Subtle Ways to Save Money

Good money is hard to come by these days, especially with the upsurge of gas and grocery prices. Incorporate these small money-saving techniques because you’ll never know when you need emergency stash.

Keep the Change
We often think of 25-centavo coins and other spare change as useless. We usually neglect coins in the car, little spaces on our desk, and random places in the house. Are you the type who hates keeping coins in her wallet? Do you tell the cashier or waiter to keep the change, especially when you see only a few measly centavos or pesos? If you put together the spare change you’ve neglected over the past few months, you can get as much as P500 in total.

If you hate keeping heavy coins in your wallet, place a piggy bank or jar on your desk or living room. You and your family members or roommates can drop all the coins there on a daily basis. Then whenever you see small coins at random places, pick them up and drop the coins in your piggy bank. As soon as it fills up, take it to the bank teller who will gladly exchange it for bills. You’ll be surprised to see how much it totals to.

Play Your Cards Well
Many restaurants and retail shops offer discounts to a variety of companies IDs, credit cards, and schools IDs. Make sure you check the list of cards honored at that establishment, because you may actually own the card that can get you a discount. Utilize your supermarket discount cards, points-per-purchase cards, frequent fliers coupons, and other discount fliers that will help you save money when purchasing. Consumers often neglect little things like discount cards and fliers, when it actually saves you a lot of money.

Keep Busy
Youngmoney.com coined a term called “boredom expenses.” It’s when you feel the need to spend on food, drinks, vices, and other expenses when you’re feeling bored. For example, if you find yourself with nothing to do on a lazy Sunday afternoon, you may end up taking a trip to the convenience store to purchase a variety of junk food, cigarettes, and fizzy drinks. Many women often go on shopping splurges and purchase useless items on a whim because they need to kill time at the mall. The next time you feel bored and have time to kill, do something that doesn’t involve extra expenses, like watching TV, reading a book, jogging, cleaning your room, or plain window-shopping.

Career Woman’s Gadgets

While the old school paper, pencil, and organizer are still valuable tools, the working woman will benefit from modern technology. Here’s a checklist of gadgets worth spending your hard-earned money on:

USB Flash Drive
The most basic career tool of all, the handy memory stick is affordable and useful. These days, they come in so many colors and designs to suit your personality. Pick one that’s easy to stash. Attach it to your car keys, house keys, ID tags, or wallet to avoid misplacing it.

You never know when you’ll need to copy files to and from your office, school, or a friend’s computer. It’s perfect for storing videos, documents, presentations, and other important files. It keeps us from wasting recordable CDs if all you need is a few megabytes. There are a lot of affordable flash drives in the market, so purchase one that comes with at least one gigabyte.

While a lot of companies and promotional events give away free flash drives, they’re the generic type that tends to malfunction. Invest your money on a reputable brand. The last thing you want is to lose precious files or transfer corrupt bytes.

Mobile Phone
Just because your friend owns a fancy, all-in-one expensive phone, it doesn’t mean you should have one, too. Your choice of cellphone should depend on your personality and lifestyle. First, list down all the functions you need. How much memory do you need to store all your contacts and networks? Do you really need both the blue tooth and infrared technology? Is the built-in camera useless for you, since you already own a high-tech digital camera?

Decide on all the features you really want, and then narrow down your choices to the top three models from the brands you trust. Take your sweet time when you test them in the store. Get feedback from friends who already own that model. Do some online research. Multi-feature cellphones are not cheap, so make sure your choice is worth the money.

Laptop
These days, it’s turning into a status symbol and fad. We see a lot of people wasting money on fancy notebooks or macbooks even if they don’t really need it or they actually have no idea how to utilize the features.

If you’re an employee supplied with the company laptop, save your money for something else you urgently need. If you have a working desktop at home, then there’s no need to purchase a laptop just yet.

Traveling journalists, freelancers, on-the-go students, corporate managers, and self-sustaining business owners are the perfect market for portable computers. If your job or lifestyle calls for it, then go ahead and invest in a laptop. Like mobile phones, choose a brand and model that caters to your personality and lifestyle. Look out for discounts or bundle sales that could save you money. Make sure it comes with at least one year of warranty. Avoid buying from unknown sources and sketchy bazaar stores.

Personal Digital Assistant
Not everyone is into PDAs or electronic organizers. If you’re daily schedule goes smoothly by using the good old handwritten organizer and notebook, then there’s no need to purchase a PDA. If you’re the type who needs a swift, all-in-one electronic organizer, then go ahead and invest in one.

If you want to save money and space in your work tote, pick a PDA mobile phone. If you want a PDA separate from your cellphone, pick one that has all the features you need.

There are dozens of gadgets that you may need, such as LCD projectors, mobile phone enhancements, voice recorders, and mp3 players. Whatever technological advancement you have your eyes on, make sure it’s something you really need and not a useless status symbol you wish to imitate from a friend or idolized movie star. Gadgets can work wonders for your busy lifestyle, or simply be a waste of time and money.

Jumpstart Your Brain

Creative people call it writer’s block. Some people call it brain drain. Whatever your career or job is, we’ve all experienced getting stuck in a runt—where ideas aren’t coming, your brain and body don’t seem to have enough energy, and your eagerness to work is depleted.

There are many fun ways to overcome this situation. According to essortment.com: “Could it be that we’re hiding behind that age-old excuse—using ‘writer’s block’ as a mask for our lack of research, lack of imagination, lack of focus, and lack of confidence?” The next time you’re at the office at 10 a.m. and you feel like you’re stuck in a runt, try the following helpful tips:

1. Research
If you’re working on a presentation, an article, or a task that you can’t seem to start on, maybe it’s because you lack info about it. Surf the net. Read a book or magazine that pertains to the subject you’re focusing on. Once you start seeing other visuals of the topic you’re working on, your brain will start formulating ideas.

2. The Road Less Traveled
Do something unique and different. Drive by a different route before work. Order your morning coffee from a different café. Catch up with your sister during breakfast instead of watching TV mindlessly. Observe the different scenes on your way to work, instead of just staring blankly at the taxi seat. Stop to smell the flowers on your way out of the house. Your senses need to get in touch with something other than your usual routine.

3. Get a Quick Fix
There’s nothing like comfort food to get you worked up. For some people, it’s their favorite cup of coffee. For others, it’s a bite of succulent chocolates or a large order of fries. Whatever your choice is, don’t be hesitant to go for a quick break to get your favorite fix. Just don’t overdo it; we don’t want you to end up overweight or sugar crashing.

4. Exercise
It’s true what they say about exercise; it releases endorphins responsible for making you feel happy. The best time to do exercise is in the morning; so before heading to work, spend half an hour or two for pumping iron. Enroll in an early-morning yoga class. Lift weights in your neighborhood gym before work. If you’re pressed for time, something simple like a 20-minute jog or 15 minutes of calisthenics is good enough to get your system going.

5. Dial 9-1-1
If you’ve tried everything to get a project finished and you’re still not having any progress, then don’t be afraid to ask for help. Ask your officemates for ideas during your lunch break. Email your friends and ask them to pitch in something inspiring. Sometimes all it takes is a little push from someone to get you going.