One Day Financial Makeover

Do you start your morning with a grande-one equal-soy-chai latte'? I know I use too until money starting getting tight and I need to take an assessment of my spending. Before you join your co-workings for lunch or you stop by your favorite store to window shop...which turns into you actually buying something. Take a look at Real Simple Magazine's Money-Saving Secrets from the Pros. Then as your financial light bulb goes off in your head...find ways to cut costs and start saving up to 5,000 a year, that 25,000 in five years! That's a down payment on a home, car, your MBA or your little one's college funds. When you saving your money...you can change your life.

9:00 a.m. Research your next purchase.If your dishwasher is close to kaput or your printer is running low on ink, do your purchasing homework now. "Waiting until the last minute means paying full price," cautions Neale Godfrey, author of Money Still Doesn't Grow on Trees ($16, amazon.com). Go to dealcatcher.com or pricegrabber.com, two on-line marketplaces that offer coupons, rebates, and price comparisons on everything from ink-jet cartridges to DVD players to dishwashers. Type in the kind of item you're looking for, then compare deals from outlets like amazon.com, Overstock.com, and BestBuy.com. Or try dealtime.com or bizrate.com, which also offer free price comparisons. All these sites provide reader reviews, which can alert you to the strengths and weaknesses of a given product.
Average savings: From $10 for print cartridges to $50 for a dishwasher (over buying them at a local stationery or department store).

9:30 a.m. Take a bite out of grocery costs.The average family of four spends about $450 a month on food, according to the Food Marketing Institute, a supermarket trade association. To economize, join a warehouse club like BJ's Wholesale Club (bjs.com; $45 annual fee), Costco (costco.com; $50), or Sam's Club (samsclub.com; $40). Visit each club's website to determine which has the best location and product mix for you, then join online. The clubs can be 20 to 50 percent cheaper than regular grocery stores when it comes to products like condiments, coffee, bottled water, and canned beans and vegetables (they're also, hands-down, the best place to shop for appliances, trash bags, aspirin, and best-selling books, among other things). One RS tester found she could save $75 to $100 a year by purchasing bottled water from Costco rather than the local Stop & Shop. (A bonus: Sam's and Costco sell calling cards that charge just 3 1/2 cents a minute on long-distance calls.) But don't neglect your supermarket entirely―it will have better deals on items like produce, chips, and cookies.
Average annual savings: $1,850 (based on the average bill for a family of four at 35 percent savings, minus the average club membership).

10:00 a.m. Cut heating and utility costs.The U.S. Department of Energy estimates that the average family spends $1,400 a year on energy bills. This past season, prices soared up to 45 percent, partly due to increased demand. To lower your bill, surf over to energy.gov, the U.S. Department of Energy's website. Go to Information for Consumers and click on "Your Home." You'll find the Home Energy Saver, a handy energy-audit tool. By entering information about your house―the year it was built, the number of windows, the type of heating system - you'll generate tips for improving its energy efficiency. The more specific you are, the more detailed the advice. You won't have time to fix all these things now, but you can print out a list and follow up this weekend. For example, investing just $33 to $100 in a programmable thermostat―which you can set to lower your home's temperature at night and raise it in the morning―can slice 5 to 30 percent off your heating and cooling costs, according to the Department of Energy.
Average annual savings: $1,000 if you live in an extreme climate, like Vermont; $450 if you live in a milder one, like San Francisco.

11:00 a.m. Scrutinize your wireless, long-distance, and Internet bills.If the cost of staying connected makes you want to become a hermit, scout for better rates at lowermybills.com or billsaver.com, free comparison-shopping sites. LowerMyBills.com allows you to search 18 categories of services, including long-distance carriers and Internet access. When you find a rate you like, call the provider directly. (Both sites conduct background checks on companies listed.) RS testers saved, on average, $150 a year on long distance, $100 on cellular service, and $80 a year on Internet access. Savings vary, based on location and whether you want to go with a brand name. For instance, one tester reduced her monthly Internet-access fee from $24 to $10 by switching from AOL to a local service.
Average annual savings: Up to $80 a year on Internet service, $150 on long distance, and as much as $100 on cell-phone bills.

Noon. Convert coins to cash, get a library card, and swap your gift cards.After a lunch break, get ready to take a walk or a drive. Gather up all your spare change and go to one of the free or cheap change-counting machines that are available in many grocery stores and banks (for a nationwide listing, visit theunderstory.com). One tester turned up $143, which she then put into an interest-bearing savings account. While you're out, sign up for a library card. Borrowing hardcover books instead of buying them can save even the casual reader, who buys an average of four hardcover books a year, about $70. Once you're back, hunt down any unused gift cards you have and go to swapagift.com. For a $4 listing fee, you can buy, sell, or trade your unused cards for those of merchants you prefer.
Average annual savings: Library card, $70. Found money, varies by household. Gift cards, $25 to $50 (assuming you would otherwise have let the cards languish in your desk drawer).

1:30 p.m. Liberate yourself from video- and DVD-rental late fees.You checked out The Remains of the Day at Blockbuster on a Thursday and plugged it into your DVD player, as planned, on Friday night. But just as Emma Thompson came on the screen, the phone rang...and you never saw the remains of the movie. The next thing you knew, a week had gone by, you'd forgotten all about the movie, and the late fee was more than the cost of a new DVD. If this sounds familiar, don't feel bad; you're in good (if late) company. A recent report by Decisive Analytics, a market-research firm, found that 20 percent of movie renters pay, on average, $7.60 in late fees for every tardy rental. So take three minutes―literally―and sign up at Netflix (netflix.com). Then take five minutes more to browse through their listings and create a rental queue. For $17 a month (the cost of renting four new releases at Blockbuster), you can rent as many DVDs as you want, keeping three out at a time for as long as you want. When you return one, the company will send you the next one from your queue. Each movie arrives in a prepaid envelope, which you reuse to return the DVD. And you'll never pay a late fee again.
Average annual savings: Depending on your lateness record, up to $280 a year (based on rental costs and late fees for the average of 60 rentals a year, with half of those returned late).

1:45 p.m. Analyze your attendance at the gym, the theater, and art museums.Let's face it: Sometimes your ambitions don't mesh with reality. You buy a pricey membership, then hardly use it. Take the gym. In a three-year study, economists at the University of California at Berkeley and Stanford University combed through 8,000 gym-membership records in the Boston area and found that about 80 percent of the members with a monthly contract were paying significantly more than they would have if they had gone on a pay-per-use basis. That's because the members had overestimated their gym usage and went fewer than five times a month, on average―far less than they had initially projected. The result: An average user paid $17 per workout, even when a $10 pay-per-use option existed. And that added up. Members were losing on average $700 over the life of their monthly or annual gym contracts. One RS tester realized she hadn't been to her local Y in more than a year and was wasting $87 a month ($1,044 a year) in membership fees. She found she could pay $10 a visit and canceled the plan.
Conversely, you may be overpaying for single visits to the local zoo, art museum, or aquarium if you go frequently and don't have a membership. For instance, another RS tester, who lives in Philadelphia, found it would cost her family of four $56 to visit the zoo, plus $7 for parking. But for just $79, her family could buy a membership and enjoy unlimited visits and free parking for a year.
Average annual savings: $700.

2:00 p.m. Donate to charity.Rummage through your closets and bookshelves for clothing and household items you can donate. "Have a two-year rule," suggests Michelle Singletary, a Washington Post columnist and the author of 7 Money Mantras for a Richer Life ($30, amazon.com). "If you haven't worn or used it in the last two years, give it away." Even a sum as nominal as $150 worth of goods can reduce your taxes by about $42, if you itemize your deductions and are in the 28 percent tax bracket. (If you're in the 15 percent tax bracket or lower, this may not be worth your trouble. You can find your tax bracket at irs.gov; search for "tax rate.") Try to do this at least twice a year, and remember to get a receipt from the charity.
Average annual savings: $84 (if you're in the 28 percent bracket and make two $150 donations a year).