Saving habit is not only for those who lost their job or have a big family. It is a good habit that everyone should have, even single earners. Everyone has his own way to save money. Here are some ideas I have applied:

Every now and then, check your bank accounts and credit card statements to see what you pay regularly. Chances are high that you can find something you don’t really need, such as subscription to magazine, newspaper, auto club, travel insurance, even fitness programs. I used to subscribe to these things until one day I asked myself, “why waste money for things I don’t need?” The truth is, I don’t even have time to read magazines or newspapers, online versions are more than enough. And why would I need things like travel insurance? Any airfare purchases with a credit card are already covered! Obviously, those monthly subscriptions are a total waste.

You should realize that most banking services nowadays are free, from checking account to bill payments, it’s very competitive now. So if you’re paying a monthly fee for any banking services, try switch to a free option. Shop around until you get it, because banks already make money out of your balance, they shouldn’t charge extra for those services.

Negotiate to get better deals. If you carry a credit card balance, try negotiate with your credit card company to lower the interest rate. While there’s no guarantee they’ll do, but it’s worth trying. Similarly, your car insurance may be lower if you shop around or negotiate with your insurance company directly. If they want your loyalty, they may very well re-consider their position.

If you don’t watch TV often, you may consider downsizing your cable package. Most people subscribe to larger package than they can have time to enjoy. Theoretically, you can only watch 1 channel at a time, so a few channels should be enough to switch around with your remote. Of course, with boring TV programs, it’s never ever enough! So if you subscribe to ALL available channels, it’s not going to satisfy your entertainment needs. Think about it, if you want a few good movies a month, why not get them from NetFlix for like $5 a month? Most cable packages are well above $20 a month.

If you happen to make long distance phone calls a lot, prepaid phone cards are always cheaper than any packages your local phone company can offer. I make a few calls a month to other states as well as other countries, and it costs me only around $5 a month. While any packages from my local phone company already cost $7 basic fee, even if I don’t make any call.

If you have kids, you may realize that they get bored of new toys pretty quickly. It’s a real waste of money to shop for toys every week. You may have to be more creative, like turning old toys into new ones, or buy used toys instead. Or if possible, try exchange your toys with other parents.

I bet sometimes you would find that clothes and shoes are just too expensive. If you live a simple life, you may want to consider buying them second hand from local thrift stores. If you spend some time shopping, there are always quality stuffs for a small fraction of the price. Most of these thrift stores also carry other useful stuffs such as kitchenware. They’re not much different from the brand new ones, yet they cost much less.

If you still go to dry-cleaners often, perhaps it’s time to do the laundry yourself? Most clothes aren’t required to be dry-cleaned. Even if they’re, a simple hand-wash and hang-dry should do the job. Pressing your own clothes should take only a few minutes but saves you big money.

Another common sense, try limit your eat-out or take-out dinners. Unless you really hate cooking, it should be quite simple and save you money. I used to go out to lunch every working day, driving 6-mile round-trip to get a fast food meal. After a while I realized that not only I spent lunch money but gas and mileage as well. So I started to bring lunch since then, just simple stuffs like homemade sandwich or even cup noodles. Not only I save money, I even save some time to surf the Internet and write this.

Lastly, it’s the gasoline that bothers everyone. So we all think of the options to save gas. Unless you can get rid of your car altogether and take a bus, you can cut down your gas consumption by driving within speed limit, trade in your big SUV for a sub-compact, and organize your outgoing trips so you don’t run around for nothing. Gasoline is not the only form of energy you can save, you can also save on other utility bills as well. Try take shorter shower at home and switch your light bulbs to compact florescent kind and save your electricity cost.

These are ideas from the top of my head. If you have any other ideas or opinions, I would appreciate it very much if you could share. Thanks!