“You are smart, but lazy” is an assessment many of us heard before. When we were in school, laziness cost us high grades and when we plunged in the business world, it probably cost us a promotion.
“It’s no big deal,” you might say. But if we were to somehow stop being lazy, these 19 money leaks might just go away.
1. Unused Gift Cards
For those of us who accumulated a bunch of gift cards at home, maybe it’s time that we sell (or use) some of them. They might be lost, forgotten or in some cases deemed worthless (Circuit City anyone?).
2. Free Offers That Expire
Sometimes, companies just offer free stuff on certain days. Recently, Denni’s offered free breakfast and Quiznos offered free subs. Most people just don’t bother with these free offers but you should really take advantage if you find out.
3. Old Stuff Collecting Dust in Your House
We all heard about selling old stuff on ebay but how many of you really tried?
4. Tax Refunds that People Don’t Claim
It’s amazing how some people don’t file taxes even though they can get a refund while others don’t even cash their checks. Filing taxes isn’t that hard so just get it done already.
5. Don’t Waste Reward Points
Whether it’s frequent flyer miles, credit card rewards or hotel loyalty programs, points expire. Periodically check on them to make sure you don’t waste any.
6. Cancel Memberships You Don’t Use
The biggest complaint about the companies giving out free credit reports is the fact that they enroll you into their monthly credit monitoring service. They definitely do what they can to hide this fact when you sign up but if you never check your credit card statement for a few months, don’t you think you should shoulder some responsibility? Go through the monthly statements every month to make sure you aren’t paying for recurring fees on services that you don’t need.
7. Credit Cards with Annual Fees
Unless you are after a specific card benefit, you really don’t need to pay for annual fees these days. Those who are still paying a yearly charge should consider calling the credit card company up to switch to a similar card with no annual fee.
8. Paying Interests Without Having To Do So
There’s the age old argument of using the money you borrow to make more than the interests of the loan but does this make sense for most people who aren’t sophisticated investors? Paying off our debt should always be the number one priority because some of us just don’t have the time to practice being effective investors. (Here are 25 more great ways to pay off your debt today.)
9. Those Coupons that You Forget to Bring
I remember several times when I clipped a coupon for a certain restaurant only to find out after dinner that I didn’t bring it with me. I started keeping them in my car (and some in my wallet too) so this scenario doesn’t happen again.
10. Small Purchases for Work that You Don’t Bother to Expense
I knew a few coworkers who would always buy supplies for the company and never bother to expense them. Their argument is always about how insignificant the amounts are, but the real reason is that they are just lazy. Over the years, I’m sure these added up to a sizable amount. It’s no wonder why my old boss keep getting richer and those coworkers stay poor.
11. Failure to Comparison Shop
It’s so easy to compare prices online these days that it’s ridiculous to just trust the advertisements stating how great the deal is. Do your homework and you could be saving hundreds (if not thousands) on the next big purchase.
12. Don’t Take the Time to Understand What You Are Buying
If you don’t really know why you are buying a certain product and what the options are before you step into the store, you wallet will lose weight faster than you can type jennycraig. Come on, it should be a fun exercise to find out more about what you are buying anyway. Save your money and just google it.
13. Never Bothering to Say “Thank You”
Why does this have anything to do with saving money? Don’t forget that promotions and opportunities are given by people. If you aren’t courteous and thankful, people won’t give you another break the second time around.
14. Selling Worthless Stock
The only good part about having worthless stock is that you can actually report it to the IRS to offset gains in other investments.
15. Not Putting Your Money Making Idea in Action
One of the most important lessons I learned in the last few years is to take action. You won’t succeed unless you give it a shot. Pursue your dreams.
16. Always Procrastinating and Paying Late Fees
Paying late fees is just unnecessary. This must be common sense but for those who don’t know, paying bills take just as much time to do as soon as you receive them than two months down the road when they are late.
17. Too Lazy to Plan Ahead
I wouldn’t consider myself a planner but even I know that you should buy a bigger carton of milk when you drink it everyday and a smaller box of eggs when they will go bad before you can finish them. How many times have you been too lazy to even think of your purchases and ended up paying for it emotionally and financially?
18. Not Being Organized
Remember the coupons? Do you actually organize them? How about all those bills that you could’ve deducted your taxes on? Invest a little time to get yourself organized. A side benefit could be happier housemates too.
19. Never Trying to Think of Free (Cheaper) Alternatives
Do you rent movies at your local shop but haven’t considered Redbox? Are you eating out everyday but never bother to try home cooking? (If so, you need to read this.) Do you always go to the same electronics store to buy everything without thinking?
One Last Note How Laziness is Losing You Money
“I don’t have enough time” is just an excuse for being lazy. Everyone has time to cook their own meals. Everyone has time to find the better deal and everyone has time to keep more money. If you don’t have time, make time.
{ read the comments below or add one }
It’s very weird that so many people still don’t do their research before buying something online. I don’t understand why you wouldn’t take 20-30 minutes to find the right kind of product at the best price possible? It makes no sense and yet so many just buy based on impulse, from the first shop they find.
Another thing I would do to make some nice extra money, and it’s not hard and doesn’t require much time: I would take 3-5% of my income and invest it into 20-30 different cryptocurrencies. I would do this monthly and expect to get a good ROI in 3-5 years. I wouldn’t follow the market at all because I’m not interested in the short term ups and downs. I would use money I can’t afford to lose (because there’s always a risk). What do you think? I think even lazy people can easily do this.
I should consider this an eye opener for those who think that laziness costs them only if they don’t get productive at their workplace. How about saving all of the money, which you can, by giving a bit of time and attention to most of things mentioned in this post?
Actually your own laziness costs “everyone” money… and it also “costs” the earth in many ways too… So it’s good you bring it to everyone’s attention… nice move.
These are good tips in general, but a lot of these items have to do with time, not laziness. The energy you don’t spend on clipping out coupons might be spent somehwere else. Failing to do these things might be a result of putting your effort elsewhere, not necessarily being lazy.
Wow, I hadn’t thought about these behaviors as being lazy before, but it kind of makes sense. You didn’t mention these but there’s two I always forget. One, I’m bad at mailing in rebates. Two, I’m bad at coming home from a restaurant and filling out that online survey which either earns me free stuff or enters me in a contest. On those two I guess I am fairly lazy, especially since they’re relatively easy to do.
4.Tax Refunds that People Don’t Claim – It’s amazing how some people don’t file taxes even though they can get a refund while others don’t even cash their checks. Filing taxes isn’t that hard so just get it done already.
Well first of all, if they are not filing taxes, they WILL end up going to jail so i have no sympathy there. Second of all, if they don’t want to cash that check, then give it to me as I will DEFINITELY cash that check. Again NO sympathy there.
No, if you’re getting a refund, you are NOT legally required to file. Obviously, you should, though, to get the refund.
On top of that, a lot of people don’t know if you are owed a refund you have 2 years to file. Believe me I have done this on more than one occasion and I have yet to file for a state return since 2002. The amount owed to me was less than $100.
These are great tips! Many of these suggestions could be applied to everyday life as well as running a business. Thanks for sharing!
I completely agree with this article. I use a money spending iphone app now (there’s several available – I use Spenz) and it really makes me aware of the ‘little’ spends here and there that add up. I also try and use my debit card wherever possible so I can always track my spending at the end of each month.
I look at the big pic. If I want to buy a coke at lunch or my meal if I do that everyday what would that cost me per month or year and it really makes u think when you see it in large numbers. At least it does me.
Another thing I find saves a lot of money (although it is saving through spending) is buying for stuff online. So many online stores offer CD’s/DVD’s/books/games at MUCH lower prices that brick and morter stores (and offer great variety as well). You may have to wait for delivery (as opposed to instant gratification) but finding at least a few reputable online stores pays for itself in dividends.
Reviewed my auto insurance. 10 years ago I might have needed towing and rental but own two vehicals now. Savings of almost 250.00 per year. Updated my cell phone plan and saved 25.00 a month. Just a couple of ways to save some pennies. Thank-you for posting this article it got me thinking.
Sorry, I just couldn’t resist adding one more: this is implied in a few of the items above, but I think spelling it out is important: put yourself on a budget. yes, that scary word, budget. Think of it more as a “plan” or a “strategy”. If you force yourself to track your spending in certain “buckets”, than you’ll be able to make adjustments when need be…..or even if need NOT be, even if you just want to accomplish a different financial goal. I’ve been budgeting since I was 14 yrs. old (yes, I was one of “those” kids) and regardless of income or the country/world’s economy, I will ALWAYS have a budget….at times more forgiving than others, depending on our needs. Why wouldn’t you want to track where all your money is going?. (is this just me being a numbers dork again?) : )
The one about eating out kills me. People complain about the recession and cutbacks, but continue to eat out very frequently. Cook, people, COOK… Not only will it NOT kill you, it will in fact IMPROVE your lifestyle and provide a fun creative outlet. Aaah. Drives me NUTS. (My husband and I are in a REAL recession, and cook a LOT…..we prepare ALL meals and snacks in our own kitchen. We eat out maybe once a month. We have found that over time we’ve become more creative and curious with different ingredients and spices, and now have a good “library” of go-to meals if we’re not feeling like thinking too much.)
I double the meals as it takes the same amount of gas or electricity to cook two (2) meatloaves or what ever you cook. Then I freeze one….. if you have one of those seal a meal or what ever they are called you can seal them without any freezer burn. In fact my sister did some cooking just like that on a much bigger scale for a reunion we had this year. I am reaping the benifits of this as she knew we were in need of Gro. and not feeling good from hospital stay. She cooked hamberger meat , chicken and broth, hot tamalies, and brisket. We have been eating on this for several months as I can take each meat and use in a dish of our choice. That has been a BLESSING from God and I praise him everyday for those blessing.
@Stevie: I couldn’t agree more about ADD and or ADHD. I was diagnosed and treated well into adulthood and and it was amazing. A lot of my “laziness” issues just spontaneously improved, or in some cases, completely evaporated. The scoffers and know-it-alls aren’t worth worrying about.
A good friend of mine is very active in her church and does all the planting and weeding of the church’s grounds. She always buys the new annuals and flats of seedlings every spring in addition to purchasing other stuff for the church, but never keeps track of those outlays of money so that she can take them off her income tax at year’s end. Bad enough that she doesn’t get reimbursed for her time (you can best believe that the pastor doesn’t offer to reimburse her for anything.) but even worse that she is too lazy (or afraid of the pastor.) to accumulate purchase receipts and ask for a roundup on the church’s letterhead at tax time.
U know we give our time to the church not because we have to but because we want to. That is doing something for the Lord. With all he did for us how could I complain about money and time I spent in making the Lords house look nice, I have helped mow the lawn just so our pastor would not have to. Some pastors like ours works at another Job as the church is not big enough to support him. He has even paid the Insurance on the church building himself because we had spent the money helping others. God will bless him I know. I really feel that we should give 10% of our time as well as that of what we earn. I feel bad that I do not give more time to God’s work even tho I know that he will bless me. Sorry that this is so long but I truly believe God’s work is the most important thing we could ever do even if it is cleaning the bathrooms or mowing the lawn. He gave his ONLY SON so that I might live how many of you would give your child in that manner. Not me so I Praise God for what he did and I want to do all I can to help God’s work. Thanks for reading. 🙂
Ruth, you’ve got a great heart just as Ruth in the bible did for Naomi. Love ya!
I was going to put a reply that was thoughtful and had lots of deep meaning, but I am to lazy to type it all out.
That made me laugh!!
Gift cards are a bigger issues than people realize. More often or not, people are not using them. This is why companies LOVE to sell them. It’s like free money to them, since quite a few don’t get redeemed. Also, with many companies filing bankruptcy or going out of business, those gift cards may end up worthless if you hold on to them for too long.
Surprised that some ppl are too lazy to collect their pay checks LOL…Thats lazy.
I use to be very lazy and now I’m fantastic…erhm, not yet :)..but I’m not that lazy anymore. I just went and made a 25 step plan in a txt file of things I really should optimally do, like sell out junk, move to a better place, get a new job etc and then put a deadline on each. Just dream about it and write it down. Then put a realistic deadline on it, moving house takes 6-12 if its owned and 2-4 if its rented plus complications. Its now been 2yrs since I did that, and Ive actually mananged to do 8 of the 25 things I set out todo within 18 optimal months. Not good if Im perfect, but Im not and its WAY better than 0 of 25. Then just make another txt with DoneStuff and cutpaste the done deeds over there and adjust the dream list. The fun thing is making the dream list, its so damn nice a job, that it wont feel like a chore. It matters not if its small things or big things, just take out the points one by one and if it makes you uneasy to do so, its often a sign of what you are doing is right, getting out of the comfort zone.
I sold inheritaged stuff I was attached to and it felt awful, but I never used it, so after a while it was what was right. I got a new job in another part of the country. Didnt lose all my old friends, but kept the ones that apparantly was worthing keeping(note to self: good way to find out who that really was btw..)
For my money stuff, I actually paid a guy I knew through a friend, $200, one time only, to help me clean up my economy and I found out that in taxes I could collect an extra $120 a year from deduction loan interests…score.
All he was, was a banker dude, who read a monthly economy magazine and knew a little bit about tax laws, just an amateur, but it was real what he told me and paid off in just 2 seasons even if we didnt find anything else.
PS: The lighten-the-car option is a really good tip, especially if you have a pickup with junk in the back. If cars are cheap in your country buy 2 cars and use a small jap thing for daily A-to-B driving and keep the other for only the special uses.
I run a small non-profit and to make ends meet I must be a dutiful and every-penny-counts scrounger. It works. Nothing is wasted. I recycle padded mailers, turn old printouts into scrap paper, keep the broccoli rubber bands and reuse them in the office, etc etc etc. I use the coupon cards from the office store on sale items which I need.
I do agree that saying thank you is probably the most important item on the list. People make donations and I send a hand-written thank you to everyone regardless of the size of their donation. When someone includes a note to not send a receipt I still send a thank you with an eCard. It’s very important to show your appreciation when someone does something nice for you. Someone who sends in a buck or two may be scraping that out of their budget and that means a lot to me. If I don’t send a thank you note I feel guilty about it–not just because my Mom taught me good manners, but because my thoughtlessness could be interpreted as me not giving a hoot about the donor–and that costs me future donations.
The author’s heart is in the right place, but some of these suggestions miss an important point: there’s nothing wrong with spending money to escape a chore. To say, for example, that not clipping coupons is a matter of laziness costing you money, is just like saying that highering a maid to clean the house is a cost of laziness.
Of course I could save money by cooking my own meals instead of eating out, but isn’t the point of that money to make my life enjoyable by allowing me to do things I like (such as eating out) and and avoid things I don’t like (such as clipping coupons)?
Um … I’m pretty sure “dodging chores” counts as “laziness”, Richie 🙂
Whether you justify it by “making your life more enjoyable”, it still counts. It’s a matter of caring about your future happiness, when the money runs out, most of it through forgotten “vampire” costs, rather than obvious big spends. Like maid service when you’re only really saving an hour or two of housework a week, or eating out all the time when home cooking doesn’t take THAT long and can be quite enjoyable. (Food prepared by others is pretty costly, unless you’re only ever eating from McDonalds’ dollar menu)
Look, none of these money leaks matter unless you actually have a need of the money you are missing.
First, figure out how much you’ll need to retire on, then back-figure how much you need to contribute to investments between now and age 65 (or whatever your target is.
Does it look like you are currently on track? If so, there’s no need to worry about “leaking” money or money at all.
If you’re not so certain you are on track, then it would truly pay to see what the scale of correction is that you need. It’s entirely possible that rewards points on your credit card are not going to do it and you need to do something more major.
Start with the big picture–retirement–, add everyday/monthly living expenses, and see if you have enough money to fund both. If you do, then don’t worry about tiny little financial leaks.
I like the tip on learning to use the things you bought. I think we all have bought things we never learned how to use.
If I spent all my time watching every single penny, then I would be wasting much more: my energy, my focus, and my time…and for what…to get an extra few dollars a year that I know I’m going to blow on something else? Life is too short to spend it worrying about trivial matters. If you act smartly on the ‘big-ticket’ items: career, house, car, taxes (where the vast majority of your money is made or spent), then you’ll have plenty of money left over. I don’t advocate wasteful spending for the sake of spending, but this penny-pinching down to the smallest detail is just too much work and too much of a waste of my time.
Did you actually read this article? Few of these tips will only be saving you a few pennies, or even just a few dollars. And even if they’re each only, say, fifty bucks each, they’ll add up nicely…
One very important factor you have left out is Adult ADHD. This often mocked condition is a real, often debilitating illness. In fact, psychiatrists who know of the illness (As recognized in the DSM IV diagnostic book) don’t believe in “laziness” at all. People with ADHD are often told to “just get off your butt and do it.” This can be counterproductive, especially in young children who are made to think they are lazy and don’t apply themselves enough. I realize this post will invite the inevitable mockery, but this is a real illness with a defined, lengthy set of tests.
Well we’re here reading and commenting on this, aren’t we?
You may be conflating it a bit with depression, though… You can get plenty done with ADHD, just maybe not the right stuff. Depression, you tend to get nothing done.
Someone has to be lazy, I’ll just take that spot. Win some, lose some.
I love #18 about deducting bills from my taxes. Last tax season I spent two hours gathering bills and receipts for medical care. After over $5,000.00 in qualified expenses I saved a whopping $5.00 off my tax liability.
As for some of the other items on the list I’m sure that being a single dad (24/7) salaried-exempt slave where “40+” hours each week equals 60, 80, or more hours based on the “needs” of the company has nothing to do with it. I guess I should stop being so lazy and work harder.
These tips are nice for some people, but some of them do not make sense for everyone because it doesn’t consider the dollar value of someone’s time. I work at a law firm. If I skip making my lunch in the morning, I can bill an extra 15 minutes that day at $320 an hour. That’s $80 in 15 minutes. I can buy a whole lot of $5 footlongs for that 15 minutes of work.
If you take 5 minutes to pack a lunch and take a 10 minute lunch break in the office lunchroom to eat it you could save the 30-60 minutes to go out to eat. That means you could save the money you would have spent on lunch and still bill 15-45 more minutes.
Added bonus, the better nutrition of a typical packed lunch would mean better health and mental focus.
Exactly! What a gap in logic on tom’s part. Glad he is not my lawyer. Unless he was assuming that he just shouldn’t eat lunch at all.
Or maybe he just spends 30 seconds telling his paralegal what to order him for lunch and then the lunch just arrives at his desk. I guess that would be the only scenario that would make sense, under his argument.
I’m also assuming Tom doesn’t actually get paid $320 an hour and he has no one else who could make him lunch.
Oh, and paralegals don’t order lunch. That would make a dent in their $125/hour billng rate. Receptionists are usually stuck with that glamorous task.
Dude, if you’re making that much dollar, why are you even bothering to read this stuff? In a day’s billed work, you make what I do in a month. Learn to live extra-comfortably on, oh, a week’s earnings each month, and bank the other three in a long term, high interest savings bond. Have it mature when you’re 40 or so (or 50, 60, if you’re already of a more mature standing). Convert it into a decent annuity. Retire. Live it up.
BTW, that $1800-ish I have in mind covers a mortgage (only on an apartment, but it does me alright), household utility bills and taxes, food, social costs, and transport (a car AND a bike). $9000/month isn’t exactly going to be on the breadline. I’m thinking a decent 2-storey home with a pool out back and a nice, if not super flashy car on the drive, and never having to be concerned about how much it costs to fill your fridge with whatever you like.
if people don’t do the one thing — paying off their interest and any other debt (no matter how small) immediately — it’s no use doing anything else. they’ll forever wonder why they can’t get ahead.
Credit cards are like dynamite to a quarry man. If he uses too much, he blows himself up. If he don’t use enough, he won’t get the job done.
Banks love to give free stuff including money to those who DON’T need it.
I’m a real estate investor who self taught myself. I have 85 major credit cards & not 1 has an annal fee. However, I do have several that I must use x amount of times per year or they will charge a annal fee.
In addition to this I have not been charge 1 cent for interest in over 15 yrs. I can borrow up to $270,000 interest free for 30 days anytime I want simply by taking in all my credit cards & getting a 30 day interest free cash advance.
Now if I don’t pay x amount back in the 30 days, well then there is interest. So I always make sure they are paid at least 1 week before the due date.
Because my credit rating is so good a handful of my cards are constantly offering me 6 month 0% interest. I could easily roll a balance from 1 card where the 6 months was about to expire to another 1 & start the 6 months all over again. I could do this indefinitely.
Another perk I get is the credit card company’s give me a free hotel room about 4-6x’s a year. Good anywhere in the US & almost all if not all major cities included. They give me a choice of a number of quality hotels to pick from. They just give them to me randomly & they are 100% free except the tip for room service. I think each card does it randomly so it works out that out of the 85 cards I have I get between 4-6 a year total.
So this is how I make my $$$. I find a property that is being foreclosed. When I find a good 1 I haggle the price down as low as I can with the banks. (Generally 60%-70% of what they have listed. Never even 90%.) When we agree on a price which is always significantly lower than what the bank has listed I ask them how much more they will reduce it if I pay cash today?
This almost always gives me an additional 10% -15% off what we just agreed on.
I then go to a bank & pull out my credit cards & get the 30 day interest free signature loan & make the purchase.
From there I go to my bank & tell them I own a property (“free & clear” which it is) worth x amount (the banks listing price) & I tell them I want a 30 yr. mortgage for (amount I now owe credit cards + whatever I figure I’ll need to make complete & total repairs 100%.) This amount is always a fraction of the value of the property.
It takes the bank about a week to 10 days to issue me the loan at which time I pay off all the credit cards & hire all the contractors to get all the work done immediately.
Then I either sell it or rent it.
E-Z MONEY!
Aaron: The explanation of worthless stock from fool.com will give you what you need. (link). Hope this helps.
Hey David,
What did you mean about #14 Selling Worthless Stock. Does that mean your advice is to sell or not to sell? Plus how would you define “worthless”?
WOW…this is so true. It is sad to say that I have fallen under many of those categories at some point. Thanks for sharing.
I love tip 13. You never know when being appreciative of someone will come back to you in the future, plus good manners makes the world a better place.
On that note, thanks for reminding me I need to sort out my business expenses. 🙂
Nice work David.
My best tip is that I make a list every day and just check items off as I complete them. If I think about all the stuff that needs attention, I get stuck.
Focus on one day at a time. One task at a time. This helps.
I’m definitely better about all these things, but it took me years to get there. Using Microsoft money to track and review expenses and a good filing system helps to stay organized.
Nice list, it’s a good inspiration to think about the little things that add up over time.
Nice list.
#2 – There are circumstances in which the free food at Denny’s or Quizno’s won’t help you save. If you have to drive out of the way just to collect your free food, it might not be worth the gas. If you dine in, you have to tip. And if you go into Quizno’s for a free sub, you might end up buying a soup or soda (which is the grossest waste of money).
These companies are offering free things hoping to tempt their customers into their shops/restaurants and spending more. If you’re just going in and getting the one free sub, then that’s cool.
#3 – Listing all your old stuff on eBay may or may not pay off. You have to make sure the stuff is worth listing and has a good chance of selling. Those eBay listing fees, final value fees and PayPal fees really add up fast. Just because something sells doesn’t mean you make money.
#15 – That’s the big one for me and my sister. We have so many ideas in our heads for making money that we have a hard time just concentrating on getting one thing done at a time. Gotta work on that.
Alternative to e-bay & all those fees mentioned could be Craigslist. I never used e-bay, but used Craigslist many times for both buying & selling & it is totally free.
Regarding #15, I heard a very cool quote the other day that really hit home. It went something like this: ” Shorten the time between idea and action.”
Great.
I figured I would read the post… but for the most part I am pretty good with money so it wouldn’t do me any good.
#1, bang. Got me. I need to spend some gift cards later….
You can really lose money in so many ways. Being a lazy bum is one of them. Come to think of it. For example, you don’t have a car to get you to work so you take a cab because you’re too lazy to wake up early and catch up with the train or whatever. Which makes you spend more money.
Exactly. There are even more countless way to save money if you just do them.
1. Fuel Discount programs. A Kroger or City Market loyalty card can save you 10 cents a gallon. That is $1 to $2 per fill-up.
2. Frozen dinners can be just as good as eating out for half the price or less if you don’t know or like cooking.
3. Automatic reminders to pay bills so you never pay a late fee.
4. Since all generic medicines have the same active ingredient then switching from Brand Name medicines to generics will save you a ton of money. Beware that generic time-release formulas may not work the same as the brand name medicines.
5. Also, according to Consumer Reports, the Wal-Mart/Sam’s Clud brand mutli-vitamins and over the counter medicines are of good quality and they are much cheaper than the brand name.
6. For medicines that are brand name only then go to your web browser and type www. {insert your brand name medicine here} .com for discount cards and other offers. Some are discounts and some allow the first prescription to be free.
7. Unnecessary weight in the car trunk can hurt gas mileage. Empty the golf clubs from the trunk and gain dollars a year in gas savings.
8. Carpooling for work, even 1 day a week taking turns, can save up 3 to 10% on your fuel costs.
9. In inner cities where parking is expensive try the bus or train. It may not save you that much money but you gain some time to rest or get some work done since you aren’t the one fighting traffic. Also it saves on the wear and tear
10. Telecommuting, even 1 day a month, can save you 1 to 2 hours on that day, save on fuel costs, and allows you save wear and tear on your car.
I save 50 miles driving per day by taking the train. At $.50 per mile that’s $25/day I save. My ticket costs me $100 per month. If I only use it 4 days, it’s paid for. And the parking is free. I’d be crazy not to take the train.
And best of all, in many places that monthly public transit pass (train ticket) qualifies for a tax rebate.
You might save a little money, but what about piece of mind? Who wants to ride and wait for an icky train?
Chelle, it depends on what one considers as peace of mind. Taking the train, saving $, leaving much lesser carbon footprint… all these combined can also give you peace of mind. Taking the train also means, walking a few extra steps and moreover, with latest phones, many resort to using this time to read a book or teach themselves about something. I think we should all do our little bit to the society without forcing others. For you, you should continue to use the car but you can try car pooling. Rest of us can hop into your car or take public transport. Basically, everyone can do what they like, car, bus and still contribute to the world…
I wish my home and work were still close enough to train stations that I could do this, with a quarterly season ticket too… It worked very well wayback. Cheap, quick, relatively stress-free, reliable, and you could read, snooze, or catch up on written work (its one of the reasons I bought an early WinXP tablet PC, so I didn’t have to rely on having enough space to use a keyboard)
Unfortunately circumstances have me now living somewhere that’s next to a rail line – with discontinued passenger services – and working somewhere that’s several miles from the nearest station. The alternative is going by bus… which takes more than twice as long, and almost three times as long as driving. And, with my current choice of a pretty efficient TDi car or super efficient 125cc scooter (on days where the weather, my equipment load, and my health don’t conspire to make it a Bad Idea), the bus is actually slightly more expensive.
BTW, one way to save money on your travel? As efficient a moderately-used car (say, 50~100k miles) as you can get hold of, without having to seriously compromise on speed/performance/safety features. Mine cost me approx a quarter of its original purchase price (or in other words, a little over what you’d pay each year on a finance plan for a new one), and goes 50% further per standardised monetary unit than the previous model. It’s only slightly slower – and in such a way that it’s only noticeable when you’re pushing hard enough to scare your passengers – and slightly smaller… in a way that hasn’t yet made it difficult to find interior space, but easier to find exterior space (to park in). Plenty of life left in it, and almost all of the copious “toys” still work (…all except the AC, which has apparently taken a mysterious physical beating… but, this is Britain, I would have used it in anger for all of, oh, five or six days a year?). I expect in 3 years’ time or so, I should be able to get one that’s at least 10, maybe 20% more efficient again. There’s been a lot of progress over the last decade… but not so much that it (yet) justifies buying a new car outright for the fuel efficiency alone.