Downtown's $10,000 2009 challenge

I think we should all find ways to save even if we are not in a recession. I challenged my friends to save $10K in a year and then invest this money into the stock market or pay down their mortgage. Some have taken on the challenge, including one friend that bought a year's worth of wheaties when it went on sale (I hope he realizes that these things have an expiry date). The savings below are annualized projections for a family of four (might be more difficult for a single person to find ways to save $10K):
1. change your shopping habits -Metro/Loblaws to No Frills grocery stores; high end clothing stores to Winners/Bay; Department stores to Costco/Sam's club. Look for on-sale items and stock up instead of buying on demand- easily save 10-30% of your annual spend ~ $1-3K
2. use coupons, loyalty cards, credit cards with rewards - see previous blog for details - ~ $1K
3. try to refinance your mortgage at current low rates or go variable. if you have any equity in your mortgage - i.e. if you have been paying down the principle over a few years, you might be able to take out a line of credit secured against the house (lower interest) to pay down higher interest debt like car/student loans or credit card debt. ~ TBD
4. bring lunch to work - $5 per day x 50% 240 = $500
5. cut down on coffee and mocha lattes ~ $1.5 x 50% x 240 ~ $180
6. carpool, drive at the speed limit, reduce aggressive driving - cut fuel consumption by > 10% = savings of ~ $200
7. reduce entertainment, dining and alcohol expenses - reduce # of outings by 2 per month => $100 per month or $1200 per year
8. bring bottles of water out ($0.10) instead of buying drinks outside ~ $1K per year (you will be surprised at how much we spend each year buying pop and water)
9. modify vacation plans - instead of a cruise or a nice vacation in Florida, maybe something closer to home? ~ $2K
10. shop around before making a big purchase - TV, car, furniture etc. With the recession, there are a lot of motivated sellers out there.

So there you go, some suggestions on where you can find money that you thought that you did not have. $10K is just a target, even if you save $1 or $2K or $3K, it's money that you would have given someone else. Take this money and invest it wisely (no lottery tickets or Nortel stock -well at $0.32 .... )

If any one who reads this actually saves more than $10K in 2009, please let me know or post what you did and your results on the blog for others to share.