Happy Healthy Families

As the New Year approaches, many of us will start thinking about how to improve our finances in the coming months. For me, there is one habit that is almost a no-fail way to save a little extra money.

Avoid the stores.

Yep. No shopping, browsing, or entering of any domain that sells ANYTHING. Period.

Take a no-shopping day at least once a week. That means everything from avoiding coffee at Starbucks to grocery shopping for that day.

Make do with whatever you have in the kitchen for dinner. Avoid running out to get a newspaper at the corner liquor store. Skip the urge to check out your local CVS.

Stay out of every store for a day. That is the only fool proof way I know of to save money. Really save money. Not impulsively spending $25 on something because you will "save" $5.00. That is not really saving. Now avoiding the impulse buy altogether and having that extra $25 in your pocket at the end of the day is really saving. And chances are by the next day you will realize you did not really need that item. Whatever it was.

After a "no shopping day," figure out what you could have potentially spent that day had you followed your normal habits, and take that amount of money and save it. An envelope could work, or a deposit into your savings account would be even better.

What is your best tip for saving money?