If you’re like approximately 25% of the writers at The Consumerist, then prolonged talk of budgeting makes your eyes glaze over with boredom as you imagine yourself somewhere else doing something fun, like playing a video game or looking at pornography. Here, then, is a list of 10 so-called “easy” ways to save money, none of which require that you read a book or finally open that Quicken box your parents bought you two years ago. Many (or most) of the ideas may be of dubious value, but nobody said being lazy was profitable.

The first half of the list focuses on putting away money, while the second half focuses on bringing more in to begin with:

• “1. Automate your savings.” Combining direct deposit with scheduled transfers of cash from your checking to a savings account is a great way to save by accident. If you want to really capitalize on your laziness, choose a savings account at a different institution so that it’s more trouble than it’s worth to transfer back out.
• “2. Collect your excess coins.” We do this. When we take our coins to a Commerce Bank coin counting machine, we feel rich, usually by $60-70. We’re not sure how to turn this into “savings” though.
• “3. Use goal jars.” The original post says you can label a jar “kids’ education,” but we imagine that would have to be a really huge jar.
• “4. Form a budget and stick to it sometimes.” If you can’t follow one the right way, at least use it as a guideline for carving up your expenses.
• “5. Eliminate or reduce a hobby or subscription.”
• “6. Sell stuff on eBay or Amazon Marketplace.”
• “7. Start a new hobby.” More specifically, replace that money-eating hobby from #5 with something you like that can generate a small side income, like repairing computers, making and selling things, or caring for pets. Just don’t make that “hobby” something indescribably absurd, like how our friend’s dad suggested one summer that they grow water lilies in an unused horse trough and sell them to local florists. That’s not a good get-rich-quick scheme; that’s a sign that Daddy’s going crazy.
• “8. Ask for a raise.”
• “9. Get a second job in retail.” The low wage may make this option seem like a poor use of your time, but if you’ve got too much free time that you’re not doing anything with, this can be a way to convert it to revenue, at least for a while.
• “10. Consult.” Hmm. Now we think this blogger is just messing with us.

“10 Easy Ways to Save Money Without Much Effort” [Consumerism Commentary]
(Photo: Getty)

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