How can technology help you save money during tough times?

Having internet access allows you to email family and friends and use live chat instead of mailing letters which wastes paper or instead of using a phone.

You can go to coupon saving sites and get different coupons. www.save.ca is one site. And you can go to this site at the beginning of every week and pick different products to get coupons for.

I save on diapers for my daughter by joining huggies site. They mail me coupons for money off the purchase of huggies wipes and diapers.

www.flyermall.com is a site that you can go to to view the flyers for grocery stores and clothing stores, places like that. That way you can see what deals are on in that store and save more money instead of going to the store.

I always make a list of what I NEED at the grocery store and a what I WANT list. I always get the NEEDS first and if I have enough money left over, I get the WANTS last.

Also, if you have a cell phone instead of a home phone, you can always stay in contact with people instead of missing calls for important things like job interviews and such. I have a cell phone and home phone but am getting rid of the home phone. That will save me just over $35 a month. Money that I can put towards more things for my daughter.

Phone usage has changed a lot in the past few years, and one new way that a lot of people are picking up on now is through the computer. You can use different websites, programs, etc. To communicate to people. This could cut costs for mobile phones, home phones, and work phones all because microphones and webcam's are coming more into play in a lot of computers and laptops. People during these tough times can get rid of phones that costs a couple dollars to hundreds of dollars. Computers will replace some phone usage and overall in the long run save some money.

Expenses are part of your savings! This is your question's voice and its true.. while comparing as a great expense to acquire mobile phones and computers for just saving purpose don't justify your question, because mobile phones and computers have become your everyday life's tool which helps you not in your business but in your general life and not having these mean you are even not earning then how you will save on nothing in your hand.

On the other hand investing on the other technology equipment like repairing tools that cost you $500 knowingly you will not even get something repaired in next two years and not more than $50, is useless to acquire.

Anyway, we are still standing on a technology platform and it continue building its arms and legs to help us while saving our time and money.. Imagine if without advertisement your TV screen will loose all its colors, just a white empty screen then where did we stand in today's economical crises.. after all three fourth of our life already credited by this technology and we are not just saving with these but we are earning our basics.

Scrounge around for local scholarships. Do fundraisers! My High School Bowl (academic competition) team is going to the national finals in Chicago in May, and it's gonna cost a lot. We've done bake sales, candy bar sales, and when it gets warmer we're going to do a car wash. So far we've made $1400! Seriously dude, if it's for a good cause, people will help you out even in rough economic times. I'm going off to college next year and I simply cannot afford tuition (at my school, tuition alone is $18K per year, plus room and board--it's more than 500 miles away). I filled out my FAFSA (the Free Application for Federal Student Aid) and have been scrounging for local scholarships,. So far I've managed to get about half of it, and the other half is made up of academic scholarships I've accumulated.

I didn't wait for a recession. I converted all my PC's to Linux and dumped the expensive proprietary software. I do professional photography and multimedia creation, all on Linux. My wife and step son's laptops both use Linux as do my two servers. Out of 8 PC's, one is a MAC, all the others use Linux.

Anything Microsoft can do, I can do better and cheaper. Except get malware. Other than a demonstration virus, I've not had a virus in over four years.

I don't need to pay for server/workstation licenses, antivirus, antispyware software, I don't need to defrag my hard drives, and vendor lock in is a thing of the past. I share work documents with colleagues who still (cough, cough) use Windows. I use Skype for video conferencing and OpenOffice for productivity. I use my Mac for video editing and DVD creation.

I've saved a lot of money and headaches over the past four years, and mostly, I enjoy using my computers.

Computers are changing our world. Even though, its not completely free, because you have to pay for the interent service and enrgy being used by your computer (unless you go to a public library or school library)

But computers can be used just for about everything.

You can watch TV episodes and movies online for free, many without even downloading.

You can save your photos or order online instead of going to the photoshop.

You can shop online for ANYTHING, saving you lots of money for transportation and travel

You can bank online which saves paper and trips to the bank

You can go to coupon sites where u can download/print coupons and save money

You can also send email/IM/text/use cellphone/blakcberry rather than your actual home phones. Its faster easier and cheaper.

You can also do research online, without buying books or going to the library

Lastly, you can listen and dowload/sync free music on youtube, or on your ipod, so this saves $ on CDs and DVDs.

I use technology to investigate the availability of items and their associated costs prior to or instead of driving around looking for them.

This save fuel costs and wear and tear on our vehicle.

My digital phone makes the one fee per month very usable. I do have webcam as well and also a "magicJack"; however, the flat fee phone is not priced beyond reason yet. If it happens to go up in price then I will convert to the alternatives.

Rather than towing our travel trailer this year we are going to put it in a park and sit tight for the summer; using it like a summer home.

There are any number of ways including:

1.) Using VoIP, Skype and other services to reduce telecommunications bills.

2.) Using Video Conferencing services such as WebEx and GotoMeeting to hold remote meetings, reducing travel time and expenses.

3.) Replacing burnt out light bulbs with new energy efficient bulbs.

4.) Telecommuting: working from home utilizing computers, high speed internet, VPN, telecommunications products, etc.

6.) Using collaboration tools to work as teams remotely.

7.) Eliminating the land line and just using a cellular/mobile phone.

8.) Using mobile phones to check e-mail (Blackberry, iPhone, G1, etc.) instead of using a computer or laptop, thereby saving electricity and time.

9.) E-mail documents instead of printing and mailing them.

10.) Purchase a second monitor and/or larger monitors, giving you more screen space, so that there is less need to print out documents since you can see the more at once, plus benefit from the productivity gain of having more than one monitor.

And I am sure there are more. :)

we seriously need to look at magnetics closer, and what about a way to store lightning,or do they, I know that some is used but can it be stroed or routed in a way to turn the turbines, there is energy in everything... get it , find a way to store it, they are already on the manure...for the terrorists, no bombs break an axcel or something but stop blowing things up(hint), I am tired of seeing so much death to the people trying to help. send out rebates to those use use the sun and wind, they do a bit but we need more motivation. helium? and what about a helium pod for airliners for the people, cast off the shell and they float to safety, given the speed of the planes though, maybe if they can slow down enough to launch it, of course it would have to be very light so redesign the whole shell , they did it with landers, not???

I wish it didn't cost to invent, 15 grand it would cost me to give the people an idea I had, plus the evr famous add-ons. Better incentives to go to battery power cars, and one that can stand the cold, maybe a heater just to keep the battery warm, this can save alot of fuel, like a propane heater under the hood.How about sunrooms in the home that attract more radient heat in a window , with back on side and white on the other that can be set either way with the blinds in between the glass; what about makeing a solarium that the sun can heat up , cause clouds up at the top and produce lighting to store,-immagination...it would have to be huge, maybe start the lightning like they do when examining it, they dont start it but can direct it, and how about useing tides and what not to push some turbines, ocean currents have alot of energy in da-em , am I a gomer or what...oh ya, I forgot this silly nilly one, crank lights can do it without much effort now, so hook up a crank to the good ol' rocking chair, everyone loves to rock store it up for household use, funky huh???even the children can do this as part of their chores,(time out!) get on the rocking chair for some fun punishment buster blue...

Most good deals can be found online in forums, since people save on advertising simply by leaving their ware on sale in forums, they are more than happy to give the best discounts around especially with so much competition and ease of finding a better deal. Also, many dealers sell directly to the buyer online, thus cutting off the middle man and allowing us to buy at near wholesale price, especially in bulk orders.

Well if you buy online stuff, and it only cost you the shipping.. though it prevents you from going from town to town, from places to places, to stores... also socialize with your friends and family, instead of visiting them. But REALLY !...you shouldn't be closing yourself from reality. you have to go out and live your life. Technology is bad. A bad influence for us too! If only we hadn't been introduced technology , life would have been better, because now we don't appreciate life and we only want to improve it. Enjoy your nature! Humans purpose for being on this earth !

Anyways good luck in saving.