How You Can Save Money To Buy High-Tech Gadgets In The Holidays?

By Guest | Dec 2, 2011

This is a guest post by Thomas Hathaway. If you too have some brilliant money saving thoughts, feel free to share them with our readers. Read the guidelines.

There are many ways to save money. All of those methods require some discipline. Delay of gratification is a principle operative in the process of saving money. For those who have made ‘friends,’ with this state of mind, discipline is not a difficulty. This is especially useful if you are trying to save for high-tech gadgets this holiday. Even with Christmas just around the corner, it’s not too late to save up for your tech wishes.

Miserly Habits:

Once it becomes a habit, to wait for the time when spending should take place and while waiting a certain amount of money is put aside just for that day to spend, life will show many rewards. Perhaps the holidays are that special time to spend a certain saved purse of funds to see the great enjoyment and smiles on the faces of those who will be receiving the high tech holiday gifts.

Eat at Home:

One of the best ways to save money is to eat at home or pack a lunch. In other words, stop paying for those expensive restaurant lunches or stop going out for dinner. Perhaps this is difficult to do if dinner and lunch out is a common practice. But imagine if brown bagging it was done only once a week and eating at home was done once a week. The average lunch costs between five to fifteen dollars per meal. The average dinner out for one person can cost from ten to fifty dollars, depending on the restaurant. Giving up lunch and dinner out once a week could total from fifteen to sixty five dollars a week savings. In twelve months that can add up to $180 to $750 a year in cash put away by sacrificing one night out or one lunch out a week!

Share a Ride:

The other way to put a stash away is to share a ride or take the bus, if commuting to work by car is a daily expense. Depending on the mileage to work for the commute and the type of car driven, a person can save a significant amount of money each week if they leave the car at home and share a ride with others once or twice each work week. The average commute and fuel costs in one month for a person driving 30 miles each way to a job can cost them from $200 to $400 or more per month for gasoline. Let us say the commute costs $10 per day for the $200 and $20 for the $400 per month commuter. That is a savings of $40 to $80 per month and $480 to $960 a year for sharing a ride once a week. So if that commuter shared a ride twice a week, they could easily buy several new iPhones or iPads for their family and friends.

Turn down the Heat:

These are two areas that money can be saved up for that high tech holiday stash. The electricity bill is yet another but not quite as simple to track. If there are any running fans or appliances, such as an electric space heater, coffee maker or any appliance that uses resistance to produce heat such as an electric hot water heater, turning them off or down when not in use can cut the electricity bill down by up to a third or even a half. Saving 12 to 50 percent on a $100 monthly power bill can save $12 to $50 per month, which would give a high tech holiday allowance at the end of one year of $144 to $600!

Telecommute:

Some would argue that working from home is a great way to save money. If the kind of jobs that a person can get, working from home, still can cover all the monthly recurring bills and put food on the table, the savings on laundry, gasoline, car repair and time can be eye popping. Imagine no longer having to spend $400 per month driving to work! Imagine no longer having to spend $60 to $200 on dry cleaning and laundry! Imagine having 30 to 60 minutes more per day to work at home and make $10 to $40 more per hour of time NOT spent driving to work!

With so many ways to save up for the holiday, a little discipline can go a long way. When the latest high tech gear has caught your eye, you can save the funds needed to make it a Merry Christmas for all.

Byline: Thomas Hathaway is a financial consultant and suggests there are times when a payday loan may come in handy when you have financial urgency prior to your regular pay date.