- One way I save is to never spend my any change I receive.  This usually allows me to save up to $25 / month.  My spouse has begun to do this too.  Between the two of us we are able to save about $40 /month.

- I never spend $5 bills.When I receive them I put them in a separate section of my wallet.  Ever so often I empty them from my wallet and put them in an envelope at home.  I have been doing this for about two months and I already have over $100.  I call this my “Honest Abe’s Saving Technique”.

- The best way I find to save is to have the money taken out before you even see it.  I have $50 taken out every paycheck and direct deposited in to a money market account.  I don’t miss the money at all and it makes me feel good when I get my monthly statement and see the account growing.

- It may seem time consuming but I clip coupons every week.  I save about $15 off my usually $120 grocery bill.  That helps me save about $60 / month or $780 / year.  I save even more when I am able to double the coupons.

- I always try to buy the store brand of a product.  Sometimes they are not as good but I always give them a try at least once.  There are some products I cannot even tell the difference between the store brand and the name brand.

- You can almost negotiate on anything you buy.  Most people think it is just cars and houses.  The price of almost any electronics device can be negotiated.  Some other things I get prices lowered on are luggage, jewelry, and camping equipment.  I always try to get at least a few bucks off something.  The worst they can say is no.

- The Internet has been great for comparison-shopping.  There are so many websites that do this now it makes the process so much faster.  Sometimes after shipping and handling charges the best deal is still at my local store but I feel much better that I at least tried.

- I save money by bringing my lunch to work everyday.  An average lunch when I used to eat out was about $7.  At that rate I am saving well over $1200 a year by doing this.  I also have lost 20 pounds since I started bringing a lunch.

- My spouse and I don’t go out to eat as often as we used to.We used to go out to eat twice a month.  Now we go once every other month.  A typical dinner with tip would run us about $60.  Going every other month saves us over $1000 and it is more special now when we do go out to eat.

- I rely heavily on “Consumer Reports” magazine for my purchases.  I know I am getting a good value for my dollar when I follow their advice.  I like how they point out the extra features that you don’t really need and can save you money if you don’t buy a model that has them.

- We used to go away to places like Walt Disney World or Myrtle Beach for our two vacations a year.  Now for one of the vacations we go camping.  It is very inexpensive and saves us a few thousand dollars a year.  The kids like it just as much or more, especially when we go fishing.

- I save money by really looking at every monthly payment I have. These include utilities, car payment, mortgage, insurances, credit card payments, and monthly bank fees.  I shop around for the lowest rate and /or premium I can find.  For example I switched my bank and saves $8 / month in fees.  I lowered my cable package one level and saved $10 / month.  I switched car insurances and saved $280 / year.  I refinanced my mortgage and car payment which saves me another $320 / month.  These alone save me $4336 / year.  I have also lowered my credit card interest rate just by calling and asking!

- I used to think I was saving money by doing my taxes on my own. A friend convinced me to let a professional try it and compare it to my own self-prepared return.  He was right in that the professional saved me an extra $345.  No more doing them on my own.

- I save a little money in the winter when I purchased a humidifier for my furnace.When you add a little humidity you don’t need to have the room temperature as high to still be comfortable.  As a result my furnace does not run as much, my bills are lower, and I don’t get the dry skin I used to have all winter.  The humidifier will pay for itself in no time at all.

- I have made quite a bit of money in real estate.  I buy a house for as little down as possible and just do a few fix-ups and resell it. The fix-ups might include painting, landscaping, or minor updating of a bathroom or kitchen.  I usually can make 10-20K per house after my expenses.

- I find the only way to make money quickly (and possibly lose it quickly) is to invest in individual stocks.  I went with some reputable stock pickers and started up slow.  I had 50% returns on many of the recommended stocks.  I like the success “Motley Fools” has had.  I have tried to pick a few on my own with limited success.

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Our complex world requires so much of us.  It seems the days are gone when one parent worked while the other stayed home with the children.  Now, with rising health costs, taxes, and other daily expenses, there is less and less money for the average family.  Both parents are often forced to work, and the children are sent to daycare.  The parents end up having very limited time with each other and their children.  This is becoming an epidemic.

People are unhappy with their jobs, unhappy about not seeing their family, and unhappy with struggling in general.  Free time is just a pipe dream.  When we do have free time, we crash from trying to keep up with our hectic lifestyles.  Free time is a gift … but it does not have to be that way.  We do have some control, as explained earlier, over how much free time we have.

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Lack of time is one of the main reasons for lack of romance.  Both people need to be in the mood and have time free to enjoy it together, with nothing they need to run off to. 

If both of you had more free time to enjoy each other, your relationship would be stronger.  If you had more free time, you would not have to be concerned with always getting enough “quality time” with each other.  You would have time to enjoy with friends as well as to be alone.  You would not feel rushed or stressed when you are supposed to be enjoying the moment with your partner.

More free time could mean more vacations, more weekend getaways, and more daytrips. Romance should not be rushed or stressful.  It should be fun and enjoyable.

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Who would not like to do more things they actually enjoy?  Who would not want to work at a day job less or not at all? 

When many people retire, they don’t know what to do with themselves because they are so used to letting their job run their lives that they forget how to have fun.  Some people never develop any hobbies because they work so much. 

Some of us have so much fun on the weekends that they fly by, and before you know it, you are dragging yourself out of bed for work Monday morning. 

It is wonderful to have time to relax, and to spend time with friends and family.  What would you do with yourself if you had one, two, or even more hours of free time in addition to what you have now … if you have any?  Would you take up new hobbies?  Would you devote more time to your existing ones?  Would you spend more time with friends and family?  You could count on one thing: you would be more relaxed, less stressed, and happier.

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In today’s society we are all looking for the quick “magic pill” to make us thin and give us energy — not because we are all lazy, but because we are so pressed for time that we are not able to eat right, exercise regularly, or get adequate sleep.

This is why the food supplement industry is skyrocketing.  A pill that promises weight loss is a gold mine.  Sadly, most do not deliver and the ones that do have unknown side effects since they are not strictly regulated.  They almost all fall into two general categories: they either raise our metabolism or curb our appetite.

The diet explained earlier will keep us eating less.  The exercise plan will supercharge our metabolism.  The body does these things on it own without drugs or herbs.  Many herbs are marketed as “natural,” but natural is really letting your own body do its thing without introducing foreign chemicals into it.

I am not saying these herb or food supplement products do not work, because many of them do.  Consider these questions though:
* What happens when you stop taking them? 
* Are you going to take them for the rest of your life? 
* How about the ones that raise your metabolism so you burn more calories?  When you stop taking them, do you expect your body to continue burning calories at the same rate? 

You usually put the weight right back after you stop taking supplements.  Yo-yo dieting is harmful to your body, so you could be possibly hurting your body with these pills and then damaging it further because of your fluctuating weight.  I would also certainly not recommend taking any of these food supplements for the long term.  No one knows what will happen if you take it everyday for 10 or 20 years, for example.

If you had a lot of extra time, it would be so much easier and safer to be healthy naturally.  You could work out every day, eat good meals, and get all the sleep you need.  In fact, the better shape you are in, the less sleep you will need. The time it takes to work out during the week is nothing compared to how much time is wasted during any give week.

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