Saving the Green

 Saving money can be good for the environment too! Although these tips may not show results of savings immediately, they'll surely pay off in the long run. With all of our new technology these days, the price of our energy bills have been soaring up. Even when you aren't using a device that is connected to an outlet or power source, it still uses energy! Be smart and kick that habit of keeping your phone charger plugged into the wall all of the time! If this method is a bit too difficult for you to follow, try converting to a power strip, if you don't have one already. These handy bars can have multiple devices plugged into them at once. Usually these bars will have an on/off switch, whenever you're not using any of the items plugged in, just switch the entire power strip off. An even more efficient way would be to unplug the strip completely. You've probably heard this a million times: "Turn off the television/computer whenever you're not using it." Not only will you be saving electricity, but it also helps prevent them from overheating.

A picture of a standard power strip. 
http://www.cleanenergyresourceteams.org/files/powerstrip.JPG


      Water is an essential resource that we use everyday. Sometimes we can use too much at once though. You should try to limit your showers to a reasonable amount of time, all of that water you waste when you just let it flow straight from the faucet to the drain could have saved a child from thirst! Imagine how much water we've already wasted in our old ways! (Assuming you're going start being more careful about your water usage) Another way to help be environmentally friendly with water is to buy a water bottle! You can eliminate plastic bottles from your household and get everyone to be green! Good luck, and I hope you'll be saving the green, while being green at the same time!

Looking Your Best for Less

    It’s quite expensive to get brand name clothes and accessories for a reasonable price. A designer shirt can range anywhere from $20-$100 dollars! However, there is an option that will save you money AND give you those high end brands everybody loves. The answer to your problems is thrift stores. The majority of the merchandise at thrift stores are donated by their original owners, and are gently worn or used. Contrary to popular belief that these stores only have piles of dirty clothes and junk, most thrift stores are actually very tidy and the clothes they put on the rack have already been pre-washed for sale. There are owners who have never worn the clothes that they donate, therefore these clothes are good as new. The lucky shopper that gets to pick up a brand new shirt or maybe a pair of jeans can get it for possibly HALF off the original price! As if these bargains weren’t great enough, many thrift stores have special deals on certain days. Keep your eyes open for signs or calendars at your thrift store, because you never know when they’ll be having a sale where everything is 50% off to clear out merchandise.

            Although you can find clothes in great condition, you will also probably come across clothes in horrible condition. You should check for holes, missing buttons, broken zippers, and many more irregularities on the clothes you’re contemplating on purchasing. You want to make sure that what you’re buying is actually worth it, and not just another piece of junk from the thrift store. Don’t believe that you should buy it just because it’s cheap, because if so, you’ll only walk out of the thrift store with clothes in poor condition that you actually paid money for.

            Clothes aren’t the only things they sell at thrift stores. You can also expect to find shoes, accessories, home appliances, board games, and plenty more! You should also check these items for abnormalities. Many thrift stores have outlets for you to test appliances before you buy them. These thrift stores already do a good job of checking the merchandise before they’re placed on the shelves. You should also ask employees when they get new items in stock, because you’ll want to get the first pick on many of the new things they get. I hope you take advantage of these thrift store deals, so you can look your best for less!

http://www.seattlepi.com/dayart/20081010/450thrift_2168_ar_racks3_10-10-2008_701K1PV.jpg

Coupons, coupons, coupons!

 You may think that clipping coupons is only for soccer moms or the elderly, but it most definitely is not. Coupons save you more money than you think they do. Plus, there are coupons for almost everything that you can buy at the store! You should always look for deals on the store circulars right when you walk in. Usually they're located right by the door so customers can pick one up and browse while shopping. If you shop at drugstores such as Walgreens or CVS, they have memberships you can sign up for. You can actually earn rewards or unlock MORE coupons to shop with. You can also plan your shopping trips in advance with coupons, if you perfer to do that. Many stores have websites where you can take a peek at their advertisements before you go to the store. This is very useful if you don't usually shop that often, because you'll know what is on sale before you head out to the store, and your shopping trip will be much easier. This is also a good method because you can limit yourself to things that are on sale, and only bring enough money for the things you plan to purchase. There are plenty of online websites that specialize in coupons especially, and there is a program that you can download to print these coupons right at home! I suggest visiting these websites often to find deals, because many of them are for everyday items that you may need to stock up on. You should also read the fine print on many of these coupons, because some of them may expire or have limits that you should be aware of. Other websites you can visit are manufacturer websites, which often have coupons for new items coming out or even some of their best selling products.
You should probably start looking for those coupons now, you'd be surprised how much money you save on products you use everyday!

Save It for a Rainy Day

  Have you ever contemplated whether or not you should bring all of your money with you before you're about to head out shopping? It really just depends on where you are going and what you're looking to buy. I'm not going to tell you how much to bring or spend, because that's up to you. I do have some advice as to why you should bring only however much you plan to spend. First off, you should always bring enough for the NECESSITIES that you need to buy. You can't just fill your cart up with things you don't need, and only a few items that you do need. The reason being, it's better to just buy it all at once instead of coming back on later trips, just because you didn't bring enough cash or you felt you could do without it until next time. Before leaving home, it never hurts to write down everything you need. Once you get to the store, collect all of your necessities and then allow yourself the freedom to browse all you want. As you're contemplating how much to bring, estimate how much you'll need, and maybe just an extra backup supply just in case you need it. If you want, you can always bring a bit more, because I know that it's hard to resist those great deals that you don't think you'll ever come across again. Think about it this way, if you did bring all of your money, you probably wouldn't have much left when you come home, because sometimes when you're shopping, you don't see the need to stop until you run low on money. So, the less money you bring this time, the more you'll have for a next time, and you can always reserve some of your money for a splurge later on, it's like the age old saying, "Save it for a rainy day."