend consistent with your values.

Below are some ideas on how to cut expenses without really impacting your lifestyle. I just finished refinancing my home loan and bundled some telephone services to reduce the cost. In fact, I have done or continue to do everything on the list below. I was recently interviewed for a Consumer Reports article on how to help people reduce their expenses, so sharing of ideas is helpful. Be thoughtful about your spending and your purchases.

Ideas on how to save money:

Monitor your usage of and check with your service providers such as mobile phone, cable TV, land line to see if they have less expensive plans or packages (for example, bundled services). There are special promotions all the time, and sometimes you can receive a discount just by asking.

If you have investment property that may have previously been highly valued enough to attract tax, have it revalued to ensure that you are fairly appraised

Take a look at refinancing your home loan as interest rates are very low.

Review your gym and other memberships and cancel, freeze or downgrade if you’re not using the services. If you’re not using your membership stop paying for it.

For travel, compare fares and prices. Take advantage of websites such as lastminute.com and wotif.com

Shop online – saves time and gas – or shop over the phone by calling vendors in advance to check product availability and prices.

Reduce your carbon footprint and reduce consumption and your bills.

Use coupons and vouchers (from newspapers, coupon books, mailers, websites), clubs (grocery store, Costco, restaurant) when you shop or dine out.

A great money-saving idea is to buy the “Entertainment Book” which comes out each year. These books contain coupons for two-for-one dinners, discounted movie ticket, hotels, etc. You can now buy the 2009 Entertainment Book at a reduced price at entertainment.com.

If you have any ideas on how to beat the economic blues, feel free to share them.