In the last few years, the climate started getting worse in my country. It’s warmer and warmer (39 Celsius in the shadow right now), we had almost no winter (it snowed 2-3 times I think). The warmest year in my country ever already, with the month of August predicted to be even hotter. If living through something like that doesn’t convince you of the climate change and the need to work together towards saving our planet, I don’t know what will.

I researched a bit on ways I can contribute, so I came up with the tips below:

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This advice doesn’t apply just to medicine. It also applies to any other product. In general, known brands are there because they spend huge amounts of money on advertising. You know their brands because you see their commercials on TV, in newspapers, online, or you hear about them on the radio. They do a good job branding themselves and letting people know about their products, but all this costs money. Those advertising costs are included in the prices of the products you buy, so you pay more.

Never fall in the trap of thinking that cheap always means bad quality, or that something expensive is always better and more reliable. Always research online and find their weak points. If it’s about food or something cheaper, then buy it once and test it. If you’re satisfied with the quality, save money and quit buying expensive brands.

If it’s a car for example, I for one know that in a Top Gear survey from the UK, the last 3 cars when it came to owner satisfaction were 3 french cars. In the same survey, Skoda had 3 of the top 10 cars. My dad drives a Skoda because I researched online. He’s really happy with that purchase. I know from my friends that generally Renault has huge costs when it comes to repairing a car, and the quality is weak. I know that older Opel Astra’s break down sometimes during rain because the water reaches the battery. Also that Mercedes for a good period in the 90’s dropped their quality in favor of better prices, and I wouldn’t buy a Mercedes from that period, even with the good brand that it’s applied to it.

Always test the cheaper products and research when it comes to more expensive ones. Find the products with the best price/quality report and you’ll be saving money.

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Once you finish paying a loan, my advice would be to avoid spending that extra money each month. You’re already used to spending a certain amount of money each month and making sure that your salary lasts. Put those money every month into a savings account or invest it.

If you’re having difficulties living without those money, then sure, spend some of it to make your life easier, but if you can afford setting money aside you should do it. It can really help out with the large expenses or you can invest them for your kids college fund or anything else. Buying the new iPhone, a new car or a new laptop will not be such a burden if you can just use those extra money.

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In the past days we looked at how you can save money in shops, on fuel, clothing and others. Today let’s see how we can cut down costs at home.

• Turn off your TV instead of leaving it on standby. It still uses up quite a bit of juice if you don’t.
• Use energy-saving light bulbs. They save both money and you get to do something to save the planet.
• When you leave a room, switch the lights off. When you watch TV same thing. When you leave the house, turn off the computer or your laptop, don’t just leave it on standby.
• Turn the thermostats down 5°C and avoid electric blankets as they consume quite a bit of energy.
• In the summer, at least when the weather isn’t that bad, open the windows and shut off the fans or the air conditioning.
• Don’t let those leftovers to go bad. Instead of cooking a new meal, heat up those leftovers.
• Don’t let the water running if you’re not using it.

Again, not huge money savers by themselves, but combined and done regularly it can save you quite a bit of cash.

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Today’s money saving tip is about stashing away the small change that you get each day. Try to use bigger coins or paper money when you buy something, instead of fishing for small coins in your pocket to pay the exact price. Take the small change you get in return and put it in a special pocket. At the end of the day, put it in a special place, and forget about it.

Do that, and you’ll see that it quickly mounts to a nice sum. Once you have enough go to a supermarket with a CoinStar machine and change it. Actually this whole tip is based on CoinStar machines still being available in american supermarkets, since I’m not an american. I don’t recommend going to a bank and torturing the cashier by giving him a bucket of small change to count. I for one give the small change to my mother, since she’s always looking for small coins to pay in the market, and she gives me larger bills in return. This works well during Christmas when coins are nowhere to be found in stores from my country.

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Ever noticed how you usually spend more then you anticipated when you go shopping? I’ve fallen into this trap more then a few times. The solution to save money here is using a shopping list and sticking to it. Find a cooking book, check some recipes you would like to make and make a shopping list with the ingredients needed. Add to that any other item you might need.

The key here would be to go directly to the aisles where your ingredients are located, trying to ignore all the other delicious stuff that might make you spend money. The store’s mission is to arrange their merchandise in such a way that makes you spend more. Your mission is to be aware of that and to try to stick to your shopping list.

Even if you only save $20 per week, that’s $1000 in a year. Depending on your shopping habits, you might save more then that. Saving money by cutting luxury items off your list works.

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One other way of saving money is buying clothes or other season related stuff in other seasons. For example, when the winter is gone and spring comes knocking, it’s a very good opportunity to go buy winter clothes for the next season, as shops try to get rid of the stocks. Unless you’re a fashion victim that needs clothes that match the latest trends, those clothes will be just as good if you use them 6 or 9 months from now.

You probably know what you usually pay for clothes in winter, so make a list of what you’ll absolutely need when winter is coming and go shopping now, looking for cheap alternatives. I’ll have to reinforce the word “need” here. Just because you can find a cheap snowmobile now doesn’t mean you should buy it.

When seasons are over, look for big discounts and take advantage of them so you don’t have to scramble 9 months later. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ll go look for a new winter coat.

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Today’s tip is somewhat related to the Day 3 tip, reducing entertainment costs. Take a moment and consider the costs of all the objects you buy. DVD’s, books, audio cd’s, games, board games and all the other stuff you buy and usually just store in a closet. Items that are not of everyday use can be borrowed to your friends. You can also borrow a book or a DVD from them and watch it freely instead of paying for it. Or you can just trade them, a book for a DVD or any other combination that makes sense. Taking a book from a friend to read is a very good way to save $20.

This kind of trades can keep your entertained for free for a very long time. I’m already using this together with my friends. If they have a book that I want to read, I borrow it from them and give it back once I’m finished with it. When me and one of my friends want to buy some books, we don’t buy the same titles, because we’re going to trade the books and all of them anyway.

A better way to find something you like, instead of relying solely on your friends taste in books, is using a service like SwitchPlanet.com. They allow you to give away any item to other members, and receive instead virtual currency that you can use to get stuff that other users want to get rid off. The only cost is those for shipping. A very nice way to save money and get all kinds of stuff in return.

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For the third day of the 10 Day Money Saving Marathon, we’ll see how we can reduce the costs for entertainment. The inspiration came from this article, that makes a nice job on breaking down the costs for several fun activities. Now, I’m not necessarily for cutting back on fun activities and doing something else then we usually do just because it saves money. Relaxing and doing something you truly enjoy is very important, so I’m going to use this tip for the times when I really need to cut back or when I’m in a tight spot with money.

The best value for money when it comes to fun comes from items you buy and use very often, but there are some activities from that list that make sense doing more often if you enjoy them. Biking, bowling ($5/hour), board games, a walk in the park, a picnic, going to a movie or seeing a show from iTunes or using Netflix. You can add to that list camping, reading a book and listening to music.

For example, if you usually go bowling every weekend for 2 hours, and you rent something from Netflix instead, you save $8 every week, or $400 every year. It may not seem much, but if you use it combined with the rest of the tips in the series, it all adds up to quite a large amount of money.

In the end, it’s all about what your current entertainment costs are, and if you’re willing to trade for something cheaper.

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Day 2 of the Money Saving Marathon has started, and I already brewed my own coffee and I’m ready for the second goal, driving less and saving money I pay on fuel.

In the last years, people have started taking fuel costs more seriously, and not taking it for granted anymore. Buying cars that consume less gasoline is one way of saving money here, but you can also use shortcuts.

For example, if you make your shopping when you return from work, and have a favorite supermarket that you visit, and it’s not on your regular route, then try and find something that doesn’t need extra driving. Check the magazines or fuel stations on your regular route and see if they don’t offer the same things. Whenever you need something that they have, go to the nearest shop.

Also, use a GPS or check yourself how long each route takes you and how much fuel you use. If you can use shortcuts then you’re saving money. Change your habits when it comes to driving and it will add money in your pocket.

For example, if you do all your shopping only once a week instead of every 2 days, and you use shortcuts on your regular routes, you might use one less full tank of gas every year or even more. It might be only couple hundred dollars but with the rising fuel costs this will mean more and more as time goes by.

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