5 Surprising Ways to Save Money This Year
By Leah Ingram

 
If you’re still unsure how to cut your spending in 2010 but still live the good life, here are five (of the hundreds of) money-saving tips from my new book Suddenly Frugal: How to Live Happier and Healthier for Less (Adams Media, 2010).
 
1. Limit grocery-shopping spending by using gift cards. This is a trick that my husband and I started using last spring, and it has helped us to reign in our supermarket spending for one good reason: when the money on the gifts cards run out, we’re done food shopping for the month. Yeah, that sounds harsh but it also forces you to think carefully about what you spend and on what, and then to think creatively about what you already have in your pantry to fill in the gaps if you do end up with a zero-balance gift card. These days, we’ve cut our monthly grocery bill by about $400 using this trick.
 
2. Switch to store brands whenever possible. Want to save 30 percent on your shopping bill? Then consider looking at store-brand or private-label goods when you’re in the market for shampoo, spaghetti or sore throat lozenges. According to the Private Label Manufacturing Association (PMLA), American consumers can cut their spending on groceries, cosmetics and household supplies by foregoing brand names for the store’s version of the same product. A PMLA 2009 survey found that shoppers who made this change saved, on average, $40 per trip to the store. If you go to the supermarket once a week like I do, that’s more than $2,000 a year in savings.
 
3. Bundle your services for big savings. If you still have a landline and you’re using a separate company for Internet and TV, find out how much you could save if you bundled those services together. For example, by having our cable company provide all three services, we saved $50 a month or $600 a year. The same holds true with insurance companies. You can often negotiate a discount if you use one company to provide your auto, life and homeowner’s insurance. A State Farm survey showed that customers who did just this saved, on average, about $600 a year.
 
4. Start purchasing products from companies that stand behind their goods. Though Lands’ End and L.L. Bean clothing, backpacks and home furnishings aren’t the cheapest items on the market, they each offer lifetime guarantees on their products. So how does that save you money? You buy a product once from a company like this, and then when something goes wrong–a rip, a break or it wears out–you can return it to the company for your money back or a replacement item. I spent $200 on an L.L. Bean winter coat 10 years ago, and while I’ve had three “new” coats from L.L. Bean since then, I’ve never spent another dime on my outerwear.
 
5. Brew and pour your beverages at home. OK, so this one isn’t so surprising but it’s worth repeating because it’s easy to do and can add up to a lot of money saved. Simply, brew your coffee at home and use a refillable water bottle to quench your thirst when you’re out and about, and you can save up to $700 and $3,000, respectively.

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