by Alesandro Sironi

Created on: April 17, 2009   Last Updated: April 23, 2009

So, you want to know how to save some money? Well then let me tell you how I manage to save hundreds of dollars a month without too many sacrifices.

One of the easiest things you can do is to keep an eye on your grocery shopping. Let me Explain.

Whenever someone goes to the supermarket they always splurge their hard earned money on impulse purchases. You can limit these by making a list before leaving your home and sticking to it. This might seem like a childish idea, but if you stick to the list then you will save a lot of money.

Secondly, when you are in an isle at the supermarket don't just take the first things you see. Market research proves that people buy the first thing they see, that is why the most expensive items are found at eye level. Be sure to look on top/bottom shelves for those cheaper brands. They taste the same but cost a fraction of the price.

On that same subject, the brands with shiny, colorful packages are also more expensive. The more complex a package is the more expensive it is. Are you really willing to pay twice as much for a shiny box?

One of the more drastic approaches is to limit all snacks. These are usually very unhealthy and very expensive. By eliminating (or at least limiting) these purchases you will save a whole lot more. Eliminate all ready meals, especially frozen ones. Fresh ingredients are a whole lot healthier, they taste better, and much cheaper. If time is an issue, keep in mind that a normal home cooked meal doesn't take any more than 5 - 30 minutes to prepare (depending on how complex it is).

Another thing you can do is to leave the house with a limited amount of cash, limited only to your daily requirements. Let me try to clear things up. If on a certain day you intend to purchase X amount of items then only bring enough money to pay for that and only that. That way you won't be tempted to buy anything else. Whenever you get home make sure you take all small change out of your pockets and put them in a jar/piggy bank.

Limit the times you eat out at restaurants/fast food restaurants. These are money vacums, people always tend to buy more than they actually want just because everything tastes so good.

Another little piece of advice is to NEVER buy new DVD's,CD's, Videogames etc. These can cost up to $60-$70 each, if you buy them used you can get them for about half as much, if not less.

Lastly, and this is most likely one of the best money saving tips. Try to buy things off ebay. I buy most of the things I need from there. I usually go to stores, try things on to find out my size, and that evening I check them out on ebay to see if it would cost me less. Everything I need to buy I always double check on the net.

In one year i saved thousands of dollars following these simple tips.

I hope they can be as useful to you as they were to me.

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