For many of us saving money has become a priority. With a little ingenuity and forethought you can cut back your expenses without downsizing your lifestyle.   Seinfeld’s Kramer said it best, in The Glasses episode, “Retail is for suckers.”

Why pay, or pay full price, when you can:

1.  Borrow. The easiest way to save money is to simply borrow the item. Instead of purchasing a spice you will only use once why not ask around? Chances are someone will have the 1 – 2 teaspoons of the spice you need, thus saving from buying an entire jar. The same can be said for DVDs, which you will only view once or twice, books, magazines, CDs, clothes, tools, etc.

2. Rent. If you cannot borrow an item then see if you can rent it. It is much cheaper to rent a DVD than to purchase it. Instead of buying a circular saw for the deck you are building, only to have it gather dust after you are finished, why not rent one? Before investing in an item ask yourself, realistically how many times do you foresee yourself actually using the item? These days you can rent almost anything from artwork to a Zamboni.

3. Share the cost. In many cases it makes sense to split the cost of an item with someone; especially if it is to take advantage of a volume discount, or bulk purchases. The 25lbs of flour at Costco may be a bargain, but how much baking do you really do? Why not split the bag, and cost, with a neighbor? The same can be done with magazine subscriptions. You subscribe to 1 or 2 magazines and a friend to another 1 or 2; once a week you trade magazines. If you ask around your would be surprise how many people you know are subscribing to the same magazines you are and vice versa. If you really want to save money, and you are comfortable enough with someone, why not share the cost of owning a car, cottage (a take on timesharing, but you get more time to enjoy the cottage), lawnmower, etc… Purchasing an item amongst 2 or more people and then sharing the item always makes financial sense.

4. Do without. Before you purchase a high ticket item, such as a chest freezer, that As Seen On TV product you saw last night on an infomercial, a DVD Home Theater System, procrastinate making the purchase. Give yourself a cooling off period. You have come this far in life without a Barcalounger so what is a few more days? In many cases you will find that you can easily do without, which is much less expensive than buying that pasta maker you were always wanting only for it to end up in back of a closet having only been used once or twice because it is too much of a hassle to use and then clean.

5. Get it for free. Is there a more eye catching or ear-pleasing, word in the entire English language than “free”? Freecycle is a non-profit organization which organizes, throughout the world, groups aimed at diverting reusable goods from landfills. Freecycle provides an online registry and coordinates the creation of local groups for individuals to offer and receive free items to reuse. Visit their website at www.freecycle.org; chances are there is a group where you live. Sign up and you will begin receiving e-mails from local members offering their unwanted items for free. You can also ask your local members if they have a certain item you need. What better way to save money, and the environment, than by getting an item you want for free.

6. Internet auctions and classifieds. Before you pay full price for something check the Internet. Auction sites like eBay and Yahoo! Auctions offer multitude of bargains. Sites like Craigslist provide local classifieds. Every major city has an online classifieds; where you can find literally anything you could ever want, just cheaper.

7. Make your own. There is a vast amount of savings to be had by making your own item. The labor cost it takes to make an item is what the majority of the price comprises of. This is especially is especially true when in comes to restaurants. The Caesar salad you had at lunch for $6.95, plus tax and maybe a tip, would have cost far less if you had made it at home. Do the math… bottle a salad dressing, box of croutons, grated parmesan cheese, romaine lettuce… you can buy enough to make 4 Caesar salads for the price of 1 in your local Italian restaurant. Research the Internet for recipes of your favorite restaurant dishes and name brand foods you can prepare in your own kitchen. Need a desk? Go online and get the plans for a desk and build it yourself. You will save money, have a sense of accomplishment and it will be more solid than some put-it-together-yourself-furniture you will pick up at Ikea. For numerous free plans from an Adirondack chair to yard decorations visit http://www.freeww.com.

8. Barter (swap / trade). Peter Minuet, in 1626, traded in what has become barter legend, $24 worth of beads, kettle and knives for what is today Manhattan Island. Remember when at recess you would try to trade your Kraft slice, with margarine, on white bread sandwich your mother made for your best friend’s turkey breast and mayo, with crisp lettuce and juicy tomato slices on multi-grain bread? You probably have something others want and vice versa, so why not swap? Bartering is how modern commerce began. Google “barter websites”. There are numerous websites where you can exchange your items / services with other like-minded people, SwapAce being the most well known. Trade services with your friends and neighbors. The guy across the street is a barber and you own a landscaping company… he cuts your hair and you mow his lawn.

9. Recondition / reuse. It amazes me what people will throw away when a little TLC can make the item reusable. Instead of purchasing a new sofa, why not reupholster your existing one? If you do it yourself the savings can be significant. Even if you have it redone professionally you will save money. Before you replace an item see if it can be salvaged. We have become accustomed to think everything, like dairy product, has a shelf-life and are only meant to last so long before they break or wear out thus forcing us to buy again. This is not always the case.

10. Do it yourself. Like the cost of labor being a large portion of an item’s price, when you hire someone, or avail yourself of such a service (i.e. oil change), you are primarily paying for the labor. You may hate painting, but do you hate it so much that you are not willing to literally save 1,000’s of dollars? Besides how often do you need to paint? You can hire a pool cleaning service, or you can doing yourself and save. Even the cheapest oil change costs more than you purchasing the oil and oil filter yourself. In most cases, with a little patience and some advice and research, you can do the job yourself. Your local library will have more volumes of Do It Yourself books than you can even begin to imagine ever existed.

By no means are the above suggestions a complete list of how you can save money. It is just meant to get you thinking of how you are spending your money. To make the most of your hard earn money start by asking yourself -

(a) Is the item or service truly necessary?
(b) Can I borrow, rent, barter, recondition or obtain it for free? and
(c) How can I obtain it for the least amount of money?