- 401K - First and foremost, we have maxed out our 401k plans at work - 15% of our salaries go to our retirement funds. EVERYONE should contribute to a 401k at work and (if you can) contribute to the amount that your company matches. The match is FREE MONEY!
- Roth IRAs - We both have Roth IRAs that we contribute the maximium amount to. This is 2nd most important investment behind 401ks.
- Flex Spending - Every year, I figure out a close amount that we might spend for health care and have it deducted from my salary into a Flex Spending Account. This saves us a couple hundred of dollars a year on taxes.
- Donate - When I get a bargain that we do not use, we donate it. When we clean out the house, I try to have a yard sale then it gets donated. We currently donate to the Loudoun County Animal Shelter, Loudoun Interfaith Food Bank and The Lupus Foundation.
- Volunteer - I used to volunteer weekly at the Loudoun County Animal Shelter (this has been put on hold since adopting Zed) and every year we participate in Great Strides.
- Coupons - I make the most of sales and using coupons for those items. The majority of the grocery stores offer double coupons (usually up to 50 cents). I use coupons from Sunday papers (sometimes I buy more than one copy), free paper that gets delivered to our house on Sunday, and the internet (Coupons.com and Smart Source).
- Click and Earn Sites - Yes, it may take awhile to get enough "points" to get something, but it's worth it. The ones I use the most: MyPoints, Swagbucks, Mycokerewards. MyPoints has coupons on it so it helps with saving that way along with getting points for using those coupons. New (3/2/12) - a coworker introduced me to Viggle. It's a point rewards program where you check in to tv shows and earn points.
- Sign up and Earn Sites & Cards - Once again, it takes awhile to earn, but it's worth it. The ones I use the most and are the easiest: Upromise, CVS ExtraCare Card, and Giant Food Bonus Card. Upromise will give you a check, with CVS you earn dollar off coupons, and with Giant you earn cents off per gallon of gas at Shell.
- Buy and trade used - I purchase items off of Ebay and Amazon when possible. I do a lot of trading of books, CDs and DVDs through Paperbackswap, SwapaCD, and SwapaDVD. I just opened an account on Listia. This is a swap site where you can list anything to receive credits and use those credits to purchase other items.
Auction for free stuff on Listia.com
