Save on DVD Rentals

Save a huge amount of money by NOT renting DVDs at your video store. Go to you local library and check them out for FREE! If they do not have the movie you want ask them to request it via interlibrary loan. You'll be amazed at how much money you will save!

Save Money Printing By Purchasing A Laser Printer

There was a time when laser printers were very expensive. This is no longer the case. Cannon Laser Printers, Lexmark Laser Printers, and HP Laser Printers are all now very affordable! The cost per page printing is about 1/10 the cost of using an inkjet printer. Toner cartridges cost MUCH less than inkjet refills. Laser Printers under $100 are very common these days. So, if you do a lot of black and white printing a laser printer is the way to go!

Save Money By Printing At Home

If you are one who frequents your local library and ends up printing information you will see those nickles and dimes add up very quickly! If you are just printing information from the web write down the web address and look it up when you get home! You can email it to yourself from the library, text the link to yourself or even write it down the old fashion way using a pen and paper! The money you will save will easily pay for a home printer in just a few weeks!

Save Money By Eating Dinner At The Table

Save a little bit in many ways by sitting down to eat dinner at the table. First off everyone is at the table so there is no TV or video game or computer using energy. Second, it saves on tee oven, stove-top and/or microwave being used multiple times. The benefit is it gives everyone some together time!

Play Games To Save Money

Pick one night a week to turn off your Play Station 4, your X-Box One, your Wii or other console video game and play a board game! It does not seem like much but every time you turn off the TV and game console you save a little bit of money. There is a second upside to this. You get to build family togetherness. It might be tough at the beginning but it will get easier with time. Have each person choose a game to play and get them involved!

Save On The High Cost Of Entertainment

Saving money on entertainment is a huge deal these days. Try Netflix instead of cable or satellite and you can save HUGE money! For the cost of renting 3 or 4 dvds at you local video store you can have access to thousands of movies and TV shows on Netflix! There are now two different options with Netflix. DVD's and downloads. You can get dvds mailed to your home or stream shows directly to your TV or computer. The downloads are not always very current so if you want to watch the newest movies right when they come out I suggest getting the DVD option. If you just are looking for something to watch I suggest the download option. If you want both, get both, it is still MUCH cheaper than cable, satellite or renting! Just note that the streaming downloads do use internet data so make sure you have a decent package on downloading!

Save Money On Ink Cartridges

Ink cartridges are a very expensive part of printing. Try using the "Draft Print" option on anything you are printing for yourself. This includes instructions and draft copies of papers! You can also save money bu printing in a font that does not use as much ink. Times New Roman and Calibri fonts tend to use less ink!

Save Money On Books And Magazines

I love to read but books and magazines have gotten very expensive! Visit your local library and check out books and magazines! If your library does not have the book or magazine you want ask them to get it for you. Most all libraries have inter library loans these days.

Using a Kindle to read your books? Save money by buying Kindle books on Amazon for a fraction of the price of the print version! Sames goes for Barnes and Noble. Their Nook books are much less expensive than actual print! You can also read any format eBooks on most devices with a eBook Reader Ap for Kindle, Nook, iPhone, Galaxy device, Tablet or even your laptop! You local library may also have a program for you to download books as well!

Tip For Extending Your Clothing's Life

By clothing the zipper on your jeans and hoodies before putting them in the washer and dryer can extend the life of all your clothing! If the zipper is metallic it helps even more! The zipper and zipper pull will rub against other clothing in the washer and dryer and wear out your clothing ahead of time. This simple tip will keep you from having to go to Old Navy for new clothes as often!

Measure Your Laundry Soap And Save Money

Want to make your All Temperature Cheer or All Laundry Detergent last longer AND work better? Simply use the lid to measure the amount you use! This will do several things to help you save money! First off, you can turn off the second rinse cycle on your washer. You won't need it because your clothes will rinse the first time! Second, your clothing will be cleaner. Using the correct amount of detergent for your load size will help clean your clothing! And THIRDLY your washing machine will stay cleaner!You won't get the buildup on the agitator or lid because there won't be extra soap to build up!

Use The Sun To Save On Laundry Cost

Remember when you were a kid and you had a clothesline? Maybe you are too young but in olden times we hung clothing out to dry on a line. The sun would dry our clothing and make it smell like all the smells that fabric softeners try to duplicate! Putting one or two loads of clothes a week outside to dry will save you tns of money on energy cost! PLUS you'll get that spring scent for real!

Cheaply Remove Soap Scum In The Shower

Want to remove soap scum and keep it gone in your shower? Here is a cheap alternative to those scrubbing bubbles and Arm and Hammer! Take a teaspoon of baby oil on a moist cloth and wipe down your tub or shower. It will easily dissolve your soap scum and dirt! Doing this every few days will keep your bath and shower nice and clean for pennies a day!

Save Money In The Kitchen

Wash those dishes right after dinner! Even just rinsing your dishes off after a meal will save time and money. If you have a dishwasher just rinse your dishes off with COLD water. Since the dishwasher will be using hot water there is no need to waste the resources to heat your water when rinsing them! Soak your pots and pans to get the caked on stuff off. Here again there is no need to use hot water if you have a dishwasher.

If you do not have a dish washer, just wash your dishes right after a meal BEFORE they get caked on food! Dawn dish washing liquid, or a generic alternative, really does take grease out of the way!

Save Big At The Salon

Save big at the salon with this one simple trick. Don't go to the same salon for regular maintenance! I am not saying stop going to your salon. Just skip every other normal time and head to an inexpensive salon like Smart Cuts in Walmart or Supercuts! This is to help cut down on the maintenance cost. Everyone who works at a salon has gone through school and is fully capable of doing a quick trim.

Leave the major work to your chosen stylist! Colors and Perms and major haircuts should still be done by your stylist. Just save some money when all you need is a quick touch up! It is amazing how much you can save in just 6 months or a year? You may even save enough for a new pair of shoes!

Trick To Make Your Colored Hair Last Longer

If you are using an expensive shampoo for your permed or color treated hair you can save a bundle by using just plain old baby shampoo! That's right, baby shampoo is designed to be very gentle on hair. It does not contain the harsh chemicals that relax perms or fade color. You can even get your baby shampoo at The Dollar Tree or Dollar General!

How To Make Your Dollar Last Longer

After a very long absence I have returned with money saving tips that will help make your dollar stretch just a little further! Please feel free to share this log with your friends and family! Also, I would love to hear your tips! Please send me an email to TightenYourBelt@gmail.com or leave me a comment here!

Make every day a brown bag day.

Remember back to when you were a kid in school.  Your mom used to send you off each morning with a kiss and a brown paper lunch bag.  Maybe you even had a nifty lunch box.  The point is, you were taking your lunch to school with you.  Today your lunch at work could cost you $10 to $20 a day depending on where you live and work.  A sack lunch with a sandwich or side salad or leftovers will probably run you under $2.

You do not have to bring your lunch every day, though it sure would save you some money if you did, but try it for two or three days a week.  You could even bring your breakfast instead of going through the drive through at McDonald's or Burger King as well.  You will eat healthier and save some money in the process.

Free or Fee, that is the question.

Why pay for something when you can get it for free?  We don't mind spending $3 at the video rental store or even $20 for a movie at the department store.  We don't mind spending $30 a month on premium movie channels.  We don't mind paying $10 a month to Netflix or to Blockbuster Online.  Have you checked your local library?  Many of these movies may be 100% free for you to watch.

Libraries are not just for books these days.  Most libraries have movies, Cds and games.  Some are older and may be special interest but many of the movies in your local library may still be in the new release section at the video store.  Free is always better.  Going to the library for a movie may take some getting used to but give it a try and save $3 to $10 a month.  It adds up.

If your library does not have movies or CDs, ask them to add the section.  You could even volunteer to help get them started with a DVD/CD drive for people to donate their older DVDs and CDs.  People can also make monetary donations to libraries with stipulations on what is bought with the money.

FREE! After Mail-in Rebate!

This Holiday Season it seems that every company is trying to get you to buy their product.  In fact some companies make it so that their products are almost 100% free to you, after mail-in rebate.  This is really great for the consumer if a few things are done to insure that you get your rebate.

Many companies have started using "instant" rebates or "on-line" rebates but many are still doing a mail-in rebate system.  This generally requires the consumer to fill out some paperwork, make some copies of a receipt and send it in for a rebate to be mailed to you within 30 to 90 days.  Yes, there is a little work involved but it sure helps to save money by doing this, especially on big ticket items like Flatscreen TV's or Blu-ray players.

There are some things that the company does count on to not give you the rebate.  Most are very time sensitive and must have a postmark by a certain date.  Best rule is to fill out the rebate forms the day you get the item.  Make a notation on your calendar, you may need this later.  Most companies bank on the idea that you will miss the deadline and they won't have to pay.  Be sure to make notes on your calendar of when to expect your rebate so that you can start calling the company if the rebate is later than they say it should be.

Be sure to make a copy of all the forms and the receipts for your records.  You may need this later as well.  Most companies are very good about issuing the receipt checks but some are notorious for not issuing the rebates.  Having a little bit of info to provide proof that you filed for your rebate can make the difference.

Whether is is a $1 rebate or a $500 rebate, there is no sense in not filing the proper paperwork to get the money back.  The company promised it and the rebate was probably a factor in you purchasing the item.  Make the most of your money.

Sometimes the fastest isn't the best!

It seems that everyone wants the fastest Internet speed that they have available in their area.  It must be a "keeping up with the Jones'" thing because there is so little difference between the fastest and the second fastest and even the third fastest tier of Internet speed that most would never even notice the difference.  That is until the bill comes. 

The average household now has three to five computers connected to the Internet.  Just 10 years ago the average was just two computers.  Speeds have gone from dialup to almost directly connected to the Internet.  ISP's have continually added higher speeds as fast as they were available to them.  The "tier's" start at around $10 a month and can be as much as $100 a month.  The question is how much value is the highest tier?

If you have four computers constantly downloading four different video feeds, then yes, the highest tier is probably for you.  However if it is rare that you have simultaneous video downloads than you may be fine by picking a speed closer to the middle tier.  You can save $10 to $50 a month just by dropping your Internet speed.  That is $120 to $600 a year in savings.