SavvySugar

5 Savvy Ways to Spend Smart and Save This Weekend

SavvySugar — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 04:00:53 -0800

If you spent Monday through Friday monitoring your spending and trying to be productive and efficient, don't erase all your hard work with a wild weekend of spending. Consider these smart saving tips before you whip out your wallet this weekend.

The Deal Behind Spending Money to Save Money Gimmicks - Banks offering plans that deposit money into a savings account every time you spend money are encouraging their customers to build up their savings accounts, which is a good thing. But when the Consumer Reports Money Lab researched competing plans, it found that most of them aren't the best solution.
Cost-Saving and Social Weekend Ideas - When you work so hard all week long, it's tempting to just throw caution to the wind on the weekend and spend your hard-earned money without a plan. I'm all for enjoying your time away from the office, and have come up with nine weekend activities that won't break the bank. Spend less money while enjoying quality time with a friend or two by using one (or more!) of my ideas.
Put It to the Test: Would It Be Cheaper to Make It Yourself? - Perfecting your Orange Julius skills may not be as productive as it once was, but there is a prudent way to play in the kitchen.

For the rest of my weekend saving tips, read more.

Remember, It's About the Moments, Not the It-Bags - Lindsay Price reminds us what it's all about.
Learn How to Do Something New This Weekend - Self-sufficiency is the biggest asset you can have during this down economy. That means not borrowing money from your credit card carrier, but it also includes daily tasks that you often rely on others to complete.

Do you have a great tip for saving on the weekend? Create a PopSugar account or log in to your account, then join the How Do You Save? group and share it! And you never know, it could be featured on SavvySugar! Here's a detailed guide to posting questions or posts to groups if you are new to the PopSugar Community.

5 Savvy Ways to Save and Spend Smart This Weekend

SavvySugar — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 04:30:43 -0800

Save Big When You Eat Out - Tough times for consumers mean empty tables at restaurants - and to fill them, restaurants are making menu changes and slashing prices, or offering discounts. Take advantage of the deals by researching in advance.
Plan Inexpensive Things to Do This Weekend - More than half of you admit that spending more money on weekends is a given, but that doesn't always have to be the case. Challenging ourselves to occasionally be more mindful of our money on weekends may make us think twice before blowing our budgets on those days when watching our wallets isn't necessarily on our minds.
Shop For the Best Buys at Warehouse Clubs - Almost every list of saving tips includes some mention of buying things in bulk. But if you’re not the Gosselins or the Duggars, are warehouse clubs (like Costco, Sam’s Club, and BJ’s Wholesale) really that great of a deal? The answer is yes - if you know how to shop smart.

For the rest of my tips, read more.

Calculate a Purchase in Terms of Hours Worked - As much as we all promise ourselves that we'll only buy things we absolutely cannot live without, sometimes in the heat of the shopping moment that mentality is substituted by one of like, not love.
Take a Hands-Off Approach to Spending Less - Research shows that you don't necessarily have to stay out of stores altogether, but you should be mindful of where you put your hands if you want to refrain from spending.

Do you have a tip for readers? Join our How Do You Save? group and share your helpful suggestions. Here's a detailed guide to posting questions or posts to groups if you are new to the PopSugar Community.

5 Ways Flexibility Can Cut Travel Costs

SavvySugar — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 14:45:42 -0800

When it comes to bargains, it pays to play it cool. High maintenance travelers can be as finicky as they want while on vacation, but that approach won't get you the cheapest trip while in planning mode. Think flexibility when organizing a vacation, and the deals will come to you.

View Slideshow ›

6 Saving Suggestions to Consider This Weekend

SavvySugar — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 05:00:39 -0700

If you spent the week carefully monitoring your spending and trying to be productive and efficient, don't play clueless on the weekend and blow all your efforts with a Saturday spending spree. Consider these smart saving tips before you whip out your wallet.

Take a Hands-Off Approach to Spending Less - Research shows that you don't necessarily have to stay out of stores altogether, but you should be mindful of where you put your hands if you want to refrain from spending.
Calculate a Purchase in Terms of Hours Worked - As much as we all promise ourselves that we'll only buy things we absolutely cannot live without, sometimes in the heat of the shopping moment that mentality is substituted by one of like, not love.
Ask These Four Questions Before You Spend - Besides calculating the cost in terms of hourly compensation to judge whether or not a particular item is worth your time and money, there are some other things to keep in mind.

For three additional suggestions, read more.

Inexpensive Things to Do This Weekend - More than half of you admit that spending more money on weekends is a given, but that doesn't always have to be the case. Challenging ourselves to occasionally be more mindful of our money on weekends may make us think twice before blowing our budgets on those days when watching our wallets isn't necessarily on our minds.
The Deal Behind Spending Money to Save Money Gimmicks - Banks offering plans that deposit money into a savings account every time you spend money are encouraging their customers to build up their savings accounts, which is a good thing. But when the Consumer Reports Money Lab researched competing plans, it found that most of them aren't the best solution.
Cost-Saving and Social Weekend Ideas - When you work so hard all week long, it's tempting to just throw caution to the wind on the weekend and spend your hard-earned money without a plan. I'm all for enjoying your time away from the office, and have come up with nine weekend activities that won't break the bank. Spend less money while enjoying quality time with a friend or two by using one (or more!) of my ideas.

Find the Tastiest, Cheapest Food While Traveling Anywhere

SavvySugar — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 09:30:14 -0700

Exploring new cities means exploring new food, and it's a glorious part of traveling. A limited budget doesn't mean your options are equally constrained, it just means you need to know where to look for cheap and delicious eats.
Money magazine has some helpful, universal tips for anyone who's hungry in a strange place and doesn't want to spend a fortune.

Money instructs tourists to "Head for hard-to-find spots that are patronized mainly by locals. . . . Don't know any residents? Ask your hotel bellman where he eats."
Ethnic food is usually a good bet. Money explains, "Ethnic restaurants serve customers who are both discerning and price-sensitive. The larger a given immigrant group in an area, the higher the quality of food tends to be."
Aim for areas with competition. For example, "If you're traveling where there's a large Vietnamese neighborhood, say, make a beeline there for dinner and you can't go wrong."

Source: Flickr User Annie Mole

7 Small Ways to Save Big When You Eat Out

SavvySugar — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 08:30:19 -0700

People are definitely eating differently thanks to the recession. But cutting food costs doesn't mean you still can't enjoy eating out. Tough times for consumers means empty tables at restaurants - and to fill them, restaurants are making menu changes and slashing prices, or offering discounts. Just take a look at how you can save on your next meal out.

View Slideshow ›

5 Things You Should Consider Renting

SavvySugar — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 08:30:52 -0700

Friends and neighbors can be helpful when you need to borrow something, but asking to use an expensive possession is much different than requesting a cup of sugar. Aside from avoiding stepping on questionable boundaries, renting certain items can be smarter than buying if its cost-per-use ratio isn't favorable to your budget. Your money might be better spent by renting these five things instead of purchasing them.

View Slideshow ›

Four Ways to Get In-the-Black

SavvySugar — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 14:45:06 -0700

Halloween is a good time to focus on getting back in-the-black, and thankfully there are a few simple tricks that will help you treat yourself to a more stable financial life - even with the spendy holidays around the corner. After you've seen them all, tell me, which tip do you think is most helpful?

View Slideshow ›

Reader Tip: Tracking Your Budget Is Boring, But It Works

SavvySugar — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 04:00:34 -0700

We each develop a unique saving style over the years, which is why we started the How Do You Save? group for you to divulge your winning tactics. It offers a place for you to dole out your advice to other SavvySugar readers trying to save a little moolah and learn from their experiences. Senorita reminds us that tracking and keeping a budget isn't always exciting, but it is a surefire way to quickly shed light on your unnecessary spending.

To learn her story and tip, read more.

Senorita shares:

So not so long ago when I first met my boyfriend, now current husband, he introduced me to the idea of keeping a budget. He set up a really easy to follow spreadsheet where I could enter each day what I spent and set up an estimate as to what I would spend on rent, bills, food and, of course, fun! After a month, I was amazed I was spending over a thousand dollars on clothes and fun. I wasn't going out and buying a couple really expensive items but it was all the smaller stuff that just quickly adds up. I must admit I was completely shocked and afterward definitely felt like I had really had nothing to show for the money spent. Well, lesson learned, I continued to use the budget sheet, just to keep my spending in check and was eventually able to start saving a lot more each month!

If you are ready to follow Senorita's lead and start tackling your spending check out our selection of SavvySugar organizational downloads.

I'm Asking: What Are Your Savvy Halloween Tips?

SavvySugar — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 08:30:00 -0700

It seems there are a couple of key trends for Halloween this year - thanks to Twilight, True Blood, and TV's other vampy dramas, vampires are hot this season. But, another major trend just may be savvy Halloween spending. While Halloween last year seemed an ideal opportunity to escape economic woes, a year later - and a year wiser - more people are practicing smarter spending when it comes to celebrating Halloween traditions.

According to a recent survey, Halloween shoppers are planning to spend an average of $56.31, down $10 from last year. Even among 18-24 year-olds, who are typically Halloween's big partiers - and spenders - projected spending is down nearly $20.

Though Bloomberg reports that people are less likely to celebrate Halloween at all this year, remember that being budget-conscious doesn't mean that you have to quit the festivities all together. So, tell me, do you have any saving tricks for making this Halloween a more wallet-friendly treat?