Tuesday, June 30, 2009

This week on Cost Cutters, there are several money-saving suggestions found on a website called frugaldad.com, where readers write in some of their favorite tips.

DAWN WROTE: "This is one my mother in law told us - put your money on ice. She was referring to our credit cards. The suggestion was to put them way in the back of the freezer in a block of ice so that they were difficult to use, but available for emergencies."

THEN SUSAN HAD A GOOD IDEA: "We had the biggest savings in our budget when we started using cash for groceries. I was forced to think harder about every item in the cart and it has helped us tremendously!"

THEN FROM RICK WHEN TALKING ABOUT HIS SALARY: "Whenever I get a raise at work I automatically have a portion or all of that increase deposited into a savings account and send the other part of my check to my checking account."

AND THIS TIP REALLY CAUSED ME THINK. MICHELLE WRITES: "My favorite money saving tip is this: before I by anything non-essential, I have to give away something that I already own."

ASHLEY WROTE: "My favorite money saving tip is to not try and keep up with the Jones's on technology. My cell phone is 3 years old and not fancy, and I've passed up three pricey "upgrades" but it still works!"

KIM SAYS: "I have 2 friends that I swap clothes with. Every season, we get together and "shop" through each other's hand me downs."

THRIFTKAT WRITES: "I wanted a squeegee to use on my car windows, in the auto section they were charging $18.49 for one; then I realized that people use squeegees in bathrooms. I found one there for $1.49"

Send your cost-cutting suggestions to larry.hatteberg@kake.com