Do you want to save money on living expenses without threatening your lifestyle? Here are 10 ways to free up money in your budget with minimal sacrifice, and in many cases, with no sacrifice at all:

1. Mail movie delivery service:
Cut your service down to the lowest plan that will still give you the ability to watch unlimited movies instantly on your computer.

2. Cable:
Cut out any additional movie channels that you can live without, or all of them if you have a movie delivery service or if you frequent a video store.

3. Bundle:
Reorganize your home computer, Internet, and television to one provider. They usually have a bundle discount and a minimal, or zero, cost to switch services.

4. Light bulbs:
Each time you buy light bulbs, replace the old ones with Compact Fluorescent Light Bulbs (CFLs). They use only about 1/4 of the energy of standard bulbs, and they last 10 times as long. Over time, you will save money not only on bulbs, but also on the electricity you pay for lighting and on your cooling/air-conditioning since CFLs create much less heat.

5. Credit Card Transfers:
Take the time to move your debt around via credit card transfers. You will almost always reduce the interest rate you are paying, and the transfer also counts as a "payment," giving you a month off of the credit card minimum payment.

6. Hair:
Since hairstyling can cost into the triple digits (especially for women), lengthen the frequency between appointments by hitting a low budget place to get a trim. Your hair will look and feel freshly done for a fraction of the price, and you'll need fewer high-dollar appointments.

7. Car washes:
Take it down one notch from the full service wash to the drive-thru at a gas station (and the wash is often free with a fill-up). Take it down another notch by going to a self-serve coin wash. And bottom notch: There's always the hose.

8. Telephone:
If you have a land line, you can bring a regular, ever-fluctuating, complicated phone bill of $50-$75 a month right down to around $25-$30 a month flat by switching to a broadband Internet connection service. You'll get all of the same services, and never have to check anything on your bill again except the bottom line total.

9. Grocery and household items:
There are several items with which you really can't go wrong purchasing at a 99-or-less store: Cleaning products, shampoo (not conditioner), detergents, soap, many paper products, and household items such as gloves, small house tools, and stationery items. You would be hard pressed to walk out of a grocery store with 10 of these items for $10.

10. Medical expenses:
If it hurts to pay your monthly health insurance premium, do two things: First, run to get a Health Savings Account (HSA). This is an interest-bearing account to which you make tax-deductible contributions and tax-free withdrawals to cover many medical expenses not covered by your insurer, usually including co-pays and medications (prescriptions and over-the-counter) among many other items. Then, raise your deductible and lower that monthly premium. You'll be investing the money tax-free plus making money on it instead of paying more to the insurance company. And at the end of the year, unused portions can be applied to your retirement. Win/win!

Learn more about this author, Heather Kindberg.
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