Wanna Cut Your Expenses? Check This Out

I admit it.  I now have an AARP card.  Besides some minor discounts at a limited number of places, a membership also includes a subscription to America's biggest circulation magazine, AARP.   Sometimes there worth-while articles which can help save money.   Many of us are all about that, so here are a few budget-cutting reminders I'd like to share:

-Brown Bag your lunch.   You'll save about $25 a week, or over $1,300 in a year.

-Use Regular gas.    Drop the premium and save about 20 cents a gallon or about $250 a year.

-Get a library card.   According to the US Census, the average American household spends about $200 a year books and magazines.  Most can be borrowed from you local library.

-Skip the convenience store.   When the cost of grocery items at a convenience store are compared to the same ones at a supermarket, the cost is about 45 percent higher at the convenience stores.

-Ask for tap water.   Next time you dine out, ask the server for tap water and skip the soda or mixed drink.  The Census Bureau estimates the average family could save about $800 a year by drinking free water.

-Pay down your mortgage.   With some of the money you are saving by following those other tips, maybe you can add $100 a month to your mortgage payments.  That will cut time off your mortgage and save you many thousands of dollars in interest.

-Break a bad habit.    Smoking, buying candy or soda from vending machines, an ordering a drink at a bar are expensive.  Give it up or cut back and the savings are obvious.

Not rocket science, but some good things to keep top of mind when you are trying to cut those expenses.

AARP