The holidays are slowly approaching us and that means many of you will be dishing out money for presents. When it became all about the presents I have no idea but with the way the economy is finding that money isn’t going to be easy.
Billshrink.com has a few tips to help us find more money for the holidays… or really for anything. Here is the first tip…
Tip #1 Lay Off the Starbucks = $160 savings over next few months
A tall coffee at Starbucks approaches $2.00. If you drink one of those every weekday, you’re spending $10 a week, $40 per month and roughly $520 per year. (And this is one of the cheapest items at Starbucks!)
If you absolutely need a caffeine fix every day, consider making your own coffee. After about $15 to buy the coffee maker and the filters, a bag of coffee only costs $8 and will keep you awake for weeks.
If you’re not a coffee drinker, see what other “daily luxuries” you may enjoy. Whether it’s micro-brewed beer, gourmet chocolates or a Ben & Jerry’s addiction, cutting back — or substituting a cheaper alternative — can easily buy a few gifts for the family.
I am guilty of this but my fix is Dunkin Donuts. After reading this I thought about how much I spend. I buy at least 1 small cup of dunkin donuts coffee every day and always something yummy to go along with it. I spend at least $3.00 a day, $15.00 a week, $60 a month and roughly $720 a year. OMG that’s crazy!! And to think I do this sometimes more than one time a day. So from now until Christmas, if I cut out my daily Dunkin Donuts run I will save about $240.
Good advice. I wish I had something to cut out. LOL… I make coffee at home already, but I probably could buy a less expensive brand.
That would work too!!! If your aren’t that particular you could just buy the brand on sale each time.
My DH likes to have “gourmet coffee” at home, that is, something beyond the regular stuff he can get free at work. I’ve found some nice bags of coffee for sale in the strangest places, like Ocean State Job Lot.
There is also a Dunkin Donuts next door to my daughter’s gym class, and we’ve finally cut down on the habit of visiting there frequently by buying a prepaid DD card at BJs. I think it’s $14.50 for a $15 card, which isn’t a huge savings, but it also takes a lot of forethought to purchase the card, which helps keep our spending in check.