This is post #1,964

I'm an extreme saver. Other people indulge in sports like helicoptering up the side of a mountain and then skiing down in an avalanche, me, I like to save money. I like to come up with creative ways to do it, and I have this thing, that if I add an expense somewhere, I have to come up with a way to cut the expense somewhere else. It's amazing sometimes where I find the pennies and how those pennies add up. You can call it the 'latte factor', though some people discount the effect of a daily Starbucks purchase on your wallet (and waistline). This year, I wanted to find a way to save an additional $50/month to offset a $50/month expense, for a total of $600. Here's how I did it:

* Raise deductible on my car insurance to $1,000: $100/year
* 10 percent off on my cell phone by signing a new contract: $72/year
* Eating lunch out only once or twice a week instead of 4-5 times a week: $864/year (at $6/lunch)

My other favorite cost-savings measures include:

* Videos from the library instead of Blockbuster: $72/year
* Basic cable provided by the apartment: $420
* Keeping car trips to a minimum to save on gas: $240/year

I also have been buying some canned veggies lately instead of fresh and those are cheaper. But that's not necessarily because I'm cheap, but more because it's sometimes hard for me to consume all of my fresh produce quick enough before it goes bad. So for certain items -- mushrooms, olives, green beans, corn -- I'll buy canned. Nothing beats fresh tomatoes though.