saving money tips

Your wedding guests will travel great distances and bestow you with lavish gifts, so a wedding favor is a great way to show your gratitude on the day of your nuptials. The best favors are representative of the newlyweds' personalities, but you can quickly find your wedding budget dwindling like a bowl of jordan almonds thanks to expensive favor options. Before you abandon the idea altogether, follow our tips for savvy wedding favor savings.

• Shop online marketplaces. Search for items on sites like eBay, Etsy, and Amazon, and compare those prices with local vendors to find the best deals.
• Buy in bulk. Look for bulk or wholesale deals, which will trim your per-favor cost. Candy, soaps, and packaging are excellent candidates to find at low prices in large quantities.
• Search beyond wedding vendors. Wedding sites may have items tailored to favor-giving, but they sometimes come with a markup. Browse sites and stores that specialize in the item you're looking for, and try to think outside the box when it comes to potential deals. For example, search framing wholesalers for deep discounts on picture frames or chocolatiers for high-quality truffles or chocolate bars. Hopefully, you'll have money left over to pay for engraving or custom packaging!

Save with eight more tips when you read on.

After months of traveling, gift-giving, and pricey nights out, save money and score quality time with your pals by hosting a board game potluck party. Invite over a handful of friends and ask each person to bring his or her favorite board game plus a snack to share. Take care of the drinks yourself or ask guests to pitch in if things become costly.

A few entertaining tips to try:

• Set up a table to stack all the games and, when guests arrive, ask them to write the name of their game on a slip of paper. Toss all the slips into a hat and draw them throughout the night to decide which game will be played next.
• Create fun, festive decorations and drink recipes that follow the board game theme. Glue Sorry game pieces to the top of cocktail stirrers, swap your living room rug for a Twister mat, or laminate Uno cards and turn them into drink coasters.
• Give the party a nostalgic feel and ask guests to bring the board games they loved as kids. Add to the old-school vibe by creating playlists of the songs that were popular when you were younger.

Have you hosted a board game potluck? Share your suggestions below.

Chances are you've heard of book clubs before, if not participated in one. But a magazine article club? That might be a different story. This weekend, instead of hosting a book club, plan a magazine article night.

It's very simple: just pick an article you find interesting and ask your friends to read it too. Then you can all come together over a glass of wine to discuss what caught your attention, what was missing, and more. It's much easier than a book club because you don't have to pick a date weeks in advance, your friends can most likely find the article online or at a kiosk, and depending on how long the story is, they can read it in less than an hour.

How's that for an easy but engaging weekend activity?

Here's another reason to get serious about saving — it's a new year. Although the occasion isn't going to turn us into smart savers, it sure is a good reminder. We all have our own methods of dealing with money, but here are a couple of saving tricks that will grow your money:

• The top-down view: Instead of skimping here and there, take the top-down approach to saving money. Basically what you need to do is figure out your biggest expenses, then brainstorm ways to save and tackle the biggest expenses first.
• The $5 jar: Instead of the ole change jar, have a $5 savings jar. Whenever you have $5 in hand, drop it in the jar. You'll see your savings accumulate more quickly with fivers than with just coins.
• Improve your memory: Studies have shown that training your memory can build up a desire to save since short-term memory is linked to planning for or envisioning the future. A couple of ways to improve your memory include attaching an image to something you want to remember and practicing memorizing it over and over again, and avoiding multitasking.

Read on for more saving tricks.

We often hear recommendations to buy generic, because they are pretty much the same as brand-name drugs, and are cheaper to boot. But many still stick with a brand they know, because after all, no one wants to take a gamble with their health. Here is a breakdown of facts you should know:

• How They Come About: Generic brands start surfacing when the patent of the brand-name drugs expires. Patents can last up to 20 years, and after they expire, other drug makers are allowed to come out with generic versions, which the US Food and Drug Administration rigorously regulates. The generic drugs are required to have the "same high quality, strength, purity and stability as brand-name drugs," according to the FDA website.
• Why the Cost is Less: Generic drug producers charge a lower cost, because they are spending a lot less on marketing, advertising, and are not investing heavily in research and development.
• Different Looks and Names: You might be used to the look of your brand-name drug, so if the generic has a different appearance, this might cause some confusion. Although the contrast might be great, the generic drugs still perform the same functions. Brand-name drugs often give themselves catchy names, which are different from the original drug name, so bear in mind that a different name doesn't mean a different drug.

For more information on generic vs. brand-name drugs, read on.

Save money and revamp your wardrobe all at once by hosting a clothing swap with your friends. Not only will you get a chance to clean out your closet, but you'll also be able to add new items for free. Make the event as small or as big as you'd like, and keep things fun by serving playful cocktails with simple appetizers.

A few tips to make the swap run smoothly:

• Ask each friend to bring the same number of items to keep things even. Encourage your guests to bring a variety of pieces, too, so that you're not left with 30 pairs of jeans.
• As people arrive, help them to arrange their clothing in a way that makes sense. Lay all the pieces out in a large room and group them by type so that guests can easily see each item.
• To give everyone a fair shot at choosing items, draw numbers from a hat and ask each person, in order, to pick out one thing. Redraw numbers before each round so that the same person isn't always getting the first pick.
• Make the most of your event by donating any extra items to a local nonprofit.

Have you hosted or attended a clothing swap? Share your suggestions below!