Money-saving tips and strategies

So, I was thinking about ways to save money, and I got to wondering -- how do you folks streeeeetch that dollar? (Or franc. Or rupiah, or gil, whichever you prefer).

Here're some things that I've seen or learnt:-

* Some universities sell off their unwanted supplies and furniture to the general public for cheap. The university I went to had this place where if I wanted to, I could buy office furniture, old computer equipment, electronics, or even lab supplies for sometimes down to a tenth of their original price. Of course, these items are used, and in the case of electronics, often obsolete, but it's a way to grab stuff like chairs cheap.

* I scour newspapers for grocery discounts. Of course, the whole point of them offering you the discounts in the first place is to get you to buy other, non-discounted stuff, so basic rules apply -- don't go shopping while you're hungry, and make a shopping list and stick to it.

* Back to the university thing -- if your school has a livestock research facility, you can often get meat and eggs cheap from them. The one I worked at, for example, sold a pallet of 48 eggs for 2 USD. The caveat is that it's often meat from animals slaughtered for experiments that gets solds, so bear that in mind.

Your turn!

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Originally Posted by ElectricSheep

I balance all of my accounts several times a week using accounting software that lets me see a quick summary of all of my month-to-date expenses broken down by category. I can also set budgets for the month, see how I'm meeting those budgets, and forecast my balances based on a moving average and scheduled transactions.

I'm just curious, which software do you use? I want to learn effective budgeting too, so I was thinking of using Excel to keep track of my expenses, but it sounds like the software you're using is more efficient.

There's nowhere I can't reach.