Easiest Ways to Save Money in a Tight Economy, Part I

By Anastacia Mott Austin

We all know we need to cut back on spending these days. But Americans are notoriously loathe to make big changes in our lifestyles. We like what we like, and we don’t want to have to give it up.

But there are so many easy ways to make small changes that add up to more savings annually – if you do all of them, you’ll save hundreds, or even thousands every year!

Much of it has to do with planning and prioritizing. With a little pre-planning, you’ll be surprised at how easy it is to save money, and by prioritizing what is important to your lifestyle, it’ll be relatively painless to cut out what you don’t need.

The most obvious issues facing most families these days are the costs of food and gasoline.

Here are the best simple tricks and tips I have found to save money on groceries and filling up the gas tank:

Nothing is more basic than food, and with food costs rising along with everything else, this is where a lot of your family budget is probably going. A few simple changes can save you hundreds of dollars over the course of a year:

Studies have shown that people who only shop once per week spend far less money than those who go several times per week. In fact, shoppers who make that quick trip to the store for one item will spend as much as 54% more than they had planned. In addition, buying in bulk less frequently is less expensive (and easier on the environment) than purchasing individually packaged items. So plan out your list and try to only go to the grocery store once per week.

Leave your children at home, if at all possible. You can focus better without little whiny voices begging for this or that, and you won’t end up buying extras you don’t want or need.

Adopt a tip from your mom or grandmother (who probably survived some tough economic times and know what they’re talking about) and clip coupons. Find the coupon booklets from the store you frequent (and thus find coupons you’d actually use), and have an envelope or bin at home to save them in. When it’s time to plan your shopping trip, look through your coupons and use them to help plan the week’s menu, then buy the items on sale.

While it’s important to buy some products for their name brand or organic health benefits, choose generic labels whenever possible.

Many people are already cutting down on expensive extras like going out to eat. You don’t have to give it up entirely, just prioritize. Save restaurant outings for extra-special occasions, and savor the outing for the treat that it is. Pick places that offer two-for-one deals, or ask friends for recommendations of inexpensive restaurants. It’s difficult to enjoy yourself if you’re worrying about the bill, so next time you think about dining out, consider whether it’s worth the expense.

Pre-planning goes a long way in terms of lunch meals also. If you grab lunch at a cafeteria or nearby sandwich shop from work, it’ll cost you a lot more than if you take a few moments the night before and pack a delicious, nutritious bagged lunch. Include this planning for your grocery trips, and use ideas from your deli to dream up imaginative and creative lunches for yourself (one of my recent favorites: cream cheese with a little bit of smoked salmon, cucumber, and fresh tomatoes from my garden on herb bread…yum!).

Think the same way about that triple-whip-whatever latte you grab from the espresso drive-through. A $3 or $4 cup of coffee every morning can add up to about $75 per month, or over $900 per year. That’s the equivalent of about five gallons of gas per week.

It seems like everyone is trying to cut down on their spending at the gas tank. But there are some simple ways to make it even easier and make your gas dollar go further.

The first and most obvious one is to not drive. Of course, most of us would say that’s impossible; Americans are in love with their cars. And in many communities, driving to work is a necessity. But that doesn’t mean we can’t try our best to make a few smarter choices when it comes to our gas consumption.

Whenever you can, walk. Or ride your bike. Going to the local park with the kids? Make the walk part of the trip. Try to plan your errands so that you can take one day a week and make it a no-drive day.

See if there’s a way to carpool with someone else from work. It’ll save a lot on gas, and you might find a new ally at the office. Or check out public transportation. It may take a little longer to get to work, but sometimes with efficient bus systems, it’s not that much harder to do than drive.

If that’s not possible, try to negotiate a work-from-home day, maybe one day a week. My husband did this with his job, and now he works from home two days per week. We are already seeing a big savings in gas (of course, that means he’s in my hair when I’m trying to get my own work done, but that’s a topic for another article).If your workplace isn’t that flexible, there are still things you can do to save on gas:

Find the best station near you. Our local radio station lists the best gas station deals in the area every day, but even if yours doesn’t, notice where the gas is cheapest, and plan your route around stopping there. It may seem like just pennies, but it all adds up. Some gas stations will have discount days – find out when your local stations have the cheapest gas.

Slow down! Find out about a gas-saving driving technique called "hypermiling." In simple terms, this is just trying to get the most miles out of your tank of gas. Hypermilers recommend driving 60 miles per hour maximum, which improves your gas mileage. In addition, avoid excessive braking and speeding up. If cars ahead are braking, try just taking your foot off the gas pedal at first, before applying pressure to the brakes. Often, by the time you catch up to traffic, it’s begun moving again and you don’t need to brake. Use your cruise control whenever possible, as sudden changes in speed will eat into your gas. When in doubt, let your car coast. Devoted hypermilers say they have been able to double their gas mileage, and when using a super-efficient car (a hybrid or a fuel-efficient compact car), this can lead to huge amounts in gas savings. Honda Insight hybrid owners brag of getting more than 100 miles per gallon with the combination of the hybrid engine and hypermiling techniques.

Lighten up! The more weight you’re carrying around in your car, the worse your mileage will be. So dump out the softball gear and all the extra junk you have in your trunk, and see the mileage improve. Some experts recommend never filling your gas tank up completely, because the extra weight of the gas will drag down your mileage…but take into consideration the extra trips to the gas station for more frequent fill-ups, and calculate whether that’s worth the lighter load.

Make sure the car is in good running condition. Have the brakes and air filters checked. Get regular tune-ups to ensure efficiency, and get the tires filled. The proper amount of air in the tires alone can improve your gas mileage noticeably.

Fill up in the morning. Gas is more condensed when it’s cooler, during morning or evening hours, so you’ll literally get more gas for your buck than if you fill up mid-afternoon.

The more you see the savings from these techniques, the more you’ll want to do even more. It can be a fun challenge to see where else you can save in your grocery budget and at the gas pump. These tips may seem like a lot, but try one or two you think are doable, and when you see the savings start, you’ll be motivated to try others.

The economy may very well get worse before it gets better, and we all may need to make even bigger changes to our habits in order to survive. But for now, these small adjustments can be a start, and when you see they’re not that difficult to make, the future may not seem so daunting.