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Need money for the holidays? Stop wasting your money on this stuff…


Quicken money management software
Quicken Money Management Software

With the holiday gift-giving season right around the corner, you may find yourself trying to find ways to scrape some money together.

Web Watch is a fan of making a big dinner, then eating leftovers for lunch the next day to avoid paying $5-$10 for lunch. Doing that can save the average office worker at least $20/week in lunch money – up to $50/week or more, if you eat at fancier places.  That’s found money.

If you subscribe to HBO, SHOWTIME or other premium movie channel – you may want to consider dropping those and switching to an “on-demand” movie service like NetFlix or Amazon on Demand (assuming you have a TiVo, PS3, or other box that will support those services).  The $10/month that you’ll pay is likely less than what you would pay for those TV channels.

Here are some other suggestions for HOW TO CUT UNNECESSARY EXPENSES OUT OF YOUR BUDGET, simply by changing your purchasing habits, or substituting different products for ones you use every day:

  1. Coffee by the cup.  Especially if you’re in an office that has available coffee, suck it up and drink the free office coffee instead of getting the $4 latte from that national chain.  Or brew a pot at home and bring it to work in a large Thermos.
  2. Bottled Water.  Get a Brita or PUR filter if you’re worried about taste.  And don’t believe the Crystal Light instructions that say that it has to be mixed into a 16.9oz bottle of water — you can stir the stuff into a large mug of tap water just as easily.
  3. Cleaning supplies.  Stop cleaning?  That’s out of the question. But there is something that you can replace those expensive cleaning supplies with… just click that link.
  4. Books, Movies, Music, and the Internet.  Web Watch won’t tell you how to download music illegally, but iTunes and Amazon both offer free music downloads – sometimes of new stuff, sometimes of old stuff, sometimes of things you’ve never heard of before.  And if you’re a fan of bands that are web-savvy, many offer free downloads to their online fanclubs.

    If you have a local library, then take advantage of it.  Libraries have DVD’s and CD’s to loan out, and still have books for those who want that old-school feel of turning pages.  They may also have free Internet available.