Dropping vices. You might not realize it but that pack of cigarette or two that you smoke on a daily basis actually amounts to something substantial in a month. Try to look at your other daily guilty pleasures at well. Could be that daily Chinese take out or that extra can of soda.

Buy in bulk. Buying in bulk definitely is cheaper. However, keep in mind to focus only on items that do not have a shelf life, for example, paper towels. Some items containing chemicals have active ingredients that might stale.

Unplug all unused appliances and turn off lights. Often overlooked but appliances when plugged even if not in use, still leeches off a few a bit of juice. Light, even if you’re using energy saving fluorescent ones still consume watts of electricity. Turning them off prevents waste.

Drop unnecessary subscriptions. How many of your existing subscriptions do you actually get to maximize. How about your phone? Your cable TV? Your magazines? Your newspaper? How many of them do you actually use or read half the time in a month. You might just be able to drop one or even all of them.

Avoid flooring your car’s throttle. Some driver drive as if there’s no tomorrow. Heavy right-foot driving actually just wastes gas. You don’t need to tap your car’s ponies when driving. Besides, even if you build up speed and only brake shortly afterwards, you’re just converting all the force into heat. Get more mileage by tempering how you speed up.

Neglecting Basic Maintenance

You home, for example, can be one of the biggest investments of your life. But shrugging off small house issues, such as a dirty chimney, a cluttered gutter, and even an overgrown landscaping, can lead to spending disasters.

Doing your own taxes

If you keep your own records, your tax returns are simple, you have sufficient knowledge on finance and tax laws, you know the right forms to fill out, and which documents to fix and send, then, sure, do your own tax. But if you answered no, then stay out of it and let the professionals save you from interests and penalties for doing it all wrong.

Skimping on food

Food is a big expense. But, oftentimes, choosing nasty food doesn’t help you stay healthy. If you can’t avoid eating out from time to time, prefer healthier alternatives and skip the alcoholic drinks.

Risking your health

Neglecting your health problems because you think you can’t afford them? Expensive and stupid at the same time. A health insurance may appear expensive, but it’s a cheaper alternative than paying for your own medical bills.

Maximizing your savings is all about being smart – to know when ‘cheap’ is actually good and when it can actually cost you more.

While it can be pretty hard to explain to a kid why they should finish the food in their plate other than the usual “Kids are starving in Africa” or some other third world country, parents should make an effort in letting kids know that there is a lot of work that needed to be done to put food on the table.

Kids tend to think of parents as endless springs of money. We all know this isn’t the case and that there’s a great deal of hard work and sacrifice to provide for the family.

Other parents make their kids “work” for their allowance to teach them the value of income early on. Allowance is then seen as their “income” for doing chores around the house. Not too sure about the Dr. Phil side to this but I believe that this creates the sense of work = money in children.

Parents should involve children (especially the older ones) when discussing family financial issues. Parents often avoid involving children to save face especially when the family’s in financial trouble.

People often fall into the mucky pit that is neighbor envy. What good things others have, you want for your own especially those material “improvements.” That new car. That new pool.

Many financial gurus would say that there’s no point in doing this. Statistics have it that your typical neighbor is in debt and there’s no point keeping up with broke people unless you’d want to be broke as well.

If you’re the type who wants to keep up with neighbors, then why not switch games and do one better. Be richer than them. Instead of spending on material goods that aren’t exactly assets (they depreciate), opt to put your money where it can grow.

Outsave and outinvest the Joneses!

Take comfort in the fact that you have more money in the bank and more investments stashed away. They might be lounging in their new pool but at least you can have that smug look that your family’s finances are secure and you’re on the way for a more comfortable life ahead.

The article claims that many retirement planning calculators are simplified to the point that most don’t factor in the shifting expense demands of retirement based on the four stages:

1. Early retirement, when travel, home improvement, hobbies, and new wardrobes can raise expenses beyond workday levels
2. Midretirement, when people (and their spending) typically slow down
3. Late retirement, when spending and activity slows even more
4. End of life, when spending for health care and personal assistance can use up what’s left of a retirement kitty

Retirement, based on this means that it is typical for retirees to spend less. Most simplified planning and calculators would factor in the typical yearly expense and compound with inflation over the years. This, they say, affect how people configure their saving and investments prior.

Makes a lot of sense, really. However, the fact of the matter is, not everyone’s an accountant and not everyone can understand actuarial science. So why can’t we simply compute for the worst case scenario and plan for that?