1 Don't buy last minute presents. You will spend more than you have planned. Instead you can make lists of presents and buy them in advance and stick to your budget.
2 Sell your stuff. Yard sales and the internet can get you rid of the stuff you don't need. You can use the money for other things.
3 Go on a cheap holiday by swapping homes. There are websites on the net where you can swap houses.
4 Buy things that last a while like shoes and clothes only at discount or sales. It's cheaper and since you'll have those shoes for a while it's worth the wait.
5 Take shampoo bottles from hotels. Take packets of sugar and biscuits from your coffee and so on. When you get stuff for free, never refuse.
6 Buy second hand.
7 Buy only new stuff when the stuff retains its value.
8 Ask for discount or lower prices. If you can do it on a holiday, you can do it at home.
9 Use coupons for things you always buy anyway.
10 The supermarket keeps the lowest prices on the bottom shelves. Clear those bottom shelves.
11 Block your cell phone's keypad. It will prevent you paying for calls from your pants.
12 Charge your cell phone at work.
13 Use Internet to make your calls (skype works great) and cancel your phone line.
14 Call and hang up immediately. The person will call back and pay the bill.
15 Don't buy a car with two people. You can be better of with two separate cars than one expensive one.
16 Wash your car. A smooth car will use less fuel. (Due to air resistance)
17 Permanently put your house for sale at a massive price. You can never know.
18 Turn down the heating, pull on a sweater.
19 Don't use the air conditioning, but wear little clothing.
20 Put up tin foil behind your radiators. It saves a lot of energy.
21 Go to bed early. It saves on lighting, heat and it can have other benefits ;) .
22 Open the window from time to time. Fresher air and less humid air also heats faster.
23 Never max out your credit cards, as soon as you go below 0, you start paying money.
24 Eat before you go to the supermarket. Otherwise your appetite will let you buy more stuff.
25 Go to a store or market just before closing. There are usually sales of things that can't be sold the next week/day.
26 When the butcher says: “can it be a little more than one pound.” Say: “no”
27 Stop smoking. A packet a day can cost your almost 2000 euro a year.
28 Try not to print out pages; it saves paper.
29 Ink for your printers is expensive. No printer, no toner.
30 Always cook in large quantities. You can freeze in things, it's cheaper and it saves time.
31 Fill up your fridge and freezer. The fuller it is, the less electricity it uses.
32 Celebrate Christmas at the house of friends or family.
33 Try to steal away a dinner away from home by going to friends around dinnertime.
34 Make parties cheaper by letting people bring their own drinks and food.
35 Never go to a restaurant or a pub. It's at least twice as expensive.
36 Some restaurants let you bring your own wine. Now that's a whole lot of money gained.
37 Put a brick in the reservoir for your toilet. You will use a brick less water each time you flush.
38 Don't water your gardens. The roots of plants will go deeper for the water if you don't.
39 Use half a tablet for the dishwasher. The dishes will be just as clean.
40 Try to transfer bank transfers just one euro less than the cost. It's too much effort for them to ask for just the one euro. (This is stealing and I do not recommend it, but it's a way)
41 Always pay cash. If you have a certain budget and it's gone it's gone. With credit cards you can spend more without knowing it.
42 Cheat the post by sending it from the person you're sending it to, to yourself. "refuse" to pay the postage and it will be returned to the "sender" who is in this case the recipient.
43 If you do need stamps, buy loads of them. They will always have their value, so even if the price goes up, you're safe.
44 Stop working for a company. Try to set up things yourself.
45 Try to work less. If you clean your own house, you don't need a cleaning lady and you'll probably pay her more of your salary than you would lose by doing it yourself.
