n November 2008, I launched the Save $1,000 in 30 Days Challenge, where I offered ultra-tactical tips to save money and earn money using on credit cards, gas, automated savings techniques, and more. (See all the tips.) It turned out to be a huge success. Tens of thousands of people participated. You left over 1,000 comments. Together, we’ve all saved more than a million dollars.

Today, to continue those tips, I’m announcing a new program called The Scrooge Strategy. This is a subscription program that you can sign up for today to get new savings tips — about one per week — and continue saving even more money.

Perfect if you need ongoing strategies, tactics, and reminders about saving money
As a member of The Scrooge Strategy, you’ll receive an email to you each week with a new savings tip. As with prior tips, it will include a fresh way of looking at saving money — not more of the same old boring tips that nobody listens to. As a member, you’ll be able to request a savings tip in your particular challenge area: Maybe it’s eating out, or shopping, or spending too much on electronics. I’m also including a panel of expert writers, who will help you save money and conquer that problem area.

These tips work
I spend hours writing each tip, which tend to be 4-6 pages long. They include super-tactical tips with screenshots, phone numbers, call scripts, and my own tips on what to watch out for. As a member, you’ll get one tip per week — just enough to focus on for the week. Plus, each tip is a constant reminder to stay focused on cutting costs, earning more, and optimizing your spending.

“It’s like having a smart, articulate, and inexpensive financial advisor that calls you all the time to check in.”
–Matthew Earle, Boston, MA

“Tips are excellent–I really like Ramit’s emphasis on psychology and it is slowly but surely making me think about purchases I make, especially unplanned ones.”
–Kevin Foster, Blacksburg, VA

“So far, for 2009 I will be saving $660.60 over the course of the year (and I’ve only made 2 changes so far)!”
–Stacy Miller, St. Albans

Useful even if you’re already incredibly frugal
Remember, The Scrooge Strategy operates under the C.E.O. model of Cutting Costs, Earning More, and Optimizing Your Spending. Even if you’re already incredibly frugal, you can still save money!


And those were just my free tips. With each Scrooge tip — sent out weekly — I include tons of resources and details that I painstakingly research. Instead of saying, “Create a plan!” I include a spreadsheet with already filled-in data to get you started. Instead of telling you how I saved money traveling to Vegas, I show you the screenshots of the sites I used, including where to get coupon codes and a call script of exactly what to say when you call the hotel. Each tip is full of tactics to save you money, earn you money, and optimize your existing spending.

Contributors include millionaires, famous personal-finance bloggers, and Harvard MBAs
I’ve put together a dazzling panel of contributors. I’ll continue sending my own personal-finance tips, but by signing up, you’ll also receive tips from J.D. Roth (who blogs at Get Rich Slowly), Erica Douglass (who runs erica.biz and sold her web hosting company for $1 million), and Chris Yeh, (who graduated from Stanford and then, traitorously, went to Harvard for his MBA).

What other people have said about my savings tips
“What really sold me on The Scrooge Strategy is that the step-by-step guides make saving money so easy that I seriously have no excuse not to evaluate my financial goals. Sure, I’ve theoretically known that that I needed to shop around for car insurance… but did I ever get my Google on and actually do it? Not until you laid out a couple of links for me. That tip alone saved me $1800 annually — and BONUS — now I actually know what the hell my insurance covers.”
–Lesly, Houston, TX and Scrooge Strategy member

“This actually really worked for me! So I will be saving $30 a month on cable for the entire upcoming year and receiving an upgrade in service! How fantastic is that!! Love this challenge!! It’s the bomb!”
–Cindy T.

“The one selling point - specific high quality personal finance tips that is logical yet achievable at the same time.”
–Karthik Sainath, San Francisco, CA and a Scrooge Strategy member

“You can save well over a couple thousand dollars just with this tip alone. That’s more than some people save in a whole year.”
–Caleb

“IT IS FANTASTIC! My husband just lost his job (this was after starting Scrooge), but with the savings we’ve implemented so far, and the additional savings coming up soon, I don’t think we are going to be in danger of falling off that financial cliff that many families are teetering on right now…and I really do credit a lot of that to this program. Also…IT DOESN’T MATTER AT ALL whether you make a lot of money, or a little money, this is good information/knowledge for anyone if you are willing to just do it.”
–Stacy Miller, St. Albans and a Scrooge Strategy member

“I just wanted to say Thank You for this challenge! So far this month I’ve saved $264.49 and it’s only the 17th of the month.”
–Mary C.