Ways to Get Rich 2009

20 Ways to get Rich in 2009 Other pages in this section Get a Real Handle on your Money Get Rich on Half a Day a Year Jasmine's Top Product Picks Making a budget Reduce your Outgoings: You Could Save over £1,000 a Year Sending Money Overseas: A Great Way to Send Money Abroad Spending Diary Spring Clean your Finances 2009 can be a year of bountyCheeky ways to bag yourself a bargain
Save by being smug
Grab as many freebies as you can


Everyone's making dire predictions about our finances in 2009 but you don't have to be affected. There are so many ways to make and save money so we've collected 20 of the best here. Follow these tips and you could make 2009 your best money year yet.





1. Be cheeky
When the going gets tough, the tough try it on. So, decide that 2009 is going to be your cheekiest year ever. Here are some cheeky tricks that could bag you a bargain or even a freebie!



Any time you have dinner in a restaurant, tell the waiter that it's your birthday (or the birthday of someone else in your party). You could get free champagne or even a special cake thrown in for nothing.
Always be the third person to buy a round in the pub. It tends to be the cheapest one so if you buy that you'll look generous without actually being so.
Haggle. Yes, haggle in shops every time you go in. Even high street stores will consider a discount if you speak to the manager and ask nicely enough. If you can't get a discount see if they will throw in free delivery or maybe two for the price of one.
Get more tips like these in our full article on haggling.


2. Turn your junk into gold
Have a regular turn-out - not just once a year but once a month. Do the odd car boot sale for instant cash or sell stuff on the internet. Don't forget the lesser-known sales sites such as Greenmetropolis where you can earn at least £3 for every book you sell and Fashionexchange where you can sell your unwanted clothes.

Start your selling spree with the gifts you didn't want for Christmas and get eBay selling tips in Nicky Peckham's eBay blog.




3. Get a discount on everything
2009 is going to be a great year for bargain hunters. Make sure you get a discount on everything. Sign up to a few discount voucher sites like Myvouchercodes or Shopping-bargains and trawl through to find bargains (there's a lot of rubbish on all the voucher sites but there are a few gems hidden there). We've gone through the full list of voucher sites that we like in this article too.

Keep an eye out for great deals and offers - sign up to the Moneymagpie 'Bargain Alert' which sends the latest bargain news straight to your inbox.




4. Save by being smug
The green way is usually the cheaper way so join the tree-huggers and start saving cash:



Recycle everything you can including old envelopes (for writing lists), clothes (darned, re-made or cut-down to make cleaning cloths), jars (for home-made jam or for storage) and so on.
Get into energy efficiency - there are lots of simple things you can do to cut your energy bills, from putting the thermostat down and plugging all gaps around doors and windows to insulating your loft. Check out our new article on insulating your home for more ideas.
Don't send greetings cards. Send ecards instead and tell everyone it's because of 'carbon footprint'. For just £6.25 you can send as many delightful, all-singing, all-dancing ecards as you like, all year, from Jacquielawson.com.
Check out 50 more ways of saving money by being smug in this article. Also find out a load of fun green products that save you money.




5. Fight the flab and slim your wallet
Ditch your expensive gym membership and save on bus and train fares by walking and cycling to the shops, to work or anywhere you need to go. Once you get in the habit you will find the pounds drop off your waistline and fall into your wallet without your even noticing it! Also, with PruHealth you can save hundreds on your health insurance by keeping fit so check that out and find out more cheap ways to lose weight here.



6. Live for free
Decide that 2009 is going to be the year in which you get as much as you can for free:

Get free holiday accommodation by doing a house-swap. Join an agency like Homeexchange to swap with other families all round the world.
Get free entertainment by being part of the audience at your favourite TV shows. Sign up to the BBC website and Lostintv.
Make free phonecalls anywhere in the world using Voip (Voice over IP) technology. Join Skype for free, make sure your friends do to and you can talk for hours through your computers for nothing. Find out more here.
Get more inspiration from our 29 Ways to Live for free.




7. Ignore Gordon - save, save, save
The government is trying to get us to spend but really we need to save a lot more. The savings rates may be low (and they're getting lower) but then so is inflation. Keep an eye on our savings articles to find the best savings rates. Right now, ING is doing a good online, easy-access account offering 4.0% AER for the first year.

Lock in the savings now, before they slide even lower, with a fixed savings bond for at least a year. Just get into (or keep) that savings habit even though the rewards seem slim right now. There are plenty of things to save for in the short-term, including property which will be getting more affordable.




8. Recycle your mobile for cash
There are over 80 million old mobiles languishing in homes around the country. So why not make some money out of yours? Send off dead, old mobiles to be recycled by Mopay and get cash payments of anything from £2.50 to £100 depending on the model and condition of your phone. Get more information, and more contacts, from this article on recycling your mobile.




9. Keep yourself safe
With redundancies on the cards for many across the country this year, it's important to protect yourself and your family. Ideally you should have your own savings 'safety net' of enough money to cover all your bills for three to six months. However, if you don't have that make sure you take out the best income protection insurance for your needs and mortgage protection insurance if you own your home.




10. Get into sneaky savings
Hoodwink yourself into saving:

Exercise and save. If you walk, cycle or get a free lift for a journey that you would usually pay for, put the fare into your savings. So if you would have paid £2 for the bus ticket (or 90p on your Oyster card), put that money straight into your piggy bank.
Start your own inhouse Laundromat. Put a jar next to your washing machine (and dryer if you have one) and 'charge' yourself every time you use it.
Get cash back. When you get any money back from cashback credit cards or cashback sites, stick it straight into your savings account. Try the American Express Platinum MoneyBack Credit Card. This card offers 5% cashback for the first three months for spending up to £4,000 and then rates vary after that.
Check out our sneaky ways to save article for more ideas.

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11. Get a little help from your friends
Make your money go further by sharing and swapping with friends, family and neighbours:

Have a swap shop with friends. Bring unwanted clothes, accessories and homeware and swap with each other. Get everyone to bring some food or drink and turn it into a party!
Share childcare. Cut costs and help each other earn by sharing childcare - either share a nanny or childminder with a neighbour or divide up the week so that you care for their children for half the week and they care for your children for the other half. That way you can both go out to work for at least half a week.
Go out by staying in. Save on going out by hiring a DVD and inviting friends round; have a pot-luck party where everyone brings food for dinner; get into old-fashioned parlour games and save on expensive dinners and nights out at the pub.




12. Save £100's on food
Wasting food costs the average family £420 a year. So get using up what you've got:

Get into leftovers. Check out the recipes in Sarah Lockett's food blog for using up leftover food in delicious ways.
Use up all the bits and bobs in your cupboards. Decide today that you will only buy food to go with the tins and packets you have in your kitchen cupboards or frozen items in your freezer. Don't buy anything else until you've used up everything you have there.
Go veggie at least once a week. Vegetarian meals are generally the cheaper option so swap at least one meat meal a week for a veggie option like stir-friend vegetables with rice, vegetable lasagne or cauliflower cheese.
Try our cheap and easy curry recipes for tasty family treats.


13. Spend an hour a month getting rich
Honestly, there's no great mystery to it. You can manage your money like a master, and get rich in the process, just by getting clued-up. Make sure you read at least one money article each week in whichever newspaper you read regularly and browse through the articles in this site (there are hundreds!). Why not start with our article on how to get rich on half a day a year?



14. Switch, switch, switch
Spend half a day (that's all you need for the whole year) going through all your essential bills and cut them all down.

Switch your gas and electricity providers here.
Get cheaper insurance here (you can save £100s just by switching those).
Get paid £100 to switch your bank account - find out how here.
Switch your credit cards to cheaper ones here.
Get a cheaper loan here.
Switch your phone package here.




15. Get debt-busting
It's more important than ever to get out of debt as fast as possible. If you haven't faced it yet, make January the time to start your way towards freedom from debt. Start with our step-by-step guide to getting out of debt. If it all seems too much to bear, get free, professional help from the Citizens Advice Bureau, The Consumer Credit Counselling Service or National Debtline.




16. Make a plan - and stick to it
Another really simple way of saving money and getting rich long-term is to set yourself a budget and stick to it.

First of all you need to work out your incomings and outgoings. Write a list of the money coming in each month and add it up. Then write a list of the money you have to pay out each month including food, mortgage, bills, travel, debt repayments etc and add those up. Take your outgoings away from your incomings and that will show you how much money you have to play with each month.

If your incomings exceed your outgoings (i.e. you make more money than you spend) it's really important that you put the extra money straight the best savings account. Savings accounts can seem a bit complicated so we've made things simple in this savings guide.

If your outgoings exceed your incomings (i.e you spend more money than you make) you need to take action now. This is isn't as scary as it sounds - you can spend a few minutes checking that you have the best deals for everything from your mobile phone to your travel insurance. Check our price comparison pages here.




17. Get paid to surf
Make cash while you're on the computer. Join My Home Pages Friends and make money every time you surf the net. It really is that simple - you're paid to search the web when you use My Home Pages Friends as a search engine. See our full article here for more ways to make money online.

Also, get into online surveys and make a few pounds from the comfort of your own home. Try Panelbase and Toluna for starters.




18. Make money by complaining
Are you angry at faulty goods or poor service? Don't suffer in silence. Write a balanced letter to the CEO of the company and the head of Customer Service explaining how devastated you are and suggesting an amount of money you will need as compensation. If they say no after the first letter, write again. If they still say no, write a third time. Usually by the third letter you get some sort of recompense. We've got more tips and contacts and even a sample complaint letter right here.




19. Eat out for free
Get into mystery shopping and eat for free. Join some mystery shopping agencies such as TNS-Global or Performanceinpeople and look for jobs involving 'testing' restaurants, pubs and hotels. There are lots of them. You could eat and drink for free two or three times a week just for filling in a form online afterwards.




20. Get free money
Make sure you have all the benefits you're entitled to. Millions of people are owed money that they never claim. Go to Entitledto to find out if you're owed anything. Also, check to see if you have any old, dormant bank accounts or savings accounts that still have money in them. Go to Mylostaccount to find out if you have free money waiting for you.



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