well, not with the fact that my hot water boiler went out on me this past weekend...

I could save the $1000.. but i'm more apt to putting it down to pay my debts that i already have... I'll be at least lowering my debt by $1000 over the next month.

Secretly he won't actually have to raise $1,000 for himself, since the repeated ad impressions will take care of that for him.

That's actually a pretty good plan.

its very simple. you put aside $1000 a month, and put it into savings...seems simple enough

What if you don't MAKE $1000 in 30 days?

this is somewhat impossible if you don't have $1000 after your bills every month right?
I mean unless there is a money tree, how am I going to save $1000 in one month?

The tips so far:
Tip #1: Pack lunches for the rest of the week
(Been doing this and eating most other meals at home so I won't be saving much)

Tip #2: Turn your thermostat down 3 degrees
(Already do this with a programmable thermostat, so I won't be saving much)

Tip #3: Sell something on eBay today
(Won't do this for the obvious reasons.)

Tip #4: Involve your friends in your savings challenge
(Sure, they love to follow every little thing someone picks up off the internet).

Kudos to the author though for:
...this series will not include retarded suggestions like "Start a garden" or "Buy day-old food from bakeries." I certainly won't tell you to cut your rent or move to a cheaper place, because NOBODY WILL DO IT!

@Ajh: Then you should use all of the information available at your fingertips on the internet to get a better job, probably.

@Canadian Impostor: Or more maybe you work part time to earn some spending money, and saving up a ton of money just isn't in the cards for you yet.

Impossible for me to do in one month, but three months, maaayyybe..... I'd have to cancel everything, my cell phone, my satellite, Netflix, drop my internet to the lowest DSL tier, make minimum payments on my bills, and maybe eat 1 meal a day. After the termination fees, I could theoretically save up 1,000 on the third month, and break even on the fourth, but definitely not in the next month or two.

@janetcarol: You could always look at his tips and save as much as you can using them. You don't necessarily need to worry about the amount.

@Ajh: minus my monthly rent, i only got $1000 left
lol

@bsalamon: hey, why not just put away a hundred thousand each month for a year and retire?

but why stop there? and who says it needs to be monthly? let's put away a billion every day. we could pay off the national debt on a donation after a few months and still have enough left over to buy the Cincinnati Bengals.

"This, of course, assumes that you're not already using these tips, some of which Ramit admits will come from Consumerist. (Aw, shucks, he likes us.)"

this is also assuming you take home at least $1000 after basic bills like rent/utilities.

Wait a minute. Isn't the IWillTeachYouToBeRich guy ironically not rich? I thought I heard that somewhere.

@MercuryPDX: I don't use heat and turns on the AC about 1 week out of the entire year.

Selling things on ebay will only cause you to lose money, for as you've stated, obvious reasons.

lol. The Economy sucks! How do we make it suck more? By not spending $$. It all trickles upwards until you lose your job.

@bdsakx: Live like a caveman and SAVE! :)

Here is a very quick list:
1) Put less/no money into your 401K and pay off your collateralized assets first!
2) Pay off high interest debt as fast as you can
3) If you can, re-finance as much high interest debt as you can to a lower interest rate. Don't consolidate loans unless the interest rate is less.
4) Make lunch for work each day >$100/mo.
5) Stop eating out. No fast food.
6) Stop buying processed foods.
7) Bottle your own water
8) Drop cable >$40 mo.
9) Drop home phone, use voip or cell phone if possible.
10) Drop data plan on cell phone >$30/mo
11) Sell everything you don't NEED on Craigslist.
12) Sell any cars you can get by without. Save the insurance, repairs and payments. Rent a car for the few times you may need it.
13) Check your bills each month. I find errors often.
14) Re-negotiate any month to month services for a lower rate.
15) Call credit card company and ask for a lower interest rate. If not, change cards.
16) Manage your money at the bank every day. Make sure you don't bounce checks.
17) If you have a large freezer, empty it, unplug it and sell it.
18) Change any light bulbs that stay on for long periods of time to CFLs.
19) Check for water leaks in toilets especially.
20) Shop around for a lower insurance plan if possible.

@MoreFunThanToast: I keep the house at 60 in the winter.... 55 if I'm not home or asleep.

Coming to visit? Bring a sweater or firewood. :)

I just transferred $1000 from my checking acct into my savings acct, I guess I am donw.

@katylostherart: So his blog should really be called "I will teach you to read Consumerist"?

@MoreFunThanToast:

May I suggest delicious ramen noodles for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Get rid of cable. Move to a cheaper place. Walk everywhere. Read by candlelight and find new employment.

@kid_moe: exactly what i was thinking, but funnier.

@miramesa: It seems to be a truism that anyone that will "teach you how to be rich" gets rich by teaching you how to be rich.

they seem to have forgotten what should have really been Tip #1: make at least $60,000 a year.

@miramesa: Read his blog. It's about personal finance mixed with entrepreneurship, and the title is a bit tongue-in-cheek. Also, he's probably not rich, but is also not not-rich, if that makes sense. I'm sure he does pretty well for himself considering all the things he dabbles in, plus his full time job.

@GothamGal: Screw candles- go to bed at dusk! Think of the money you'll save!

I'll be interested to see the Consumerist's take (and that of its readers) after the full month of tips has been published. I tend be skeptical of things like this, but I do enjoy Ramit's site, so I'll stay tuned in to see what happens.

@tape: Agreed. I used to subscribe to the IWTYTBR newsletter, but when I got the $1K thing I unsubscribed. If you make a modest salary, a lot of finanican advice is irrelevant. Like, "Well first of all, max out your 401(k). Then with what's left over..."

I could definitely stand to be smarter about my money, but this seems like the financial equivalent of a crash diet. Maybe it would be good as a "reach for the moon, land in the stars" sort of thing.

I did do one of those financial fasts (ie, no retail spending) for a week and it was worthwhile. It wasn't so much that I saved a ton of money, but I recognized some bad spending habits. I spend money when I'm bored or looking to avoid doing something. Plus it make me more conscious of running errands efficiently, and thinking carefully about my social obligations.

@MercuryPDX: Yeah, we've had the heater going for less than 5 hours total so far this winter. I am determined to not have $150 gas heating bills every month. And we've asked everyone we know to save scrap wood for us to burn on the especially cold nights.

We just skim 250 per paycheck off every time we're paid and put it directly into savings. Since my husband and I are on different pay schedules we never even miss it and we've been able to save without even feeling it.

A simple call to various insurance companies saved me a $1000 a year. Insurance companies bank on you just staying with them year after year. I also moved from Comcast to DirecTV and got more channels and HD for less money than Comcast. Just call their customer service and tell them you're considering switching. I got a free DVR and free professional installation.

@vastrightwing:
17) If you have a large freezer, empty it, unplug it and sell it.

Or, stock it to the hilt using your local warehouse club.

@kid_moe:

Mike Brown is not selling that cash cow.

This is totally awesome. I make about $1500 a month; if I can save another $1k, just with simple tips like this guy has, that's totally sweet!

@sarahandthecity: It's not so crazy. My wife and I save $1,000 a month, and we don't have to go without any of the necessities.

Saving $1000 in a month is not an impossible task. I was able to save over $1000 in September, although I was only able to save about $400 in October. My wife and I net about $2,700 a month (plus health benefits). I don't think it's a terrible amount of money. Here's some of the biggest reasons why I think we're able to save:

* Rent - We don't have a house payment. We rent an apartment that pays for heat and water. Rent is $680.
* Limit groceries to once a month - We're forced to eat stuff we wouldn't normally eat right off the top.
* Lousy furniture - We have pretty lousy furniture and not much of it. But we deal with it because we want to save (particularly for a house).
* Canceled digital cable - The broadcast digital stations come in pretty well. This saved $40.
* Canceled land line - We use the internet/phone bundle. Yeah Comcast is lousy, but AT&T is much much worse.
* Pack Lunch - This is obvious.
* Have no debt - This of course makes it a lot easier to save.

Despite these "sacrifices" we still subscribe to Netflix, have plenty of clothes and go out to eat once a week (~$40 a week. This really needs to come down). We also have a dog. Of course, not everyone can do this but it's not like you're a bad person. The point is that it IS possible and it doesn't hurt to try.

All you have to do is be a single, recent Harvard graduate with no wife or kids earning a high five-figure income from an internet startup. Now stop spending money on all the daily luxuries none of the rest of us can afford and you're all set...an extra $1,000 a month.

@jchabotte: Same. My wife and I pay several hundred extra every month on the principal on our mortgage, and on 0% interest loans.

@GothamGal: candles are probably more expensive than lightbulbs....

@janetcarol: Get rid of/reduce some of the bills. Cable, internet, cell phones. Get rid of HBO, drop down to a slower internet connection. Do you really need that unlimited text package? etc.

@seandavid010: Do you really think that is feasible and realistic advice to give someone? Well, I can. So should you.

There are so many people with no concept of how much others struggle, it's embarassing. Compassion, please get some.

@Ajh: I'm glad someone else pointed this out.

I suppose I could just not pay my bills for the month, and then POOF, magic, I'd have saved a $1000.

@MercuryPDX: Isn't deer season coming up?

@Craig: (I'm the author of the challenge.) That's not really true. Maybe to cut your costs $1,000, you might have to be spending a lot -- but the challenge includes earning more and optimizing your existing spending.

Besides, could you save $50? $100? Seems like that would be better than doing nothing.

@Ilovemygeek: That is awesome. Making saving automatic is the easiest way to save tons of money. (See the research on automatic 401(k)s for more on how effective this is with retirement accounts.)

@katylostherart: Or, if you read the actual post, you would see that the challenge is about Cutting costs, Earning more, and Optimizing your spending -- not just cutting costs off a gigantic income.

Wouldn't it be worth it to save $100? How about $200?

Or would it be easier to just complain?

I would love to do this but after expenses but before food and gas I "only" have an extra $800 or so left over to divide between food, gas, clothing, househood supplies, etc. I am lucky to actually have $300-$400 to save in a given month.

I'm working on doing this, but it'll only be about $300 a month...

I'm putting huge amounts of money toward my car payment for the next 4 months so that I can pay that off and finally start saving money.

Currently its my only debt so once its gone I'll be completely debt free!