Three Money Saving Tips

1. Combine your services and save some money. For about $100 a month, you can get cable or satellite TV, local and long-distance telephone service, plus high-speed Internet service. This is more often than not cheaper than it would cost for each service separately. The best money saving tips will give you more for less. Of course you will need to call your local phone provider or cable company to see the deals that are offered because every area is a bit different.

An added benefit to bundling your services is you will only need to pay just one bill, and you will have just one company to call if you have any issues.


2. If you have a good cell phone plan and you tend to use your cell phone the majority of the time, get rid of your land line. Depending on how much your land line bill is a month you could be saving about $50 a month. I recently did this. I was rarely using my home home and paying close to $50 a month for it. By getting rid of my land line I am saving myself $600 a year.

3. If you don't already have one get a library card. Rather than buying books or DVDs you will only look at once borrow them for free. Libraries also have magazines and newspapers, so you can save money on subscriptions as well. Libraries are also great sources of free entertainment. Check with your own local library but most offer book clubs and children programs that you can join for free.

Save Money and Energy

Batteries
After you take a dying battery out of a digital camera, try to use it in a low-energy appliance, such as an alarm clock, or remote control.

If you have kids with lots of electronics consider investing in rechargeable batteries. It’s not uncommon for a good brand of rechargeable batteries to last for 5years. Imagine how much you’d be saving over time.

Electricity
Think about getting a power strip for all of your electronics that are in your living room, and then turn it off when you go to bed.

When you’re not in a room turn the lights off.

When the weather is nice hang your clothes out on a line to dry.

Replace your incandescent bulbs with compact fluorescent bulbs. CFL’s use a lot less energy than the traditional incandescent bulbs and they also last longer.

Save Money - Homemade Cleaners

A great way to save extra money is by making your own household cleaners. If you have kids or a large family you've likely invested a small fortune into household cleaning products. An added benefit to making your own cleaners is you're being kind to the environment as all of the ingredients are safe and natural.

An added benefit to making your own cleaners is you're being kind to the environment as all of the ingredients are safe and natural. Some of the ingredients you'll use most often when making your own cleaners are baking soda, vinegar, borax, and club soda. Going green is a huge deal right now. Companies are making products they claim to be "green" and "earth friendly" but charging a fortune for them. Ounce for ounce homemade cleaning formulas will cost about 1/10th of the price of commercial products.

If you want to get started saving money and helping the environment by making your own household cleaners here are a few websites I have found to be helpful.

1. MakeYourOwnCleaners.com - offers free cleaner recipes and general cleaning tips.

2. EarthEasy.com - a list of easy to use natural alternatives for several cleaning products as well as recipes for homemade cleaners.

3. EcoCycle.org - a list of cleaner recipes as well as tips on how and where to use these products.

I hope you find these sites to be of help to you if you are interested in making your own cleaning products and being a little kinder to our environment. If you have your own recipes or tips feel free to post them.