Keep More Income

When I moved to my apartment a year ago, I also had to find a nearby gym.  I had two interests in mind: good facilities and low price.

Good facilities are easy to find.  Simply go into your local gyms and take a tour.  Low price, however, takes a bit more work.

Every gym will try to gouge you.  I was shocked by the monthly prices I was being offered.  Most started at around $40 a month.

The truth is, gym memberships can be bargained for.  I know this because I ended up bargaining for my rate, and I got what I wanted.

If you weren’t able to bargain for your gym membership rate, then you would not be sat down at the end of the gym tour to go over rate plans.  There wouldn’t be someone at their desk trying to sign you up every time.  They would simply have you sign up for a specific plan and go on your way.

Keep in mind that whatever the first offer you get is, it will be far more expensive than you need to pay.  Tell the person that that is way too much  money, and notice how within five minutes, they will be offering you nearly the exact same plan for less money.

Long ago, I had a membership at this particular chain of gyms for $19/month.  I had a friend who got me in at a great promotional rate.  I told the representative the rate I had, and that that was what I wanted again.  I knew it was possible, and I wouldn’t settle for anything else.

It took about half an hour of bargaining back and forth — plus I ended up leaving saying “thanks but no thanks” — but the next day I received a phone call offering me the $19/month rate.  “I talked with my manager and she said it’s OK, but you’ll have to sign up today.”

Now I’m not saying you will receive a rate as great as this through bargaining, but you should bargain for your gym membership.  You could end up saving at least $15/month from the standard offer you first receive, meaning you’ll have an extra $180/year minimum.  At the very least, you’ll get some free stuff you wouldn’t have received otherwise.

Gym memberships were meant to be bargained for, so do it!

I realized a few more ways to justify getting that great home theatre set-up.

When you have a great home theatre, you end up preferring watching your movies at home.  With movie ticket prices around $10 or more, watching just ten movies a year will pay for a large chunk of your home theatre.

In other words, make movie night a social night at your place.  Stop going out to the movies and instead get friends to chip in and rent movies with you, and you’ll have a significant amount of money available to pay for your home theatre set-up.

Now you have no excuse.  Get a killer home theatre and save money.  Seems fair enough, doesn’t it?

I don’t pay for cable or satellite TV, but I do have a great home theatre set-up.  LCD TV, 5.1 surround sound, up-converting DVD player, and more.

In fact, having this set-up is what is allowing me to save money by cutting the premium cable TV.

What a lot of people don’t realize is that, with an HDTV, you can pick up all local channels in full digital high definition quality with nothing but a set of standard rabbit ear antennas.  That’s right, the same antennas that were powering TVs in the mid-20th century are the same beasts that can pick up full HD signals of your local stations.

“Local stations” of course refer to the big guys — ABC, NBC, Fox, CBS, PBS, and so on — and include all the most-watched shows in American television.  Big sporting events are aired on the same stations.

In the United States, all HDTVs are, by law, required to have a tuner built-in.  What this means is that, once you have your TV purchased, rabbit ear antennas are all you’ll need to start picking up high definition TV shows.

Because I don’t pay between $600 and $1000 a year in cable TV costs, I can easily justify my home theatre purchase.  One can easily find good 5.1 speakers for around $300, a 37″ LCD TV can be had for $600, great DVD players around $50, and a strong antenna will set you back $30.

My set-up will last me for many, many years.  I don’t see upgrading my speakers or TV anytime soon.  For the one-year cost of cable TV, I was able to get a brand new, high-definition home theatre, and I can still watch most of my favorite shows — including big, live sporting events, like the Super Bowl, all in high definition.

Seems worth it to cut the cable, huh?

This one is simple.  Cable or satellite TV services are expensive and will drain your wallet.

In my area, digital cable TV packages start around roughly $60/month.  This is for the “basic” package.  (Of course, there are always promotions, but they end up with jacked up prices after a couple months.)

Satellite TV is a little more reasonable, at around $40/month minimum.

Of course, many people get tempted into the “premium” channels and end up with $80 to $100/month TV bills.  Many of my friends with debt and smaller incomes — all mid-20-somethings — claim to be paying close to $120 or more a month in total TV and Internet expenses, with promotions included.

That is simply ridiculous.  Considering that the most-watched shows in America are provided on free network television, I can’t see how anyone can justify a minimum of roughly $720/year to have more channels.

The truth of the matter is, YOU don’t need cable or satellite TV.  But there are always shows you want to catch that are only available on paid TV services.  I know that there are a few shows on HBO that I hate to miss.  What do you do then?

Simple.  You have two choices.

1. Many TV shows can be treated as social events.  When I want to see the latest episode of Entourage, I call up one of my buddies and ask if I can run over to see it.  It turns into a group social event and is even more fun than it would have been watching it alone.  Trust me, unless you never talk to your friends, you won’t be seen as “using” anyone, and in fact everyone will be even more psyched to have you over.  Treat TV as social “hanging out” time.
2. Wait for the DVDs.  Paying $30 for a season of a TV show you like is a whole lot better than paying close to $1000/year to be able to watch it on a schedule.  Better yet, if you only need to watch the episodes once, just rent it.  Rent the DVD sets for six shows and you’ve saved tons of money.

Stayed tuned for more ways that cutting the cable bill will benefit you.

I am a big advocate of buying and preparing all your own food. I honestly feel that this is how I save a lot of my money — by largely abandoning eating out.

For most people, buying and preparing almost every meal of every day is a huge hassle. It was for me, too, until I learned the trick to properly managing my food preparation.

This trick is actually widely touted in health circles. Professional dietitians swear by this method. If you ever see the refrigerator of a celebrity trying to get fit for a big role, they swear by this method as well.

So not only do you save tons of money by using this simple trick, but you get added health and body composition benefits as well.

What is the trick? It’s simply to dedicate one day to buying all your groceries and then preparing them.

Most people have two days off every week. First thing after you get up one of those days, run to the grocery store. Buy all your groceries for the next week.

When you get home, instead of simply putting them all away, leave them out and start cooking with them. Put each meal for each day in plastic tupperware, and store it in the fridge, clearly labeled.

You should be spending about one hour total driving to the grocery store, shopping, and getting it all home. From there, if you mass cook everything, you could spend as little as two hours preparing an entire week’s worth of food.

Not only will you save tons of cash because you won’t have to eat out at work every day, but you’ll also save tons of time in food preparation. Small dinners will already be ready for you to eat. Snacks and other meals will require little to no preparation time.

Take just three to five hours one day a week to purchase and prepare all your food. You’ll save money by not eating out, and you’ll gain more time to be able to do the things you want to do with your life.

If you’re interested in saving lots of money, limiting how often you eat out will pay you in strides. You’ve heard it before, and I’m going to reiterate it for you right now.

I’m shocked when I observe how much my friends and family spend to eat out. Many of my coworkers, for example, buy their lunch at work every day. Where I work, this will set them back a minimum of $5 a day, and at an average of probably about $7 a day. On the low end, they’re dropping $25 every work week for just lunch alone — or $100/month.

I, on the other hand, have my lunch prepared ahead of time every day. My lunches average a maximum of about $2 a meal, and are frequently less than that. At my maximum cost, I’m spending $40/month.

A lot of people I know scoff at the idea of saving just $60/month. But the trickle down effect results in so much more in savings than that.

After one month of practicing something, it generally becomes a habit. Once preparing your food ahead of time rather than eating out becomes a habit, you will find yourself eating out less and less. You won’t be heading out to eat dinner — you’ll just eat what you have prepared yourself. The $60 you save on monthly lunches will turn into an extra $40 that you save on dinners. That $40 you save on dinners will slowly turn into an extra $20 you save on snacks throughout the day. You get the idea.

Having food prepared saves you when you have to meet friends for food, too. I hate that our society equates “hanging out with friends” to “going out for food,” but such is life. Since I always have my meals prepared ahead of time, I can eat a quick snack and go into restaurants without being starved and just order a small side dish, rather than a full entree. I save money, and I save the embarrassment of not having anything to eat.

I’m shocked when I read reports of people spending upwards of $200/month eating out. Wouldn’t you rather cut that food spending down to $40/month, and pocket the extra $160? Combined with other tips and techniques I provide, this will add a hefty chunk of change to your monthly savings.

Stay tuned tomorrow for tips on how to prepare your food efficiently.

Bars and clubs are interesting places to me. Most people have no problems paying $10 or more just to get inside, and then they throw away another $20 minimum on drinks.

Being young and social, I am no stranger to bars and clubs. I am definitely not a regular at any particular bar or club, but a while back I learned a little trick that helped me get into places with cover fees either free or half price.

I was going to meet some friends at a bar one night, but found myself there early — about an hour early, in fact. The bar was nearly dead, but the bouncer was outside, bracing himself for the night.

Being bored with the lifeless crowd inside, I stepped outside to where the bouncer was. I made a little bit of small chat and then popped the question:

“Hey, you want a drink?”

Now, I am not a drinker. I have maybe a beer or two every couple of weeks. This doesn’t mean I can’t treat others to drinks, though.

The bouncer obliged, told me his drink of choice, and I got it for him. He asked for a fairly expensive beer — set me back about $14 — but I saw it as an investment. We talked a bit more, exchanged names, and then I headed back inside to meet up with my friends, who were slowly trickling in.

Since that night, I get into that particular bar for free any time there is a cover and that bouncer is there. Mentioning that I am that bouncer’s buddy when he isn’t there usually results in me getting in for half price, minimum. A lot of my friends get in for free or half price, too, just for showing up with me. A lot of times we can cut long lines, too.

Show up to a bar early — before the crowds — and buy the bouncer a drink. That $14 drink and the few minutes of chatting time have saved me tons in cover fees, and have helped me in my social life too.