{"id":817,"date":"2011-07-21T12:40:35","date_gmt":"2011-07-21T19:40:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nebulous-oyster.flywheelsites.com\/blog\/?p=817"},"modified":"2020-01-14T21:51:24","modified_gmt":"2020-01-15T05:51:24","slug":"30-ways-save-100","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jennifermargulis.net\/30-ways-save-100\/","title":{"rendered":"30 Ways to Save $100"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"30<\/a><\/p>\n

Who doesn’t want to save $100? I’m not sure America ever got out of the recession in the first place, so I find it perplexing to hear people in 2011 anxious about a “double dip.” Aren’t we still dipped pretty far down?<\/p>\n

More than 44 million people living in America have no health insurance.\u00a0There’s a homeless woman begging in Ashland with a puppy and a hugely pregnant belly.<\/p>\n

My daughter’s friend’s mom confided her family gets most of their meals from a food bank in order not to foreclose on their house.<\/p>\n

My son’s friend’s dad, who has two masters degrees, is waiting tables because work is so scarce.<\/p>\n

We may not be as bad off as Greece but economically things suck in this country. “Suck” is a relative term, of course. America is not Niger, where people are rail thin because they don’t have enough to eat and being fat is a sign of prosperity and beauty. Ashland is not Kauai, where locals keep the deer population in check by hunting them for food.<\/p>\n

But even in our prosperous town in the mountains in Oregon people are having a really hard time.<\/p>\n

A friend’s friend confided he is going to move his family to Portland in search of better services for his troubled and violent son and more lucrative employment.<\/p>\n

After seven years working at a hotel in Ashland it’s all he can do to pay the rent.<\/p>\n

Compared to many, our family is lucky.<\/p>\n

We own our own house.<\/p>\n

We don’t owe money on student loans.<\/p>\n

My mom helps us pay for one of our children to go to private school.<\/p>\n

But James and I don’t have health insurance. We can’t drive anywhere all together unless it’s within biking distance without renting a car since ours is a compact that seats five and there are six of us now.<\/p>\n

And we have credit card balances we can’t pay off. The savings we once had are tied up in our house, the value of which has steadily declined since we bought it.<\/p>\n

I feel so grateful for what we have (and for Mr Visa for financing us when the first installment of my book<\/a> advance runs out), but I also find it hard not to obsessively worry about finances, especially at 4:00 a.m.<\/p>\n

During a recent bout of insomnia<\/a> I started thinking about how our family has been cutting back. We’ve found many ways to save $100.<\/p>\n

Here are 30 ways to\u00a0<\/strong>save $100:<\/strong><\/h3>\n

1. Cancel your gym membership<\/strong>
\nSavings $80\/month
\nPros: You workout more outside, and learn how to be your own gym<\/a>
\nCons: No more Zumba classes<\/p>\n

2. Give recycled gifts<\/a><\/strong>
\nSavings: $50\/month
\nPros: The book you read once, the candle from Aunt Esther, one of the 400 stuffies on your daughter’s bed bring joy to someone else
\nCons: Some friends expect packaged new stuff, made in China, off-gassing a bonus<\/p>\n

3. Borrow books from the library<\/strong>
\nSavings: $60\/month if you read a lot
\nPros: Trees saved
\nCons: Small town libraries may not own the book you want, long waiting lists, a prescribed time to finish the book<\/p>\n

4. Don’t use disposable diapers<\/a><\/strong>
\nSavings: $1000\/year plus cost of gas to get to the store
\nPros: Cloth or diaper free is healthier for baby
\nCons: More laundry<\/p>\n

5. Return deposit bottles<\/strong> (and bring back your neighbors’ if they are putting them in the trash or recycling)
\nSavings: $2\/week
\nPros: Bonding time with your 7-year-old collecting bottles together
\nCons: Being mistaken for a hobo when you show up with a wagon full of returnables<\/p>\n

6. Ride your bike to work<\/strong>
\nSavings: $50\/week
\nPros: Built-in exercise! Ability to weave in traffic! More outside time!
\nCons: Sweat on your work clothes.<\/p>\n

7. Breastfeed<\/strong>
\nSavings: At least $1,000\/year (see a sample calculation\u00a0here<\/a>)
\nPros: Better for the baby<\/a> and the mom
\nCons: Dad can’t do it (but he can<\/em> feed the baby pumped breast milk)<\/p>\n

8. Use maps, calendars, or newspaper to wrap gifts<\/strong>
\nSavings: $5\/month
\nPros: It’s artistic!
\nCons: Lumpy<\/p>\n

9. Make a digital copy of all your CDs and then sell them<\/strong>
\nSavings: $3-$5\/CD
\nPros: Less stuff in your house
\nCons: Time-consuming at first to set up an eBay account<\/p>\n

10. Cancel your cell phone<\/a><\/strong>
\nSavings: $60\/month
\nPros: No brain cancer
\nCons: No phone chats at the supermarket or to call 911 when there’s a flasher on the bike path (yes, this happened and yes, they caught the guy)<\/p>\n

11. Reuse birthday candles <\/strong>
\nSavings: $1.50\/birthday (x 6 birthdays = $9\/year)
\nPros: You won’t have to remember to buy candles for months
\nCons: They get shorter each time you use them.<\/p>\n

12. No caf\u00e9 coffee<\/strong>
\nSavings: $3\/day, $21\/week, $1092\/year
\nPros: No more cups in the landfill, bonding with your husband as you drink home brewed coffee together
\nCons: Severe longing for Noble Coffee<\/a><\/p>\n

13. Don’t shower every day<\/a><\/strong>
\nSavings: 45 gallons of water per 15 minute shower, savings vary by state and region
\nPros: Better for your skin
\nCons: You smell more … Human.<\/p>\n

14. Brush your teeth with baking soda<\/a><\/strong>
\nSavings: $3.00\/tube of toothpaste
\nPros: No carcinogen exposure or packaging
\nCons: salty!<\/p>\n

15. Eat less<\/strong>
\nSavings: $10\/week
\nPros: You live longer, feel healthier, and lose weight
\nCons: Stomach rumbling<\/p>\n

16. Buy drugstore candy to sneak into the movies<\/strong>
\nSavings: $2.50\/movie
\nPros: The thrill of being sneaky
\nCons: Having to plan ahead<\/p>\n

17. Don’t buy a crib for the baby<\/strong>
\nSavings: $300
\nPros: Snuggling in your bed, easier to breastfeed, baby sleeps better and feels safer
\nCons: Need to use the guest bed or couch for adult horizontal playtime<\/p>\n

18. Swap clothes with friends instead of buying new stuff<\/strong>
\nSavings: $100\/two months
\nPros: Pesticide residues already washed off, pre-loved clothes are softer
\nCons: Harder to find a power suit in your size<\/p>\n

19. Clean your own house<\/strong>
\nSavings: $240\/ month
\nPros: Um?
\nCons: The toilet bowl<\/p>\n

20. Hire teens to do yard work and babysitting<\/strong>
\nSavings: $10\/hour
\nPros: Easier to be directive with someone less experienced
\nCons: He mows down your blueberry bush<\/p>\n

21. Read your medical bills for errors<\/strong>
\nSavings: $100-$1,000\/bill
\nPros: Up to 80 percent have them
\nCons: It’s no fun to fight with the hospital or insurance company<\/p>\n

22. Take your own family photos<\/strong>
\nSavings: $200\/year
\nPros: You’re a photographer!
\nCons: Kids behave better with strangers and it’s hard to get yourself in the photo on time without mussing up your hair<\/p>\n

23. Hire a research assistant from the local college in exchange for course credit<\/strong>
\nSavings: $90\/week
\nPros: They get valuable life experience, you don’t pay $110\/audio hour for transcriptions
\nCons: Time-consuming training<\/p>\n

24. Don’t use paper towels<\/strong>
\nSavings: $1.50\/meal if you clean like my MIL used to
\nPros: Less trash
\nCons: Need to find a dishrag to wipe your hands<\/p>\n

25. Have your 4 kids share a room so you can have a home office<\/strong>
\nSavings: $300\/month
\nPros: They learn to get along
\nCons: Friends and family criticize you because “kids need their privacy”<\/p>\n

26. Borrow a friend’s dress to wear to a cocktail-attire award ceremony<\/strong>
\nSavings: $100
\nPros: No time wasted shopping
\nCons: It looks better on her (she’s almost six feet tall and blond and everything looks better on her)<\/p>\n

27. Use sharing sites on the Internet to access movies you want to see<\/strong>
\nSavings: $4\/movie
\nPros: Many movies aren’t available
\nCons: They take forever to download plus you may be committing a Federal offense<\/p>\n

28. Have home dates<\/strong>
\nSavings: a small fortune ($20+ for the sitter + the $ for the activity)
\nPros: You don’t have to wear heels
\nCons: You fall asleep putting the baby to bed by mistake and there goes your date<\/p>\n

29. Find a goal buddy instead of paying for a professional coach<\/strong>
\nSavings: $100\/hour
\nPros: You help motivate someone else as much as she helps motivate you
\nCons: Finding the right match<\/p>\n

30. Spend time outside instead of taking vitamin D supplements<\/strong>
\nSavings: $13.95\/bottle
\nPros: Sunlight makes you happier
\nCons: Harder in the wintertime<\/p>\n

Readers, I’d like to hear from you! Are you feeling the pinch of this endless recession? What are your best tips about how to save money in our down economy?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Published: July 21, 2011
\nUpdated: January 15, 2020<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Who doesn’t want to save $100? I’m not sure America ever got out of the recession in the first place, so I find it perplexing to hear people in 2011 anxious about a “double dip.” Aren’t we still dipped pretty far down? More than 44 million people living in America have no health insurance.\u00a0There’s a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":8035,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":""},"categories":[104,8162],"tags":[149,150,105],"yoast_head":"\n30 Ways to Save $100, How to Fill Your Wallet in a Down Economy<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Are you worried about money? Are you living paycheck to paycheck? 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