To build on the Friday Financial Fitness from two weeks ago, we have included 5 more every day tips to save money.  Taking simple steps to save money has a chain reaction that improves the quality of your life in more ways than one.  First, additional money in your pocket will help you pay off those bills faster, thus decreasing stress and anxiety that often accompanies debt.   By decreasing your debt at a faster rate, you will also be well on your way to improving your credit score; improving your credit score impacts your borrowing opportunities.  Below, we outline 5 more ways to save money on a daily basis.

5 More Everyday Tips to Save Money

1. Cook at home; then bring your leftovers to work for lunch

Every day, millions of Americans spend a minimum of $5.00 a day when going out to lunch during the work day.  If you live in a more expensive city, the price of a single lunch can skyrocket to $10 or more per day.  When you’re working 5 days per week, that adds up to $50 per week, $200 per month, and $2400 per year.  That $2400 could be used to pay off outstanding debt, or put away for a rainy day!  Though the work week is often busy, try to set aside some time (maybe even on a Sunday) to cook for the week.  Buying groceries is much cheaper than buying your lunch every day; cooking in bulk for the week will help you pocket that much more money over time.

2. Make personal calls on your cell phone during evenings and weekends

Many of us find that every month, our cell phone bills seem to skyrocket.  One call here, another call there-and suddenly you have exceeded the total number of minutes included in your plan.  If you have a plan that offers free phone calls in the evenings and on the weekends, try and schedule your personal calls during these times. Month to month, this will reduce your bills, helping you pocket a substantial amount of cash over the course of a year.

3. Avoid ATM Fees

When you’re in a hurry and you need cash, it’s convenient to withdraw money at the closest ATM you can find.  If you are withdrawing money from another bank’s ATM, the average fee each time you do is around $1.97.  Fees can even go up to $4.00, depending on where you are.  Banks make a fortune charging non-customer surcharges and consumers spend a fortune filling banks pockets.  Next time you’re in a hurry to get cash, take a few extra minutes to figure out if your bank has an ATM nearby that you may not know about.  If you really want to stop spending on non-customer surcharges, plan to get cash before you go-those few extra minutes of planning will save you money over time!

4. Track every dollar you spend for 2 weeks

This simple, 14 day exercise will bring more awareness to your personal spending habits.  Get a small notebook that you can carry around with you; for 2 weeks, simply record every dollar you spend and what you buy.  After the 2 weeks are up, it will be interesting to see where all your money has gone.  Take a close look at every purchase and then figure out ways to cut corners.  You may be surprised to find that you may not need that $5.00 magazine after all.

5. Leave your credit card at home

During this financial crisis, it is crucial to not only limit the amount of cash you are spending, but also to limit the number of times you swipe your credit card.  Though there has been a recent push to regulate credit card companies and the fees and interest rates they charge, racking up credit is a dangerous habit that all too many Americans have developed.  Simply stated, if you cannot afford, don’t buy it!  Help yourself resist the temptation to swipe that credit card by leaving it at home.  If you don’t have it with you, you can’t use it

We all know that saving money is important, especially during these tough economic times.  Ideally, putting away large chunks of money every time you get paid will build that savings account in no time; however, with a multitude of bills to pay, doing so is not always possible.  In this entry, we take a look at the everyday things consumers like you can do take small steps towards saving money.  In the long-run, when these everyday actions are put together, they will certainly help you fatten your wallet.

1. Call your credit card company and ask them to lower your interest rates

By placing a one-time call to your credit card company, the interest rates you pay on your credit card can be lowered.  Credit card companies want to keep your business; if you mention that you are considering taking your business elsewhere, you have a good shot at getting them to lower your overall interest rate.  Month to month, even a slightly lower interest rate will put additional money back in your pocket that you may not have had before.  Make the call-you have nothing to lose-except the extra bucks you could be saving each month!  Our past post explains other tips you can use when credit card rates change on you.

2. Bring your own caffeine to work

Stopping at Starbucks once, twice-or for all you hard-core coffee drinkers, even three times per day-is nothing abnormal in today’s world of long days and endless projects.  The problem is, the overpriced coffee that coffee chains sell can wreak major havoc on your wallet over time.  By bringing one pound of coffee beans that you buy from the store, you can get 40 cups of coffee.  Even the gourmet coffee beans run at about $4.00 per bag.  Now consider that you’re spending anywhere from $2 to $4 per cup by stopping at a coffee shop every day.  At $10 per week, that’s $40 per month and almost $500 per year.  By bringing your own coffee, that $500 will go straight back to your wallet.

3. Cut your cable bill in half by downgrading to basic cable

With tons of fancy cable packages out there to choose from, it’s no wonder Americans are spending an arm and a leg every month on cable.  Think about it-if you’re really serious about saving money, will cutting out the 300 plus channel plan really make a huge impact on your entertainment life?  You can still watch your weekly shows, you just may not have access to all of the fancy channels.  What will you have instead? An extra $50 to $100 in your pocket each month-over a year, that could lead to an extra $1200!

4. Cut out the lottery tickets

Sure, we all have the faint hope, somewhere in the back of our mind, that one day we will “hit the jackpot” and win that $20 million lottery.  The truth is, if you’re really looking to save money, consider this:  the odds of winning the Mega Millions are 1 in 135,145,920.  With people spending up to $150 per year in some states on lottery tickets, the odds that you will get that $150 back are slim to none.  Anything is possible, but when you’re serious about pinching pennies, play the odds that are in your favor-and skip on the lottery tickets.

5. Ask yourself where you get your news-online or via the paper?

Many Americans enjoy the morning ritual of reading the morning paper; however, many people find that their morning paper goes straight to the recycle bin.  As the world has moved to the Internet, more and more people get their news via websites that they check on a daily basis.  Ask yourself this important question-do you really read the paper every morning?  If you find yourself using the Internet for your daily news updates, consider canceling your subscription.  Over time, the money you were spending to actually fill your recycle bin will start to actually fill your wallet instead.

In order to fix the financial mess we are in, we must look at how we as a nation got here.  The changes we must all make are deep.  We must examine the habits that we have exercised every day; maxing out credit cards, buying the expensive cars, spending more then we make, and living outside our means.  This behavior cannot continue, as we have recently learned that the markets and our economy cannot support or sustain this way of life.

This sad reality check has proven that we as a country are a true debtor nation.  From the government down to the individual, we have issues with borrowing way more then we ever should.  Since the government borrows excessively on a regular basis, why can’t we place the blame on them?  Well, that is one way to look at it; however, the financial responsibility of every individual is on the individual.  Accountability is key here.

So what do we need to do?  Well, borrowing money to buy something you truly cannot afford is no longer an option.  Never again will Americans who cannot afford a true mortgage get a loan.  This was ridiculous in the first place.  But like our President said, in those days, reform was not a priority.  Well, not reform is a priority.  Every time you are about to make a purchase and pull out your credit card and NOT your debit card, you need to truly ask yourself, “is this something I need?  Is the reason I am using the credit card because I cannot pay cash for the item?”  If this is the case, then you should reconsider.  Many Americans took into no fax payday loans and failed to pay them back.

As Americans, we have always enjoyed the spoils of the best and the nicest things.  We have to realize the days of enjoying these things without consequence are over. It is inevitable that living outside an individual’s or a country’s means will come back to bite you.  No one will continue to supply you with loans if you only take news loans to pay off the old ones.