Today’s tip is to save money on eating out using services that offer incredibly steep discounts. I eat out a lot, so this one is saving me tons of money.

You can get big discounts on eating out if you plan ahead and are willing to use coupons at a restaurant. If you live in a city and restaurants tend to be more expensive, saving 10% or 25% or 50% per meal — even once a week — can add up quickly. Here are the tips I’ve started using for a huge drop in my monthly spending on eating out.

1. Restaurant.com is offering 80% (!!) off its gift certificates. Note: This expires on 11/20/08.

• Get $25 Restaurant.com gift certificates for $2 (no joke)

• Get a 12-month Dinner of the Month Club membership for $24

Remember, those deals expire in 2 days. Use code “SURPRISE” to get the discounts.

2. The 2009 Entertainment Book
Remember these from elementary school? They used to cost $40 and seemed unreasonably expensive…until I started having to buy my own food. I bought a copy of this a couple days ago after checking out the site to make sure their coupons were good for my area. I’m forcing myself to use at least two coupons per month — so if I’m planning to grab dinner with someone, I’ll consciously grab a coupon from this book (which I’m going to keep on my desk) and try to pick a restaurant that applies. Note: This works if you already eat out, but if you buy the book and then force yourself to use it — spending more than you normally would have — that’s probably not the best way to save money. Duh. These are $25, so check the coupons to see what it will take for you to save money.

I ordered mine a couple days ago.

Check out the Entertainment book site.
3. Along the lines of involving your friends in the 30 Day Challenge, here’s a tip I’m using to save money on eating out. The other day, one of my friends was talking about she loves to cook, but hates cleaning up. My eyes lit up because I don’t mind washing dishes, but I’m horrible at cooking. Could there be a win-win situation here?

Everybody wins: We all get to hang out, eat food instead of letting it go rotten, and my friend doesn’t have to worry about cleaning up. If each meal saves a $20 dinner out and you do that three times/month, that’s $60/month.

There are also a bunch of other coupon / eating services out there, so if you have suggestions, leave them in the comments. It depends how much you eat out, but to share my friends’ biggest expense, it’s eating out by far, so this tip alone will save most of them over $1,000 over the next year. If you eat out a lot, it’s even more.

Total saved: $50 to $3,000

Note: If you were subscribed to this list, you just got a special bonus tip from me about saving more money on eating out.

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Last thing to do
1. Leave a comment on this post describing how much you’re saving with this tip and any unusual techniques you use to make this tip work.
2. Want to submit your own savings tip? Submit a money tip here. If I use your tip, I’ll send you something cool.

Today’s tip is to never pay retail prices for clothes again using some sites you’ve heard of, and a bunch of sites I bet you haven’t.

How much do you spend per year on clothes? Think carefully about that question — if you buy a $300 coat, for example, you’re spending a minimum of $25/month on clothes. I don’t even buy clothes that often and I easily spent over $1,000 on clothes last year.

Now, if you’re a mom or on a strict budget, saving money on clothes is nothing new: You’ve already been checking price tags carefully. But many of my friends buy what they want, when they want it. While these tips are applicable to everyone, they get the most mileage if you’re buying expensive clothes. What you’ll see below is that you can actually get same clothes you buy at Macy’s — or better clothes — for a lower price.

Let’s watch Paul Singh from Results Junkies talk about how he gets custom-made shirts (which would normally cost $200+) for $30:

(He referred to CTshirts.com in the video. Sign up for their free newsletter, then wait a couple weeks until they email you about their monthly clearance specials.)

There are also lots of other places where you can save money on clothes.

Retail stores: Because I’m Indian, I love Ross and TJ Maxx. I just bought a Ralph Lauren coat at 50% off the other day. Even Target can have cool clothes. The funny thing is, as young people, we think shopping there is “weird” because, let’s face it, it’s mostly moms who shop there, and who wants to be caught buying a pair of pants at Target? This actually mirrors personal finance: Spend money on the things you love, but cut costs mercilessly on the things you don’t care about. For example, if you love a blazer at Macy’s, save up for it and buy it guilt-free…but cut costs mercilessly on pants if you don’t really care what they look like. You have to prioritize. Plus, for people who think it’s “weird” to shop at TJ Maxx: I can get over that weirdness when I’m saving $200 on clothes each time I go in there.

Buying abroad: Recently, I detailed how I saved $700 buy buying a suit and eyeglasses in India. Good news: Instead of walking the streets of Rajouri Garden in Delhi, you can do all of those things from your computer. Zenni Optical offers eyeglasses at $25 (and they’re not the only one — search for “cheap eyeglasses“). You can get custom suits made for $200, and a local tailor in your neighborhood will make the final adjustments (search “cheap custom suits“).

Buy clothes online: I know, I know, people have been telling me to buy clothes online for years, but I always have this nagging feeling that things will never fit. But when I saw the prices, I was saving 75% off buying it at stores — making it worth the experimentation. Plus, every retailer understands your hesitation to buy clothes online, so they make it insanely easy to return clothes. I like eBay and Overstock.com. Also try Shop It To Me, which lets you enter your size/style and you’ll get targeted emails about exactly the clothes you’re looking for. Frankly, I’d recommend trying buying clothes online once. Pick a brand whose size you know, and since returns are free, it’s literally no money out of your pocket if you don’t like it. Note: I have invites available for the invite-only site Gilt.com, which gives you access to high-end retailers (John Varvatos, Ted Baker, Chip & Pepper, etc) for steep discounts (i.e., hundreds of dollars off). If you want in, fill out this form and I’ll send an invitation to the first few hundred people.

Buying something expensive? Use the Savings Goal strategy. Finally, there’s one bonus tip for buying something nice: If I see an expensive coat or jacket I want, I can either drop the cash right then, or go home, decide if I really want it, and set up a savings plan. You can probably guess what I do most of the time. Here’s how:

Remember how I wrote about my sub-savings accounts?

Let’s say I want to buy a blazer that costs $200. I set up a “Clothing” sub-savings account and set up an automatic transfer of $100 each month into it and set up a calendar reminder to let me know when I’ve saved $200. This does two things: First, it forces me to save for any large purchase. Second, by the time the second month comes around, I sometimes realize I didn’t really need that thing anyway. You can use the Savings Goal strategy for any large purchase. Here’s the ING account I use.

Be careful about buying clothes. People love to rationalize that they’re “investing” in their clothes for the long term, which is a complete lie because they keep buying stuff every year. Only buy something new when you get rid of something old. Pay for quality, but hold it (and wear it) for a long time. Cut costs on stuff that nobody sees, like your headbands or socks. And ask yourself if dressing in the newest Kenneth Cole shirt or Prada bag really gets you to your goals.

Total saved: $50 to $500

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Last thing to do
1. Leave a comment on this post describing how much you’re saving with this tip and any unusual techniques you use to make this tip work.
2. Want to submit your own savings tip? Submit a money tip here. If I use your tip, I’ll send you something cool.

Today’s tip is to use the perks offered by your car insurance, credit card, and even your job — the ones most people ignore.

Think about the places you belong to as a member: your credit card, auto insurance, Costco, or your job. Each of these offers perks that most people ignore. But by simply being a member, you get perks that can add up to thousands of dollars each year. In fact, every time you make a major purchase, you should be checking these perks first. Here are some examples from my own memberships:

#1: My car insurance offers discounts on most major retailers. I was already planning to buy flowers and get movie tickets next month, so I’m adding a calendar reminder to use these coupon codes then.

#2: My Costco membership gives discounts on pharmacy drugs, buying cars, mortgages, roadside assistance, travel, car tires, and many business services.

#3: My credit card offers discounts on most major retailers, plus discounts on concert tickets and a “Make a Wish” service, which recently got me orchestra tickets I couldn’t get anywhere else.

#4: There’s more on your credit card, which is the BEST source of perks. All credit card include automatic extended warranties, travel insurance, car-rental discounts, and a bunch of other perks. Check out my appearance on CNBC, where I cover credit card perks in more detail.

#5: Your workplace probably offers a bunch of perks that nobody takes advantage of. At PBwiki, we offer weekly massages, free food, free headphones, and if you want to take a co-worker out to lunch, we’ll cover it. At bigger companies, you may find perks like public-transit reimbursement and discounts on entertainment tickets/attractions. Most people don’t use the perks, so ask the HR person for a list of benefits you have available and use them!

Here’s how to use this tip effectively: First, log in to see what your memberships offer you. If anything catches your eye, set a calendar reminder for when to log back in and use it (e.g., “Booking vacation in February — check Geico for discount”). Try to defer all major purchases until later (otherwise, how are you going to save $1,000?), but if you know how much you’ll save, feel free to count it towards the $1,000 Challenge.

One final thing: This is a powerful tip because you can get discounts on places you already shop — especially for large purchases, which can save thousands per year. The first time I used my credit card’s travel rewards, I saved $600. Using my discounts, I’ve saved thousands on travel, auto purchases, computers, clothes, and home decorations. The key is that nobody is going to spoonfeed you the places to look. If your workplace doesn’t offer discounts, check your car insurance. If that doesn’t offer perks, check your credit card (it definitely will). Check your library. And your homeowner’s association. The more you check, the more you can save.

Total Saved: $100 to $2,000.

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Last thing to do
1. Leave a comment on this post describing how much you’re saving with this tip and any unusual techniques you use to make this tip work.
2. Want to submit your own savings tip? Submit a money tip here. If I use your tip, I’ll send you something cool.

Today’s tip is to keep an “Item Budget” in your house — and before you buy something new, you must get rid of something old.

This tip was submitted by Evert from London, UK, who writes:

When buying things like clothes, set a rule for yourself that you can only buy something new, to replace something you already have. For example, from a practical point of view, let’s say you need to have 15 business shirts. Set a ‘budget’ of having 15 shirts, and then when you want to buy one, first throw away (or give to charity) the worst of the other. Can’t make a choice which one to throw out? Guess what: you won’t need a new shirt.

Before buying anything, think ‘how many of those do I need?’and ‘how many do I already have?’, then think again if you really need a new one. The same applies to electronics and all sorts of other stuff (want a Playstation 3? Sell the Wii / blueray player / old laptop / etc. )

Applying the rule will have two benefits: less drawers and closets of stuff you still want to keep but never use, and spending less money because you’re more conscious about what you already have.

Ok, there are 2 things to note about this tip:

First, this is the kind of tip that’s easy to gloss over (”yeah, yeah”) and not do anything about. But I think about this as an active barrier (learn more about barriers) — something you consciously add as a roadblock before you can buy something new. The psychology of having to open up your closet, decide what to give away, and get it to the nearest charity (or garbage can) is enough to stop many of us from buying something new. Plus, it just keeps things neater around the house.

Second, this tip is starting to focus us more on being goal-driven: If you have a goal (”Save $1,000″ or “Only have 15 business shirts at any given time”), your decisions become a lot easier. ‘Should I get that shirt? Hmm…let me check my goals. Nope, if I buy that, I can’t save $1,000 this month, so forget about it.’ When you’re not goal oriented, it’s like a neanderthal walking into a crystal shop. Everything is shiny and you’ll buy anything indiscriminately. When you have a simple overarching goal, you have a rubric to measure your decisions against. (You should share this with anyone else in your family so they’re on board, too.)

Personally, I had to buy a new coat last week to go to Chicago. As a result of this tip, I’ve taken out three old shirts from my closet to give away to charity.

Total Saved: From $10 to god knows how much you would have bought otherwise.

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Last thing to do
1. Leave a comment on this post describing how much you’re saving with this tip and any unusual techniques you use to make this tip work.
2. Want to submit your own savings tip? Submit a money tip here. If I use your tip, I’ll send you something cool.

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Note from the author: I graduated from college about a year ago and was lucky enough to land the job of my dreams. I moved into my parent’s house so I could get out of credit card debt and start saving for a house of my own.

I have a penchant for the good life, but after a year of living it up, I found myself with $12,000 in credit card debt! In addition to that, I just got myself into some legal trouble and need to come up with about $6,000 for my lawyer.

I make $1200 every two weeks after taxes and 401(k) contributions. The only real bills I have are my phone and student loan payments ($150) and paying down debt ($600), after which I end up with about $450 per paycheck.

For the past year, I’ve been going out about 5 nights a week , and I don’t know if I’ve ever not gone over that $450 per paycheck. I realize I need a serious lifestyle change. I may die of boredom, but at least I’ll be closer to getting out of debt. Let’s see if I can do it.

DAY 1:
2:20pm: I heard that I’d be featured in The Money Diaries while at work. I’m excited but nervous because it’s Friday night. I start brainstorming drastic ways to pay off my debt and actually considered cashing out my 401(k). I started it 10 months ago and have about $7,000 already in it. I know cashing out is probably the stupidest thing I could ever do. I need to suck it up and change how I spend my money.
6:30pm: I’m excited to get off of work and meet a group of friends at one of my favorite restaurants downtown. After all, it is Friday and I worked a hellish week.
7:14pm: Fuck. I can’t afford that restaurant. I shouldn’t eat out at all. I have an obscene amount of food at home. I call my friends and tell them to go without me. That may be dick (to arrange it and then ditch), but I know from experience that they’ll have fun anyway and it’s not like they are going to pay my bills for me! I call other friends and decide to meet up at their house. I’ll bring some leftover Belvedere from last weekend so I don’t have to buy tonight!

DAY 2:
1:00pm: I’m hung over and hungry. My friends and I decide to go somewhere to eat. I insist on cheap. This brings us to Taco Bell. I spend $3.50 and don’t even eat everything I order. I love this place!
2:00pm: I forgot to mention- I smoke. I spend $7 on a pack of cigarettes and lottery tickets. Both are my guilty pleasure.
8:00pm: I’m invited to go out to eat but I decline and decide to try to choke down some of my step dad’s cooking… If I die, at least I’ll know it was in effort to make a good financial decision.
9:00pm: I decide to hang out at a friend’s house instead of going to the bar with other friends. This whole financial responsibility thing is getting old… But at least I’m sticking to it. On my way, I see some really cheap gas and decide to fill up even though I don’t need it, $16.

DAY 3:
3:00pm: It’s Sunday = football. Instead of going to the bars with friends, I decide to go to work and get some stuff done. I stop at Starbucks- $3.50. I’m getting antsy - I need to go out sometime soon! At least tomorrow starts off a busy workweek.

DAY 4:
8:30am: I need cigarettes. I’m too late to work to care about the fact I’m spending money. Without these, my day would not be too great. I spend $4.

DAY 5:
12:30pm: I need cigarettes again. This time, the gas station has one of those buy 2, get 1 free offers. Even though I still pay sin tax for the 3rd pack, it’s still cheaper than buying 3 individual packs. I also throw in a Powerball and state lotto ticket. I spend $13. I probably won’t need to buy cigarettes for another 4 days, thank God. Even though I’m doing surprising well at not spending money, I was reminded today that I have a trip to Chicago this weekend and a family wedding in LA to attend the weekend after. How can I stick to a minimal budget when I’m jet setting across the country every weekend?
2:35pm: I figured it out! Since my whole family is going to the wedding, I’m going to save myself $50 by not buying a present in my name and piggybacking on my mom’s gift. I don’t know how I feel about this because now that I have a “big kid job,” I feel responsible for my own gift. I’ll think about it for a minute.
7:50pm: $13 on gas. I’m not normally a serial tank filler but gas has been at it’s cheapest, and from what I’ve read, prices are supposed to drastically rise. I thought I’d take advantage one last time.

DAY 6:
12:00pm: Ok, I broke down today. I couldn’t resist going to lunch with coworkers. Pizza buffet costs $9. I don’t feel so horrible because I consider this my first poor financial decision of the week.

DAY 7:
8:00pm: Haven’t spent any money… Yet. But I did cancel my Chicago trip so I could save money. It doesn’t seem like the end of the world, either. I get paid tomorrow and I know I would have spent at least $300 over the weekend.
8:30pm: I’m still at work and need to eat. I won’t feel so guilty buying dinner considering I just canceled my trip.
1:00am: I’m stupid. I decided to go out to eat and drink with buddies. I spent $40. I’m shocked at how one bad financial decision can ruin a week of serious efforts. I regret this because I realize that it is moments like this that get me in financial trouble.

In sum:
I only spent $114 this week! That’s amazing. I’m also kicking myself… Almost HALF of the money I spent this week could have been saved! Still, thanks to this, I have an extra $200 that I can throw at my debt. It feels great. Just seeing my frustrations written out has helped me realize how debt is affecting my life. I look forward to continuing this on my own. Let’s hope I can keep it up!

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To be featured anonymously in a future Money Diary, click here. To see other Money Diaries, click here.

Today, we’re going to implement the A La Carte Method to save money on the subscriptions you’re paying for.

People spend an enormous amount on subscriptions without ever realizing it. Not only are the payments automatically sent, but it takes active effort — and acknowledging that you’ve been paying for something you don’t need — to cancel a subscription…which means it’s easier to do nothing than to cancel the subscription. Here’s a very conservative estimate of someone spending $1,824/year on subscriptions.

I’ll tell you guys about a subscription I had to a marketing service. I signed up for it about 4 months ago to get the free trial and see if it was worthwhile, and it was pretty decent — but it cost $100/month. After about a month, I knew I wasn’t getting the value I needed out of it — but I couldn’t bring myself to cancel it. I put it in my calendar to cancel, but the day would come and go and I just didn’t do it. Then I would see a new email pop up in my inbox about some new stuff they had added, so I filed it under “Toread,” thinking I “really should” check this out. You know how you feel when you know you should do something, but just can’t bring yourself to do it? That’s exactly how I felt — until 3 months later, when I finally canceled it. Even though it cost me $300 more than it should have, it was a lesson well learned.

Today’s tip, the A La Carte Method, is a way to avoid just that:

The A La Carte Method takes advantage of psychology to cut our own spending….cancel all the discretionary subscriptions you can: your magazines, annual Rhapsody plan, cable — even your gym.

* Instead of paying for a ton of channels you never watch on cable, buy only the episodes you watch for $1.99 each off iTunes
* Buy a day pass for the gym each time you go (around $5-$10)
* Buy songs as you want them for $0.99 each from Amazon or iTunes

Read about the A La Carte method in detail.

Here’s what to do: Today, cancel enough subscriptions to equal $50. If you can do more, great. Here are links to common subscription items to target:

Netflix: http://www.netflix.com: $9/month for basic unlimited. Downgrade to $5/month. Savings: $5-9/month.

Tivo: http://www.tivo.com: $13/month.

Cellphone: http://www.att.com/wireless or http://www.verizonwireless.com or http://www.tmobile.com or http://www.sprintpcs.com. Most people probably won’t cancel their phone, but as an example of optimizing your existing spending, you can save $20/month by going from Verizon’s second-lowest plan ($60) to their lowest plan ($40). We already talked about how to do this earlier in the challenge.

Cable: http://www.comcast.net or http://www.timewarnercable.com or http://www.dishnetwork.com or http://www.rcn.com (Don’t want to cancel everything? At the very least, cancel the Premium channels and get basic cable.). Savings: $50/month for Time Warner Digital Cable.

Amazon Prime: http://www.amazon.com (cancel Amazon Prime – plus, it will make you buy fewer books) - $79 annually or $7/month

Magazines: Look in them and cancel them. Buy them off eBay or get them at the library.

Other online services: http://www.audible.com or any other online services. Can you live without them?

“But Ramit…!”: Common arguments against the A La Carte Method
1. “I already paid to buy a satellite dish! It will be a total waste of money if I cancel now.” That’s a sunk cost, so ignore it as much as possible. Cancel it for this month only. If you decide you really want it back, you can always re-initiate service in December. (Yes, you may have to pay an initiation fee if you actually restart the service. But I’m willing to bet that after you hit your financial goal this month, you’ll be extremely careful in adding expenses back to your life. Plus, you can probably get the fee waived.)

2. “I don’t have any subscriptions like this!” First off, I bet you do — just check your credit card statements. But if you really don’t, well, then this tip may not be right for you. But think how you can apply it elsewhere: Are there areas where you pay automatically, without thinking how much it costs you? This is a huge area to save money since monthly subscriptions add up quickly: One of my readers canceled one $30/month subscription and saved $360/year.

3. Any other concerns? Please read the full A La Carte Method first.

Last thing to do
1. Leave a comment on this post describing how much you’re saving with this tip and any unusual techniques you use to make this tip work.
2. Want to submit your own savings tip? Submit a money tip here. If I use your tip, I’ll send you something cool.

Today’s tip is to set at least one day per week on your calendar when you don’t spend one dollar.

Do you think you could do it? Technically, even if you don’t open your wallet, you’re still spending money on things like rent/mortgage, car insurance, subscriptions, and Christmas gifts — you just didn’t count them. But that’s even more of a reason to create a “No spending” day on the money in your wallet: because you can actively control it.

Today’s tip was submitted by Alexandra, from Wilmington, NC, who writes:

We do a week with NO spending. We fill the car with gas and hit the grocery store on Sunday. Starting Monday, we cannot spend a CENT. Sort of a fun little challenge. And it is only for a week. So, if I see something I need or want, I can get it next week. No cheating. AMAZING results. The first time I did it, I was flabbergasted to have the same $20 bill in my wallet. I got very used to it and so it is a nice little “shot in the arm” technique. Kind of like a fast to begin a diet regime.

Total Savings: $50-200

Alexandra’s tip is excellent because she uses the idea of time constraints to make the “no spending” idea more palatable. If you force yourself to do this only one day per week, you’ll look back the next week and realize it wasn’t so bad. (Notice she does it for a week, which you can work your way up to.) I remember a friend of mine once decided he wasn’t going to go out all weekend, and he donated the money to charity.

You can do the same thing — but the key is adding to your calendar so you make it a consistent system, not an ad hoc whim.

Total saved: $5 - $75

Additional reading:
Trent wrote about this at The Simple Dollar (check out the comments)

Last thing to do
1. Leave a comment on this post describing how much you’re saving with this tip and any unusual techniques you use to make this tip work.
2. Want to submit your own savings tip? Submit a money tip here. If I use your tip, I’ll send you something cool.

Here are the tips I’ve covered so far:

• Tip #1: Pack lunches for the rest of the week
• Tip #2: Turn your thermostat down 3 degrees
• Tip #3: Sell something on eBay today
• Tip #4: Involve your friends in your savings challenge
• Tip #5: Optimize your cellphone bill
• Tip #6: Use gas prices to become your own hedge fund

Many people have already saved hundreds per month (e.g., here and here).

If you haven’t already joined the Challenge email list to get additional bonus tips, here’s the signup:

Finally, if you’re taking the Save $1,000 in 30 Days Challenge, here’s a badge you can put on your blog/Myspace/site:

Learn to save money

If you embed that on your site, leave a comment with your URL. I’ll check it out and try to send you a free gift.

Today is one of my favorite tips: To take the money you’re saving on gas and automatically hedge against any future increase in fuel prices.

The term “fuel hedging” refers to airline companies’ tendency to try to protect themselves by estimating the price of jet fuel and locking in prices to protect themselves if prices go way up. The world’s best airline in fuel hedging is Southwest Airlines:

“Using some simple and some complex investment strategies, Southwest has for a decade locked in the prices it pays for large amounts of jet fuel months and even years ahead of time. Its success at that has protected it from run-ups in crude oil prices and dramatically cut its fuel expenses. Since 1998, it has saved $3.5 billion over what it would have spent if it had paid the industry’s average price for jet fuel. That’s equal to about 83% of the company’s profits over the last 9½ years.”

We can use a similar technique for our own personal finances — and my favorite part is, you can apply this to anything where the prices is variable. Here’s how to do it.

How to use hedging for your personal finances
When gas prices were at their highest in San Francisco, I was paying about $4.60/gallon, which was costing me about $60/week. But now, with a combination of lower gas prices and working at home once a week, I’m saving about $15/week off the peak.

It’s really easy to ignore that and let the money stay in your checking account, where it will be inevitably spent on something useless. Instead, because gas prices have dropped, all of us are saving money compared to a few months ago. Now, you can create an automatic transfer of the money you’re saving and put it in a “fuel hedge” account to protect you when prices go higher.

Here’s how I do it.

1. I set up a high-interest ING savings account, which lets me set up automatic transfers and create sub-accounts within my savings account. I use these sub-accounts for anything major I’m saving for (including a wedding, even though I’m not engaged — see why).

To set up a sub-account, log into your account >> Open an account >> Orange Savings Account >> Orange Savings Account (from the drop-down). Create the nickname, etc, and you’re done.

2. I know I’m saving about $15/week, so I transfer that amount to my fuel hedge account.

3. If gas prices go up, you’ll have this money saved to use to hedge against the new higher gas prices. It will also give you time to either cut your costs or earn more to account for the higher gas prices.

4. I set a calendar reminder every 3 months to re-evaluate the price of gas and adjust my weekly savings amount.

The reason I love this is you can apply it to anything you buy that gets more or less expensive. If you pay $100/month for heat in the winter and $20/month in the summer, can you pretend that you’re still paying $100/month in every month of the year and save $80/month during the summer months? Give it a shot — there’s a lot to be done with this tip.

Tools I use
I use a high-interest ING savings account to manage my savings and sub-savings accounts. It’s free to open, high-interest, and they don’t send me a bunch of crappy junk mail. It just works.

I also use Mint to track my spending and get averages for my spending.

I use Google Calendar to set reminders for myself in the future.

Total savings: $20 to $120 per month

Last thing to do
1. Leave a comment on this post describing how much you’re saving with this tip. Each day, I’ll ask you to post how much you’ve saved cumulatively. Use this as a way to track your own progress (it will also encourage others to join)
2. Want to submit your own savings tip? Submit a money tip here.