It is possible to save money, even when you don’t think you have enough to live on.

It is possible to save money, even when you don’t think you have enough to live on. Here are 10 tips that could help you to save:

1 Track and Analyze Your Spending

Write down every cent you spend for two weeks in a small notebook that you keep handy at all times. Categorize your expenditures and tally them up. You will probably be surprised by your amount of casual spending and indentify numerous ways to save money. Once you have identified areas where you spend unnecessarily, check out Hugh Chou’s calculators at www.hughchou.org/calc. You can calculate how much you will save by making your own lunch or brewing your own coffee at home and toting it in a thermos rather than buying it every morning. 

2 Take a List with You when Buying Groceries

Avoid impulse buying by taking a grocery list with you when you shop for food. This increases the chance that you will buy only what you need and decreases the chance that you will forget an essential item. Shop for products you use regularly when they are on sale. 

3 Buy in Bulk

Shop for bulk items at places like Costco or Sam’s Club once a month. Ask a friend to share things that are too large (a pair of one-gallon bottles of dish detergent or a gallon of tomato sauce) or too perishable. However, buying in bulk only makes sense if you consume in bulk. 

4 Save on Bottled Water and Seltzer

Using a faucet-mounted water filter will give you the same great-tasting, high-quality drinking water that is sold in grocery stores. If you enjoy seltzer, buy a siphon and CO₂ cartridges to put fizz in your own filtered tap water. Many four-star restaurants do this already.

5 Kick the Credit Card Habit

Credit cards can be costly, especially retail cards with high interest payments and late fees. If you cannot pay your balance off each month, consider cutting your cards up or closing them (but be aware that this could affect your credit score). A debt consolidation firm could help you negotiate a payment plan with a much lower interest rate. 

6 Save Money on Gas

Check your vehicle’s tires at least once a month. Cars can lose up to six percent in fuel efficiency for every pound below the tire’s required air pressure. In addition, take heavy items out of your trunk or back seat; a heavier car needs more gas to operate. Finally, ease up on the accelerator. Driving at 70 mph instead of 50 mph will requires up to 30 percent more fuel. 

7 Visit Your Local Library for Entertainment

Stop renting movies and buying books or CDs. Public libraries loan videos and DVDs of movies, TV shows and how-to programs on every topic imaginable, from foreign languages to how to build a patio. Most libraries allow you to select your favorites online and deliver them to your local branch library free of charge. Many libraries have extensive programs for children, from story-time for toddlers to after-school programs for older children. For adults, there are literacy programs, lectures, poetry readings, plays, performances and book clubs with free reading material from the library system. 

8 Use Rechargeable Batteries

If you use batteries, recycle them and replace them with rechargeable batteries. Some battery chargers can be run off your car’s cigarette lighter, meaning that you can recharge your batteries at no cost while driving (see www.greenbatteries.com/nibachwilcdd.html for a 12-volt DC charger).

9 Replace Incandescent Light Bulbs with Compact Fluorescent Light Bulbs (CFLs)

Although compact fluorescent light bulbs cost significantly more to buy, they last up to 10 times longer, burn 70 percent cooler than incandescent bulbs (a big plus in the summer) and use two-thirds of the energy that incandescent bulbs require. CFLs are now manufactured in a variety of colors. If you replace all your incandescent bulbs with CFLs, you’ll see the results on your next electricity bill.

10 Save on Veterinary Care

Veterinary medical bills can add up, particularly if your pet is older or has recurrent illness. The ASPCA, local Humane Society, local animal shelters and colleges of veterinary medicine often offer services that are more affordable than many regular veterinary clinics. Preventive veterinary medicine, like annual check-ups, vaccinations and dental exams, will save you money and, perhaps, heartache down the line.