Everyone in today’s society loves to save money.  We try and start a budget each month but we just can’t follow it.  Besides writing a budget, most people don’t think outside of the box.  When you think outside of the box, you may realize that you have expensive habits that you could end today, which would mean more money in your pocket.  We have created a few habits that you may have that you can get rid of immediately and you can start saving money today.

Quit smoking

Believe it or not a lot people smoke and if you’re one of them, you can save a ton when you kick the habit.  Not only will you save more money and help your health, you will also better then environment around you.  Let’s say you’re a heavy smoker and smoke a pack a day.  Let’s say that this pack is around $5 a pack.  Multiply $5 by 365 days in the year and you get $1825.

Cut back on the driving

Do you find yourself driving to the store at least 3-4 times a week?  Just think if you cut back on the trips to at least twice a week.  Let’s say you go out 4 times a week besides work and these trips average to about 10 miles each.  That’s 40 miles at about 3.00 gallon.  If you’re driving a car that gets 20 miles to the gallon, this is 6.00 per 4 trips.  Let’s now cut these trips to 2, you will get the $3.00 instead of $6.00.  Multiply the $3.00 by 52 weeks and you get a savings of $156.

Buy used

Instead of buying everything new, you should check ebay or find classifieds to see if they have the item you’re looking for in used conditions.  This can save you a ton of money and the items most of the time works.  Let’s say you spend $5,000 a year on new items such as clothes, house wares, electronics, etc.  Let’s say the used items have a 30% less of a value.  $5,000 multiplied by 30% gives you a savings of $1,500.

Become a bum

If you’re the type to go out every day on the weekend and spend your money on food, beers, and other goodies, just think of how much you’re spending on all of that each weekend.  Let’s say you go out each weekend (Friday and Sunday) to a club, bar, etc. and spend $100 per weekend.  Now let’s say you’re going to stay home on a Saturday and just have get together at your house instead.  Let’s take that $50 average that you would have spent on that Saturday and say you spend $25 on your house party.  Just remember that beer and food will be a lot cheaper at your house.  Let’s take that $25 and multiply it by 52, you get a savings of $1,300.

Cut up the credit cards

Credit cards can be bad if you don’t know how to use them.  If you’re not paying the balance off in full each month, cut them up right now.  Most credit cards have an average APR of 15% and you’re not paying of that bill in full, you’re paying an amount you shouldn’t have to!  Let’s say you have 15% applied to your bill each month on a balance of $1,000.  This is $150 in interest alone!  If you multiply this number by 12 months, you have $1,800!

These are just a few steps you can take to start saving money.  The trick is to use your head and figure out other ways of saving money.  If you took advantage of each of these techniques altogether, you could save as much as $6,500!  Remember, that these are just a few tips.