Super savers share secrets to saving money and building bank

Odds are, saving money is on your to-do list for 2012. Every year, millions of Americans resolve to get a handle on finances.

[@ericp1139]

Only use coupons for things you absolutely need. A lot of coupons are tricks to lure you into buying things you do not need, so you end up wasting money when you thought you were getting a deal.

[@welshhibby]

I found as a man if you don't get married and don't have kids you have an incredible amount of money

[@momof2momof2]

I feel very sorry for you, and your lonely, empty life

[@73cidalia]

welshhibby Works for women too. At least the frugal ones. But there's more to life than how much is in our bank accounts.

[@fender1000100]

welshhibby Yes but you have to STRIKE A BALANCE. If everyman thinks like you thats the end of the human race..The thing I did was WAIT until I was 34 and had over 75k in the bank and medical/life insurance. Before I had the first of my two kids. The mistake too many people make is they have kids BEFORE they have any money. So stay broke from there going forward.

[@carmenortiz5294]

I found as a woman that if I had never have gotten married and didn't have kids, I would have an incredible amount of money. Duh! I goes both ways. As to momof3, yeah, sure, I am old, live on my own and I definitely DO NOT feel lonely and if anything I have more things to do than time available. You two should not be giving advice, you can't put together a brain between the two.

[@blackworldtraveler3711]

momof2 Not really. Don't know where you got that from. You think men and women that don't marry and have kids have a lonely empty life? I never got married and had kids either. Found a woman who chose the same. Plenty out there. Met this lady on a Dubai/Paris flight. Been together for 11 years. She has her money,career,wealth,etc. and I have mine. We probably spend more quality time together than you in the most interesting places. We mostly cook together,traveled to about 40 countries, and can even single hand a 50ft. Ketch. Also I've traveled to all 50 states and 56 countries total exploring,backpacking,hiking,sailing,etc.,in the past 30 years seeing and doing most things you read about and see on tv. $160k career in aerospace, sailboat racing in Hong Kong,Peace Corps,UNICEF,Air Force,and the freedom to do anything I want without worry of money don't sound empty to me. No alimony or weaponized child support to deal with so the courts and government can't touch me. Vasectomy in early 20s.....Happy Knife,Happy life! Millionaire by 30. Retiring at 50 next year. Have you started a Roth IRA for your kids at 12? Have you taken them to different countries after they learned a foreign language? Did you take one of them to New Zealand for a month because she made good grades and enjoyed Lord of the Rings movies. Or to a Japanese anime convention in Japan? Take them to Switzerland to work for the summer at your bed and breakfast and learn a foreign language from a private tutor? Enrolled them in Space Camp? Etc,etc,etc. Well I did these things for my nieces and nephews through the years. I call them rentals. They all have been to at least 3 countries and speak 2 or more foreign languages. Heck I'm beginning to feel sorry for you the more I think about it.

[@ffrebello]

LMFAO this is American financial planning. Those reward points are brutal, they make you buy things you don't want.

[@4mydearlady]

This is basically some version of extreme coupon-ing. I don't like tips on saving that involve complicated systems, or that involve empowering stores and multi-national corporations to track all of your buying habits and share more of your personal information than they already have. Saving shouldn't be this complicated. Even if you're willing to try this, many people find it hard to keep up with it for years and years to come. Couponing, chasing deals, etc. can become a part-time job! I know people who used to be extreme couponers and stopped years later because they simply didn't feel like researching ads, stacking coupons and driving to a bunch of different stores on certain days, filling out surveys, and scanning items with a bunch of apps.

[@doomtomb3]

Ya that all sounds pretty ludicrous. Rather just save money by reducing spending, like how your parents used to do it

[@amandaclick8795]

Be careful with restaurant gift cards! Once had a $50.00 Gift Card purchased cheaply at a Sam's Club, but after the meal the waitress had ran the gift card for the entire amount when the meal was only around $34.00! When talking to the restaurant manager they said there was nothing they could do because the gift card may have been used at another time, and there is no way to justify giving us back that money. Not everyone can be trusted; unfortunately gift card purchases are hard to track. Make sure to check the balance frequently to help avoid situations like these.

[@rollysport77]

Mandie Click good to know this thank you for sharing👍

[@FeralTyneMan]

I do surveys and daily clicks for PayPal and vouchers, e-vouchers. I'd like to blog and make money that way but I'm not very good at that. I grow some of my own vegetables and I'm pretty frugal but not off-grid yet. I want to be one day, hopefully soon but need money to buy land, materials. And I'm not employed right now so I think that I can save a small amount unemployed is pretty good. Wish I had a full time job though. I'd only need 1 - 2 years work to go off grid.

[@HorseFromHell]

But she can't afford to change the batt in her smoke detector lol

[@OneirosDreamShrine]

Kids don't need dozens of toys for Christmas. That just teaches gluttonous materialism, Try limiting it to only four toys that the kid had thought long and hard about, or one big present if they want a game console or something. This helps weed out all of the "well johnny has it so I want one too" problems. Then fill a stocking full of markers, glue and crafting items and put it all in a good cardboard box. Hours of creative, unstructured play!

[@Margarita1988]

What a ridiculous amount of toys for two children!

[@amiradeshon5501]

4 boys

[@Cdogbillionaire]

yep. true dat. Also makes sense to buy quality toys like lego that you can pass down generation to generation rather than that cheap stuff.

[@TheKerryzzz]

I'm just not going to do that stuff. It's not worth the savings to go through such a headache for that.

[@lisawhbc2009]

I got a virgin mobile android that has almost the same features and works just as well, $80 bucks for the phone $35 a month for everything!! can't get cheaper than that

[@peggyghirardello275]

I don't do all this I save change rite after Xmas til following year and I shop year round jcp koehles eighty percent off higher with coupon or I o on senior day I could D never pay jcp or koehles full price hubby retired four years ago I shop year round birthdays etc etc

[@dhivchannelglobalentertain8108]

When you use the word ‘shop’ a lot in your sentences , you aren’t saving

[@TristaneNgoletmua]

iPhones arent expensive monthly

[@Elska-bee]

but really I was kidding..

[@Elska-bee]

better savings...don't have kids

[@mybestlifepossible2576]

How ridiculous can you get for the mother with money problems to use rewards to buy Christmas presents ? She obviously has her priorities mixed up, and I see how, and why she has the financial problems, she does

[@nisreen1982]

My Best Life Possible, what’s wrong with that. She have 4 kids and in Christmas you can’t leave ur kids without gifts. Also, she did not say they have money problems. She was talking about how she use their income in the best possible way.

[@mybestlifepossible2576]

@@nisreen1982 These are my honest feelings. You can have Gift Giving Day, at any time of the year, ( am speaking to those without financial problems ), because that has become the biggest priority at Christmas, is the material aspect, so let's call it what it is. Take the blinders off. Now, since it's been years since I celebrated Christmas, because as a Buddhist, we don't celebrate Christmas , and when you stop doing things you have been indoctrinated into doing, at least for me, I could be more objective about it, and see Christmas for what it really is. So , I was moved to do my own research from there, and it seems commercial Christmas, emerged out of Boston, early 1900, if memory serves me right. Christmas was not commercialized before then, in this country. So why teach your children early on to get caught up in being over materialistic and in consumerism when other real financial needs, should be prioritized over spending money on Christmas presents ? I have an ex, and unexpectedly, my then mother in law got pregnant. The child a boy, lived in a tough neighborhood. The local public school was difficult because to begin with it was substandard, and this child, was often bullied. I suggested he be placed in a parochial school, that had an excellent reputation for academics. It required a payment of tuition. The mother immediately turned to her son, and told him, he would not be getting as much for Christmas that year. His little face showed disappointment, of course. My now , ex and I decided we would contribute toward the tuition, also. We both worked, (me as a nurse) , and we had no children at the time. This child went to his new school, and a much happier child emerged quickly, now that he was not being bullied and picked on. In addition , it was found he excelled academically in math, and all around was a very good student. This is what happens when you keep your financial priorities, in order, over Gift Giving Day. Your needs always come, before your wants.