With the economy in the toilet everyone is looking for creative ways to save money effectively. Rather than going out to buy expensive shoes and dining out every night, we are socking money away and being more frugal with what we buy. One of the things we learned is that saving money really isn’t as hard as it sounds. Here are some more of the best ways to save money.

Do you scoff at the thought of clipping coupons? Do you see it as something that only old ladies do? Well think again! Clipping coupons for things that you buy anyway are one of the easiest and simplest ways to save money and doing so only takes about five minutes of your time. It doesn’t sound like a lot to save 20-30 cents on a tube of toothpaste, but get coupons for ten items every time you go shopping and it ads up to hundreds of dollars a year.

Do you try to save time by buying everything in one place? A lot of us do because its simple, but its also expensive to do so. Stores attract customers by placing various items on sale at various times. Most of the time you can save a lot of money by looking for better prices at other stores. Comparison shop before you leave the house, on your computer, and set up a game plan of what to buy and where to buy it. Combined with the first step, comparison shopping can be a very effective way to save money.

How many of you are impulse shoppers that run out and buy something as soon as you want it? I admit I am too, but it’s a terrible habit if you’re looking to save some money. As I mentioned in the previous paragraph, comparison shopping is a great way to save money, but impulse buying pretty much ensures that you aren’t comparing prices at all. If you don’t need something, wait until you see it on sale somewhere and buy it then. A little patience can go a long way in keeping money in your wallet.

Another common practice that keeps people paying more for everyday items is buying name brands. A lot of us turn up our noses at the idea of buying generics but more often than not they are the same items that you would have bought with the name brands, only repackaged. I don’t mean a similar item I mean the same item too. Generics are typically sold for a fraction of the cost of the name brand items and that price difference really ads up.

Lastly, you need to make a budget. I know a lot of you cringe at the thought, but it really isn’t as bad as it sounds. I don’t mean you should plot everything you buy on a graph and make fancy pie charts, I just mean you should make note of how much money you make every week or every month, and figure out how many bills you have over the same time period. By doing this you know how much money you have to spend on going out to eat or buying things you don’t really need, and will help encourage you to stick some of that money in your savings account.