How To Easily Save $1200 a Year

You've got a couple weeks of vacation coming to you -- time away from work -- but now you are stressing even more because you have no money tucked away for a trip to a sandy, white beach to play in the surf; or a sight-seeing tour of a big city; or to fly over the Grand Canyon and gawk at the scenery; or even enough gas money to go camping.

Well, don't despair. With a little planning and a lot of self-discipline, you can easily tuck away $100 a month, penny by dollar, in a jar or bag labeled "Vacation Funds" and find you have $1200 at the end of one year. It won't hurt that much!

The following five ideas are based on personal experience, but once you think about it, you may find other ways to save. The secret to your success will hinge on taking this money that you would have normally spent and actually putting it in the jar or bag -- don't spend it somewhere else.

1. Pack your lunch for work. If you find you are going out to lunch every day, five days a week, you are spending an average of $5 each day. Twice a week, pack a lunch, even if it is nothing more than a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and chips. Each day you pack your lunch, throw $5 into your "vacation funds" container. You will save $10 each week; that's $40 a month. Could this be any easier?
2. Give up that pricey coffee drink. Okay, well, not completely. But if you find yourself stopping on the way to work every day for a $4 mocha latte or cappuccino, think about it. If you wait until you get to work, at least twice each week, you save $8 at the end of the five days. Throw that money into the jar or bag and, by the end of the month, you have added $32. For argument sake, let's take away $2 so you can donate that to the office coffee fund, giving you $30 for your vacation. What a surprising difference . . . just giving up eight cups of flavored coffee. With this little bit of effort and sacrifice, you already have $70 saved and maybe even a few pounds from latching onto your hips.
3. Save change. You will, no doubt, spend some money throughout each day. And, with that, comes change. At the end of each day -- and this is very important -- add that change to your fund container. On average, conservatively speaking, that could be $.50 each day. Multiply that by 30 and you have added $15 by the end of the month. Wow, how it does add up. You now could have as much as $85.
4. Return bottles for deposit. If you live in a state where there is a $.10 deposit when buying beer and soda, save your empty cans and bottles. At the end of each month, return them to the store and get back the deposit money. But don't turn around and use that to save on groceries -- get the cash back and throw that in with your other savings. You've already spent that money earlier, why not save it now? Even if you don't purchase an appreciable amount of beer and soda in returnable containers, you will probably find yourself getting at least $5 back. That brings the total to $90, once you have added this money. Just a note: If your state does not have this, just throw $5 into the jug instead of spending it somewhere else.
5. Make use of free services. This last one is rather subjective, but can be a major money-saving tip. Just go ahead and throw the last $10 into the container and head to the library. There you can check out books, read magazines, and browse available videos -- instead of buying books, subscribing to magazines that will probably end up in the trash, and save on rental fees for videos. If you rent at least three movies from your local video store, at $3 a piece, in one month, there's $9 already. Your local library has the latest and greatest, so check it out.

Start planning your next vacation -- you will have the funds. Success, though, depends on how vigilant you are in putting this money away each day of every week from January through December. Don't just leave it in your wallet, because we all know it will get spent on something else.

Have a safe trip!