Grab some visine! Here are some things I have done and hope that you can do the same!
You can call your credit card company- assuming you have a balance- and ask them to lower your interest rate. Most companies are willing to rather than lose you to another company. If they will not then look around. Find one that has a lower interest and no fee for transfering balances.
I also was able to borrow money from a family member so I could lower our interest even more!!!! We recieved the check in the CC statement for 3.4% for the remainder of our balance. I paid off the balance and then wrote the check to my family member and it has saved us over $80 a month on interest that goes straight to the balance. Only bad thing- actually good thing- is that if I use our CC now the new purchases get a higher interest rate and that balance will not get paid off until the lower interest rate balance does. So that interest will majorly add up- needless to say we no longer use this card!!!!
We only use our CCs for emergencies and for internet charges and our IPass. Other than that if we can not pay cash it is not something we need!
Go back to the basics! Cook "old school"! Make foods from scratch and you can save a bunch! I now buy cheaper cuts of meats and put those in the crock pot to make them more tender. Add you veggies and you can have a great HEALTHY meal for much less! The nice thing about this is you can also lower your medical costs by eating more healthy!
I also drive further to get better prices on my groceries. I drive 45 mins but save a considerable amount each week compared to shopping at Dominicks and Jewel and even Super Walmart!!!!! Try to shop with a list so you do not impulse shop! Set your limit of what you can spend each week. If you beat it all month long treat yourself to something small!
If you "must" go out to eat go to Restaurant.com and get a gift certificate that you can print out on your printer. It will cost you $10 for a $25 certificate. So you can save a considerable amount of money in the long run if you need to go out to dinner.
Check out Freecycle.org. You can get lots of nice things for FREE! You can also get rid of things that you have that are just collecting dust!The concept of this site is to keep things out of the landfills. I have gotten rid of all kinds of things from clothes to a tuba! I have also gotten some toys for my daughter this way that I would otherwise not be able to splurge on! Check it out!
Some really cheap things I have recently done is cut up old towels and use those instead of buying papertowels for wiping up spills! We used to buy 2 large packs of Bounty each month and now we buy one about once every other month. I am also looking into making my own cleaning products- vinegar or amonia and water etc.... trying to learn to save!!!
Rather than go to Blockbuster go to your library. You can get some movies usually from there for free! Also watch the newspaper for free entertainment in your area or surrounding areas. Lots of times park districts will have doings as well as library and things. Pull out board games and things you used to do YEARS ago as a family for entertainment!
I have also checked my cell phone compared to other companies. I have recently checked our plan and searched around for the best deal.... I am now saving $45 a month on that! And you get to keep your phone number so you do not have to worry about that! If you do not want to change usually the threat that you will because of the cost will make them change your rate plan and sometimes even get a new phone in the process!
Check out your cable, internet and phone bundle packages. I used to have basic internet and cable, our local phone service and AT&T for long distance. Our total for that was over $225 a month- INSANE!!! I went with the bundle 2 years ago. Saved a ton of money! Well then it went up and with the economy where it was I had to look around. I called Comcast and told them I was leaving if they could not lower my bill to what they give to new customers. The did. That saved me $50 a month and they actually upgraded my cable!
We actually HAD to get rid of one vehicle. The other one we downsized and got one that was more economical. I wish I could say that we saved money in gas but the prices kept on climbing! But now that they are going back down again we are not looking at it as money we are saving.... we are putting that towards a bill and not blowing it. Same with the insurance on the second car that we had.
The savings will really add up! I think the biggest thing to doing all this is rewarding yourself also. Just like on a diet... this one a money diet! If you do not get to splurge every once in awhile you will blow it all! Make sure you reward yourself for doing well!
Good luck in finding ways to save and putting that money towards investments! I have been pondering asking this question myself and am glad you did it(Although right now I can not afford to invest except for in today lol)! I also just signed up for cheapskate.com! Thanks for putting that out there! I am proud to be cheap now a days!
Blessings to you!